FALSTAFF:Verdi
Levine; Taddei, Neblett, Monk, Cossotto, Blegen, Ahlstedt
Original Air Date: 03/08/1986
MOD Audio
SID.20050316
Its particularly good to have this performance back on the radio. Taddei and Cossotto make a most interesting pair, and I’m sorry she did not do more of the part. I don’t have strong memories of Neblett and Monk. Taddei who came very late to the Met did this run of Falstaff followed by a run in L’elisir which was broadcast and has been on Sirius. If they run that performance again I will check it out. Taddei’s actual Met farewell is as Dulcamara in Met in the Pennsauken Cooper River Park in New Jersey with Hong as his Adina. Taddei appeared as both Scarpia and Rigoletto in Philadelphia (both with Tucker) and I also saw his Leporello in Dallas (with Sutherland and the EMI gang), Germont (with Callas) and much later Leporello again in San Francisco with Siepi. The Met was not starving for good baritones in those days, so we got too little of him and very late. He has a nice non-Met legacy of studio and live performances. He died at 93 June 2, 2010.
CAPRICCIO:Strauss
Davis; Te Kanawa, Rootering, Kuebler, Keenlyside, Brendel, Harries
Original Air Date: 01/31/1998
MOD Audio
SID.20050317
The Met has only had two matinee broadcasts for Strauss’ final work: this one with Te Kanawa and Fleming in 2012. Andrew Davis conducted both revivals. Clairon was a famous role for Troyanos and luckily it is captured on a San Francisco telecast with Te Kanawa, but she died in 1993, which I guess is one reason for the more lightweight casting. Te Kanawa is definitely worth hearing.
LA FORZA DEL DESTINO:Verdi
Walter; Roman, Jagel, Tibbett, Pinza, Petina, Baccaloni
Original Air Date: 01/23/1943
SID.20050318
Roman is particularly impressive, and we don’t have so many surviving Bruno Walter broadcasts that this one is particularly welcome. This is a bit late for Tibbett, but Pinza is wonderful in one of Verdi’s greatest bass roles.
This performance is available in MOoD. The previous fall Pavarotti had Levine at the help and Dara as the Dulcamara for the video which is also available in MOoD and commercial DVD.
Various:Various
Various Artists
Original Air Date: 01/01/9999
SID.20050320
Berlioz
Original Air Date: 01/29/2020
Gardner; Garanca, Hymel, Abdrazakov
SID.20050000
LA DAMNATION DE FAUST:Berlioz
Gardner; Garanca, Hymel, Abdrazakov
Original Air Date: 01/29/2020
SID.20050321
Berlioz’s compelling take on the Faust legend returns for the first time in a decade, with an ideal lineup of stars. High-flying tenors Bryan Hymel and Michael Spyres sing the doomed and besotted Faust, opposite dazzling mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča as the forsaken Marguerite and bass Ildar Abdrazakov as the malevolent Méphistophélès. Edward Gardner conducts. Please note that these are concert presentations on the Met stage. The decision to present La Damnation de Faust in its more usual concert version is driven by the unanticipated technical demands of reviving the Met’s staged production, which proved to be impossible to accommodate within the company’s production schedule.
LA DAMNATION DE FAUST:Berlioz
Gardner; Garanca, Hymel, Abdrazakov
Original Air Date: 01/29/2020
SID.20050321
Berlioz’s compelling take on the Faust legend returns for the first time in a decade, with an ideal lineup of stars. High-flying tenors Bryan Hymel and Michael Spyres sing the doomed and besotted Faust, opposite dazzling mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča as the forsaken Marguerite and bass Ildar Abdrazakov as the malevolent Méphistophélès. Edward Gardner conducts. Please note that these are concert presentations on the Met stage. The decision to present La Damnation de Faust in its more usual concert version is driven by the unanticipated technical demands of reviving the Met’s staged production, which proved to be impossible to accommodate within the company’s production schedule.
Puccini
Armiliato; Gallardo-Domâs, Vargas, Arteta, Caproni, Relyea
Original Air Date: 02/16/2002
SID.20050422
In 2002 Gallardo-Domas was one of the most sensitive performers of the Italian repertory before the public, and she is well partnered by Vargas. This is a very solid performance, not likely to have it replace your historical favorite (try the studio effort of Bjorling and De Los Angeles under Beecham, or Tebaldi and Bergonzi under Serafin. Amazingly, Mirella Freni, never broadcast it in her 22 Met appearances; She did one with Pavarotti and Kleiber and a Philadelphia Lyric performance partnered with Flaviano Labo. She has a fine DVD from San Francisco (with Pavarotti) and several good audio airchecks .
ROMÉO ET JULIETTE:Gounod
Cooper; Sayão, Bjorling,, Brownlee, Moscona
Original Air Date: 02/01/1947
MOD Audio
SID.20050423
One of the greatest performances to ever emanate from the Met stage. Available on Met Player, SonyCD, and despite the AM sound, Bjorling sings his second and last Met Romeo for the broadcast airwaves. Sayao with somewhat more limited vocal artillery is still every bit his equal artistically, and this performance comes pretty close to universal. If you haven’t heard it in some time, take a listen.
LA TRAVIATA:Verdi
Rizzi; Racette, Álvarez, Chernov
Original Air Date: 12/19/1998
MOD Audio
SID.20050424
This production had been through multiple cast changes. Originally for Gheorgiu and Alagna, it moved to Fleming, who begged off because of schedule overcrowding. By the time of the broadcast, Levine had been succeeded by Rizzi. Although Marcelo Alvarez sang much better than today, he never quite made the top tier for me; his work in Ballo and Cav/Pag the past few seasons have been very solid. Racette was too generic vocally at thetime of this broadcast, and major move into Puccini and verismo did little good for her voice. Chernov who never quite made it had a lovely voice, if not exactly the Russian Robert Merrill (that was more likely Yuri Mazurok). MOoD also features Ponselle, Steber, Tebaldi, and Cotrubas prior to Racette, and Fleming and Gheorghiu post all of whom are more distinctive. Albanese has 10 broadcasts of her Violetta –5 pre Bing, 5 under Bing, but only her last from 1959 has been on Sirius. Sutherland has a 1964 broadcast that the archives show as having been on Sirius, but it has not been rebroadcast; De Los Angeles has a 1958 broadcast which has not been rebroadcast. Caballe, despite an opening night did not show for her broadcast (Pilou sang) so one of her most famous roles is not documented on the Met airwaves.
DER FLIEGENDE HOLLÄNDER:Wagner
Schippers; London, Rysanek, Liebl, Tozzi
Original Air Date: 03/05/1960
SID.20050425
This is the first of Rysanek’s five Senta broadcasts and she is paired with her longtime Dutchman partner, George London. Most of this cast re-assembled in London for a studio recording under Dorati, but the sound was never quite right, and the electricity of a live performance definitely not there. Rysanek’s two greatest roles were Senta and Empress in Frau. Both this and two later Dutchman broadcasts with her are available in MOoD. This performance follows by less than 24 hours Leonard Warren’s onstage death in Forza. Warren had been Rysanek’s husband in her Met debut in Macbeth two years earlier. The fourth performance of the matchless combination of London and Rysanek. Three years later there is another broadcast under Bohm, which is on Met Player. Best broadcast of the week by far.
ARIADNE AUF NAXOS:Strauss
Levine; Voigt, Schmidt, Dahl, Stratas, Prey, Oswald
Original Air Date: 04/23/1994
SID.20050426
Voigt is in very fresh voice here, but Schmidt and Dahl are not to my taste, and I think Stratas over sings the part of Composer. Better to hear the 1979 performance with one of Gruberova’s only 2 Met broadcasts with Kollo, Troyanos, and Johanna Meier in the title role.
MESSA DA REQUIEM:Verdi
Levine; Price, Quivar, Domingo, Cheek
Original Air Date: 02/20/1982
MOD Audio
SID.20050428
This broadcast is in memory of long-time Met Assistant Manager and Press representative, Francis Robinson. This is getting to be pretty late Price, and Domingo is not the best choice of tenor soloists for the Requiem. Quivar is a very solid mezzo soloist, and preferred to many commercially recorded mezzos. Cheek is OK, but if you are a Met Opera on Demand (MOoD) you can listen to a 1964 Requiem (in memory of John F. Kennedy) under Solti with Price,Elias, Bergonzi, and Siepi. Sound is not digital, but the performance is splendid and marks Solti’s final appearance with the Met
LES CONTES D’HOFFMANN:Offenbach
Baudo; Gedda, Bacquier, Boky, Crespin, Amara, von Stade
Original Air Date: 04/10/1971
MOD Audio
SID.20050530
The fall performances went unbroadcast. This 1970/71 Hoffmann was divided between a fall group with Grist, Elias, and Lorengar in the three ladies and the spring offering was Boky, Crespin, and Amara. The excellent Gedda and Bacquier were in both parts of the revival. In the fall performances Grist and Lorengar were excellent. The broadcast does not come until spring, Crespin’s Giulietta while visually dazzling was one rocky ride on the Venetian canal. Amara sang a solid Antonia, but her tone never had the luster of a Lorengar. Boky is similarly lacking compared to Grist. Baudo is no Julius Rudel (among the best conductors I’ve ever heard for Hoffmann) or Chailly, let alone Monteux who originated the production in 1955. What should be mentioned is the strong supporting cast including von Stade as Nicklausse , Velis in the four comic tenor parts, and Paul Franke as an inimitable Spalanzani.
MESSA DA REQUIEM:Verdi
Levine; Price, Quivar, Domingo, Cheek
Original Air Date: 02/20/1982
MOD Audio
SID.20050531
This broadcast is in memory of long-time Met Assistant Manager and Press representative, Francis Robinson. This is getting to be pretty late Price, and Domingo is not the best choice of tenor soloists for the Requiem. Quivar is a very solid mezzo soloist, and preferred to many commercially recorded mezzos. Cheek is OK, but if you are a Met Opera on Demand (MOoD) you can listen to a 1964 Requiem (in memory of John F. Kennedy) under Solti with Price,Elias, Bergonzi, and Siepi. Sound is not digital, but the performance is splendid and marks Solti’s final appearance with the Met
GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG:Wagner
Ehrling; Nilsson, Thomas, Rundgren, Dooley, Rankin, Reynolds
Original Air Date: 03/29/1975
SID.20050532
This is Nilsson’s final Wagner opera from the Met airwaves. She only has two other Gotterdammerung broadcasts, the first in 1962 when she was in very fresh voice under Leinsdorf (and on Met Opera in Demand (MOoD) and 1963 under Rosenstock — originally planned for Reiner– with extensive cuts. The supporting cast with the exception of possibly Anna Reynolds’ Waltraute don’t offer much help to Nilsson. She is still in much better voice than when she returned to the Met after a 5 year absence in Elektra. Once again a plea for the Rita Hunter Gotterdammerung broadcast from the year before (where she replaces Nilsson) which features her in very fresh voice, and one of the few broadcast appearances of Helge Brilioth as Siegfried, all under Kubelik. Kubelik only has two Met broadcasts (Troyens is the other with Verrett, Ludwig, and Vickers) and neither has been on the Sirius rebroadcast series. But back to Gotterdammerung, Hagen is almost as important as Brunnhilde and Siegfried, and Rundgren is distinctly second grade goods. Thomas Stewart premiered the production in 1974, but Dooley was the Gunther on both the Kubelik and this broadcast, so no broadcast record for one of Stewart’s best roles. Rankin, a well traveled mezzo mostly in the Italian wing, is a curious choice for Gutrune (maybe Kubelik had a fond memory of her Troyens Cassandra when he premiered the opera 15 years earlier at La Scala with Del Monaco and Simionato in Italian. So this Gotterdammerung will be a curiosity, but for me her 1962 broadcast and the two commercial (Decca studio and Philips live from Bayreuth are noble indeed.
GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG:Wagner
Ehrling; Nilsson, Thomas, Rundgren, Dooley, Rankin, Reynolds
Original Air Date: 03/29/1975
SID.20050533
This is Nilsson’s final Wagner opera from the Met airwaves. She only has two other Gotterdammerung broadcasts, the first in 1962 when she was in very fresh voice under Leinsdorf (and on Met Opera in Demand (MOoD) and 1963 under Rosenstock — originally planned for Reiner– with extensive cuts. The supporting cast with the exception of possibly Anna Reynolds’ Waltraute don’t offer much help to Nilsson. She is still in much better voice than when she returned to the Met after a 5 year absence in Elektra. Once again a plea for the Rita Hunter Gotterdammerung broadcast from the year before (where she replaces Nilsson) which features her in very fresh voice, and one of the few broadcast appearances of Helge Brilioth as Siegfried, all under Kubelik. Kubelik only has two Met broadcasts (Troyens is the other with Verrett, Ludwig, and Vickers) and neither has been on the Sirius rebroadcast series. But back to Gotterdammerung, Hagen is almost as important as Brunnhilde and Siegfried, and Rundgren is distinctly second grade goods. Thomas Stewart premiered the production in 1974, but Dooley was the Gunther on both the Kubelik and this broadcast, so no broadcast record for one of Stewart’s best roles. Rankin, a well traveled mezzo mostly in the Italian wing, is a curious choice for Gutrune (maybe Kubelik had a fond memory of her Troyens Cassandra when he premiered the opera 15 years earlier at La Scala with Del Monaco and Simionato in Italian. So this Gotterdammerung will be a curiosity, but for me her 1962 broadcast and the two commercial (Decca studio and Philips live from Bayreuth are noble indeed.
Puccini
Armiliato; Gallardo-Domâs, Vargas, Arteta, Caproni, Relyea
Original Air Date: 02/16/2002
SID.20050534
In 2002 Gallardo-Domas was one of the most sensitive performers of the Italian repertory before the public, and she is well partnered by Vargas. This is a very solid performance, not likely to have it replace your historical favorite (try the studio effort of Bjorling and De Los Angeles under Beecham, or Tebaldi and Bergonzi under Serafin. Amazingly, Mirella Freni, never broadcast it in her 22 Met appearances; She did one with Pavarotti and Kleiber and a Philadelphia Lyric performance partnered with Flaviano Labo. She has a fine DVD from San Francisco (with Pavarotti) and several good audio airchecks .
CAPRICCIO:Strauss
Davis; Te Kanawa, Rootering, Kuebler, Keenlyside, Brendel, Harries
Original Air Date: 01/31/1998
MOD Audio
SID.20050535
The Met has only had two matinee broadcasts for Strauss’ final work: this one with Te Kanawa and Fleming in 2012. Andrew Davis conducted both revivals. Clairon was a famous role for Troyanos and luckily it is captured on a San Francisco telecast with Te Kanawa, but she died in 1993, which I guess is one reason for the more lightweight casting. Te Kanawa is definitely worth hearing.
FALSTAFF:Verdi
Levine; Taddei, Neblett, Monk, Cossotto, Blegen, Ahlstedt
Original Air Date: 03/08/1986
MOD Audio
SID.20050636
Its particularly good to have this performance back on the radio. Taddei and Cossotto make a most interesting pair, and I’m sorry she did not do more of the part. I don’t have strong memories of Neblett and Monk. Taddei who came very late to the Met did this run of Falstaff followed by a run in L’elisir which was broadcast and has been on Sirius. If they run that performance again I will check it out. Taddei’s actual Met farewell is as Dulcamara in Met in the Pennsauken Cooper River Park in New Jersey with Hong as his Adina. Taddei appeared as both Scarpia and Rigoletto in Philadelphia (both with Tucker) and I also saw his Leporello in Dallas (with Sutherland and the EMI gang), Germont (with Callas) and much later Leporello again in San Francisco with Siepi. The Met was not starving for good baritones in those days, so we got too little of him and very late. He has a nice non-Met legacy of studio and live performances. He died at 93 June 2, 2010.
LA FORZA DEL DESTINO:Verdi
Walter; Roman, Jagel, Tibbett, Pinza, Petina, Baccaloni
Original Air Date: 01/23/1943
SID.20050637
Roman is particularly impressive, and we don’t have so many surviving Bruno Walter broadcasts that this one is particularly welcome. This is a bit late for Tibbett, but Pinza is wonderful in one of Verdi’s greatest bass roles.
This performance is available in MOoD. The previous fall Pavarotti had Levine at the help and Dara as the Dulcamara for the video which is also available in MOoD and commercial DVD.
Various:Various
Various Artists
Original Air Date: 01/01/9999
SID.20050639
DER FLIEGENDE HOLLÄNDER:Wagner
Schippers; London, Rysanek, Liebl, Tozzi
Original Air Date: 03/05/1960
SID.20050641
This is the first of Rysanek’s five Senta broadcasts and she is paired with her longtime Dutchman partner, George London. Most of this cast re-assembled in London for a studio recording under Dorati, but the sound was never quite right, and the electricity of a live performance definitely not there. Rysanek’s two greatest roles were Senta and Empress in Frau. Both this and two later Dutchman broadcasts with her are available in MOoD. This performance follows by less than 24 hours Leonard Warren’s onstage death in Forza. Warren had been Rysanek’s husband in her Met debut in Macbeth two years earlier. The fourth performance of the matchless combination of London and Rysanek. Three years later there is another broadcast under Bohm, which is on Met Player. Best broadcast of the week by far.
ARIADNE AUF NAXOS:Strauss
Levine; Voigt, Schmidt, Dahl, Stratas, Prey, Oswald
Original Air Date: 04/23/1994
SID.20050642
Voigt is in very fresh voice here, but Schmidt and Dahl are not to my taste, and I think Stratas over sings the part of Composer. Better to hear the 1979 performance with one of Gruberova’s only 2 Met broadcasts with Kollo, Troyanos, and Johanna Meier in the title role.
TBA:TBA
TBA
Original Air Date: 01/01/9999
SID.20050743