IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA:Rossini
Original Air Date: 03/09/1963
Strasfogel; Guarrera, D’Angelo, Shirley, Corena, Tozzi
SID.19340533
The only known I will vouch for in advance is Corena, one of his very best roles. Tozzi becomes more variable in this period, so I don’t want to praise a performance I have not recently heard. This performance could be anything from a train wreck to a secret gem. What I am sure about is that it is not the Zedda critical edition (not yet published).
Various:Various
Original Air Date: 01/01/9999
Various Artists
SID.19340534
Various selections between scheduled operas. Siriusxm Radio and web player will show the Composer and Title.
I PURITANI:Bellini
Original Air Date: 03/13/1976
Bonynge; Sutherland, Pavarotti, Milnes, Morris
MOD Audio SID.19340636
Bing delivered a lovely production, and the four principals all were well suited to their roles. This was a big break-out part for Morris and the Suoni la tromba duet with Milnes almost stole the show from Pavarotti and Sutherland. Sutherland is 50 for this performance, and amazingly is back ten years later for another Puritani broadcast. This 1976 is the preferred broadcast and deservingly is on Met Player. It’s just a shame it wasn’t videod as well (the first video of the modern series comes a year later). It is a fitting document to one of the strongest Puritani quartets ever. There is no arguing that Met casting was top tier, and this certainly lifted Morris up from being promising to being major.
MANON:Massenet
Original Air Date: 12/18/1954
Monteux; de los Angeles, Valletti, Corena
SID.19340637
This performance is notable for the special qualities of Monteux , de Los Angeles, and Valletti, a performance to treasure. Once again I will put in a plea for the December 1959 broadcast with de Los Angeles and Gedda under Jean Morel, which has not been heard on Sirius at all.This performance is notable for the special qualities of Monteux , de Los Angeles, and Valletti, a performance to treasure. Once again I will put in a plea for the December 1959 broadcast with de Los Angeles and Gedda under Jean Morel, which has not been heard on Sirius at all.
LA GIOCONDA:Ponchielli
Original Air Date: 03/16/1946
Cooper; Milanov, Tucker, Warren, Stevens, Vaghi
SID.19340638
The Met doesn’t reach back into the 1940s often, but La Gioconda is a good opera to do that. This is from Tucker’s debut broadcast (his house debut is in the same role the previous season). Milanov, Tucker, and Warren really show the type of voices necessary for this work. The MOoD from 1953 substitutes Baum for Tucker, but you pick up Barbieri and Siepi. A major Gioconda omission from rebroadcast is the 1959 the only other Gioconda broadcast with Milanov and Tucker together. It also features Merrill and Siepi which is about as potent a male lineup as can be imagined. Sirius, Met, how about a look at 1959, and the addition of this 1946 performance to MOoD.
/268x0w.jpg” />
NORMA:Bellini
Original Air Date: 02/17/1973
Cillario; Caballé, Cossotto, Cossutta, Tozzi
MOD Audio SID.19340639
This is from Caballe’s first run at Norma with the reliable Cossotto; they are certainly a team. Cossutta missed the premiere, and this is his debut; he would go on to do 12 more Polliones with Caballe, Galvany, and Verrett and that is his Met career. Tozzi would not be my choice for Oroveso. Norma is one of Caballe’s best roles.
LULU:Berg
Original Air Date: 04/13/1985
Levine; Migenes, Mazura, Lear, Lewis, Foldi
SID.19340640
This performance was also issued in Sony’s Historical series on CD, but strikingly not in the Met Opera on Demand (MOoD) which features a performance from the season before with the same conductor, Figaro, Count, and Cherubino. Della Casa is swapped with Amara and Soderstrom (as Susanna) is swapped with Peters. Siepi is the chief attraction here. His Figaro is represented by 3 other Nozze performances, but strangely his Mephisto only has one streaming representation, but neither Bjorling (1950, 1959) nor a strong cast for his last turn at the microhones in 1969.
THE GAMBLER:Prokofiev
Original Air Date: 03/31/2001
Gergiev; Galouzine, Guryakova, Alexashkin, Obraztsova
SID.19340641
This is the Met broadcast premiere of this work. Seven years later Galouzine and Gergiev are together again for another broadcast at the Met, but with Diadkova in for Obraztsova. Galouzine has been through a lot of heavy singing in the seven years, so this is overall the best bet for experiencing the Prokofiev. Unfortunately, the MOoD only has the 2008 broadcast. In the theatre with lot of intense visuals, this was a most enjoyable production. Even with audio only Gergiev and Galouzine are still powerhouses.
Original Air Date: 03/09/1974
Levine; Caballé, Gedda, Milnes, Díaz
MOD Audio SID.19340642
This is a performance where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. If Caballe does not have every note in place, she is still very near the top of her considerable form, and the ensemble reflects the new production intensity and first appearance of a major Verdi opera in the Met repertory. Gedda has the most performances of Arrigo, the challenging tenor role. Tucker was scheduled for a run (including broadcast) the year he died, but none of the hearty tenors of the past had the right timing– no Corelli, Bergonzi, and only five for Domingo, and he was gone. This performance is available in Met Opera on Demand (MOoD) and is a strong performance.
FALSTAFF:Verdi
Original Air Date: 02/03/1996
Levine; Plishka, Daniels, Quilico, Horne, Bonney, Groves
MOD Audio SID.19350101
Levine, Plishka, Bonney, and Horne are all in the 1992 revival which is on MOoD, but with Freni for Daniels, and Bruno Pola for Quilico. My experience with almost all of the Falstaff casting in the Levine era is OK, but not really an ensemble. We still keep having the Bernstein performance overlooked (LB’s only other Met broadcast beside Cavalleria) from 1964. The bad luck continues with Rosenstock’s conducting from 1965 and Amaducci’s conducting fom 1967. The Dohnanyi performance from 1972 features Gobbi in one of HIS two Met broadcasts (the other is Otello, no Scarpia on the Met airwaves alas) with Tebaldi, Resnik, Paskalis in sterling support. This should be in MOoD.
Strauss
Original Air Date: 04/18/1992
Levine; Daner, Voigt, Rysanek, Rootering, King
SID.19350317
This broadcast is best as a document of Rysanek’s only Met broadcast Klytemnestra, and Voigt in young, fresh voice. Daner sang all other performances of this new production, when Behrens cancelled after the premiere. I was at the premiere and kept wondering when the performance would be halted. Daner is a competent replacement, but nothing memorable. An annual cycling seems a bit excessive to me.
DON GIOVANNI:Mozart
Original Air Date: 02/15/2003
Cambreling; Mattei, Radvanovsky, Furlanetto, Diener, Trost, Netrebko
MOD Audio SID.19350318
This Don Giovanni is a solid performance especially in key roles, and proof that not all fine performances are pre-1980. Radvanovsky and Netrebko have gone on to extraordinary careers, but Mattei and Furlanetto make for a fresh and effective pairing as the Don and Leporello (Mattei will reprise his DON later in the 2014-2015 season, but I don’t think Furlanetto does Leporello so much these days. I’ve listened to this performance thanks to previous Sirius appearances. Recommended. This performance is on Met Player, it’s a splendid afternoon. I saw an earlier performance with Mattei and found him one of the very best of recent Giovannis. I’m not forgetting Siepi, but Mattei managed to be both dark of drama and sunny of voice. The women are among the very best of recent trios, with Radvanovsky just starting to take off, Diener very solid, and Netrebko one of the lushest Zerlinas ever. Furlanetto is not chopped liver as Leporello, and Trost is OK. Not all fine performances took place 40 years ago.
ERNANI:Verdi
Original Air Date: 12/17/1983
Levine; Pavarotti, Mitchell, Milnes, Raimondi
MOD Audio SID.19350319
This is the audio that goes with the video available on DVD. I love Ernani, and Pavarotti and Mitchell are quite good. Milnes and Raimondi are not my usual choices in this music; I prefer by a lot MacNeil and Siepi. Levine is lively, and a week with Ernani always makes me feel better. I think Pavarotti may only have one other run in this role (Verona?)but unusually Domingo’s Ernani total at the Met is lower — one.
MANON LESCAUT:Puccini
Original Air Date: 03/23/1968
Molinari-Pradelli; Tebaldi, Alexander, Guarrera, Michalski
SID.19350320
I am always happy to hear Manon Lescaut, and Alexander is an under-appreciated singer so happy to have him here, BUT Tebaldi’s greatness in the role is in the 1959 broadcast with Tucker (not yet broadcast on Sirius). Also on Met Player . Although this performance is available on Met Player, for some reason the Met keeps avoiding the 1959 performance with Tucker– he is represented with Kabaiwanska in a very decent performance from 1966. Once again I would call on the Met to restore to broadcast availability one of the remarkable unions of two Met legends of Tebaldi and Tucker. This 1968 performance captures Tebaldi after two long runs in Gioconda, and the voice was simply not the same. I yield to no one in my admiration of John Alexander, but it is still inexplicable to me that the 1959 broadcast with Tebaldi and Tucker remains un-rebroadcast, and this performance is in MOoD and regularly on Sirius. For Tebaldi, the 9 year span makes a huge difference. By the time of this broadcast she is well on her way through her Gioconda marathon after a vocal crisis in the early 60s. She has many wonderful moments, but surely Met listeners deserve to hear the Tucker/Tebaldi/Puccini combination one more time (I’ve written on the 1956 Tosca many times).
RODELINDA:Handel
Original Air Date: 05/06/2006
Summers; Fleming, Scholl, van Rensburg, Blythe, Dumaux, Relyea
MOD Video SID.19350321
This performance in the second season of the production and Scholl’s first appearance at the Met. There was a third broadcast which includes an HD moviecast of Rodelinda with Fleming and Scholl under Bicket (whom I prefer to Summers) but the intervening 4 years do not benefit either Fleming or Scholl. This video is available also in MOoD so you can compare for yourself. I like Scholl much more than David Daniels so this is my preferred Rodelinda.
RIGOLETTO:Verdi
Original Air Date: 12/07/1968
Cleva; Merrill, Moffo, Bergonzi, Michalski, Love
SID.19350422
A bit of a mini-Robert Merrill festival with his Scarpia and Rigoletto in one week. While RM may be a good shot away from the dramatic demands of Scarpia, Rigoletto worked better for him, not least because of the richness of his voice. I remember this performance well, and while neither Bergonzi nor Merrill are perfect, they brought me much pleasure. Moffo is not in especially good voice (Lucia awaits her before the broadcast microphones 8 weeks later).
LA TRAVIATA:Verdi
Original Air Date: 01/24/1959
Adler; Albanese, Valletti, Sereni
SID.19350423
This Is Albanese’s final Violetta broadcast her 10th. She is also the Met champion Violetta at 87 (Moffo has 80, then the ranks start to disperse rapidly. This is not my first choice Violetta (I never saw her in the part) but she is part of a Violetta tradition that has vanished. Happy that Sirius is broadcasting it. A few further Albanese Traviata notes– although she is the Violetta for Robert Merrill’s debut in 1945 (with Tucker but never with a broadcast microphone. Tucker, whose Alfredos go from 1945-1972 does not appear on the broadcast microphones for it after 1954 when the trio is Albanese, Tucker, Warren. Albanese also has a broadcast VIoletta with Bastianini and Prandelli in 1955. Sadly for the #1 Violetta in performances is not represented in MOoD. This 1959 is ok, but I would love to hear either the 1954 or 1955 on Sirius first.
BLUEBEARD’S CASTLE:Bartók
Original Air Date: 01/28/1989
Levine; Ramey, Norman
SID.19350424
What is defective about this is that in March of 2013 [and March 2015] the rebroadcast included the second work of the afternoon Schoenberg’s Erwartung with Norman. Rebroadcasting half the afternoon? I’ll try to be up and check and see if both works are actually on. Bluebeard with a much weaker cast is scheduled in a new production in 2014-2015 (the starrier fare of this season is Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta with Netrebko and Beczala. I find it a bit tone deaf to be honoring Norman’s 70th birthday with a broadcast that is incomplete and not yet honored in Met Opera on Demand or DVD for both the Bluebeard and the Erwartung. Although the Bartok is done in an English translation it was telecast as well. Norman is at her considerable best, and it would be nice if this performance could be issued somehow. Ramey is a very strong Bluebeard. It’s one of the few post 1977 videos not available in any form, either MOoD or DVD.
Wagner
Original Air Date: 04/17/1993
Levine; Jones, Johns, Salminen, Held, Plette, Troyanos
SID.19350425
This is one of Jones best Met performances, and 15 years after I saw her do it at Bayreuth. She’s in better voice for this than at the Festspielhaus. This is Troyanos’ farewell broadcast and her last run of anything at the Met. Johns is a very decent Siegfried,and Salminen a thrilling Hagen. The Three Norns are Mignon Dunn, Hanna Schwarz, and Susan Neves. That’s a lot of Stimme from all three ladies.
Wagner
Original Air Date: 04/17/1993
Levine; Jones, Johns, Salminen, Held, Plette, Troyanos
SID.19350426
This is one of Jones best Met performances, and 15 years after I saw her do it at Bayreuth. She’s in better voice for this than at the Festspielhaus. This is Troyanos’ farewell broadcast and her last run of anything at the Met. Johns is a very decent Siegfried,and Salminen a thrilling Hagen. The Three Norns are Mignon Dunn, Hanna Schwarz, and Susan Neves. That’s a lot of Stimme from all three ladies.
Donizetti
Original Air Date: 12/04/1982
Bonynge; Sutherland, Kraus, Elvira, Morris
MOD Video SID.19350427
Most people are very familiar with the telecast from November 13, 1982 which is on MOoD. The telecast which is also available on DVD features Plishka instead of Morris, and while Sutherland (age 56) and Kraus (55) are certainly veterans they have a lot to offer. MOD is video from 11-13-82 performance with Plishka for Morris
UN BALLO IN MASCHERA:Verdi
Original Air Date: 03/17/1962
Santi; Bergonzi, Rysanek, Merrill, Rothenberger, Madeira
SID.19350428
This is the cast that premiered the new production a few weeks earlier, and brought Bergonzi’s matchless Riccardo to Met audiences. He would go on to sing it with the Met 33 times, a house record. Bergonzi has two distinguished studio recordings, and for anyone who saw his performance, it was one of the great assumptions of the postwar Met. He had no better Verdian role, and no other tenor so epitomized the virtues of Verdi’s music. July 13, was Bergonzi’s birthday, and we all truly wish him Cent’anni. Rysanek received good reviews, but the scrutiny of the broadcast microphones show more of a mixed bag. Rysanek does two more Amelias the following season and with a broadcast Don Carlo in 1964, Rysanek is done with Verdi at the Met. She continues at the Met for another 32 years with many distinguished performances, but Italian opera which was her original calling card (as Lady Macbeth) is gone from her repertory. Renato was one of Merrill’s best roles, and recently hearing him in 1963 with Nilsson and Tucker in this Ballo production on Sirius, Merrill makes a strong case for this as the third starring role. He dominated the broadcast airwaves in this role for close to two decades, and especially when he gets to Eri tu and the drawing of the lots, he really leaves competition inside and outside the Met far to the rear (Cappuccilli has a distinguished video from Covent Garden, and his mostly non-Met presence (debut and farewell as Germont on the same night) remains a great loss for the Met. Only Santi and Bergonzi are still with us, and I think Santi is still conducting. This is the cast of the premiere of the new production, and finds Rysanek in uneven form. Bergonzi, Merrill and Rothenberger are just about as good as you can get. Merrill is here in his 3d of 8 broadcasts of Renato from 1955-1975. Milnes breaks the chronology for 1 broadcast in 1973, otherwise if Ballo is on the radio, it’s Bob on board. The conspiracy scene is further strengthened by Giaiotti’s Sam.
SAMSON ET DALILA:Saint-Saëns
Original Air Date: 02/25/2006
Villaume; Forbis, Borodina, Lafont
SID.19350529
This is one of only two Met broadcasts of Samson with Borodina. The earlier one is the opening night of the 1998-1999 season (not a matinee broadcast) with Domingo which was subsequently issued on DVD and is available in MOoD. For my money Borodina is the best Dalila since Gorr, and one is better off with the 1998 performance. Villaume’s conducting of the 2006 performance is not without elan, but Borodina is who you want to hear on both performances, and she’s better in 1998. This is the most recent Samson broadcast, and is certainly worth a listen for Borodina, the most glamorous voice to have ever graced a Samson broadcast. Let me put in a pitch for the 1972 broadcast with Bumbry and McCracken in parts they are not widely heard in and you still have Bacquier setting the standard for High Priest.
MANON LESCAUT:Puccini
Original Air Date: 03/23/1968
Molinari-Pradelli; Tebaldi, Alexander, Guarrera, Michalski
SID.19350530
I am always happy to hear Manon Lescaut, and Alexander is an under-appreciated singer so happy to have him here, BUT Tebaldi’s greatness in the role is in the 1959 broadcast with Tucker (not yet broadcast on Sirius). Also on Met Player . Although this performance is available on Met Player, for some reason the Met keeps avoiding the 1959 performance with Tucker– he is represented with Kabaiwanska in a very decent performance from 1966. Once again I would call on the Met to restore to broadcast availability one of the remarkable unions of two Met legends of Tebaldi and Tucker. This 1968 performance captures Tebaldi after two long runs in Gioconda, and the voice was simply not the same. I yield to no one in my admiration of John Alexander, but it is still inexplicable to me that the 1959 broadcast with Tebaldi and Tucker remains un-rebroadcast, and this performance is in MOoD and regularly on Sirius. For Tebaldi, the 9 year span makes a huge difference. By the time of this broadcast she is well on her way through her Gioconda marathon after a vocal crisis in the early 60s. She has many wonderful moments, but surely Met listeners deserve to hear the Tucker/Tebaldi/Puccini combination one more time (I’ve written on the 1956 Tosca many times).
LOHENGRIN:Wagner
Original Air Date: 02/01/1964
Rosenstock; Kónya, Crespin, Rankin, Cassel, Wiemann
SID.19350531
Bing generally avoided broadcasts as the first performance in a run, and this one could certainly have done with a few performances for the ensemble to gel. More cuts than we are used to, and Rosenstock is not the most inspiring leader. Konya is in excellent voice, and stands up to the best of the Lohengrins ever. Crespin is one of my favorites, and already by 1964 she could be uneven. Still I like an Elsa with metal for the second act confrontation with Ortrud and also the full throated singing she and Konya bring to the Bridal Chamber. Rankin and Cassel are up to the vocal demands if not always the distinction one would like, and Wiemann was an excellent house bass ready for all the Wagner roles. His phrasing is often a good deal more pleasing than Hines who had more significant vocal equipment. *** Bing generally avoided first performances of repertory as broadcasts, and sometimes things go rather bumpily (most infamously the Schwarzkopf Don Giovanni and the Moffo Lucia). This one does not find Crespin (a huge personal favorite) at her most settled, but she has her moments. Konya really is a fine Lohengrin and for a solid decade #1. The performance has some cuts as well, but by the middle of the second act, things are starting to fall into place.
THE RAKE’S PROGRESS:Stravinsky
Original Air Date: 01/17/1998
Levine; Hadley, Upshaw, Ramey, Blythe
SID.19350532
This is a solid cast, but I find the Stravinsky work rather cold. We are not finished with the first quarter of 2016 and already we are on our second Rake’s Progress rotation for the year (different cast and performance) Is there a Stravinsky anniversary I’ve missed?
Strauss
Original Air Date: 04/18/1992
Levine; Daner, Voigt, Rysanek, Rootering, King
SID.19350533
This broadcast is best as a document of Rysanek’s only Met broadcast Klytemnestra, and Voigt in young, fresh voice. Daner sang all other performances of this new production, when Behrens cancelled after the premiere. I was at the premiere and kept wondering when the performance would be halted. Daner is a competent replacement, but nothing memorable. An annual cycling seems a bit excessive to me.
DON GIOVANNI:Mozart
Original Air Date: 02/15/2003
Cambreling; Mattei, Radvanovsky, Furlanetto, Diener, Trost, Netrebko
MOD Audio SID.19350636
This Don Giovanni is a solid performance especially in key roles, and proof that not all fine performances are pre-1980. Radvanovsky and Netrebko have gone on to extraordinary careers, but Mattei and Furlanetto make for a fresh and effective pairing as the Don and Leporello (Mattei will reprise his DON later in the 2014-2015 season, but I don’t think Furlanetto does Leporello so much these days. I’ve listened to this performance thanks to previous Sirius appearances. Recommended. This performance is on Met Player, it’s a splendid afternoon. I saw an earlier performance with Mattei and found him one of the very best of recent Giovannis. I’m not forgetting Siepi, but Mattei managed to be both dark of drama and sunny of voice. The women are among the very best of recent trios, with Radvanovsky just starting to take off, Diener very solid, and Netrebko one of the lushest Zerlinas ever. Furlanetto is not chopped liver as Leporello, and Trost is OK. Not all fine performances took place 40 years ago.
Donizetti
Original Air Date: 12/04/1982
Bonynge; Sutherland, Kraus, Elvira, Morris
MOD Video SID.19350637
Most people are very familiar with the telecast from November 13, 1982 which is on MOoD. The telecast which is also available on DVD features Plishka instead of Morris, and while Sutherland (age 56) and Kraus (55) are certainly veterans they have a lot to offer. MOD is video from 11-13-82 performance with Plishka for Morris
RODELINDA:Handel
Original Air Date: 05/06/2006
Summers; Fleming, Scholl, van Rensburg, Blythe, Dumaux, Relyea
MOD Video SID.19350638
This performance in the second season of the production and Scholl’s first appearance at the Met. There was a third broadcast which includes an HD moviecast of Rodelinda with Fleming and Scholl under Bicket (whom I prefer to Summers) but the intervening 4 years do not benefit either Fleming or Scholl. This video is available also in MOoD so you can compare for yourself. I like Scholl much more than David Daniels so this is my preferred Rodelinda.