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.
CARMEN:Bizet
Pelletier; Swarthout, Kullman, Albanese, Warren
Original Air Date: 03/15/1941
MOD Audio
SID.19450315
This performance is on MOoD. Swarthout was certainly a media creation of the 30s and 40s and lasted into the 50s as an occasional panelist on What’s my line? Albanese and Warren are heard in less familiar roles. Warren does not do Escamillo after 1944, and Albanese has no Met Micaelas after 1949. There are many Met performances from the 40s more deserving than this one, but it has its curiosities.
FRANCESCA DA RIMINI:Zandonai
Santi; Scotto, Mauro, MacNeil, Lewis
Original Air Date: 02/22/1986
SID.19450316
This performance is Kabaivanska’s Met farewell. Well cast and well conducted, there are two broadcasts of Onegin in 1979 (but different seasons),both with Mazurok and Plishka the only repeats from one to another. This is slightly better. For those who have never encountered Mazurok, his voice is as velvety as Hvorostovsky, and an upper register that definitely has squillo. Wish the Met would transfer one of these Mazurok Onegins to MOoD. Glad that it at least gets a regular Sirius re-hearing. The highlights of this opera are very exciting indeed, and if there is filler along the way, the Met put out one of its most sumptuous productions. Domingo did the first year broadcast and appears on the Met Player video (also on DVD). MacNeil gives a quite over the top performance that could not be replicated– think of Rigoletto on steroids. It’s a small part but you will notice him.
MADAMA BUTTERFLY:Puccini
Morandi; He, DeShong, Caré, Domingo
Original Air Date: 11/06/2019
SID.19450321
Leading sopranos Hui He and Ana María Martínez share the heartbreaking title role of the doomed geisha, with tenors Piero Pretti and Andrea Carè as the American naval officer who abandons her. Paulo Szot and Markus Brück share the role of Sharpless, and Elizabeth DeShong is Suzuki, alternating with Maria Zifchak. Pier Giorgio Morandi is on the podium for Anthony Minghella’s sweeping production, a perennial audience favorite.
EUGENE ONEGIN:Tchaikovsky
Gergiev; Hvorostovsky, Fleming, Vargas, Zaremba, Aleksashkin
Original Air Date: 02/24/2007
Live in HDMOD AudioMOD Video
SID.19450428
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.
EUGENE ONEGIN:Tchaikovsky
Gergiev; Hvorostovsky, Fleming, Vargas, Zaremba, Aleksashkin
Original Air Date: 02/24/2007
Live in HDMOD AudioMOD Video
SID.19450531
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.
AKHNATEN:Glass
Kamensek; Larusdottir, Bridges, Costanzo, Blake, Liverman, Bernstein, James
Original Air Date: 11/08/2019
SID.19450535
Director Phelim McDermott tackles another one of Philip Glass’s masterpieces, following the now-legendary Met staging of Satyagraha. Star countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo is the title pharaoh, the revolutionary ruler who transformed ancient Egypt, with the striking mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges in her Met debut as his wife, Nefertiti. To match the opera’s hypnotic, ritualistic music, McDermott has created an arresting vision that includes a virtuosic company of acrobats and jugglers. Karen Kamensek conducts in her Met debut. This production was originally created by English National Opera and LA Opera; In collaboration with Improbable; Production gift of the Rosalie J. Coe Weir Endowment Fund and the Wyncote Foundation, as recommended by Frederick R. Haas and Rafael Gomez; Additional funding from The H.M. Agnes Hsu-Tang, Ph.D. and Oscar Tang Endowment Fund, Dominique Laffont, Andrew J. Martin-Weber, The Walter and Leonore Annenberg Endowment Fund, American Express, and the National Endowment for the Arts
Puccini
Original Air Date: 11/13/2019
Morandi; He, DeShong, Caré, Domingo
SID.19460000
Mozart
Original Air Date: 11/16/2019
Manacorda; Phillips, Sierra, Arquez, Bishop, Plachetka, Pisaroni, Sherratt
SID.19460000
Two outstanding casts—including sopranos Nadine Sierra, Anita Hartig, Susanna Phillips, and Hanna-Elisabeth Müller; mezzo-sopranos Gaëlle Arquez and Marianne Crebassa; baritone Mariusz Kwiecien; and bass-baritones Luca Pisaroni and Adam Plachetka—come together for Mozart’s scintillating class comedy. Antonello Manacorda and Cornelius Meister conduct Sir Richard Eyre’s fast-paced production.
TBA:TBA
TBA
Original Air Date: 01/01/9999
SID.19470102
Verdi
Haider; Alvarez, Siurina, Calleja, Lloyd, Fabiola Herrera
Original Air Date: 12/16/2006
SID.19470103
This is a relatively recent (now ten years already!!) broadcast, and one of Alvarez’ last broadcasts before withdrawing from the vocal scene for some time. Calleja remains an uneven singer, although he certainly has a distinctive voice. There are no Met broadcasts in MOoD for Merrill (Fourth in Met Rigolettos with five broadcasts (my recommendation would be 1968), only one video for MacNeil in 1977, and he has six broadcasts, and his debut broadcast in 1960 is certainly worthy of rebroadcasting and in MOoD (Mac has the house record with 102 Rigolettos) and Warren has only the 1945 in the streaming despite 10 broadcasts (he’s third in overall Rigolettos after MacNeil and De Luca).This is one opera with a major imbalance in terms of Sirius and MoOD performances and three of the greatest Met baritones in its history, and American to boot. This is Alvarez’ last broadcast and except for three non-broadcast Macbeths with Papian, Calleja, and Pape, he is not appeared in the Met in the last five years. He has not appeared widely on other stages in the interim for health reasons.
DIE MEISTERSINGER VON NÜRNBERG:Wagner
Reiner; Schöffler, de los Angeles, Hopf, Pechner, Greindl, Holm
Original Air Date: 01/10/1953
MOD Audio
SID.19470104
De los Angeles is one of my favorite singers, and Reiner is one of my favorite conductors, and Schoffler still has some youth on him. For me, the distinctions are chiefly Reiner, Schoffler, and de los Angeles. Greindl, the Pogner, Holm, the David make their final Met appearances on this broadcast. This performance has been on Sirius before and is in the Sony Wagner at the Met box.
DIE MEISTERSINGER VON NÜRNBERG:Wagner
Reiner; Schöffler, de los Angeles, Hopf, Pechner, Greindl, Holm
Original Air Date: 01/10/1953
MOD Audio
SID.19470105
De los Angeles is one of my favorite singers, and Reiner is one of my favorite conductors, and Schoffler still has some youth on him. For me, the distinctions are chiefly Reiner, Schoffler, and de los Angeles. Greindl, the Pogner, Holm, the David make their final Met appearances on this broadcast. This performance has been on Sirius before and is in the Sony Wagner at the Met box.
LUISA MILLER:Verdi
Levine; Frittoli, Shicoff, Frontali, Tian, Ens, Graves
Original Air Date: 03/23/2002
SID.19470106
This performance just doesn’t get off the ground, For me, though Frittoli and Frontali are at least Italianate, they are short of the critical goods necessary to really be full voiced enough for these roles; the interpreters at this new production’s fall premiere earlier in the season did not even have the stylistics. Not one of Met casting’s finest hours. A disappointing revival in a new production. Frittoli was a bit light for the role, and Shicoff would have been much better 10 years earlier. Frontali is a small scaled Miller.
SAMSON ET DALILA:Saint-Saëns
Dutoit; Domingo, Verrett, Fondary
Original Air Date: 02/17/1990
SID.19470107
This is Verrett’s broadcast farewell which is followed a few weeks later by two Azucenas which concludes her Met career. The first of those Azucenas was Sharon Sweet’s debut as Leonora,one of the great debuts in Met history (not her career, but her debut was every bit the equal of any Met Leonora I’ve heard live). Dutoit is an excellent conductor. Verrett, known mostly for her Falcon efforts had many triumphs as Dalila, but this catches her very late– her Met debut is 1968, and she had been singing for 10 years when she arrived. She has two excellent videos– Covent Garden (1981) with Vickers and San Francisco with Domingo (1980), so she is well represented with outstanding Dalilas. Her Scala debut was a huge triumph, and I saw her with Pier Miranda Ferraro in Philadelphia as well as San Francisco. A strong plea for Bumbry’s 1972 broadcast with McCracken which has not yet been on Sirius. She did Dalila much less than Verrett, and it wasn’t one of her signature roles, but we should hear this one as well.
LA FAVORITA:Donizetti
López-Cobos; Verrett, Pavarotti, Milnes, Giaiotti
Original Air Date: 03/11/1978
SID.19470208
This is a very fully sung performance. I remember better Leonora de Guzmans from Verrett (Dallas about 1971 and a sizzling concert performance at Carnegie with Kraus some years earlier), but this cast gives all they have. Still, this is a zingy performance and one will not be bored. It’s on Met On Demand as well. This remains the only broadcast of Favorita, and it is a shame that it has now been out of the Met repertory for more than three decades. Zajick for one made a great success with the part in Spain. The opera is more easily cast than Puritani. Milnes is far from my favorite baritone, but this performance has all singers well up to the mark with plenty of energy from all.
UN BALLO IN MASCHERA:Verdi
Patanè; Pavarotti, Ricciarelli, Nucci, Peters, Payne
Original Air Date: 03/01/1980
MOD Video
SID.19470209
New Production for Pavarotti had been telecast two weeks earlier with Quilico for Nucci, Berini for Payne, and Blegen for Peters. Patane is a fine conductor. I think Amelia is a little heavy for Ricciarelli– her best outing in this role is a San Francisco broadcast with Carreras. Ricciarelli, Pavarotti under Patane appear in a video with Quilico, Berini, and Blegen from the same run. I generally prefer the supporting cast that is on the video, and that is available in Met Opera on Demand (MOoD), formerly Met Player. Riccardo was one of LP’s best roles, and Patane is a solid conductor. Ricciarelli is a bit light for Amelia, but she has a most successful San Francisco outing (maybe Chicago too?) with Carreras. The telecast which comes before the broadcast features Quilico, Berini, and Blegen in the supporting parts. Patane is a solid, idiomatic conductor. Payne isn’t much, it’s starting to get late for Peters, but this is Nucci’s debut season, and he appears as late as 2004 as a strong Monforte in Vespri Siciliani. He premiered a new production of Nabucco at Covent Garden in 2013, which is his most frequent assumption on a calendar that is rather full through October 2017!!! He still has in his repertoire Miller, Boccanegra, Giorgio Germont, and Rigoletto at La Scala this past January with upcoming dates in Budapest and Madrid. No dates on this side of the Atlantic, but 26 years after his Met debut, and at the age of 74, he’s only a year younger than Domingo.Ricciarelli is a bit light for Amelia, but she has a most successful San Francisco outing (maybe Chicago too?) with Carreras. The telecast which comes before the broadcast features Quilico, Berini, and Blegen in the supporting parts is available on DVD and in MOoD. Patane is a solid, idiomatic conductor. Payne isn’t much, it’s starting to get late for Peters, but this is Nucci’s debut season, and he appears at the Met as late as 2004 as a strong Monforte in Vespri Siciliani. He premiered a new production of Nabucco at Covent Garden in 2013, which is his most frequent assumption on a calendar that is rather full through October 2017!!! He still has in his repertoire Miller, Boccanegra, Giorgio Germont, and Rigoletto at La Scala with upcoming dates in Budapest and Madrid. No dates on this side of the Atlantic, but 26 years after his Met debut, and at the age of 74, he’sonly a year younger than Domingo. MOD is 2/16/80 performance with Patanè; Ricciarelli, Blegen, Berini, Pavarotti, Quilico
LES CONTES D’HOFFMANN:Offenbach
Young; Leech, Morris, Dessay, Larmore, Racette, Mentzer
Original Air Date: 02/07/1998
SID.19470210
Here is Dessay at her youthful supreme, Young’s conducting is not always ideal, but Leech and Morris are on excellent form. Natalie is not to be missed (if only her Violetta sounded even half like this). Dessay in her early Met career literally brought the house down with her Olympia. Simone Young was not a popular addition to the Metropolitan, Unforgettable. Leech and Morris are very solid in their big roles.
IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA:Rossini
Rudolf; Guarrera, Peters, Valletti, Corena, Hines
Original Air Date: 12/21/1957
MOD Audio
SID.19470211
Guarrera is an alert if not so suave Figaro. Rudolf leads an experienced ensemble. One should listen to Corena here to hear why he’s remains so missed. The Met should release the Berganza 1968 video if for no other reason to preserve his Bartolo.
ADRIANA LECOUVREUR:Cilea
Abbado; Freni, Lima, Toczyska, Milnes
Original Air Date: 03/19/1994
SID.19470212
I enjoyed seeing Freni in the role, but Fedora turned out to be a much more congenial role for her late period. Tocyzyska is always an alert performer.
AKHNATEN:Glass
Kamensek; Larusdottir, Bridges, Costanzo, Blake, Liverman, Bernstein, James
Original Air Date: 11/19/2019
SID.19470000