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
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.
LULU:Berg
Levine; Stratas, Mazura, Lear, Riegel, Foldi
Original Air Date: 01/03/1981
SID.19470315
This is Stratas’ only Lulu broadcast from the Met, and by everyone’s reckoning it is a strong cast. The telecast was done a few weeks earlier with Julia Migenes in the title role replacing Stratas. That is available on DVD issued by the Met
Puccini
Levine; Zylis-Gara, Ciannella, Elvira, Capecchi
Original Air Date: 03/21/1981
SID.19470316
This is not the most common of Met Manon Lescaut casts, but Zylis-Gara has some lovely moments, and so does Ciannella even if he is much more tried by the vocal demands of the role. Elvira who left us too soon makes for a fine Lescaut. There are better Manon Lescauts in the broadcast archive that have not yet been rebroadcast, but Zylis-Gara and Ciannella are not without their interest.
MOSES UND ARON:Schoenberg
Levine; Tomlinson, Langridge
Original Air Date: 02/20/1999
MOD Audio
SID.19470319
There are only two broadcasts this Met broadcast premiere in 1999 and the 2003 with the same principals, The 1993 has been issued as a Met CD and is available in MOoD and has also been in Sirius rotation. The 1993 performance is only available in the Sirius rotation, but both come around rather frequently.There are only two broadcasts – this Met broadcast premiere in 1999 and the 2003 with the same principals, The 1993 has been issued as a Met CD and is available in MOoD and has also been in Sirius rotation. The 1993 performance is only available in the Sirius rotation, but both come around rather frequently. These same forces broadcast the opera again four years later, and to date these are the only broadcasts of the Schoenberg work from the Met. It’s not on my regular listening schedule, but an important 20th century work for those who determine importance.
LA CLEMENZA DI TITO:Mozart
Levine; Rendall, Troyanos, Alexander, Montague, Hong
Original Air Date: 02/14/1987
SID.19470320
Unlike Idomeneo, Levine has totally dominated this opera at the Met, conducting 35 of the 45 performances. This is his second broadcast, and the vocal standout is once again Troyanos. MOoD features Levine’s first in 1985, and his last broadcast in 2005.
ORFEO ED EURIDICE:Gluck
Monteux; Stevens, Güden, Hurley
Original Air Date: 04/09/1955
SID.19470422
Stevens has two runs at the Met in 1955 under Monteux and three seasons later with a broadcast now under Max Rudolf and with Amara the Euridice. For my money no one ever looked better as Orfeo, but the audio only record is not nearly as memorable. Monteux is a legendary conductor (world premieres of Rite of spring and Daphnis and Chloe in Paris), but not sure that Gluck finds him at his best. This Orfeo is from his penultimate Met season. Monteux who also recorded it with Stevens, is really part of history (he conducted the world premieres of Rite of spring and Daphnis and Chlore). Stevens is a much beloved Met figure, but I think there are better ways to experience Orfeo.
LE PROPHÈTE:Meyerbeer
Lewis; McCracken, Scotto, Horne, Hines
Original Air Date: 01/29/1977
SID.19480102
Though this is the only broadcast of Prophete from the Met, I find the work of little interest. The big name singers work hard, but Lewis is not the man to make the work seem better than it is. The second season is in the opening weeks under Charles Mackerras (typically a much higher profile conductor), but not broadcast. In the current environment we would have had one and possibly two offerings with new casting of both Berthe (Rita Shane) and Jean (Guy Chauvet).
Donizetti
Müller; Olsen, Battle, Dara, Oswald
Original Air Date: 12/05/1992
SID.19480103
The opera is not of such depth to deserve what seems like a a weekly rotation. There were a number of evening performances broadcast live of the Florez Damrau cast. They don’t exactly overplay the Bergonzi or Kraus performances, CB has 2, and AK has 1. But better to give the opera a rest, because we’ll have plenty of L’elisir come September. This is Battle’s last Elisir broadcast, and the supporting cast is not especially distinguished.Dara was always a rather colorless Dulcamara for me, and I want a bit more Italian sunshine than Olsen. Battle has 30 (!!!) Met Adinas, the champion. She is not the first Adina I think of. Both Freni and Scotto are more to my taste for very different reasons. Once again this ordinary L’elisir is trotted out. The opera itself (not just this performance) seems overplayed in rotation. It does feature very good orchestra playing and excellent sound. This performance has had some rest, but there are several other Battle Elisirs with Pavarotti that also appear so it seems to repeat her assumption a bit too frequently.
COSÌ FAN TUTTE:Mozart
Isepp; Vaness, Croft, Graham, Gunn, McLaughlin, Shimell
Original Air Date: 03/15/1997
SID.19480104
This is the season after the Bartoli run as Despina also with Vaness. Most of the interest in this broadcast centers on Richard Croft now in Satyagraha and Susan Graham for whom this is an early broadcast. Her second Dorabella run is in 2001 has also been on Sirius. For Vaness fans she has two Cosi broadcasts from early in her Met career 1984 and 1991, and the 1984 is particularly recommended. Her Mozart singing in the early 1980s was right up there with the very best– Steber, Fleming, Lorengar, Te Kanawa.
Wagner
Levine; Domingo, Tomowa-Sintow, Marton, McIntyre, Macurdy
Original Air Date: 02/16/1985
SID.19480105
This performance is also available in MOoD. Domingo sings very well, but for me the special excitement of this performance comes from the two ladies. Marton had not yet started her heavy round of Elektra performances, and her singing is commanding without ever being less than very feminine. Lohengrin is one of Levine’s best efforts, and here’s the cast for it. The ladies are simply splendid, among the best exponents of their roles in the last 3 decades. Lohengrin is one of Levine’s best Wagner efforts.
Various:Various
Various Artists
Original Air Date: 01/01/9999
SID.19480106
Gounod
Nézet-Séguin; Kaufmann, Poplavskaya, Pape, Braun, Losier
Original Air Date: 12/10/2011
Live in HDMOD Video
SID.19480107
Nezet-Seguin’s conducting was one of the best things he’s done at the Met, and both Kaufmann and Pape were excellent if not exactly erasing aural memories of Bjorling and Siepi (1950 and 1959). The two blots for me were Poplavskaya as Marguerite and the misconceived production by Des McAnuff which will not disturb listening.
Puccini
Domingo; Zhang, Smith, Zifchak, Salsi, Sorensen
Original Air Date: 12/17/2011
SID.19480208
Good to hear Zhang on a broadcast. I thought she was very impressive in the theatre. This is a promotion from the matinee to the archival series rather quickly. The controversial part of this run of Butterfly was the conducting shared by Yves Abel and Placido Domingo. Zhang was a very high profile Butterfly both on the radio and in the theatre, so no conductor was going to get the best of her.
Ponchielli
Cleva; Milanov, Baum, Warren, Rankin, Tozzi
Original Air Date: 04/02/1955
SID.19480209
This is a pretty representative Gioconda cast for the 1950s. It should catch Tozzi in his prime condition coming a month after his debut and Rankin was well suited to Laura, an awkward part for many. Warren should also be at his best. That leaves Milanov and Baum in two giant roles. There is no question of Milanov’s legendary status and in this role in particular. She can also be a maddeningly uneven singer, sometimes within the same performance or even section of music. I love Gioconda, but it is a challenging sing. Callas has a fine studio recording made after her firing from the Met that is still very good, but I don’t have any Callas annals handy, but don’t think she has many/any after 1952. Tebaldi saved it till late in her career, and the part didn’t work for Farrell. I enjoyed both Bumbry and Marton, but the part was well beyond Scotto, and recent efforts by Voigt and Urmana are down another rung. Milanov’s melodramatics are solid.