GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG:Wagner
Original Air Date: 01/11/1936
Bodanzky; Lawrence, Melchior, Hofmann, Schorr, Manski, Meisle
MOD Audio SID.19200425
This is one of the earliest Met broadcasts to appear on Sirius, and it’s great to have Lawrence and Melchior in respectably decent sound for the period. It’s regrettable that Flagstad never broadcast Gotterdammerung (Prologue only during World’s Fair Year) from the Met, but Melchior is top tier and we simply have not heard a singer like him since. This also appears in the Met Wagner bicentennial CD box.
GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG:Wagner
Original Air Date: 01/11/1936
Bodanzky; Lawrence, Melchior, Hofmann, Schorr, Manski, Meisle
MOD Audio SID.19200426
This is one of the earliest Met broadcasts to appear on Sirius, and it’s great to have Lawrence and Melchior in respectably decent sound for the period. It’s regrettable that Flagstad never broadcast Gotterdammerung (Prologue only during World’s Fair Year) from the Met, but Melchior is top tier and we simply have not heard a singer like him since. This also appears in the Met Wagner bicentennial CD box.
OTELLO:Verdi
Original Air Date: 02/15/1964
Santi; McCracken, Rysanek, Colzani, Alexander
SID.19200427
I would much prefer us hearing several other McCracken Otellos which have not been broadcast, especially the 1963 with Tucci at her considerable best under Solti or McCracken’s last in 1972 under Bohm which is marked as having been on Sirius, but not very often. McCracken holds the Met record at 59 followed by Domingo at 40, and Vickers and Leo Slezak at 31. Rysanek bids farewell to Verdi at the Met with a whimper. (she has a Don Carlo broadcast a month later that at least has a few high points, but some poor sections there as well). In more than 20 years after these performances, she is not heard in Italian opera except for an occasional Tosca (the last in 1979).
EUGENE ONEGIN:Tchaikovsky
Original Air Date: 02/23/1985
Järvi; Nucci, Griffel, Raitzin, Jones, Plishka
SID.19200428
Jarvi has a better cast 6 years earlier– the magnificent Mazurok as Onegin, and Shicoff in one of his best parts. I also prefer Kashrashvili. The 1979 performance is regularly on Sirius . That’s worth your time. The 1979 Onegin really deserves to be in MOoD. With so many Russian singers and audience members, Onegin seems almost as regular as Rigoletto. I am more impressed by Mazurok’s two broadcast outings, one with Jarvi conducting as well.
AIDA:Verdi
Original Air Date: 03/03/1962
Schick; Tucci, Corelli, Dalis, MacNeil, Tozzi
MOD Audio SID.19200529
I much enjoy the energy and passion of all the singers. Tucci is definitely a lyric Aida, but she knows the idiom well and is very solid. George Schick who was a staff conductor at the Met for some years, knows how to keep the forces under control without stifling any of the artists’ expressive impulses. The men definitely ate their Wheaties before the performance. Enjoy.
Berg
Original Air Date: 01/06/1990
Levine; Hornik, Behrens, Clark, McIntyre, King
SID.19200530
Behrens had done Marie in 1985 with Christian Boesch also under Levine. King is luxury casting as the Drum Major, but I think Cassilly’s rougher voice in 1985 is more appropriate. Still well worth a listen.
FIDELIO:Beethoven
Original Air Date: 02/13/1960
Böhm; Nilsson, Vickers, Uhde, Czerwenka, Hurley, Anthony
MOD Audio SID.19200531
This performance was issued also on Sony’s Met Historic CD series, as well as being in MOoD. Bohm, Nilsson, and Vickers bring all the exaltation and passion one could want to this opera. Vickers still continues to leave most other Florestans in the dust. What a privilege to have seen him from beginning (1958 in Dallas) to end great performances well into the 1980s. He’s not for everyone, but in his core roles– Grimes, Otello, Siegmund, Florestan, Samson, Parsifal, Tristan, Enee he never left audiences wanting. One of the very greatest singers ever to appear on ANY stage, and it was my privilege to have shared so many evenings with him. Czerwenka is not my idea of Rocco, but Bohm, Nilsson and Vickers are pretty unbeatable, and no one plays the Leonore No. 3 like Bohm.
LA GIOCONDA:Ponchielli
Original Air Date: 02/03/1990
Santi; Dimitrova, Beccaria, Fondary, Toczyska, Plishka
SID.19200532
The distaff side was definitely an Iron Curtain special, with both Dimitrova and Milcheva from Bulgaria and Toczyska from Poland. Beccaria replaced Pavarotti (who ended up never doing the part at the Met). I had seen DImitrova in Chicago not long before and was disappointed with her there, and she was the same at the Met. Fondary is an interesting singer, but not at the level of Manuguerra who has many of the same sensibilities. — This revival was originally scheduled for Pavarotti (he never did Enzo at the Met after all), and Beccaria is very short ration for a part that often featured Corelli or Tucker. I saw Dimitrova in both Chicago and the Met, and she was no more than B+. She had the right size voice, but not the right personality to make Gioconda memorable. Marton was much better. Toczyska, by contrast with Dimitrova, is not so gifted vocally, but she is a strong musician and dramatic presence and makes the most of what she has. An excellent second level Amneris in many venues in the 1980s and 1990s. Santi lets the work sprawl too much– Patane and Cleva (I had previously listed Molinari-Pradelli who does not have the opera at the Met or as far as I can see anywhere else ) are much more to the task at hand. Toscanini, Serafin, and Panizza all have double digit Met Gioconda totals. — This is a Pavarotti cancellation, and I had seen Dimitrova in Chicago the year before. In neither NYC nor Chicago did it count as one of her best roles. With the possible exceptions of Dimitrova and Toczyska no one else is much above replacement level. I love Gioconda, but this is not the cast. And a mini-Gioconda cast is one can well do without.
LOHENGRIN:Wagner
Original Air Date: 12/24/1955
Stiedry; Sullivan, Steber, Harshaw, Uhde, Edelmann
SID.19200533
This performance is also available on MOoD, and is the second of Steber’s two Elsa broadcasts from the Met. The only singer not much to my taste on this broadcast is Edelmann, Pape and Giaoitti have spoiled us for how good this part can sound. Steber after her season in Bayreuth is in her element especially the second and third acts . The AM sound cannot disguise the fact that the orchestra is on much stronger footing in Wagner now than in the 1950s. It’s always grand to experience Steber in one of her best roles. I generally prefer Steber in the Bayreuth performance, but this is a solid cast and Uhde is a strong Telramund as well.
THE RAKES PROGRESS:Stravinsky
Original Air Date: 02/14/1953
Reiner; Conley, Güden, Harrell, Thebom
SID.19200636
This is the American premiere with the composer in attendance. Worth noting is the director for this production is George Balanchine. It’s still a chilly work for me Not my cup of tea, but a distinguished afternoon, and the U.S. premiere occurs with this broadcast. Reiner is major in every way.
OTELLO:Verdi
Original Air Date: 02/15/1964
Santi; McCracken, Rysanek, Colzani, Alexander
SID.19200637
I would much prefer us hearing several other McCracken Otellos which have not been broadcast, especially the 1963 with Tucci at her considerable best under Solti or McCracken’s last in 1972 under Bohm which is marked as having been on Sirius, but not very often. McCracken holds the Met record at 59 followed by Domingo at 40, and Vickers and Leo Slezak at 31. Rysanek bids farewell to Verdi at the Met with a whimper. (she has a Don Carlo broadcast a month later that at least has a few high points, but some poor sections there as well). In more than 20 years after these performances, she is not heard in Italian opera except for an occasional Tosca (the last in 1979).
HÄNSEL UND GRETEL:Humperdinck
Original Air Date: 12/29/2001
Mackerras; Larmore, Upshaw, Forst, Blythe, Josephson
MOD Audio SID.19200638
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.
LA BOHÈME:Puccini
Original Air Date: 03/30/1957
Kozma; Kirsten, Tucker, Hurley, Bastianini, Siepi
SID.19200639
Last on Sirius: Before 2011 (I searched my archives 3 ways, and though the Met says it has been rebroadcast on Sirius, my answer is not recently; the Tucker Columbia recording with Sayao was on in December 2012, and his Sirius rebroadcast Boheme with Tebaldi was in November 2012) The special pleasure are Bastianini and Siepi who only did one other Met performance together in Boheme (not broadcast) a year earlier.
THAÏS:Massenet
Original Air Date: 12/20/2008
López-Cobos; Fleming, Hampson, Schade
Live in HDMOD Video SID.19200640
Although the video has been available almost continuously on MOoD, I find this performance preferable to the Sills Milnes, which was massively overplayed in the first years of Sirius Radio. I rather like Thais as a break from other titles in the repertory.Although the video has been available almost continuously on MOoD, I find this performance preferable to the Sills Milnes, which was massively overplayed in the first years of Sirius Radio. I rather like Thais as a break from other titles in the repertory.
GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG:Wagner
Original Air Date: 01/11/1936
Bodanzky; Lawrence, Melchior, Hofmann, Schorr, Manski, Meisle
MOD Audio SID.19200641
This is one of the earliest Met broadcasts to appear on Sirius, and it’s great to have Lawrence and Melchior in respectably decent sound for the period. It’s regrettable that Flagstad never broadcast Gotterdammerung (Prologue only during World’s Fair Year) from the Met, but Melchior is top tier and we simply have not heard a singer like him since. This also appears in the Met Wagner bicentennial CD box.
GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG:Wagner
Original Air Date: 01/11/1936
Bodanzky; Lawrence, Melchior, Hofmann, Schorr, Manski, Meisle
MOD Audio SID.19200642
This is one of the earliest Met broadcasts to appear on Sirius, and it’s great to have Lawrence and Melchior in respectably decent sound for the period. It’s regrettable that Flagstad never broadcast Gotterdammerung (Prologue only during World’s Fair Year) from the Met, but Melchior is top tier and we simply have not heard a singer like him since. This also appears in the Met Wagner bicentennial CD box.
LE NOZZE DI FIGARO:Mozart
Original Air Date: 12/09/1967
Rosenstock; Siepi, Freni, Della Casa, Krause, Stratas
SID.19200743
This broadcast has estimable servants of Siepi and Freni with Stratas a fine Cherubino, but it is burdened with Rosenstock’s conducting and Della Casa makes her final Met appearance. Earlier in the season the Countess was taken by Lorengar and Berganza was the Cherubino, alas still with Rosenstock. You can hear Della Casa coughing audibly on this broadcast. Miraculously, Mme Della Casa was still with us until Dec. 2012, living into her 90s.
EUGENE ONEGIN:Tchaikovsky
Original Air Date: 02/23/1985
Järvi; Nucci, Griffel, Raitzin, Jones, Plishka
SID.19200744
Jarvi has a better cast 6 years earlier– the magnificent Mazurok as Onegin, and Shicoff in one of his best parts. I also prefer Kashrashvili. The 1979 performance is regularly on Sirius . That’s worth your time. The 1979 Onegin really deserves to be in MOoD. With so many Russian singers and audience members, Onegin seems almost as regular as Rigoletto. I am more impressed by Mazurok’s two broadcast outings, one with Jarvi conducting as well.
AIDA:Verdi
Original Air Date: 03/03/1962
Schick; Tucci, Corelli, Dalis, MacNeil, Tozzi
MOD Audio SID.19200745
I much enjoy the energy and passion of all the singers. Tucci is definitely a lyric Aida, but she knows the idiom well and is very solid. George Schick who was a staff conductor at the Met for some years, knows how to keep the forces under control without stifling any of the artists’ expressive impulses. The men definitely ate their Wheaties before the performance. Enjoy.
BILLY BUDD:Britten
Original Air Date: 03/31/1979
Leppard; Stilwell, Pears, Morris, Glossop, Ward
MOD Audio SID.19200746
Pears created the role of Captain Vere three decades earlier, and James Morris’ Claggart is one of the great post-war assumptions. Luckily the Met has recently added the video of the 1997 telecast with the late Phillip Langridge as Vere, Dwayne Croft, and Morris once again being the evil anchor as Claggart. This 1979 performance is the first broadcast of the Met’s Budd production, and is Pears’ final Met appearance Much of this attention is surely coming because of the Britten centenary. One of the Met’s most distinguished productions.
FIDELIO:Beethoven
Original Air Date: 02/13/1960
Böhm; Nilsson, Vickers, Uhde, Czerwenka, Hurley, Anthony
MOD Audio SID.19200747
This performance was issued also on Sony’s Met Historic CD series, as well as being in MOoD. Bohm, Nilsson, and Vickers bring all the exaltation and passion one could want to this opera. Vickers still continues to leave most other Florestans in the dust. What a privilege to have seen him from beginning (1958 in Dallas) to end great performances well into the 1980s. He’s not for everyone, but in his core roles– Grimes, Otello, Siegmund, Florestan, Samson, Parsifal, Tristan, Enee he never left audiences wanting. One of the very greatest singers ever to appear on ANY stage, and it was my privilege to have shared so many evenings with him. Czerwenka is not my idea of Rocco, but Bohm, Nilsson and Vickers are pretty unbeatable, and no one plays the Leonore No. 3 like Bohm.
THE RAKES PROGRESS:Stravinsky
Original Air Date: 02/14/1953
Reiner; Conley, Güden, Harrell, Thebom
SID.19200748
This is the American premiere with the composer in attendance. Worth noting is the director for this production is George Balanchine. It’s still a chilly work for me Not my cup of tea, but a distinguished afternoon, and the U.S. premiere occurs with this broadcast. Reiner is major in every way.
WOZZECK:Berg
Original Air Date: 01/06/1990
Levine; Hornik, Behrens, Clark, McIntyre, King
SID.19200749
Behrens had done Marie in 1985 with Christian Boesch also under Levine. King is luxury casting as the Drum Major, but I think Cassilly’s rougher voice in 1985 is more appropriate. Still well worth a listen.
LA GIOCONDA:Ponchielli
Original Air Date: 02/03/1990
Santi; Dimitrova, Beccaria, Fondary, Toczyska, Plishka
SID.19210101
The distaff side was definitely an Iron Curtain special, with both Dimitrova and Milcheva from Bulgaria and Toczyska from Poland. Beccaria replaced Pavarotti (who ended up never doing the part at the Met). I had seen DImitrova in Chicago not long before and was disappointed with her there, and she was the same at the Met. Fondary is an interesting singer, but not at the level of Manuguerra who has many of the same sensibilities. — This revival was originally scheduled for Pavarotti (he never did Enzo at the Met after all), and Beccaria is very short ration for a part that often featured Corelli or Tucker. I saw Dimitrova in both Chicago and the Met, and she was no more than B+. She had the right size voice, but not the right personality to make Gioconda memorable. Marton was much better. Toczyska, by contrast with Dimitrova, is not so gifted vocally, but she is a strong musician and dramatic presence and makes the most of what she has. An excellent second level Amneris in many venues in the 1980s and 1990s. Santi lets the work sprawl too much– Patane and Cleva (I had previously listed Molinari-Pradelli who does not have the opera at the Met or as far as I can see anywhere else ) are much more to the task at hand. Toscanini, Serafin, and Panizza all have double digit Met Gioconda totals. — This is a Pavarotti cancellation, and I had seen Dimitrova in Chicago the year before. In neither NYC nor Chicago did it count as one of her best roles. With the possible exceptions of Dimitrova and Toczyska no one else is much above replacement level. I love Gioconda, but this is not the cast. And a mini-Gioconda cast is one can well do without.
I VESPRI SICILIANI:Verdi
Original Air Date: 03/20/1982
Levine; Scotto, Ochman, Elvira, Raimondi
MOD Audio SID.19210106
Scotto could be an interesting singer in this music, but not by 1982–simply too much Lady Macbeth and Gioconda, among other things. I didn’t see her in 1974 which many people still rave about. 1974’s Arrigo was Domingo who had opened the season with Deutekom. Domingo never does the part after that 1974 run (he’s not in the spring 1975 broadcast)– it is among Verdi’s most challenging tenor assignments. Ochman is best described as earnest. Pablo Elvira was too little heard at the Met, and died prematurely. The broadcast mikes probably give him an extra volume boost, but he has nice Verdian style. Raimondi is never a favorite of mine, but Procida is one of the great Verdian bass roles– listen to Christoff with Callas (not from the Met). Siepi never did Procida at the Met and his omission from the Met premiere was part of his departure from the Met in April 1973.
COSÌ FAN TUTTE:Mozart
Original Air Date: 12/07/1991
Hager; Vaness, Lopardo, Ziegler, Cowan, Upshaw, Feller
SID.19210107
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.
PARSIFAL:Wagner
Original Air Date: 04/12/2003
Gergiev; Domingo, Urmana, Struckmann, Pape, Putilin
MOD Audio SID.19210210
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.
Araiza is an interesting figure. Moving on to Walther in Meistersinger was a mistake, but I never found his Mozart as good as his countryman, Ramon Vargas. Karajan picked him for his Tamino, but I just don’t hear much that is special and this was his Met debut season.
Levy
Original Air Date: 04/01/1967
Mehta; Lear, Reardon, Collier, Milnes, Macurdy
SID.19210316
“Although the music is mostly just serviceable, it was a thrilling evening in the theatre, and I’ve listened to this broadcast several times in Sirius rotation. The Met left nothing to chance in their casting and production. Every part was cast to perfection, and the production by Michael Cacoyannis was more successful than my few attempts when seeing the O’Neill original on which it is based.”
IL TROVATORE:Verdi
Original Air Date: 01/13/2001
Rizzi; Shicoff, Mescheriakova, Zajick, Frontali, Kavrakos
SID.19210317
Though Zajick does her best, she is almost completely wasted with this cast. This was possibly Volpe’s most disastrous new production.