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.
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.
RUSALKA:Dvorák
Fiore; Benacková, Heppner, Martin, Toczyska, Koptchak
Original Air Date: 12/11/1993
MOD Audio
SID.19440208
This is from the first Met season for Rusalka and Benackova is a worthy heroine. For the broadcast a young Ben Heppner is the Prince replacing Neil Rosenshein. Zajick did the Jezibaba premiere but ceded the broadcast to Toczyska who is a very fine artist. This is quite a wonderful performance with Benackova, Heppner, and Koptchak especially strong. This premiere Met season of it, the ensemble is of high quality. This is a performance that belongs in MOoD. This is its only broadcast until Fleming’s 2009 run where three performances were on Sirius, and one of them was in the matinee series on the Met International network. Benackova was the first broadcast Rusalka at the Met, and this performance captures her very well. Heppner early in his Met career is on fine form as is the lesser known Koptchak as the Water Sprite. Martin is a bit tested as the Foreign Princess– a very difficult part, no one makes it sound easy. Still, a lovely opera in a fine performance, and this is well deserving being added to the Met Player repertory besides its visibility on Sirius.
ROMÉO ET JULIETTE:Gounod
Molinari-Pradelli; Gedda, Freni, Macurdy, Baldwin, Reardon
Original Air Date: 04/13/1968
SID.19440209
Molinari-Pradelli is an improvement on Domingo in the pit, but others are still much better. Gedda and Freni are not ideal, but it’s a wonderful memory of her youthful singing at the Met, and she is more alive on the broadcast than in the studio (and many performances) with Corelli.
ERNANI:Verdi
Mitropoulos; Del Monaco, Milanov, Warren, Siepi
Original Air Date: 12/29/1956
MOD Audio
SID.19440210
Elvira is definitely a bit late for Milanov, but the men are the best in the business for these roles in 1956, and all among the greatest ever in these roles. It is the first Met broadcast of Ernani, and although Del Monaco is slightly better in his Florence broadcast with Cerquetti, he is the Verdian bandit to the life. This is a bit late for Milanov, but Warren and Siepi are certainly top drawer as well. Mitropoulos brings his accustomed fire and a few odd choices in musical text. Mitropoulos and Del Monaco are better represented from Florence, and this part is simply too late for Milanov. This part is HARD– check Freni’s challenge at La Scala. Ernani involvami demands full blown coloratura mastery from the moment you open your mouth, and while the rest of the role is mostly ensembles, it’s challenging. Leona Mitchell is mostly very up to the challenges. Two good stabs at the part were NOT broadcast, Arroyo’s opening night with Bergonzi and Milnes, and Millo, (two in the house, four in the parks very early in her Met career). The good news on Ernani is the complete Met broadcast history is documented on Sirius.
FAUST:Gounod
Beecham; Jobin, Albanese, Pinza, Thomas, Browning
Original Air Date: 01/30/1943
SID.19440211
J Woolf: Pinza is, of course, magnificent and Jobin matches him for much of the time – though not all of the time, which is where Kullman scored over him. Albanese is a character actress of real repute though the voice itself is inclined to take on a slightly mezzo-ish depth. Never mind, she has the dramatic instincts in place. The smaller roles are well taken and that leaves Beecham. Well, he was never rocket propelled in this work and generally encouraged leisurely tempi. Though as he would doubtless be the first to point out, the average ear confuses speed and rhythm – and Beecham’s rhythmic underpinning here is sure, his conception of the work as a whole splendidly realised. Right from the start one can admire his direction of the Act I introduction – so flexible and winning. The Chorus comes in – somewhat distant but adequate for a private recording of this kind. Jobin is first – ringing and declamatory, superb rhythm and articulation of phrases, subtle highlighting of lyric peaks and troughs. Then Pinza, simply wonderful with great depth of tone across his range – characterisation without exaggeration. I wouldn’t make too much of Singher’s problems but he is unsteady in O toi in Act II (and going up in the Invocation). In fact so is another voice – the prompter, I assume, who can be clearly heard – and crikey is he a busy man. Beecham sounds to be enjoying the grand seignorial swagger behind Pinza in the Rondo – though, a warning to those who are expecting the moon; the sound is a bit crude along the way. The Met strings sound on good, spruce Gallic form in Nous nous retrouverons, mes amis and indeed they cultivate a bright and crisp impression all round; the Chorus too sounds well trained for the occasion. As for Jobin’s Salut! Demeure chaste et pure it’s not so bad – it’s not virile in the way Kullman is but more soft grained and intimate; less effusively romantic. No, I don’t think Albanese sounds youthful enough in the Chanson du Roi de Thulé but she shows signs of her impersonation to come later on; careful and clever singing and acting, as well as tonally frequently resplendent on her own terms. Let’s finish with Thelma Votipka and Lucielle Browning who tend to be edged out of discussions given the excellence of the principals. Browning is consistently good and Votipka shows in her Act III Que vois-je, Signeur Dieu! just how strong a cast this was – witty and perfectly characterised.
Read more: www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2004/Feb04/Gounod_Faust_Beecham.htm#ixzz63cACqnby
MACBETH:Verdi
Molinari-Pradelli; Milnes, Arroyo, Raimondi, Tagliavini
Original Air Date: 02/03/1973
SID.19440212
The Saturday night premiere of this revival was one of the most challenging performances to hustle a ticket ever. One of the great performances – Arroyo’s highly successful realization of Lady Macbeth’s music. No ugly voice here. Molinari-Pradelli provides strong idiomatic conducting. Milnes is well caught (his best is still from Vienna with Ludwig). The other two males are adequate, but for Banquo, turn to Giaiotti from the Met stable, or on airchecks/recordings either Ghiaurov or Christoff. Christoff did perform the aria in his Carnegie Hall orchestra concert, and that was indeed thrilling. Bergonzi premiered Macduff in the Met 1958 premiere and is still the gold standard, but Calleja in the recent Netrebko performance was also quite fine.
DON GIOVANNI:Mozart
Böhm; London, Steber, Flagello, Della Casa, Valletti, Hurley
Original Air Date: 02/14/1959
MOD Audio
SID.19440213
SR: This broadcast is especially notable as it was George London’s only broadcast outing as the Don. His Don was very different from Siepi’s, but just as impressive a portrayal. We also enjoy the two Donna’s..sung by Steber and Della Casa, Ezio Flagello’s Leporello (often overshadowed by Corena’s more broadly comic portrayal) and the sweet tenor of Cesare Valletti. Dr. Karl Böhm leads a to-the-Viennese-manner-born performance. RWW: This is a fine performance; my only cavil is I would have preferred a Siepi broadcast which is available (though not yet on Sirius) from 1957 with the original cast which includes Corena as Leporello. Still, this is one of Steber’s best parts in a treasurable performance and Della Casa is a major Elvira. Flagello is an excellent Leporello. And while I am mentioning lacunae. Bohm’s 1967 broadcast with Sutherland and Lorengar also with Siepi is still missing from the Sirius broadcast stable as well.
DAS RHEINGOLD:Wagner
Stiedry; Hotter, Harshaw, Svanholm, Davidson, Hines, Ernster
Original Air Date: 01/27/1951
MOD Audio
SID.19440214
Hans Hotter’s MET debut season. This performance is taken from the Wagner at the Met CD box set. The chief vocal interest lies in Hotter’s broadcast of Wotan – one of only two Ring performances he broadcast from the Met; the other was Hunding (not Wotan) in Walkure in 1954. Branzell returns to the Met after a seven year absence and moves down from Fricka to Erda, appearing in two Rheingolds and three Siegfrieds in 1951. Her Met career spans 27 years from 1924 -1951 and 412 performances. Paul Jackson, in his survey of Met broadcasts, is not enamored of Stiedry’s conducting. Hopefully this means we will hear the rest of the 1951 Ring on Sirius – which includes Traubel’s Siegfried & Gotterdammerung Brunnhildes; Jackson is especially fond of her Siegfried even though she omits the few Bs and Cs of the role.
LA TRAVIATA:Verdi
Levine; Cotrubas, Domingo, MacNeil
Original Air Date: 03/28/1981
MOD Audio
SID.19440315
This is Cotrubas’s Violetta and wasalso simulcast. MOoD now offers BOTH the audio version of this (which has been available for some time, but now the video as well. Cotrubas is very much in the mainstream of interpretation MOoD offers audios of Ponselle, Steber, Fleming, Gheorghiu (another fine Romanian and she has TWO versions one with Valenti, and another one with Kaufman , but amazingly there is no Albanese (really two AG and no LA?), Sutherland, Moffo, in MOoD and neither Maliponte or Cruz-Romo or Chiara even on Sirius (though they all had broadcasts.
DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE:Mozart
Daniel; Dunleavy, Cutler, Gunn, Miklósa, Robinson
Original Air Date: 01/21/2006
SID.19440316
NYT Midgette [1/23/06]: The Met seems to have cast this one with an eye to some of its younger home-grown singers: Eric Cutler as Tamino, Morris Robinson taking a big step from smaller roles to Sarastro. A certain callow quality was a result. Mr. Cutler has a nice, firm instrument but wielded it clumsily. In “Dies Bildnis,” his first aria, he got a big sound on the top notes but didn’t carry it down to the lower ones: in general, he moved through the role adequately, but without any particular flair. Mr. Robinson’s voice was tight and closed off; I wondered if he might be fighting a cold. Coincidentally Gregory Reinhart showed a startlingly powerful bass making his company debut in the role Mr. Robinson sang in the first run of this production, the Second Armed Man. This left the coast clear for Mary Dunleavy to shine as a warm, well-sung Pamina, and Nathan Gunn to caper as Papageno, milking every line. Erika Miklosa, the Queen of the Night, had a slender nothing of a voice that she powered up for the coloratura sections, appropriately bell-like if not especially precise. The Three Ladies didn’t sound quite coordinated: perhaps because of debut jitters on the part of Susannah Glanville as the First Lady. Also making his debut was the conductor Paul Daniel, who got off to an unfortunate start with an overture that sounded sluggish, but who worked his way into the music and created a lighter agility by Act II.
ORFEO ED EURIDICE:Gluck
Wigglesworth; Hong, Park, Barton
Original Air Date: 11/01/2019
SID.19440535
NYT Tommasini [10/21/2019] … The excellent British conductor Mark Wigglesworth, best known for his work with the English National Opera in London, drew out the warmth and refinement of Gluck’s score. But the Met Orchestra’s playing lacked precision and crispness, especially during the bustling overture, which sounded somewhat wan and limp. …. The veteran soprano Hei-Kyung Hong, who made her Met debut in 1984, was a winning Euridice. Though there were moments of patchy tone and shaky pitch in her singing, the radiance of her voice came through. She sang with a vigor and clarity that brought out the best from Ms. Barton. …During the final celebration of the reunion of Orfeo and Euridice, the Mark Morris ensemble took over the show with a suite of joyous dances. The orchestra responded with its most crisp and animated playing.once the god of love, Amore, here the bright-voiced soprano Hera Hyesang Park, arrived: Winged and wearing a peach-colored shirt, floppy pants and sneakers, she descended (on wires) from the heavens. In her vibrant singing and sassy manner, Ms. Park brought a touch of jaded exuberance to the proceedings: This Amore admits to being baffled by the romantic entanglements of mortals…..The veteran soprano Hei-Kyung Hong, who made her Met debut in 1984, was a winning Euridice. Though there were moments of patchy tone and shaky pitch in her singing, the radiance of her voice came through. She sang with a vigor and clarity that brought out the best from Ms. Barton. During the final celebration of the reunion of Orfeo and Euridice, the Mark Morris ensemble took over the show with a suite of joyous dances. The orchestra responded with its most crisp and animated playing.
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.
DON GIOVANNI:Mozart
Böhm; London, Steber, Flagello, Della Casa, Valletti, Hurley
Original Air Date: 02/14/1959
MOD Audio
SID.19440743
SR: This broadcast is especially notable as it was George London’s only broadcast outing as the Don. His Don was very different from Siepi’s, but just as impressive a portrayal. We also enjoy the two Donna’s..sung by Steber and Della Casa, Ezio Flagello’s Leporello (often overshadowed by Corena’s more broadly comic portrayal) and the sweet tenor of Cesare Valletti. Dr. Karl Böhm leads a to-the-Viennese-manner-born performance. RWW: This is a fine performance; my only cavil is I would have preferred a Siepi broadcast which is available (though not yet on Sirius) from 1957 with the original cast which includes Corena as Leporello. Still, this is one of Steber’s best parts in a treasurable performance and Della Casa is a major Elvira. Flagello is an excellent Leporello. And while I am mentioning lacunae. Bohm’s 1967 broadcast with Sutherland and Lorengar also with Siepi is still missing from the Sirius broadcast stable as well.
DAS RHEINGOLD:Wagner
Stiedry; Hotter, Harshaw, Svanholm, Davidson, Hines, Ernster
Original Air Date: 01/27/1951
MOD Audio
SID.19440214
Hans Hotter’s MET debut season. This performance is taken from the Wagner at the Met CD box set. The chief vocal interest lies in Hotter’s broadcast of Wotan – one of only two Ring performances he broadcast from the Met; the other was Hunding (not Wotan) in Walkure in 1954. Branzell returns to the Met after a seven year absence and moves down from Fricka to Erda, appearing in two Rheingolds and three Siegfrieds in 1951. Her Met career spans 27 years from 1924 -1951 and 412 performances. Paul Jackson, in his survey of Met broadcasts, is not enamored of Stiedry’s conducting. Hopefully this means we will hear the rest of the 1951 Ring on Sirius – which includes Traubel’s Siegfried & Gotterdammerung Brunnhildes; Jackson is especially fond of her Siegfried even though she omits the few Bs and Cs of the role.
LA TRAVIATA:Verdi
Levine; Cotrubas, Domingo, MacNeil
Original Air Date: 03/28/1981
MOD Audio
SID.19440315
This is Cotrubas’s Violetta and wasalso simulcast. MOoD now offers BOTH the audio version of this (which has been available for some time, but now the video as well. Cotrubas is very much in the mainstream of interpretation MOoD offers audios of Ponselle, Steber, Fleming, Gheorghiu (another fine Romanian and she has TWO versions one with Valenti, and another one with Kaufman , but amazingly there is no Albanese (really two AG and no LA?), Sutherland, Moffo, in MOoD and neither Maliponte or Cruz-Romo or Chiara even on Sirius (though they all had broadcasts.
DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE:Mozart
Daniel; Dunleavy, Cutler, Gunn, Miklósa, Robinson
Original Air Date: 01/21/2006
SID.19440316
Miklosa is an excellent Astrafiammante, but the rest of the cast does not make this performance stand out.
I VESPRI SICILIANI:Verdi
Chaslin; Radvanovsky, Casanova, Nucci, Ramey
Original Air Date: 12/11/2004
MOD Audio
SID.19450102
Elena was a major breakout role for Radvanovsky, and she was the deserved star of this revival. Nucci, who has appeared irregularly but continuously since his debut in 1980 last appeared at the Met in this 2004 broadcast where he is in fine voice as he was on the Nabucco broadcast six months earlier (prior season). His current engagements show him as busy as any Verdi baritone before the public with an appearance in January 2016 at La Scala as Rigoletto with Nadine Sierra, where they encored the Si, vendetta duet (!!!!). Casanova has good style in arguably Verdi’s most challenging tenor part. This revival catches Ramey after the wobble had started to set in (I date at around 2002). He’s still very commanding, but it’s just a bit too late to be top quality. Procida is one of the greatest of Verdi bass roles right up there with Fiesco, if not quite at the level of Filippo II. Chaslin conducts a well prepared performance, and so nice to have this performance in the Sirius rotation. With Radvanovsky’s new status, this performance should be added to MOoD. This is true two years ago, and is still the case.
LE NOZZE DI FIGARO:Mozart
Rudel; Morris, McLaughlin, Fleming, Croft, Bunnell
Original Air Date: 02/12/1994
MOD Audio
SID.19450103
This is is Fleming’s first featured broadcast and it’s one of her best roles. The previous broadcast appearance was in the small role of Rosina (Countess) in Ghosts of Versailles. Fleming’s Countess is rarer than you might think. She only has nine performances since her Met debut (in this role) in 1991. This broadcast is only her third. She premieres the new production with Terfel and Bartoli, but only does the telecast (MOD). Rudel is a fine Mozartean with plenty of fine Figaros over at NYCO before moving over to the Met. He is too often underestimated, but he presided over many a fine Figaro at the NYCO before taking up residence at the Met. Morris and McLaughlin are an interesting servant pair and any performance with Senechal is guaranteed some attention. As for missing historic broadcasts, the original Texaco broadcast with Albanese and Pinza from 1940 should certainly be rebroadcast, and the Countesses of Eleanor Steber (five from 1943-50) and Victoria de los Angeles (1952) with the superb Count of Giuseppe Valdengo. Jarmila Novotna is a superb Cherubino on many of those Steber Countesses.
LA FORZA DEL DESTINO:Verdi
Levine; Price, Domingo, MacNeil, Talvela, Elias, Capecchi
Original Air Date: 03/12/1977
SID.19450104
This performance is available on Met Opera on Demand (MOoD). Likely because this is one of Domingo’s only two broadcasts as Alvaro (the other is with Sharon Sweet). Price is very solid in her upper middle, but her tone is not that of a dramatic, and that is what Leonora is; the additional coloring is exactly what Milanov and Tebaldi have. Domingo is one category too small and lacks the expansiveness of Tucker or Corelli, and for styling, that goes to Bergonzi. Luckily all three gentlemen broadcast Forza from the Met, with Bergonzi and Corelli both opposite Price. Talvela is not the right sound for Guardiano, which has often been in the steady hands of Siepi and Giaiotti. Levine is the champion Forza conductor with 57 performances; amazingly Fausto Cleva never did the work at the Met. The German wing (Bruno Walter, Fritz Stiedry, George Schick) had a tight rein on it in the 40s and 50s.
PARSIFAL:Wagner
Steinberg; Thomas, Martin, Stewart, Macurdy, Meredith. Morris
Original Air Date: 04/20/1974
SID.19450105
This is William Steinberg’s farewell performance (only 25 altogether in four operas). It’s a very solid overall performance, and better conducted than Leopold Ludwig’s wan effort when the production was new. Next time out in 1979, James Levine begins a LONG run as the Parsifal conductor. Why is this performance not on MOoD. The cast is all-American, and except for Antony and Cleopatra, Jess Thomas is not represented on MOoD. 38 years later James Morris is the only survivor still on the Met stage. Not yet heard on Sirius are Hotter’s 2 Parsifal broadcasts (1952 as Amfortas and 1954 as Gurnemanz– his Met farewell). Hotter is well represented from Bayreuth, but worth hearing on Sirius. To me the big gaps are the 1966 Pretre Parsifal with Crespin and Konya under Pretre and the 1971 with Siepi’s classic Gurnemanz. Levine conducted a lot of Parsifal broadcasts in the 1980s, and the surprise omission is the 1985 with Vickers, Rysanek, MollThis is William Steinberg’s farewell performance (only 25 altogether in four operas). It’s a very solid overall performance, and better conducted than Leopold Ludwig’s wan effort when the production was new. Next time out in 1979, James Levine begins a LONG run as the Parsifal conductor. Why is this performance not on MOoD. The cast is all-American, and except for Antony and Cleopatra, Jess Thomas is not represented on MOoD. 38 years later James Morris is the only survivor still on the Met stage. Not yet heard on Sirius are Hotter’s 2 Parsifal broadcasts (1952 as Amfortas and 1954 as Gurnemanz– his Met farewell). Hotter is well represented from Bayreuth, but worth hearing on Sirius. To me the big gaps are the 1966 Pretre Parsifal with Crespin and Konya under Pretre and the 1971 with Siepi’s classic Gurnemanz. Levine conducted a lot of Parsifal broadcasts in the 1980s, and the surprise omission is the 1985 with Vickers, Rysanek, Moll
L’ITALIANA IN ALGERI:Rossini
Levine; Borodina, Flórez, Furlanetto, Patriarco
Original Air Date: 02/28/2004
MOD Audio
SID.19450107
Levine is always ready to take the podium when a major star or a video is handy, even if Rossini does not figure prominently in his normally outsized totals– 6 Barbieres, 12 Cenerentolas, and 19 Italianas (he does the Horne video revival in 1986 and this sunny revival from 2004. Borodina is a delightful Isabella, and Furlanetto brings more than the normal amount of voice to Mustafa. Having Florez and Kwiecien (one of his first major roles with the company) makes sure that this performance will have plenty to please the ear and the eye.
TANNHÄUSER:Wagner
Levine; Cassilly, ZylisGara, Troyanos, Monk, Macurdy
Original Air Date: 03/03/1984
SID.19450208
Tannhauser is one of Levine’s best efforts, and the cast is solid if not especially memorable. Cassilly picked up the lion’s share of the Tannhausers after McCracken’s Met tiff over telecast Otellos.
JENUFA:Janácek
Nelson; Kubiak, Varnay, Vickers, Lewis, Kraft
Original Air Date: 12/21/1974
SID.19450209
This performance is in English, which is a rarity on Sirius since almost no translations are ever heard. The standout performance for me is Jon Vickers as Laca. The giant disappointment was Varnay’s Kostelnicka. Kniplova (native Czech, but singing in German with Hamburg) in this pivotal role, but Varnay was a dud dramatically and vocally. Kubiak’s English is surprisingly adequate, and overall I enjoy listening to this performance.
IDOMENEO:Mozart
Levine; van Rensburg, Röschmann, Deshorties, Kozená. Francis
Original Air Date: 12/09/2006
MOD Audio
SID.19450210
This is Levine’s last run of Idomeneo at the Met, which included several streamed performances before the matinee with Heppner in the title role. Not sure why Rensburg has the last two, but the title role has had Pavarotti, Domingo, and the young Heppner (1991). Deshorties has had not one, but two Elettras, and the part calls for a Vaness (two excellent broadcasts) or Studer (never broadcast from the Met but in a fall series of performances.) Kozena is a quality Idamante, and Levine’s Mozart is among his very best.
ELEKTRA:Strauss
Rosenstock; Borkh, Rysanek, Madeira, Uhde, Vinay
Original Air Date: 03/25/1961
MOD Audio
SID.19450211
Rosenstock appears for the originally scheduled Mitropoulos who had died the previous November. Still, this is a powerful cast in a masterpiece. The whole cast is top drawer, and highly recommended. This is the only Elektra Borkh and Rysanek ever did together, and they are among the very best in these roles. Nice to welcome this performance to MOoD in their 2014 reissues. For me a highlight of the week. Rosenstock comes to the Met first in 1929, and left after one season (poor reviews compared to Bodanzky and Bodanzky returned the following season). Rosenstock returned to Germany, then to Japan for the WHOLE WWII at NHK. He gets back to New York, and starts anew at New York City Opera and succeeds Halasz as director in 1952. After 4 seasons as director, he is replaced by Julius Rudel, and then returns to the Met in 1961 replacing the recently deceased Mitropoulos. He goes on to conduct over 250 Met performances in the next 8 years. including Tosca and Lucia on the Met tour among just about everything. He is a solid conductor, and Borkh in 1961 one of the very great Elektras.
EUGENE ONEGIN:Tchaikovsky
Gergiev; Hvorostovsky, Fleming, Vargas, Zaremba, Aleksashkin
Original Air Date: 02/24/2007
Live in HDMOD AudioMOD Video
SID.19450212
This performance is well known as one of the first season hits from the Met Live in HD. It is available on video in Blu-Ray (not so many of the Met performances are), as well as in MOoD. Gergiev, Hvorostovsky and Fleming deliver on their superstar standing both in audio and video.
LA BOHÈME:Puccini
Schick; de los Angeles, Morell, Krall, Testi, Wilderman
Original Air Date: 03/11/1961
SID.19450213
This is Victoria de los Angeles’ farewell broadcast and also her final season — she alternates Harriet in Martha on tour with Mimi. Paul Jackson in his broadcast reviews and a very big fan of VDLA finds her in mixed form, but surrounded by uninteresting colleagues. Still, for those of you who have never heard her live, there will be some rewards in the listening. Check her studio Boheme recorded in NYC with Bjorling, Merrill, Amara under Beecham, but not official Met sponsorship. Too bad her 1958 Violetta in Traviata has not been broadcast with Campora or her 1959 Manon with Gedda under Morel or the same pair in the 1960 Pelleas.
MOURNING BECOMES ELECTRA:Levy
Mehta; Lear, Reardon, Collier, Milnes, Macurdy
Original Air Date: 04/01/1967
SID.19450214
Whatever the musical limitations, Cacoyannis’ direction and the searing performances of Lear and Collier as Lavinia and Christine Mannon and maybe the best thing Reardon and Milnes ever did. Michael Cacoyannis’ staging and a cast rehearsed to a fare thee well by Mehta overcome the limitations of O’Neill and Levy. It was quite an effective evening in the theatre. Lear and Collier even in such rarefied company stood out. This is from first season in the new house. Sad that we didn’t have cameras whirring in those days – probably the performance of the 1960s most regret not being on video, because video might have caught some of the enormous electricity that was simply not in Levy’s music. Surprisingly, this piece lingers on the edge of the repertory, exceeded only by Vanessa in terms of repeat performances for recent Met world premieres.