Puccini
Mitropoulos; Kirsten, Fernandi, Roggero, Sereni, Kullman
Original Air Date: 04/16/1960
SID.20040422
This performance is notable for a solid cast and the presence of Mitropoulos in the pit. Kirsten lied about her age for years, actually being born in 1910 not 1917. So she is 50 for this performance, and broadcasts Butterfly as late as 1974 and does a replacement Tosca in 1979 when she is just short of her 70th birthday! She was not a terribly adventurous singer, but although nature gifted with a French lyric sound she could surmount the most challenging Puccini (Minnie, but not Turandot) and be none the worse for wear. I prefer a more robust Butterfly tonally, but she has a major career, and this is a good performance to experience her (I like her Manon Lescaut and Faust Marguerite even better). The Butterfly history is dominated by Farrar, its Met creator at 139, then Albanese at 72, and then Kirsten. It then drops to Scotto at 38. As for broadcasts, we are still missing Stella premiering the 1958 production also with Mitropoulos and the 1962 with Tucci and Bergonzi in his only broadcast Pinkerton. We hear a rotation dominated by Zylis-Gara, Scotto, Albanese and Kirsten. There are others waiting to be heard. This Butterfly turns out to be Mitropoulos’ Metropolitan farewell in NYC, with 2 Boccanegras with the Met on tour to Boston and Cleveland at the end of April. DM’s broadcasts to date unheard of in addition to the Stella Butterfly, are a Tosca with Stella, and in later seasons Milanov’s only Tosca broadcast as well as 2 Cav/ Pags from 1959 and 1960, the first being Del Monaco’s final Met performance.