MACBETH:Verdi
Rosenstock; Colzani, Rysanek, Tozzi, Bergonzi
Original Air Date: 03/24/1962
SID.20170318
Rosenstock picked up much of the conducting load previously assigned to Leinsdorf, who had decamped to the Boston Symphony as Music Director. Rosenstock had debuted at the Met in 1929 with six appearances not to reappear again until 1961 when he began a 248 performance run at the Met ending in 1969 with Meistersinger which he had premiered in November 1962 in a new production by Robert O’Hearn and Nathaniel Merrill. In other repertory most of this late career could be described as correct, and nowhere at the level of Bohm, Leinsdorf, or Stiedry.This is Rysanek’s third and last Lady Macbeth performance, and she is not in the form of her debut 4 years earlier, nor is Rosenstock as up to the task as Leinsdorf who replaced the orgiinally scheduled Mitropoulos in 1958. Colzani can be a bit rough hewn, but that works as Macbeth, and Bergonzi is as classy as it gets; Tozzi I prefer to HInes, but I prefer Giaiotti to either– a role Siepi never did at the Met (and don’t notice it elsewhere either).
IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA:Rossini
Davis; Workman, Battle, Blake, Capecchi, Montarsolo
Original Air Date: 03/13/1982
MOD Audio
SID.20170319
The Met Database shows this as previously rebroadcast on Sirius, but not recently. The plus is relatively early Battle performance, but she also has a 1988 telecast reissued on commercial DG DVD (still available per Amazon). The difference between William Workman and Leo Nucci on the DVD is considerable. I was surprised that this telecast is not in MOoD. In fact, the two videos there are the excellent DiDonato, Florez, Mattei performance rom the first season of Met LIve in HD, and the second last season’s Barbiere with Isabel Leonard, Brownlee, and Maltman. Surely this 1988 performance needs to be in MOoD.
THE GREAT GATSBY:Harbison
Levine; Hadley, Upshaw, Croft, Graham, Baker, Lieberson
Original Air Date: 01/01/2000
MOD Audio
SID.20170320
Levine is a great promoter of Harbison’s work, but I miss the appeal. First appearance of Hunt Lieberson whose only other role was Didon in the new Troyens production whose broadcast marks Hunt Lieberson’s Met farewell in February 2003 before her untimely death in July 2006.
WOZZECK:Berg
Levine; Van Dam, Silja, Ulfung, Weller, Cassilly
Original Air Date: 03/08/1980
SID.20170322
Levine dominates Wozzeck performances almost as much as Clemenza- 48 for Levine, 14 for Bohm, 4 for Colin Davis, and 3 for Jeffrey Tate. This performance with van Dam and Silja in crackling form was also issued as part of Levine’s 40th anniversary CD box (and now available singly as well). There is also a video from 2001 with Dalayman and Struckmann under Levine that was only issued during Levine’s 40th anniversary DVD box (and still available from Amazon among others). This performance was unavailable in any format for many years.
LES CONTES D’HOFFMANN:Offenbach
James Levine: Joseph Calleja, Anna Netrebko, Kate Lindsey, Alan Held
Original Air Date: 12/19/2009
Live in HD
SID.20170323
COSÌ FAN TUTTE:Mozart
Hager; Vaness, Lopardo, Ziegler, Cowan, Upshaw, Feller
Original Air Date: 12/07/1991
SID.20170324
Vaness is the champion Fiordiligi at the Met with 44 performances (Steber, the number 2 only has 29). She deserves her top place because in an era of very fine Mozart singers, her assumption ranked with the best. I always find the Vaness tone a little less individual than a Steber, a Lorengar, Te Kanawa, or Fleming, but all the pieces really come together for her. I’m not sure one does not do better in terms of overall casting with one of the other Vaness broadcasts or the telecast (with Bartoli as Despina ) which is available in MOoD.
LA FORZA DEL DESTINO:Verdi
Levine; Price, Giacomini, Nucci, Giaiotti, Jones, Fissore
Original Air Date: 03/24/1984
SID.20170425
This is a 3 performance group intended to capture the Price Leonora on video ; fall performances had featured mostly Bumbry (with a few to Amara) partnering Carreras. This is a solid performance but I prefer Price a decade earlier with Bergonzi in 1972; her supporting cast are full-throated Italians (Paskalis is Greek, but Bergonzi and Siepi are Verdians to their fingertips and that is much the best of the 1970s. Giacomini in this 1984 performance gets some rare visibility, and deservedly so.
LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR:Donizetti
Santi; Devia, Hadley, Pons, Plishka
Original Air Date: 01/29/1994
SID.20170426
Devia has not been a frequent Met performer (73 performances over 15 years). This is her final broadcast from the Met (and she has not been at the Met for 18 years w, though still quite active in Europe.) For me she is a much superior Lucia to Dessay, Netrebko, or Swenson, even if she is not in the Sutherland class. Who is? This performance is available on Met Opera on Demand (MOoD).
DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN:Strauss
Böhm; Rysanek, Nagy, Ludwig, Berry, Dalis
Original Air Date: 01/16/1971
SID.20170427
This is the third of Bohm’s four broadcasts of the legendary 1966 production which premiered in the opening weeks of Lincoln Center. Nagy is the first major change in the ensemble, and had been the Apparition in the premiere — James King was the regular Emperor. Nagy more than holds up his end, and is fully up to the vocal challenges. The ensemble is still a marvel a half century later, even if Bohm managed to excise more pages of the score with each successive revival; not a completist, but absolutely a master Straussian. If one is looking for MOoD coverage of Frau, the only Bohm performance has two major cast changes from the original Frau 1966 “ensemble”, Dunn as Nurse, and Schroder-Feinen as Dyer’s Wife. It would be very nice to have another Bohm performance in MOoD, which covers those interpretations, preferably the first broadcast, which has the fewest cuts.
PARSIFAL:Wagner
Gergiev; Domingo, Urmana, Struckmann, Pape, Putilin
Original Air Date: 04/12/2003
MOD Audio
SID.20170428
The main attraction here is Pape’s first Gurnemanz. I was not much taken with Gergiev’s work, but the part is a good one for Domingo, and the rest of the cast are top tier. It’s certainly a change from Levine, and one of Domingo’s better German offerings. Because of the contributions of Pape and Gergiev, MOoD should have this performance as well. Pape is represented in the new production on video on MOoD and on DVD. There are a number of Parsifals that have not made it to either Sirius rebroadcast or MOoD. Broadcasts featuring Crespin (under Pretre, 1966) Varnay with Hotter, 1954, Dalis with Siepi and Stewart, 1971 and several interesting casts under Levine including Gwyneth Jones are all unrepresented.
PARSIFAL:Wagner
Gergiev; Domingo, Urmana, Struckmann, Pape, Putilin
Original Air Date: 04/12/2003
MOD Audio
SID.20170429
The main attraction here is Pape’s first Gurnemanz. I was not much taken with Gergiev’s work, but the part is a good one for Domingo, and the rest of the cast are top tier. It’s certainly a change from Levine, and one of Domingo’s better German offerings. Because of the contributions of Pape and Gergiev, MOoD should have this performance as well. Pape is represented in the new production on video on MOoD and on DVD. There are a number of Parsifals that have not made it to either Sirius rebroadcast or MOoD. Broadcasts featuring Crespin (under Pretre, 1966) Varnay with Hotter, 1954, Dalis with Siepi and Stewart, 1971 and several interesting casts under Levine including Gwyneth Jones are all unrepresented.
THE MERRY WIDOW:Lehar
Andrew David: Renée Fleming, Nathan Gunn, Kelli O’Hara, Thomas Allen
Original Air Date: 01/17/2015
Live in HD
SID.20170431
EUGENE ONEGIN:Tchaikovsky
Ozawa; Leiferkus, Freni, Hadley, Svendén, Ghiaurov
Original Air Date: 12/19/1992
MOD Audio
SID.20170432
This is Freni’s second Met broadcast of Tatiana. In 1989 with Levine conducting, Hadley repeats with Hynninen in the title role, and Robert Lloyd as Gremin. The 1989 performance is available in MOoD. This is one of Ozawa’s two matinee broadcasts, the second one 16 years later in Tchaikovsky’s Queen of Spades. Ozawa is ok, but there’s plenty of fine Onegin conducting at the Met.
VANESSA:Barber
Mitropoulos; Steber, Gedda, Elias, Resnik, Tozzi
Original Air Date: 02/01/1958
MOD Audio
SID.20170533
Vanessa received its world premiere with this cast two weeks before this broadcast. Though Steber was not the first choice for the title role, she does some of her best broadcast singing on this. The Skating aria (later removed by Barber from the published score) has as many technical hurdles as any of Steber’s Mozart heroines, and she is up to them. The libretto gets its deserved criticisms, but Barber’s music has allowed the work to continue performances if none yet in the Met’s Lincoln Center theatre.
WOZZECK:Berg
Levine; Van Dam, Silja, Ulfung, Weller, Cassilly
Original Air Date: 03/08/1980
SID.20170534
Levine dominates Wozzeck performances almost as much as Clemenza- 48 for Levine, 14 for Bohm, 4 for Colin Davis, and 3 for Jeffrey Tate. This performance with van Dam and Silja in crackling form was also issued as part of Levine’s 40th anniversary CD box (and now available singly as well). There is also a video from 2001 with Dalayman and Struckmann under Levine that was only issued during Levine’s 40th anniversary DVD box (and still available from Amazon among others). This performance was unavailable in any format for many years.
ROMÉO ET JULIETTE:Gounod
Lewis; Corelli, Blegen, Gill, Munzer, Carlson
Original Air Date: 12/07/1974
SID.20170535
This performance does not catch Corelli at his best. This is his final season and he completes his Met broadcast career 2 weeks later with a Turandot (and Bjoner’s final met appearance). For a man with almost 400 Met performances, he is richly represented in the broadcast archives. Better to listen to the Trovatore or Turandot in 1961 (a month apart!!!) or the AIda or Tosca from 1962 (also a month apart) or many others. Blegen is OK, but would be better paired with a different Romeo. This performance is on MOoD as well, and Blegen is very good. This is towards the end of the Corelli era (his next to last broadcast) and a close examination of his work is not always satisfying. This is Corelli’s penultimate Met broadcast, with Turandot occurring three weeks later (also Bjoner’s farewell to the Met in that performance). Corelli is second only to de Rezke in Romeo totals at the Met with his 36 performances. When paired with Freni as they were for the production’s premiere in 1967, one does not worry quite so much about the mostly absent French style. Freni had Gedda as her partner for the first broadcast of this production, then Corelli comes back for the next with Pilou as his partner and Lombard in the pit. Corelli has a second broadcast with Boky that finds neither of them in best voice. Blegen is a fine Juliette with him on the third, but the weak link for me this time is the conductor, Henry Lewis, who is no better than the weaker members of the Met’s Asst. Conductor staff. You can hear for yourself on MOoD.
MACBETH:Verdi
Rosenstock; Colzani, Rysanek, Tozzi, Bergonzi
Original Air Date: 03/24/1962
SID.20170536
Rosenstock picked up much of the conducting load previously assigned to Leinsdorf, who had decamped to the Boston Symphony as Music Director. Rosenstock had debuted at the Met in 1929 with six appearances not to reappear again until 1961 when he began a 248 performance run at the Met ending in 1969 with Meistersinger which he had premiered in November 1962 in a new production by Robert O’Hearn and Nathaniel Merrill. In other repertory most of this late career could be described as correct, and nowhere at the level of Bohm, Leinsdorf, or Stiedry. This is Rysanek’s third and last Lady Macbeth performance, and she is not in the form of her debut 4 years earlier, nor is Rosenstock as up to the task as Leinsdorf who replaced the orgiinally scheduled Mitropoulos in 1958. Colzani can be a bit rough hewn, but that works as Macbeth, and Bergonzi is as classy as it gets; Tozzi I prefer to HInes, but I prefer Giaiotti to either– a role Siepi never did at the Met (and don’t notice it elsewhere either).
IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA:Rossini
Davis; Workman, Battle, Blake, Capecchi, Montarsolo
Original Air Date: 03/13/1982
MOD Audio
SID.20170537
The Met Database shows this as previously rebroadcast on Sirius, but not recently. The plus is relatively early Battle performance, but she also has a 1988 telecast reissued on commercial DG DVD (still available per Amazon). The difference between William Workman and Leo Nucci on the DVD is considerable. I was surprised that this telecast is not in MOoD. In fact, the two videos there are the excellent DiDonato, Florez, Mattei performance rom the first season of Met LIve in HD, and the second last season’s Barbiere with Isabel Leonard, Brownlee, and Maltman. Surely this 1988 performance needs to be in MOoD.
LA TRAVIATA:Verdi
Fabio Luisi: Natalie Dessay, Matthew Polenzani, Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Original Air Date: 04/14/2012
Live in HD
SID.20170539
THE GREAT GATSBY:Harbison
Levine; Hadley, Upshaw, Croft, Graham, Baker, Lieberson
Original Air Date: 01/01/2000
MOD Audio
SID.20170641
Levine is a great promoter of Harbison’s work, but I miss the appeal. First appearance of Hunt Lieberson whose only other role was Didon in the new Troyens production whose broadcast marks Hunt Lieberson’s Met farewell in February 2003 before her untimely death in July 2006.
COSÌ FAN TUTTE:Mozart
Hager; Vaness, Lopardo, Ziegler, Cowan, Upshaw, Feller
Original Air Date: 12/07/1991
SID.20170643
Vaness is the champion Fiordiligi at the Met with 44 performances (Steber, the number 2 only has 29). She deserves her top place because in an era of very fine Mozart singers, her assumption ranked with the best. I always find the Vaness tone a little less individual than a Steber, a Lorengar, Te Kanawa, or Fleming, but all the pieces really come together for her. I’m not sure one does not do better in terms of overall casting with one of the other Vaness broadcasts or the telecast (with Bartoli as Despina ) which is available in MOoD.
VARIOUS:Various
Various Artists
Original Air Date: 01/01/9999
SID.20170644
TURANDOT:Puccini
Carignani; Stemme, Hartig, Berti, Tsymbalyuk
Original Air Date: 01/30/2016
Live in HD
SID.20170645
A Performance form January 30, 2016
First Intermission: Feature- The sound of nostalgia in operas; Interviews – HD Host Renée Fleming interviews Anita Hartig, Alexander Tsymbalyuk and Marco Berti ; Kat’a Kabanová preview
Second Intermission: Feature – Rosemary Nencheck Cameo; HD Host Renée Fleming interviews Nina Stemme
PARSIFAL:Wagner
Gergiev; Domingo, Urmana, Struckmann, Pape, Putilin
Original Air Date: 04/12/2003
MOD Audio
SID.20170647
The main attraction here is Pape’s first Gurnemanz. I was not much taken with Gergiev’s work, but the part is a good one for Domingo, and the rest of the cast are top tier. It’s certainly a change from Levine, and one of Domingo’s better German offerings. Because of the contributions of Pape and Gergiev, MOoD should have this performance as well. Pape is represented in the new production on video on MOoD and on DVD. There are a number of Parsifals that have not made it to either Sirius rebroadcast or MOoD. Broadcasts featuring Crespin (under Pretre, 1966) Varnay with Hotter, 1954, Dalis with Siepi and Stewart, 1971 and several interesting casts under Levine including Gwyneth Jones are all unrepresented.
PARSIFAL:Wagner
Gergiev; Domingo, Urmana, Struckmann, Pape, Putilin
Original Air Date: 04/12/2003
MOD Audio
SID.20170648
The main attraction here is Pape’s first Gurnemanz. I was not much taken with Gergiev’s work, but the part is a good one for Domingo, and the rest of the cast are top tier. It’s certainly a change from Levine, and one of Domingo’s better German offerings. Because of the contributions of Pape and Gergiev, MOoD should have this performance as well. Pape is represented in the new production on video on MOoD and on DVD. There are a number of Parsifals that have not made it to either Sirius rebroadcast or MOoD. Broadcasts featuring Crespin (under Pretre, 1966) Varnay with Hotter, 1954, Dalis with Siepi and Stewart, 1971 and several interesting casts under Levine including Gwyneth Jones are all unrepresented.
EUGENE ONEGIN:Tchaikovsky
Ozawa; Leiferkus, Freni, Hadley, Svendén, Ghiaurov
Original Air Date: 12/19/1992
MOD Audio
SID.20170750
This is Freni’s second Met broadcast of Tatiana. In 1989 with Levine conducting, Hadley repeats with Hynninen in the title role, and Robert Lloyd as Gremin. The 1989 performance is available in MOoD. This is one of Ozawa’s two matinee broadcasts, the second one 16 years later in Tchaikovsky’s Queen of Spades. Ozawa is ok, but there’s plenty of fine Onegin conducting at the Met.
VANESSA:Barber
Mitropoulos; Steber, Gedda, Elias, Resnik, Tozzi
Original Air Date: 02/01/1958
MOD Audio
SID.20170751
Vanessa received its world premiere with this cast two weeks before this broadcast. Though Steber was not the first choice for the title role, she does some of her best broadcast singing on this. The Skating aria (later removed by Barber from the published score) has as many technical hurdles as any of Steber’s Mozart heroines, and she is up to them. The libretto gets its deserved criticisms, but Barber’s music has allowed the work to continue performances if none yet in the Met’s Lincoln Center theatre.
LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR:Donizetti
Santi; Devia, Hadley, Pons, Plishka
Original Air Date: 01/29/1994
SID.20170752
Devia has not been a frequent Met performer (73 performances over 15 years). This is her final broadcast from the Met (and she has not been at the Met for 18 years w, though still quite active in Europe.) For me she is a much superior Lucia to Dessay, Netrebko, or Swenson, even if she is not in the Sutherland class. Who is? This performance is available on Met Opera on Demand (MOoD).
ROMÉO ET JULIETTE:Gounod
Lewis; Corelli, Blegen, Gill, Munzer, Carlson
Original Air Date: 12/07/1974
SID.20170753
This performance does not catch Corelli at his best. This is his final season and he completes his Met broadcast career 2 weeks later with a Turandot (and Bjoner’s final met appearance). For a man with almost 400 Met performances, he is richly represented in the broadcast archives. Better to listen to the Trovatore or Turandot in 1961 (a month apart!!!) or the AIda or Tosca from 1962 (also a month apart) or many others. Blegen is OK, but would be better paired with a different Romeo. This performance is on MOoD as well, and Blegen is very good. This is towards the end of the Corelli era (his next to last broadcast) and a close examination of his work is not always satisfying. This is Corelli’s penultimate Met broadcast, with Turandot occurring three weeks later (also Bjoner’s farewell to the Met in that performance). Corelli is second only to de Rezke in Romeo totals at the Met with his 36 performances. When paired with Freni as they were for the production’s premiere in 1967, one does not worry quite so much about the mostly absent French style. Freni had Gedda as her partner for the first broadcast of this production, then Corelli comes back for the next with Pilou as his partner and Lombard in the pit. Corelli has a second broadcast with Boky that finds neither of them in best voice. Blegen is a fine Juliette with him on the third, but the weak link for me this time is the conductor, Henry Lewis, who is no better than the weaker members of the Met’s Asst. Conductor staff. You can hear for yourself on MOoD.
WOZZECK:Berg
Levine; Van Dam, Silja, Ulfung, Weller, Cassilly
Original Air Date: 03/08/1980
SID.20170754
Levine dominates Wozzeck performances almost as much as Clemenza- 48 for Levine, 14 for Bohm, 4 for Colin Davis, and 3 for Jeffrey Tate. This performance with van Dam and Silja in crackling form was also issued as part of Levine’s 40th anniversary CD box (and now available singly as well). There is also a video from 2001 with Dalayman and Struckmann under Levine that was only issued during Levine’s 40th anniversary DVD box (and still available from Amazon among others). This performance was unavailable in any format for many years.