RIGOLETTO:Verdi
Original Air Date: 12/17/2005
Fisch; Guelfi, Netrebko, Villazón, Halfvarson, Fabiola Herrera
SID.19270208
I was at the first performance of the run, and while Netrebko had her moments, this part was just a bit too high for her. I still enjoyed her, but Villazon had his ups and downs. The real weakness was Guelfi who continued to UNdistinguish Met performances for the next decade plus. Even though he debuted in a series of park Rigolettos in 2000, this 2005 performance marks his Met broadcast debut.
DIE ÄGYPTISCHE HELENA:Strauss
Original Air Date: 03/31/2007
Luisi; Voigt, Kerl, Damrau, Grove, Brendel
MOD Audio SID.19270209
This is the Met’s only broadcast of the Strauss work and Kerl and Damrau are very impressive. I don’t love the work, but like most Strauss, it has its moments. It’s repeated too often in rotation which in no way approximates its importance in the Strauss canon. This was the first Met production in more than eight decades. I love the awakening scene, but for me it’s one of the weaker Strauss works. I shouldn’t complain. No Strauss at all this season or next. To date this is the only Met matinee broadcast of this uncommon Strauss work. The strongest profile is from Damrau who is an excellent Aithra. The opera has some great moments, and was one of Met audience’s first chances to encounter Luisi, now the Principal Conductor.
MANON:Massenet
Original Air Date: 12/21/1963
Schippers; Moffo, Gedda, Guarrera
SID.19270211
I saw Moffo and Gedda in this new production on the Met tour in Dallas (spring 1964.) She was very beautiful, but made no impact. Once you’ve heard the De Los Angeles/Monteux recording, THERE is Manon. There is a 1959 broadcast with Gedda and De Los Angeles which has never appeared on Sirius ( she does have a 1954 with Valletti which is very fine and has been on), but let us have more Jean Morel in the pit.
Britten
Original Air Date: 12/14/1974
Bedford; Pears, Shirley Quirk, Velis
MOD Audio SID.19270212
The Met saw the USA premiere of Britten’s Death in Venice and for the Met debut of Peter Pears. His only other role at the Met was Captain Vere in Billy Budd four years later; fortunately both of Pears’ roles are on MOoD. I always enjoy returning to Billy Budd, but I find Death in Venice a hard sit despite all the talent involved.
Verdi
Original Air Date: 03/24/2001
Levine; Pons, Guleghina, Ramey, Casanova
SID.19270213
The telecast (on MOoD) and DVD replace Casanova with Gwyn Hughes Jones. Chorus is solid (but better since Palumbo) and Pons, Guleghina, and Ramey are all ok, with Ramey beginning his wobble phase. He has Zaccarias in other houses that are better, but this is pretty much ok, just defintely not his peak (which is very good indeed). I prefer the broadcast with Susan Neves and Ataneli from 2003 also with Ramey. What is on MOoD is the Met premiere season of Nabucco with MacNeil and Siepi in excellent form and Rysanek doing full engagement with Abigaille, not always successfully.
SALOME:Strauss
Original Air Date: 01/05/1974
Levine; Bumbry, Ulfung, Resnik, Shadur, Lewis
SID.19270214
This is Levine’s only Met run of Salome. Bumbry is in luscious voice, but Shadur is below major house standard for Jokanaan.
SAMSON ET DALILA:Saint-Saëns
Original Air Date: 04/16/1977
Ehrling; Chauvet, Cossotto, Walker
SID.19270315
Although I think Samson is being over-programmed –it’s not Carmen but I feel like we seem to get about equal parts of each– this performance is Cossotto’s only in-Met Dalila but did a full tour with the Met after this broadcast. Chauvet may not be ideal, but stylistically he is more authentic than anyone since Maison. Cossotto also has only one broadcast of Quickly, and again she only did it one season, and I am not sure how often elsewhere. While she is famous for the big Verdi mezzo parts, she can be a very fine musician, and certainly has the technical chops. Late I believe she did Herodias in Spain; wish she had brought that to the Met as well.
JENUFA:Janácek
Original Air Date: 12/26/1992
Conlon; Benacková, Rysanek, Heppner, Trussel, Christin
SID.19270316
One of the great Met performances, and why is this performance not in MOoD– in fact NO performances of Jenufa are there? All the ingredients are there, and I saw the combo of Benackova and Rysanek in both San Francisco and New York. Heppner is an additional bonus.
LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST:Puccini
Original Air Date: 10/04/2018
Armiliato; Westbroek, Eyvazov, Bosi, Lucic, Simpson, Rose, Gradus
SID.19270535
Soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek sings Puccini’s gun-slinging heroine in this romantic epic of the Wild West, with the heralded return of tenor Jonas Kaufmann in the role of the outlaw she loves. Tenor Yusif Eyvazov also sings some performances. Baritone Željko Lučić is the vigilante sheriff Jack Rance, and Marco Armiliato conducts.
GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG:Wagner
Original Air Date: 01/27/1962
Leinsdorf; Nilsson, Hopf, Frick, Mittelmann, Kuchta, Dalis
MOD Audio SID.19280102
This is a magnificent performance with Nilsson and Frick among the best ever in two of the most challenging roles in the repertoire. The rest of the cast are seasoned performers who certainly bring something special. This was possibly the first uncut broadcast Gotterdammerung, though that now seems commonplace.
FIDELIO:Beethoven
Original Air Date: 02/22/1941
Walter; Flagstad, Maison, Huehn, Kipnis, Farell, Laufkötter
SID.19280104
This performance is important on several counts: 1) it comes only a week after Walter’s Met debut and marked his first appearances in the USA as an opera conductor—he had led symphonic ensembles for close to a decade. Flagstad was concluding her pre-war Met career (9 performances, half of them on tour and she was to be gone for a decade). The supporting cast is of high quality, but the real hallmarks are Walter’s conducting and her luminous Leonore. They can be sampled in MOoD in Flagstad’s return in 1951. Having a voice with the quality of Kipnis is another recommendation for including this performance in MOoD as well.
DER ROSENKAVALIER:Strauss
Original Air Date: 02/08/1969
Böhm; Ludwig, Rysanek, Berry, Grist, Knoll
MOD Audio SID.19280105
This production had its final performances in 2013-2014 with Martina Serafin, and Alice Coote. I remember the premiere of this Nathaniel Merrill/Robert O’Hearn production. The opening of the second act almost blinded the audience. Bohm, Ludwig, Rysanek, and Berry all rank very high in their portrayals in this opera, and for me only Grist was a little undercast for a house the size of the Met. Glad it’s returning to the Sirius airwaves, and even happier that it’s in MOoD. Gedda is lagniappe indeed as the Italian Singer.
LA BOHÈME:Puccini
Original Air Date: 03/17/2001
Crawford; Gauci, Lopardo, Arteta, Finley, Bernstein
SID.19280106
Verdi
Original Air Date: 02/06/1965
Santi; Tucci, Corelli, Bastianini, Tozzi, Grillo, Esparza
SID.19280107
The broadcast is a mixed bag, with Tucci coping surprisingly well for a part that benefits from the splendor of a Ponselle or the luster of Tebaldi or Milanov. Corelli is shown to much better effect 3 years later when he reprises his Alvaro with Leontyne Price. Bastianini is returning for his final year (overlapping the 1964-65 and 1965-66 seasons) This is not the voice that departed 5 years earlier with triumphant Gerards in Andrea Chenier NOTHING of these on Sirius ;( . He was to die of cancer in 1967 less than two years after his final 1965 Met appearances. Tozzi is not the settled bass of Siepi or Hines (some of this audible on the Price studio recording from the same period) and Esparza is no replacement for either Corena or Baccaloni. A strong conductor can sometimes make this sprawling opera work, but Santi is not that maestro. In addition to the various Met performances, I do want to remind readers that Corelli and Bastianini are caught in top form at the opening of the 1958 Naples season along with Tebaldi and Christoff at their respective best as well under Molinari-Pradelli in a Hardy Video.
CARMEN:Bizet
Original Air Date: 01/12/1974
Lewis; Horne, McCracken, Amara, Reardon
MOD Audio SID.19280208
I’m rather down on this performance from its most recent rebroadcast. Lewis’conducting lacks snap or allure, and Horne without Bernstein to challenge her seems too wayward for me. If you want to sample Horne and McCracken, listen to the studio based on the first performances of the production from the previous season; the March 1973 broadcast (same cast except Krause for Reardon) is only slightly better. Check the DG recording with Lenny.
L’ITALIANA IN ALGERI:Rossini
Original Air Date: 01/04/1986
Levine; Horne, Ahlstedt, Montarsolo, Monk
MOD Video SID.19280209
This performance precedes the telecast by one week and that telecast is available in MOoD. For me, the distinction of the performance is mostly Montarsolo. Isabella is Horne’s second most performed role at 37 (Carmen unsurprisingly is first at 49) Her 3d is Adalgisa in Norma (all with Sutherland). MOD is 1/11/86 performance with same cast.
AIDA:Verdi
Original Air Date: 02/20/1954
Cleva; Milanov, Baum, Barbieri, Warren, Hines
MOD Audio SID.19280210
Milanov, Barbieri, Warren and Hines are major Aida players any way you look at it. I used to have some cavils about Warren’s lack of equalization, but after the Verdi baritone singing I’ve endured the last quarter century, I am always grateful to encounter him in one of his signature roles.
SIMON BOCCANEGRA:Verdi
Original Air Date: 03/03/2007
Luisi; Hampson, Gheorghiu, Giordani, Furlanetto, Gerello
MOD Audio SID.19280212
Simon is one opera that gets regular outings at the Met, though not necessarily everywhere, starting with the titanic duo of Tibbett and Pinza, both of whom are still my standard in Simon and Fiesco (but not yet appearing on Sirius). I am not a big fan of Hampson’s traversal of the Verdi baritone repertoire. This was followed with another MOoD broadcast (video) with Domingo moving up to the title role under Levine. For me the best of the recent SBs was the FOLLOWING year when Levine did a short revival with Hvorostovsky (not always my choice for Verdi either) with Frittoli, Vargas, and Furlanetto, where Levine seems at his most inspired– he’s conducted 1/3 of all Boccanegras at the Met, and this performance is now out on MOoD as well. Somehow this performance did not make it in to MOoD– it should.
L’ELISIR D’AMORE:Donizetti
Original Air Date: 03/18/1978
Caldwell; Pavarotti, Blegen, Corena, Sereni
SID.19280213
My memory of Caldwell’s conducting (her Met farewell) is not so positive; this is the second of three Blegen/Pavarotti Elisirs. For me Sereni and Corena, especially Corena have never been replaced in these roles. Corena’s near monopoly of Dr. Dulcamara is totally deserved. It is just a shame that there are not more video representations of his very considerable art. A particular word of praise for Sereni, whose recent passing reminds us of what a reliable artist he was. The best Elisir for my money is the all Italian one from 1972 with Scotto, Bergonzi, Sereni, and Corena (on MOoD); there is an earlier broadcast (1966) which is on MOoD and Sony CD which substitutes Peters and Guarrera under Schippers for Scotto and Sereni. MOoD covers all this ground plus a fine broadcast with Peters and Kraus from 1968 with again Sereni and Corena.
LE NOZZE DI FIGARO:Mozart
Original Air Date: 01/11/1958
Leinsdorf; Tozzi, Güden, Della Casa, London, Miller
SID.19280214
Sirius honors Giorgio Tozzi who died May 30, 2011 at the age of 88. Leinsdorf and three members of this cast moved on to Vienna to record Figaro (Peters for Guden, and Elias for Miller on the recording are new) A used copy on Amazon was asking $172. This performance has been on before , but my memory of Della Casa, Guden and London are mostly from other broadcasts, so I’ll definitely take a listen. Bing did a lot of Nozze — this round of performances comes just before a new production two seasons later also with Leinsdorf. The other four performances feature cast changes in every part . A nice cast, but make sure this is the chemistry you want.
MAZEPPA:Tchaikovsky
Original Air Date: 03/18/2006
Gergiev; Putilin, Guryakova, Balashov, Burchuladze, Diadkova
SID.19280315
This is the only Met broadcast of Tchaikovsky’s powerful work. This performance is notable for Tchaikovsky’s powerful music, Gergiev’s assured conducting, and Putilin giving his considerable all to the title role. This is offbeat repertory that I’m glad we’ve had. Gergiev and Putilin make a strong case for hearing the work more often. It should really be on MOoD.
LES CONTES D’HOFFMANN:Offenbach
Original Air Date: 01/02/1988
Dutoit; Shicoff, Morris, Bradley, Troyanos, Alexander, Quittmeyer
SID.19280316
This is the broadcast that comes six days before the Met telecast performance with the same cast. The video is available in MOoD. Dutoit in his Met debut season has just the right Gallic snap for this sprawling work, and Shicoff , Morris, and Laciura hold up the male side splendidly. The women are all sufficient to their task, and thanks to the conductor, it is an outstanding Hoffmann.
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ADRIANA LECOUVREUR:Cilea
Original Air Date: 12/31/2018
Noseda; Netrebko, Rachvelishvili, Beczala, Bosi, Maestri, Muraro
SID.19280535
Based on a play by Eugène Scribe, the story was inspired by the real-life intrigues of famed actress Adrienne Lecouvreur and the legendary soldier—and lover—Maurice of Saxony. Cilea’s operatic retelling quickly became a favorite of charismatic soloists. The title character in particular is a quintessential diva role. Drama Queen (Article by William Berger) On New Year’s Eve, Francesco Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur returns to the Met with soprano Anna Netrebko in the touchstone title role. She teams up with tenor Piotr Beczała as her lover, Maurizio—a brilliant pairing of stars fresh off a joint triumph in performances of Adriana in Vienna. Mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili rounds out the all-star principal trio, and maestro Gianandrea Noseda is on the podium. Sir David McVicar’s new staging—the Met’s first new production of the work in more than half a century—embraces Cilea’s glamorous 18th-century Parisian setting but also mines for deeper artistic significance in an opera that is often underestimated. (William Berger) Co-Production of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London; Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona; Wiener Staatsoper; San Francisco Opera; and L’Opéra National de Paris Production a gift of The Sybil B. Harrington Endowment Fund
LES CONTES D’HOFFMANN:Offenbach
Original Air Date: 01/02/1988
Dutoit; Shicoff, Morris, Bradley, Troyanos, Alexander, Quittmeyer
SID.19290101
This is the broadcast that comes six days before the Met telecast performance with the same cast. The video is available in MOoD. Dutoit in his Met debut season has just the right Gallic snap for this sprawling work, and Shicoff , Morris, and Laciura hold up the male side splendidly. The women are all sufficient to their task, and thanks to the conductor, it is an outstanding Hoffmann.
PARSIFAL:Wagner
Original Air Date: 04/09/1960
Leinsdorf; Liebl, Harshaw, Uhde, Hines, Pechner
SID.19290102
This broadcast was from a three performance run that mark Leinsdorf’s only postwar Parsifals at the Met. Modl made her farewell at the previous performance, and Liebl, a name not especially well known, has several fine Met performances to his credit. The performance is not uncut, per the review attached to the Database listing for the premiere.
CAPRICCIO:Strauss
Original Air Date: 01/31/1998
Davis; Te Kanawa, Rootering, Kuebler, Keenlyside, Brendel, Harries
MOD Audio SID.19290104
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.
IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA:Rossini
Original Air Date: 03/06/1954
Erede; Merrill, Peters, Valletti, Corena, Siepi
MOD Audio SID.19290105
This broadcast, a month after the production’s premiere is among the most vocally potent Barbieres in the history of the Met, and the RCA recording under Leinsdorf only substitutes Tozzi for Siepi for the main cast. This is Peters at ther best, and I find the male contingent very satisfying indeed. No Cessa di piu resistere though Valletti did include it on the RCA recording. Don’t miss. This production was recorded by RCA with Leinsdorf for Erede, and Tozzi for Siepi, but the rest of the cast intact. Merrill and Peters are both very fine, but it is the three Italians who give performances to savor. Corena was never in second tier with his Bartolo, and the recitatives with Siepi absolutely magical. A spirited ensemble and you can hear it in uncompressed sound on MOoD any time you want. Highly recommended.
DON CARLO:Verdi
Original Air Date: 03/05/1955
Adler; Tucker, Steber, Bastianini, Thebom, Hines, Moscona
SID.19290106
Surprisingly, Stiedry is not in the pit for this, and Adler is a rung lower and it counts in this opera. Steber lets the end of ‘Tu che le vanita’ get away from her, and the part is lower than ideal, but this is a very good house Don Carlo, Tucker a bit better than that and well matching Bastianini’s rich tones. Hines sings well enough but he is some distance from the Siepi/Ghiaurov/Christoff (not at Met) standard. You don’t want to hear Bastianini in his final two Met broadcasts (both 1965) of Forza del Destino and Don Carlo. Though his prime at the Met (1953-1960) was short most of the 70+ performances at the Met including five broadcasts are worth hearing for sampling one of the premiere post-WW2 Italian baritone voices. I’ve never heard his Traviata with Albanese from 1955, and career listers speak with reverence about his Carlo Gerard from 1960; certainly his CG with Tebaldi and Del Monaco in the studio is a classic. This performance is also available in MOoD and a good way to experience it.