LA GIOCONDA:Ponchielli
Patanè; Marton, Domingo, MacNeil, Dunn, Furlanetto
Original Air Date: 02/12/1983
SID.20070638
This performance marks Patane’s final Met performance. You can’t accuse the Met of undercasting Gioconda, and Marton puts out all of her considerable resources. Though he only has 6 more seasons (she left in a tiff over the Brunnhilde casting), her broadcasts of both Elsa and esp. Ortrud, Turandot, Fidelio Leonora with Vickers and Tennstedt, and her powerhouse Salome (the antithesis best roles. The remainder of above) are among the most rewarding broadcasts of the 1980s. Furlanetto who was primarily a Mozartean this early in his Met career cast is still going strong, and arguably the most important bass singing the Italian (and lots of others) repertoire today. If you love Gioconda just as I do, this is always a welcome performance.”