COSÌ FAN TUTTE:Mozart
Tate; Vaness, Rendall, Murray, Holloay, Hamari, MacNeil
Original Air Date: 12/22/1984
SID.20010106
This is Vaness’ first of four Cosi broadcasts, and amazingly, the only one with Levine in the pit is 1996 when the opera gets a new production and features the debut of Cecilia Bartoli as Despina. This 1984 on the Sirius airwaves features Cornell MacNeil in his only Mozartean appearance (a run of 14 including a tour) all with Vaness who has the house record for Fiordiligi at 44 (Steber is not a close 2nd at 29, but Te Kanawa a very distant 3d at 16) in a line of very distinguished Fiordiligis. It’s a shame that none of the 4 Steber broadcsts (1952-1955, 3 with Tucker,one with Valletti) have made it to the Sirius airwaves. The Columbia studio recording made during the opening season is a fine memento, but a LIVE performance record of one of the great Met productions should be heard. Translation rights again appears to be the stumbling block.
DIE ÄGYPTISCHE HELENA:Strauss
Luisi; Voigt, Kerl, Damrau, Grove, Brendel
Original Air Date: 03/31/2007
MOD Audio
SID.20010107
This is the Met’s only broadcast of the Strauss work and Kerl and Damrau are very impressive. I don’t love the work, but like most Strauss, it has its moments. It’s repeated too often in rotation which in no way approximates its importance in the Strauss canon. This was the first Met production in more than eight decades. I love the awakening scene, but for me it’s one of the weaker Strauss works. I shouldn’t complain. No Strauss at all this season or next. To date this is the only Met matinee broadcast of this uncommon Strauss work. The strongest profile is from Damrau who is an excellent Aithra. The opera has some great moments, and was one of Met audience’s first chances to encounter Luisi, now the Principal Conductor.
THE QUEEN OF SPADES:Tchaikovsky
Gergiev; Grigorian, Guleghina, Rysanek, Hvorostovsky, Svendén, Putilin
Original Air Date: 12/30/1995
SID.20010208
This was the year of the new production which had starred Mattila and Heppner along with Rysanek in her last Met role. This is Rysanek’s broadcast farewell, and her final Met performance took place three days later. Guleghina and Grigorian are very solid and Gergiev is at his best. and oh yes, there’s Hvorostovsky in absolute prime. This performance should really be in MOoD. This is Rysanek’s broadcast farewell, and Hvorostovsky’s broadcast debut. Rysanek’s farewell to the Met is three days later after a career spanning five decades (38 years). A shame the cameras did not catch the opening run with Mattila and Heppner at their best, but this is a very solid broadcast. Heppner and Mattila were replaced by Guleghina and Greigorian. Both pairs were very good. The two baritones are also outstanding. Among the very best of Queen of Spades’ broadcasts. The 1966 English language (we’ll never hear it ;(((( ) with McCracken and Stratas should really be heard; I’m sorry Resnik didn’t have the broadcast instead of Madeira, but would really like to break the Sirius logjam on translations.
LA FORZA DEL DESTINO:Verdi
Stiedry; Milanov, Penno, Warren, Hines, Madeira, Pechner
Original Air Date: 03/20/1954
SID.20010209
Milanov’s four broadcast Leonoras begin in 1952 with much of the above cast except Tucker for Penno. That performance is on MOoD and there are many fine moments. Penno is the point of interest in this week’s Forza, and clearly he must have had one of the largest tenor voices in an era of big voiced singers. His Met career was not long, but he is long remembered as well for several appearances with Callas– Macbeth and Medea. He is also the Pollione at the Met in Milanov’s final series of Normas. Milanov’s Norma has not appeared in the Sirius series, and while the 2 1940s performances will catch her in smoother voice, I would love to hear the 1954 performance as well. If memory serves, this is the best of MIlanov’s 50s Forza Leonoras. Penno is a comet that didn’t turn out so well, but other than not being Tucker or Del Monaco, he’s fine.
L’ITALIANA IN ALGERI:Rossini
Campanella; Larmore, Polenzani, Ramey, Corbelli
Original Air Date: 02/17/2001
MOD Audio
SID.20010210
This is Ramey’s only Mustafa broadcast, and early appearances by Polenzani and Kwiecien who are Met regulars in star parts these days. My own favorite Isabella is Borodina whose performance with Florez and Furlanetto is also on MOoD.
LA BOHÈME:Puccini
Cleva; Sayão, Di Stefano, Hunt, Valdengo, Siepi
Original Air Date: 03/17/1951
MOD Audio
SID.20010211
The oldest BOHEME in the MOD catalog, it’s Siepi’s debut MET season. Although Sayao is Brazilian, she is certainly at one with the idiom and the luxury of Di Stefano, Valdengo, and Siepi among the Bohemians is pleasure indeed. Paul Jackson in his survey of Met broadcasts isn’t thrilled with Cleva, but listening to the MOoD is quite a dose of sunshine, and the sound for a 65 year old broadcast is quite clear.
L’ELISIR D’AMORE:Donizetti
Weikert; Cole, Upshaw, Taddei, Schexnayder
Original Air Date: 02/20/1988
SID.20010212
This is Kaufmann’s debut year, and Michaels-Moore is below the standard of Gheorghiu. Kaufmann is still a bit green, but I plan to listen again to see how close he was vocally to his current very high performance standard. My memory in the theatre was AG was still the star; it’s one of her best roles.
NEW YEAR’S EVE GALA: ANNA NETREBKO:Puccini
Nézet-Séguin; Netrebko, Polenzani, Kelsey, Luciano, Van Horn, Woodley, Netrebko, Eyvazov, Nikitin, Carfizzi, Netrebko, Eyvazov
Original Air Date: 12/31/2019
SID.20010213
In an unprecedented program to celebrate the new year, Anna Netrebko pulls out all the Puccini stops, starring as Mimì, Tosca, and Turandot in one gala evening. The star soprano will sing Act I of La Bohème, opposite tenor Matthew Polenzani, and Act I of Tosca and Act II of Turandot, opposite tenor Yusif Eyvazov. Conducted by Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin and featuring an outstanding cast that also includes baritones Quinn Kelsey and Davide Luciano, and bass-baritones Evgeny Nikitin and Christian Van Horn, this will be an evening not to be missed. Each of the acts will be fully staged and costumed in the respective (and spectacular) Zeffirelli and McVicar productions.
DIE FLEDERMAUS:Strauss Jr.
Kozma; Steber, Kullman, Munsel, Hayward, Novotná, Brownlee
Original Air Date: 01/23/1954
SID.20010315
Steber lets the end of the Czardas get away from her, and John Brownlee is never a voice I want to hear, but Munsel is quite a trouper in this role; Novotna is a stylish Orlofsky. Why is the Fledermaus translation not a problem for the Met, but their Arabella is? This is Steber’s only broadcast Rosalinde, and she makes a meal of it. This is getting toward the end of Munsel’s reign at the Met with mostly Perichole and some Depinas ahead of her. My problem is with Brownlee, one of the driest voices ever .
WERTHER:Massenet
Bonynge; Kraus, Crespin, Battle, Carlson
Original Air Date: 02/03/1979
MOD Audio
SID.20010316
This performance is one I always enjoy. Kraus and Crespin are solid exponents of the style, and Battle is a delight as Sophie. This is Crespin’s final Charlotte, and finds Kraus on very congenial ground. This is also on Met Player. Nice to have a mini-Crespin festival this week. One of the most enjoyable of Met Werther broadcasts.
OTELLO:Verdi
Gergiev; Domingo, Vaness, Leiferkus, Croft
Original Air Date: 04/02/1994
SID.20010317
Vaness’ Desdemona is professional and musical without being especially memorable. In the current controversy [this was over Gergiev’s close support of Putin and around the time of the Onegin opening night, where will Ukraine be in January 2015 when Gergiev is back at the house?] Gergiev was hardly deserving of an Otello production, but he was Joe Volpe’s counterbalance to Levine. His participation here is not a plus. Domingo’s Otello is a known quantity and he’s heard better elsewhere. though surprisingly streaming only features one audio performance and 2 videos; his actual broadcast total from the Met is 2 videos and 4 audios.
OTELLO:Verdi
Gergiev; Domingo, Vaness, Leiferkus, Croft
Original Air Date: 04/02/1994
SID.20020101
Vaness’ Desdemona is professional and musical without being especially memorable. In the current controversy [this was over Gergiev’s close support of Putin and around the time of the Onegin opening night, where will Ukraine be in January 2015 when Gergiev is back at the house?] Gergiev was hardly deserving of an Otello production, but he was Joe Volpe’s counterbalance to Levine. His participation here is not a plus. Domingo’s Otello is a known quantity and he’s heard better elsewhere. though surprisingly streaming only features one audio performance and 2 videos; his actual broadcast total from the Met is 2 videos and 4 audios.
IL TROVATORE:Verdi
Cleva; Bergonzi, Stella, Simionato, Bastianini, Wilderman
Original Air Date: 02/27/1960
SID.20020102
Wonder of wonders. Sirius/the Met finally figured out they could broadcast this again. This is Simionato’s only Met broadcast, and her supporting singers are in her league. Now this performance is worth hearing at least twice a year (at least until the Met sees fit to put it in the MOoD catalog. It’s also Bergonzi’s only broadcast Manrico from the Met. Please note that this performance is NOT in MOoD (it should be) and is rarely in rotation Outstanding broadcast alert. Simionato’s only Met broadcast; Bergonzi’s only Manrico broadcast. One of Bastianini’s outstanding broadcasts, as also for Stella.
DIE WALKÜRE:Wagner
Levine; Eaglen, Morris, Voigt, Domingo, Schwarz, Halfvarson
Original Air Date: 04/01/2000
MOD Audio
SID.20020103
RWW: This is also on MOoD and catches some erratic artists at their best. Schwarz who shines in the Chereau Ring is still a potent force 12 years later in this broadcast. Vocally, this is one of the better Levine Walkures even though Morris and Domingo are the only ones I am particularly interested in. SR: A solid Walkuere expertly paced by Levine. In the house, Eaglen struck me as a particularly ungenerous Bruennhilde, saving her resources for some eventuality. (She only really opened up in the Siegfried awakening scene). On broadcast, however, this isn’t as noticeable except in contrast to Voigt, who pours it on when called for. Domingo still has the goods as her brother. Morris shows why he was the Met’s Wotan of choice for so many years. Schwarz is dependable while not erasing memories of Ludwig, while Halfvarson was a delightful surprise as Hunding.
LUISA MILLER:Verdi
Santi; Ricciarelli, Pavarotti, Nucci, Plishka, Cheek, Berini
Original Air Date: 01/23/1982
MOD Audio
SID.20020105
Luisa is probably Ricciarelli’s best role, and is well suited to the lyricism as well as technical skill for this part. This performance is also available in MOoD and one I highly recommend, even if Santi is rather lethargic at some critical points. Act 3 of Luisa Miller is among Verdi’s greatest inspirations.
TOSCA:Puccini
Adler; Price, Corelli, MacNeil
Original Air Date: 04/07/1962
SID.20020106
One of the great Saturday afternoons. Adler is at best dutiful, and Price is not an ideal Tosca, but she is returning after a vocal rest in full command of her resources. It is her last New York appearance in the role. Cavaradossi was always one of Corelli’s best parts, and MacNeil is in magnificent form. With such vocal riches, it’s a barnburner of an afternoon. The Met has issued this performance as part of Sony’s Historical CD series.
IL PIRATA:Bellini
Campanella; Fleming, Giordani, Croft
Original Air Date: 02/08/2003
MOD Audio
SID.20020107
This is the Met premiere of Pirata and to date its only broadcast season, but I don’t find either the soprano or tenor quite right for their parts. This was the performance that started me on my Giordani no listen zone . RWW was lucky enough to see Caballe do a stage Pirata (2x) in Philadelphia, and she was almost ideally cast. Fleming is a versatile, highly skilled singer, but this part was not for her.
DON GIOVANNI:Mozart
Bonynge; Morris, Sutherland, Bacquier, Varady, Brecknock, Tourangeau
Original Air Date: 03/25/1978
MOD Audio
SID.20020208
This is Julia Varady’s only season and broadcast from the Met, and earns a well-deserved place in MOoD. The missing piece is that 9 days earlier the Met telecast this, and it operatic stage. Traubel has never appeared in any form. There is so little Sutherland video from the Met. Of particular interest is Bacquier in his only season as Leporello and Morris makes a youthful but powerful Don. It also captures the last of the Berman production. The video please! Also Sutherland’s only other Donna Anna from the Met is from opening season of the new house at Lincoln Center under Karl Bohm with Siepi, Flagello, and Giaiotti with Lorengar as the Elvira. This has not been recently discussed on SIrius in 5 years and should be in MOoD.
LA GIOCONDA:Ponchielli
Cleva; Milanov, Poggi, Warren, Rankin, Siepi
Original Air Date: 04/20/1957
SID.20020209
Paul Jackson in his history of Met broadcasts only deals with 1953 and 1961 in his volume that covers post 1950 Milanov. Rankin, Warren and Siepi are all among the very best exponents of their roles, but I’ve never gotten Poggi’s message. So it’s all about Milanov, and generally always want her earlier (like 1939) rather than later. Milanov was definitely variable in the 50s for her Giocondas. She has 2 more going as last as 1961. Rankin, Warren and Siepi are fine support, and it all depends what kind of a day ZM is having. Her first (not yet broadcast by Sirius) is her best, though the 1946 is also very good (Tucker’s debut year, and he is leagues ahead of Poggi).
FIDELIO:Beethoven
Perick; Connell, Lakes, Welker, Moll, Donath, Kaasch
Original Air Date: 02/16/1991
SID.20020210
This revival comes in for some harsh words from Tim Page, and this broadcast marks the late Elizabeth Connell’s farewell to the Met. She has a more considerable overall career than her appearances at the Met show, but this Fidelio does not help much. Moll and Donath are the two members of the A team, but Rocco and Marzelline are not the essential casting for Fidelio, though I certainly appreciate good singers in the canon quartet.
CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA / PAGLIACCI:Mascagni / Leoncavallo
Erede; Milanov, Tucker, Harvuot / Rigal, Baum, Warren
Original Air Date: 03/03/1951
MOD Audio
SID.20020211
The Cavalleria is strongly cast, and Warren was the major Tonio of the 1950s in Pagliacci. The two highlight vocal performances are Tucker in the Cavalleria and Warren in the Pagliacci. Milanov has a later broadcast on MetPlayer with Baum as Turiddu and Del Monaco as Canio. Representative Met performance, especially in Cavalleria, but Warren’s Prologue is something to hear as well.
DIE ENTFÜHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL:Mozart
Janowski; Donat, Winbergh, Salminen, Mills, Zednik
Original Air Date: 12/12/1987
SID.20020212
The main news here is Winbergh who had too few Met appearances and Salminen who is a solid Osmin, if not as good as Moll. My memory of Donat (the Polish coloratura, not Helen Donath) is limited and certainly in this performance. Janowski only has three broadcast appearances at the Met (Arabella, and Salome with Marton are the other two). He’s a major conductor, and if Salminen lacks some of the smoothness of Moll, to me he is much preferable to Talvela in this role. Winbergh left us much too soon, and Mills and Zednik are lively performers. Donat is too low profile for Konstanze (and this is her final Met performance), but the men are very good, and Janowski is a conductor we saw too little of. Salminen reappears four years later in a broadcast that is in MOoD with Devia and Olsen as support under Levine in one of his best efforts. Winbergh only has three other Met broadcasts, two Ottavios in Don Giovanni and his final Met appearance as Jose in Carmen. Since that is where his career was going — Parsifal and Tristan were on his calendar in final year, it would be nice to hear his Jose, and Uria-Monzon would be a break from the typical Carmen–she’s native French speaker.
SIMON BOCCANEGRA:Verdi
Levine; Agache, Mattila, Sylvester, Scandiuzzi, Fu
Original Air Date: 02/06/1999
SID.20020213
This performance is very close to the same cast as the Covent Garden performance under Solti with te Kanawa for Mattila. Scandiuzzi did not turn out to be the successor to the lion Siepi. Sylvester is better with Solti ; his only remaining Met performances are a Radames the Fall of 1999, and 2 Calafs in the Fall of 2000. To me the best recent performance was from 2010 with Hvorostovsky, Frittoli, Vargas, and Furlanetto with Levine in particularly inspired form.This performance is very close to the same cast as the Covent Garden performance under Solti with te Kanawa for Mattila. Scandiuzzi did not turn out to be the successor to the lion Siepi. Sylvester is better with Solti ; his only remaining Met performances are a Radames the Fall of 1999, and 2 Calafs in the Fall of 2000. To me the best recent performance was from 2010 with Hvorostovsky, Frittoli, Vargas, and Furlanetto with Levine in particularly inspired form.
THAÏS:Massenet
López-Cobos; Fleming, Hampson, Schade
Original Air Date: 12/20/2008
Live in HDMOD Video
SID.20020214
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.
WOZZECK:Berg
Yannick Nézet-Séguin: Peter Mattei, Elza van den Heever, Gerhard Siegel, Christian Van Horn
Original Air Date: 01/11/2020
Live in HD
SID.20020640
After wowing audiences with his astounding production of Lulu in 2015, South African artist William Kentridge now focuses his extraordinary visual imagination on Berg’s other operatic masterpiece, set in an apocalyptic pre–World War I environment. Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin is on the podium for this important event, with baritone Peter Mattei making his highly anticipated role debut as the title character. Soprano Elza van den Heever is Wozzeck’s unfaithful mate, and the commanding cast also includes tenor Christopher Ventris as the Drum-Major, bass-baritone Christian Van Horn as the Doctor, and tenor Gerhard Siegel as the Captain.
A co-production of the Metropolitan Opera; Salzburg Festival; the Canadian Opera Company, Toronto; and Opera Australia
Production a gift of Robert L. Turner
DER ROSENKAVALIER:Strauss
Schippers; Della Casa, Schwarzkopf, Edelmann, Raskin, Dönch
Original Air Date: 12/19/1964
MOD Audio
SID.20030102
Della Casa, a famous Marschallin in her own right, does her first Octavian with the Met in this series of performances. It’s not quite an ideal fit even if very starry. Schwarzkopf was certainly the most famous postwar Marschallin and is here in one of her only two Met broadcast appearances– the latter an unintentional Met farewell in a most unsatisfactory Donna Elvira two years later.
Verdi
Levine; Shicoff, Price, Weikl, Troyanos, Raimondi, Rootering
Original Air Date: 02/11/1989
SID.20030103
The Price here is Margaret Price and her only other Met broadcast is Otello with Domingo and Milnes from her debut year in 1985 which has so far eluded the airwaves. Shicoff is also under-represented so this performance is especially welcomed — this is only the third rotation since its first Sirius rebroadcast in 2014. The rest of the male cast are not my favorites in this very favorite opera of mine.
DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE:Mozart
Maag; Moffo, Alva, Gramm, Shane, Hines
Original Air Date: 12/15/1973
SID.20030104
This Zauberflote turns up as among the most commonly broadcast Flutes. I’m not sure why except that it is in generally good sound. Shane and Hines are the only two performers with 29 and 55 performances respectively who are major exponents of their roles. One thing that lowers the availability is that from 1941 until 1967, it was performed exclusively in English, and generally Sirius plays no performances performed in translation.
MANON:Massenet
Luisi; Netrebko, Beczala, Szot
Original Air Date: 04/07/2012
MOD Video
SID.20030105
This audio was the first time the Met has rebroadcast the audio track of a Live in HD. This was a bit of a breakout part for Beczala who had slimmed down and certainly made an effective foil for the Netrebko Manon. I enjoyed her in the theatre even if she were no Patricia Brooks , or Faith Esham (both at City Opera, Wagner broadcast, and for me both better than the very good and much more famous Manon it finds him far from his two decade mastery of Sills.) When I want to listen to Manon, I need go no further than the early 19250s recording on EMI with Victoria de los Angeles and Henri LeGay under Pierre Monteux. Sirius does play the 1954 Met performance with VDLA and Cesare Valletti also under Monteux (and is available on MOoD). Still unbroadcast is the 1959 with VDLA and Gedda under Jean Morel. Wagner.
Verdi
Cleva; Warren, Peters, Fernandi, Wilderman, Roggero
Original Air Date: 03/28/1959
SID.20030106
This is the the last of Warren’s 9 Rigoletto broadcasts. His 1945 broadcast with Sayao and Bjorling is on Met Player and while maybe not quite as deep dramatically has all the vocal goods in order. Fernandi is not what one is usually looking for as Duke beyond his native familiarity The performance is most notable for being Warren’s final Rigoletto broadcast. I never saw him live, but always loved his Rigoletto. Only Warren really impressed me.