MANON LESCAUT

MANON LESCAUT:Puccini
Original Air Date: 03/31/1956
Mitropoulos; Albanese, Björling, Guarrera, Corena
SID.19180102
For me, one of the top 10 Met broadcasts ever. Highly recommended. This performance is on MetPlayer, although not so marked in the Met data base.This is one of the very greatest ever Metropolitan broadcasts. I am not a major fan of Albanese, but here she is at her very best, and Mitropoulos is something special. It comes up occasionally but not quite monthly so one never tires of hearing it. Sirius has still not broadcast the 1959 Tebaldi-Tucker Manon Lescaut which is of the same quality though the approach is very different. Though Albanese and Bjorling recorded this together, their white hot broadcast under Mitropoulos (who is not on the recording) is the way to experience this opera. For me, one of the top 10 Met broadcasts ever. Highly recommended. This performance is on MetPlayer, although not so marked in the Met data base. This is one of the very greatest ever Metropolitan broadcasts. I am not a major fan of Albanese, but here she is at her very best, and Mitropoulos is something special. It comes up occasionally but not quite monthly so one never tires of hearing it. Albanese and Bjorling have a perfectly nice RCA recording (with the plush of Merrill as Lescaut), but the addition of Mitropoulos and a live matinee audience make this one of the greatest performances ever. Manon Lescaut is my favorite Puccini opera. The music for the two principals always thrills me. The Met should put up the Tebaldi Tucker performance from 1959 which is only a hair behind this 1956 performance, but for those of you who haven’t sampled, and you like Puccini at all, this is a feast. Albanese and Bjorling have a perfectly nice RCA recording (with the plush of Merrill as Lescaut), but the addition of Mitropoulos and a live matinee audience make this one of the greatest performances ever. Luckily, it is also in MOoD to hear as often as you want. Manon Lescaut is my favorite Puccini opera. The music for the two principals always thrills me. The Met should put up the Tebaldi Tucker performance from 1959 which is only a hair behind this 1956 performance, but for those of you who haven’t sampled, and you like Puccini at all, this is a feast.