DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN:Strauss
Thielemann; Voigt, Moser, Schnaut, Brendel, Runkel
Original Air Date: 01/05/2002
SID.19430425
This was Thielemann’s high water mark at the Met with a popular production by Herbert Wernicke who died an untimely death not long after this production was premiered in December 2001 (he died in April 2002). Thielemann did the score absolutely uncut for the first time at the Met, and the women on the whole garnered high praise. Schnaut’s voice is not a beautiful one (but Christel Goltz was not exactly Kiri te Kanawa either) but she certainly gets to the heart of the character. I have never been able to tolerate Moser’s voice, and Brendel is caught just a little too late in the day for this. For many of us Barak will always be Walter Berry, but of course those lucky to have seen DFD in Europe it was a fine part for him as well. The main draw here is Thielemann conducting the opera complete, something Bohm never did at the Met, and one of the best outings for Voigt. Still FROSCH has some of the best music Strauss ever wrote, and Thielemann is a master of this score against any competition. Highly recommended.
DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN:Strauss
Thielemann; Voigt, Moser, Schnaut, Brendel, Runkel
Original Air Date: 01/05/2002
SID.19430426
This was Thielemann’s high water mark at the Met with a popular production by Herbert Wernicke who died an untimely death not long after this production was premiered in December 2001 (he died in April 2002). Thielemann did the score absolutely uncut for the first time at the Met, and the women on the whole garnered high praise. Schnaut’s voice is not a beautiful one (but Christel Goltz was not exactly Kiri te Kanawa either) but she certainly gets to the heart of the character. I have never been able to tolerate Moser’s voice, and Brendel is caught just a little too late in the day for this. For many of us Barak will always be Walter Berry, but of course those lucky to have seen DFD in Europe it was a fine part for him as well. The main draw here is Thielemann conducting the opera complete, something Bohm never did at the Met, and one of the best outings for Voigt. Still FROSCH has some of the best music Strauss ever wrote, and Thielemann is a master of this score against any competition. Highly recommended.
Various:Various
Various Artists
Original Air Date: 01/01/9999
SID.19430427
Two of opera’s most thrilling dramatic sopranos, Christine Goerke and Nina Stemme, reprise their fierce portrayals of the title princess. Yannick Nézet-Séguin takes the podium to conduct Franco Zeffirelli’s dazzling production of Puccini’s final masterpiece, which also features tenors Yusif Eyvazov and Riccardo Massi as Calàf, sopranos Eleonora Buratto and Hibla Gerzmava as Liù, and bass-baritone James Morris as Timur.
DEATH IN VENICE:Britten
Atherton; Rolfe Johnson, Allen, Gall, von Aroldingen,
Original Air Date: 02/26/1994
MOD Audio
SID.19430529
The production, shared with Covent Garden in London, where it was presented in 1992, is by the same English team that first staged the opera, in 1973 at the Maltings, near Britten’s home in Suffolk, and later at Covent Garden and the Met: Colin Graham, director; John Piper (who has since died), set designer, and Charles Knode, costume designer. Yet this is no revival. In fact, the old production no longer exists; the original sets were destroyed by fire, and the costumes are in rags. Mr. Graham sets the opera in a black box, like the inside of a camera whose iris opens to reveal images inside Aschenbach’s mind. A hanging gloom of black velour pervades the stage. Images are projected on a central screen and, to stress the theme of fragmentation, deconstructed into abstract parts on side screens framed by reflective pillars. In recreating the costumes from Mr. Knode’s original sketches, Hilary Philpot of Covent Garden eliminated the many stylistic references to the 70’s that had crept in, along with the use of synthetic fabrics. Most of the singers have only one costume, and the Edwardian suits, for men and women, are made with couture perfection of linen, silk or cotton in off-white or pale colors that can be bleached out by the lights. They are transformed by multiple accessories, including more than 80 hats that are pure fantasies of the millinery profession, many in a kind of diaphanous lampshade parchment. The most important costume of all, Aschenbach’s suit, was originally made of a beige linen that is no longer manufactured. Tadzio’s mother is dressed in green rather than the former grays and blues, though her hat retains the famous plumes. (from NYTIMES Feb. 6, 1994) Both Met revivals, the original with Peter Pears from 1974 and this 1994 revival are available in MOoD.
UN BALLO IN MASCHERA:Verdi
Santi; Tucker, Nilsson, Merrill, Dobbs, Madeira
Original Air Date: 01/12/1963
MOD Audio
SID.19430530
This performance finds the principals in very strong form (Nilsson’s only broadcast from the Met of Amelia) and Tucker is an excellent match for her. Merrill is in his run of eight of the nine Ballo broadcasts between 1955 and 1985!!!! Definitely worth a listen. (Schonberg NYT Review,1/11/63) Birgit Nilsson is by common consent the greatest active Wagenrian soprano, but that does not mean she cannot sing other music. She mader her first appearance of the season at the Metropolitan Opera on Wednesday night, and she sang the role of Amelia in Verdi’s UN BOOLO IN MASCHERA for the first time at the house. And she sang a spectacular performance. It was not the kind of singing, though, that most Italian sopranos bring to the role…Nillsson’s is a Nordic voice with a wider sound than that produced by the Italians, and hence a little cooler. Also, like most Nordic singers, she holds her emotins in check. There is no sobbing, no carrying on, and the general impression is one of complete vocal and emotional control. But what control! …. for more
COSÌ FAN TUTTE:Mozart
Kord; Carson, Di Giuseppe, Tourangeau, Carlson, Boky, Corena
Original Air Date: 12/20/1975
SID.19430531
This is most notable for Corena’s only Don Alfonso broadcast. The opera was out of the Met repertory from 1928 until 1951, when Steber, Thebom, and Tucker premiered the hugely successful Alfred Lunt production in English (a Columbia studio recording of this production was made, and holds upeven against Italian language originals). The opera remained in English until 1971, when John Pritchard premiered a fall cast which included Corena, but no broadcast.
I PURITANI:Bellini
Müller; Swenson, Neill, Hampson, Miles
Original Air Date: 02/01/1997
MOD Audio
SID.19430532
The Netrebko video and the Gruberova and Sutherland Elviras are all available in MOoD as well as this one. Swenson has an attractive voice, but I don’t find her especially compelling, and the supporting cast is much better on the other performances. Cavalleria/ Pagliacci from 1988 and Idomeneo from 1991 are added into the schedule beginning Wednesday.
OTELLO:Verdi
Stiedry; Vinay, Steber, Warren, Hayward
Original Air Date: 02/09/1952
SID.19430533
This performance has been on a European private label for some years, and the cast (including the conductor) get better and better as the afternoon progresses. Vinay is an acquired taste for some, but he fits well with this role. This is a very good time for Steber, and if you enjoyed her 1949 Violetta , this is very fine singing indeed. This is arguably Tebaldi’s best role, and her first two Met broadcasts first with Stiedry in 1955 and Cleva in 1958, both with Del Monaco still remain missing from the Sirius rebroadcast listings. Del Monaco’s first Met Otello (not broadcast ) is with this 1952 cast 6 days after Steber does her first with Vinay on the broadcast. The other major interest from Steber here is she sang Fiordiligi at night after this broadcast.
Various:Various
Various Artists
Original Air Date: 01/01/9999
SID.19430534
Two of opera’s most thrilling dramatic sopranos, Christine Goerke and Nina Stemme, reprise their fierce portrayals of the title princess. Yannick Nézet-Séguin takes the podium to conduct Franco Zeffirelli’s dazzling production of Puccini’s final masterpiece, which also features tenors Yusif Eyvazov and Riccardo Massi as Calàf, sopranos Eleonora Buratto and Hibla Gerzmava as Liù, and bass-baritone James Morris as Timur.
FEDORA:Giordano
Abbado; Freni, Domingo, Croft, Arteta
Original Air Date: 04/26/1997
MOD Video
SID.19430636
This is the Met’s only broadcast of this verismo work, and is available on DVD also. This is a solid performance even if it catches Freni in the extreme twilight of a very long career. This is Freni’s penultimate opera performance at the Met, with another Fedora 5 days later. She appears 5 years later in an opening night gala doing Act 2 of Fedora, and she returns 3 years later for an end of season concert that marks her last vocal appearance on any stage.
SAMSON ET DALILA:Saint-Saëns
Abravanel; Maison, Wettergren, Pinza
Original Air Date: 12/26/1936
MOD Audio
SID.19430637
This is the second oldest Met performance to have been rebroadcast on Sirius — the Lawrence/Melchior Gotterdammerung also from 1936 (but previous season) is the oldest. Abravanel is more remembered as longtime conductor of the Utah Symphony, but his three Met seasons beginning with this broadcast showed him as a sure hand in the French and German wings of the repertory. The principals have plenty of profile, and Pinza is an excellent High Priest.
FEDORA:Giordano
Abbado; Freni, Domingo, Croft, Arteta
Original Air Date: 04/26/1997
MOD Video
SID.19430638
This is the Met’s only broadcast of this verismo work, and is available on DVD also. This is a solid performance even if it catches Freni in the extreme twilight of a very long career. This is Freni’s penultimate opera performance at the Met, with another Fedora 5 days later. She appears 5 years later in an opening night gala doing Act 2 of Fedora, and she returns 3 years later for an end of season concert that marks her last vocal appearance on any stage.
IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA:Rossini
Weikert; Hampson, von Stade, Olsen, Quilico, Ramey
Original Air Date: 02/29/1992
MOD Audio
SID.19430639
Louis Quilico is not my ideal Bartolo. Von Stade’s first Rosina broadcast from 1976 with Stilwell, Corena, and Morris has been on Sirius, but not 1983 which features Pablo Elvira, Sesto Bruscantini (as Bartolo) and Paolo Montarsolo as Basilio. This 1992 performance is her last Met performance as Rosina. Appears almost as much as BOHEME
DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN:Strauss
Thielemann; Voigt, Moser, Schnaut, Brendel, Runkel
Original Air Date: 01/05/2002
SID.19430641
This was Thielemann’s high water mark at the Met with a popular production by Herbert Wernicke who died an untimely death not long after this production was premiered in December 2001 (he died in April 2002). Thielemann did the score absolutely uncut for the first time at the Met, and the women on the whole garnered high praise. Schnaut’s voice is not a beautiful one (but Christel Goltz was not exactly Kiri te Kanawa either) but she certainly gets to the heart of the character. I have never been able to tolerate Moser’s voice, and Brendel is caught just a little too late in the day for this. For many of us Barak will always be Walter Berry, but of course those lucky to have seen DFD in Europe it was a fine part for him as well. The main draw here is Thielemann conducting the opera complete, something Bohm never did at the Met, and one of the best outings for Voigt. Still FROSCH has some of the best music Strauss ever wrote, and Thielemann is a master of this score against any competition. Highly recommended.
DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN:Strauss
Thielemann; Voigt, Moser, Schnaut, Brendel, Runkel
Original Air Date: 01/05/2002
SID.19430642
This was Thielemann’s high water mark at the Met with a popular production by Herbert Wernicke who died an untimely death not long after this production was premiered in December 2001 (he died in April 2002). Thielemann did the score absolutely uncut for the first time at the Met, and the women on the whole garnered high praise. Schnaut’s voice is not a beautiful one (but Christel Goltz was not exactly Kiri te Kanawa either) but she certainly gets to the heart of the character. I have never been able to tolerate Moser’s voice, and Brendel is caught just a little too late in the day for this. For many of us Barak will always be Walter Berry, but of course those lucky to have seen DFD in Europe it was a fine part for him as well. The main draw here is Thielemann conducting the opera complete, something Bohm never did at the Met, and one of the best outings for Voigt. Still FROSCH has some of the best music Strauss ever wrote, and Thielemann is a master of this score against any competition. Highly recommended.
UN BALLO IN MASCHERA:Verdi
Santi; Tucker, Nilsson, Merrill, Dobbs, Madeira
Original Air Date: 01/12/1963
MOD Audio
SID.19430643
This performance finds the principals in very strong form (Nilsson’s only broadcast from the Met of Amelia) and Tucker is an excellent match for her. Merrill is in his run of eight of the nine Ballo broadcasts between 1955 and 1985!!!! Definitely worth a listen. (Schonberg NYT Review,1/11/63) Birgit Nilsson is by common consent the greatest active Wagenrian soprano, but that does not mean she cannot sing other music. She mader her first appearance of the season at the Metropolitan Opera on Wednesday night, and she sang the role of Amelia in Verdi’s UN BOOLO IN MASCHERA for the first time at the house. And she sang a spectacular performance. It was not the kind of singing, though, that most Italian sopranos bring to the role…Nillsson’s is a Nordic voice with a wider sound than that produced by the Italians, and hence a little cooler. Also, like most Nordic singers, she holds her emotins in check. There is no sobbing, no carrying on, and the general impression is one of complete vocal and emotional control. But what control! …. for more
LA GIOCONDA:Ponchielli
Cleva; Tebaldi, Bergonzi, MacNeil, Cossotto, Giaiotti
Original Air Date: 03/02/1968
MOD Audio
SID.19430744
This is Tebaldi’s second broadcast of the street singer, and what a sensational cast the Met surrounds her with. Bergonzi did a run with Bumbry eleven years later but that was not broadcast. Tebaldi’s first broadcast a year earlier has also been on Sirius, and is also on MOoD. The earlier broadcast has Morrell (replacing Corelli) and Elias in the Bergonzi and Cossotto parts. Siepi and Giaiotti are both top class Alvises. The Met listing leaves off Dunn, and Cieca is definitely one of the star parts. This is Tebaldi’s second Gioconda broadcast, and despite the wear and tear from 32 Met Giocondas in two years — it is her final Gioconda. Bing serves up A+ colleagues for her, and it is a rousing afternoon. This performance is on Met Player, highly recommend.
OTELLO:Verdi
Stiedry; Vinay, Steber, Warren, Hayward
Original Air Date: 02/09/1952
SID.19430745
This performance has been on a European private label for some years, and the cast (including the conductor) get better and better as the afternoon progresses. Vinay is an acquired taste for some, but he fits well with this role. This is a very good time for Steber, and if you enjoyed her 1949 Violetta , this is very fine singing indeed. This is arguably Tebaldi’s best role, and her first two Met broadcasts first with Stiedry in 1955 and Cleva in 1958, both with Del Monaco still remain missing from the Sirius rebroadcast listings. Del Monaco’s first Met Otello (not broadcast ) is with this 1952 cast 6 days after Steber does her first with Vinay on the broadcast. The other major interest from Steber here is she sang Fiordiligi at night after this broadcast.
I PURITANI:Bellini
Müller; Swenson, Neill, Hampson, Miles
Original Air Date: 02/01/1997
MOD Audio
SID.19430746
The Netrebko video and the Gruberova and Sutherland Elviras are all available in MOoD as well as this one. Swenson has an attractive voice, but I don’t find her especially compelling, and the supporting cast is much better on the other performances. Cavalleria/ Pagliacci from 1988 and Idomeneo from 1991 are added into the schedule beginning Wednesday.
LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR:Donizetti
Molinari-Pradelli; Scotto, Alexander, Sereni, Plishka
Original Air Date: 04/21/1973
SID.19430747
This is Scotto’s only Met broadcast of Lucia, even though she has two 39th street (old house) performances. Alexander is well suited to Edgardo and his Lucias include Sutherland, Moffo, Sills, Robinson, and Negri (his last in a Bronx Parks assignment). Sereni was a regular Enrico and Molinari-Pradelli is a solid maestro. Scotto the previous performance she cancelled after Act 1, and this broadcast is her final New York Lucia. She does do five tour Lucias after this broadcast. The male contingent is fairly standard B+ casting from the Met, not more, not less. This is the first Met broadcast of Lucia since the Moffo, Gedda performance (debut of Franci and Bruson) of 2/1/69 which is a performance not yet on Sirius, but Jackson spends some time on it. This was a bad period at the Met for the Bride of Lammermoor.
RIGOLETTO:Verdi
Erede; Warren, Güden, Tucker, Pernerstorfer, Madeira
Original Air Date: 12/08/1951
SID.19430748
Though Gueden’s 24 Met Gildas isn’t going to threaten Roberta Peters’ 88 performance record, this was her Met debut a month before this broadcast in a new production designed by Eugene Berman and directed by Herbert Graf (same team as for classic Don Giovanni 6 years later). Warren was the pre-eminent Met Rigoletto during his Met years, and few have sung it so powerfully. Tucker sings the Possente amor cabaletta to his Parmi veder (only this season if memory serves; the cabaletta does not return until the appearance of Alfredo Kraus 15 years later) None of the 1951 matinee performers are short when it comes to filling out the vocal lines. What is unfortunate is the only broadcast of Warren’s Rigoletto from 1945 to 1959 has not made it to MOoD, and only two of Warren’s SEVEN broadcasts have appeared on Sirius. This 1951 broadcast is very deserving of being promoted to MOoD.
DEATH IN VENICE:Britten
Atherton; Rolfe Johnson, Allen, Gall, von Aroldingen,
Original Air Date: 02/26/1994
MOD Audio
SID.19430749
The production, shared with Covent Garden in London, where it was presented in 1992, is by the same English team that first staged the opera, in 1973 at the Maltings, near Britten’s home in Suffolk, and later at Covent Garden and the Met: Colin Graham, director; John Piper (who has since died), set designer, and Charles Knode, costume designer. Yet this is no revival. In fact, the old production no longer exists; the original sets were destroyed by fire, and the costumes are in rags. Mr. Graham sets the opera in a black box, like the inside of a camera whose iris opens to reveal images inside Aschenbach’s mind. A hanging gloom of black velour pervades the stage. Images are projected on a central screen and, to stress the theme of fragmentation, deconstructed into abstract parts on side screens framed by reflective pillars. In recreating the costumes from Mr. Knode’s original sketches, Hilary Philpot of Covent Garden eliminated the many stylistic references to the 70’s that had crept in, along with the use of synthetic fabrics. Most of the singers have only one costume, and the Edwardian suits, for men and women, are made with couture perfection of linen, silk or cotton in off-white or pale colors that can be bleached out by the lights. They are transformed by multiple accessories, including more than 80 hats that are pure fantasies of the millinery profession, many in a kind of diaphanous lampshade parchment. The most important costume of all, Aschenbach’s suit, was originally made of a beige linen that is no longer manufactured. Tadzio’s mother is dressed in green rather than the former grays and blues, though her hat retains the famous plumes. (from NYTIMES Feb. 6, 1994) Both Met revivals, the original with Peter Pears from 1974 and this 1994 revival are available in MOoD.
DIE WALKÜRE:Wagner
Levine; Behrens, Morris, Norman, Lakes, Ludwig, Moll
Original Air Date: 04/08/1989
MOD AudioMOD Video
SID.19430750
This performance is in the MOoD as a video. Lakes is operating in a league that is at least a half step beyond him. Behrens, who is certainly well schooled, is not the right voice for me. Norman is very much her own stylist. Still this is a strong cast overall, and finds the Met orchestra and Levine in their first cycle together in extremely committed form.
DIE WALKÜRE:Wagner
Levine; Behrens, Morris, Norman, Lakes, Ludwig, Moll
Original Air Date: 04/08/1989
MOD AudioMOD Video
SID.19440101
This performance is in the MOoD as a video. Lakes is operating in a league that is at least a half step beyond him. Behrens, who is certainly well schooled, is not the right voice for me. Norman is very much her own stylist. Still this is a strong cast overall, and finds the Met orchestra and Levine in their first cycle together in extremely committed form.
HÄNSEL UND GRETEL:Humperdinck
Mackerras; Larmore, Upshaw, Forst, Blythe, Josephson
Original Air Date: 12/29/2001
MOD Audio
SID.19440102
This performance is indeed in German and yet is performed by a 100% Anglophone cast. Irony indeed. Mackerras is the most distinctive contributor to a work whose orchestral passages are among its most interesting. Also worth noting is there is a separate listing in MOoD for the English language versions and the German version. But though the language was German it was the same production as premiered in English in 1967-1968 by O’Hearn and Merrill and concluded with these performances in 2001-2. Hansel returned in a new also English language production by Richard Jones in 2007-2008.
SIMON BOCCANEGRA:Verdi
Levine; Chernov, Millo, Domingo, Scandiuzzi, Pola
Original Air Date: 03/11/1995
SID.19440103
This is the year of the new production, and the telecast a few weeks earlier featured Te Kanawa and Lloyd. Amelia is Millo’s debut role in 1984, and this broadcast is her last time out in the role at the Met. It is also in the series of performances that mark her return to the house after an absence of a year, and a most unsuccessful Lombardi production. Scandiuzzi is in his debut season, and Fiesco was his debut role. The next time Domingo appears in Boccanegra he IS Boccanegra, not Gabriele. As can often happen with this opera, things don’t quite come together though the paper casting looks very strong indeed. Better yet is the Levine Boccanegra with Hvorostovsky with Frittoli and Furlanetto.
L’ELISIR D’AMORE:Donizetti
Rudolf; Pavarotti, Blegen, Flagello, Reardon
Original Air Date: 04/06/1974
MOD Audio
SID.19440104
“NY Post S Jenkins: In last night’s “”L’Elisir d’Amore”” the Metropolitan Opera pulled off the equivalent of a grand slam home run: a performance that must have delighted the tired businessman, satisfied the opera buff and absolutely satiated the voice lover. And all this wonder came from the musical and dramatic ability of the two leads: Judith Blegen and Luciano Pavarotti.
Gaetano Donizetti’s “”L’Elisir,”” though one of the most popular of Italian comic operas, does not play itself. To be successful, the principals must constantly work to make the audience see that these are real people caught in a comic situation.
Brilliantly crafted by Felice Romani, the librettist of “”Norma,”” “”L’Elisir’s”” book contains the classic tear through a smile: several moments when all the buffoonery is ripped away and the audience sees that Nemorino really loves Adina, and she returns his love.
Miss Blegen and Mr. Pavarotti never ceased to create their characters. Though they sang superlatively, their greatest triumph lay in their complete believability.
Pavarotti, now tipping the scales at around 300, moves on stage with the lightness of a man a quarter of his size, and his marvelously expressive face constantly emotes. Nemorino’s frustrations, his joy and his ultimate victory passed as a motion picture on the. tenor’s countenance.
And what do you say about Miss Blegen except that she is just about the prettiest girl to appear on the Met stage, ever. She also manages to be a coquette without ever once being overcute or too coy. The face, the figure, the attractiveness, how lucky is opera not to have lost her to Broadway!
Vocally, Pavarotti proved himself again the emperor of lyric tenors. Style, finesse, musical taste and a faultless vocal instrument all coalesced in his Nemorino. Some roles fit even a great voice better than others, and from first to last Nemorino is his property. In “”Una furtiva lagrima”” the sheen of his voice seemed to be encircled in a column of air, and his concluding high C in the “”Venti Scudi”” duet sang with ease.
Miss Blegen, whose tone is bright where a more Italianate soprano might be mellow, sang with such authority and finesse that she silenced any possible caviling. Her “”Prendi per me sei libero”” in the last scene, with its descending two-octave run from a high C, glistened as does dew on summer grass.
Mario Sereni contributed his familiar Belcore, one of the baritone’s best roles at the Met, and Ezio Flagello offered up his Dulcamara. Though he sings more of the role than some others who perform it, he has little humor in his voice or presence. It is a solid performance, but lacks the element that makes the old quack really lovable.
The greatest tributes to the brilliance of Miss Blegen, who learned her role in Italian in about 10 days, and Pavarotti were that they overcame the heavyhanded, rather Germanic but solid performance by Max Rudolf. A distinguished maestro with many great performances at the Met in the early Bing years, Rudolf was never known for his Donizetti.
And in almost every way, he seemed to try to knock the bubbles out of the singer’s champagne. With this cast he couldn’t, and there were no unhappy patrons visible.”
TRISTAN UND ISOLDE:Wagner
Levine; Heppner, Eaglen, Dalayman, Pape, Ketelsen
Original Air Date: 12/18/1999
MOD Audio
SID.19440105
The highlight of this performance is Pape’s stupendous Marke. His voice is at his peak, and worth your time. The video of a performance from one week earlier with the same cast is is available on DVD and MOoD (in addition). Heppner is a decent Tristan and Dalayman an excellent Brangane. Eaglen is Ok, but she was better when she first did it in Seattle a few years earlier.
TRISTAN UND ISOLDE:Wagner
Levine; Heppner, Eaglen, Dalayman, Pape, Ketelsen
Original Air Date: 12/18/1999
MOD Audio
SID.19440106
The highlight of this performance is Pape’s stupendous Marke. His voice is at his peak, and worth your time. The video of a performance from one week earlier with the same cast is is available on DVD and MOoD (in addition). Heppner is a decent Tristan and Dalayman an excellent Brangane. Eaglen is Ok, but she was better when she first did it in Seattle a few years earlier.
AIDA:Verdi
Cleva; Arroyo, McCracken, Bumbry, Colzani, Flagello
Original Air Date: 12/26/1970
SID.19440107
NYT Ericson [1/18/70]: In the title role, Martina Ar royo poured out her beautiful tones effortlessly. She was able to ride the climaxes of the Triumphal scene as well as to make the soft high arches of sound in “O patria mia.” Rich ard Tucker’s Radames was virile in sound and incisive in phrasing, although the tenor does not have the exceptional breath control he once had. Cornell MacNeil’s baritone, large and resonant, proved forceful in Amonasro’s music. Irene Dalis’s voice, ringing at the top but rather dry in the middle register effectively used in Amneris’s big scene in the last act. The two basses, Ezio Flagello as Ramfis and Paul Plishka as the King, sang handsomely. Even the brief contributions of Rod Mac Wherter as the Messenger and Margaret Kalil as the Priestess sounded fine. Fausto Cleva’s conducting insured a controlled, well coordinated musical perform ance. This was, probably, the the measure of the evening— solid excellence, but nothing to stir the listener’s blood.