AIDA:Verdi
Original Air Date: 01/27/2001
Levine; Voigt, Pavarotti, Borodina, Delavan, Bezzubenkov
MOD Audio SID.19060636
This performance commemorates the centenary of Verdi’s death, and except for the plush offered by Borodina, there is not much here. This is where I first started to hear real stylistic limitations in Voigt’s performances (well before the surgery), but as I am preparing this, it is really quite remarkable that Pavarotti is out there at the age of 66 (!!!) as Radames. The visual was supposedly very compromised, but my memory from the radio was OK, not more, but Giovanni Martinelli (KING of Radames with 123 Met performances from 1915-1943!!!!!! was only 58 at his last Met effort) I’ll give Pavarotti another listen.
I VESPRI SICILIANI:Verdi
Original Air Date: 12/11/2004
Chaslin; Radvanovsky, Casanova, Nucci, Ramey
MOD Audio SID.19060637
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.6/26/2012 – Ramey is a bit too late for Procida here, but Chaslin’s conducting and the other three principals are very good . Vespri is hard to sing, and never overwhelms me like Don Carlo, Ballo, Simon, or Forza, but there are still some Verdian moments to enjoy. The only competitive Met broadcast. 9/28/11 – Vespri has some great music but I find it the weakest of any of Verdi’s post Rigoletto operas. This revival was the big showcase for Radvanovsky who regularly featured some of the biggest E naturals ever heard at the Met (at the end of th e Bolero). Nucci still had surprising sap left, but 2 or 3 years too late for Ramey, and Casanova will be ok on the radio, but he did not have an ideal stage appearance. 2/8/11 – It’s not Don Carlo or Simon Boccanegra, but one of the first exposures of major league Radvanovsky. Not quite enough panache for the dramatic sections, but some stirring singing. Casanova better heard than seen, and Nucci in fine shape, esp. for his age.Just a little too late for Ramey. Much better at Scala under Muti.
AIDA:Verdi
Original Air Date: 01/27/2001
Levine; Voigt, Pavarotti, Borodina, Delavan, Bezzubenkov
MOD Audio SID.19060744
This performance commemorates the centenary of Verdi’s death, and except for the plush offered by Borodina, there is not much here. This is where I first started to hear real stylistic limitations in Voigt’s performances (well before the surgery), but as I am preparing this, it is really quite remarkable that Pavarotti is out there at the age of 66 (!!!) as Radames. The visual was supposedly very compromised, but my memory from the radio was OK, not more, but Giovanni Martinelli (KING of Radames with 123 Met performances from 1915-1943!!!!!! was only 58 at his last Met effort) I’ll give Pavarotti another listen.
IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA:Rossini
Original Air Date: 12/16/1950
Erede; Valdengo, Pons, Di Stefano, Baccaloni, Hines
MOD Audio SID.19060745
This performance is also available on Sony Historic CD. I always enjoy Valdengo, and Di Stefano is interesting, but Pons is almost NEVER to my taste. She has a long Met career and was a big star. It is not a faceless Barber, but I prefer Corena and gang from later years.
AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY:Picker
Original Air Date: 12/24/2005
Conlon; Gunn, Racette, Graham, Zajick, Larmore
MOD Audio SID.19060748
An American Tragedy was premiered at the Met and should have been HDd during a scheduled revival in 2008 which was taken by Last Emperor (in hopes of a China tour which did not materialize). Zambello directed, and she remains faithful to the work which was revived at Glimmerglass in 2014 in a revised edition. On the radio the real standout is Zajick who makes conventional lines sound momentous, but the overall cast was well chosen.
TURANDOT:Puccini
Original Air Date: 12/03/1966
Mehta; Nilsson, Freni, Corelli, Giaiotti
MOD Audio SID.19070102
This performance is Included in the Met’s 50th Anniversary collection. “Turandot”: The Best To Date at New Met [Unsigned review in the Journal-American of opening night September 26, 1966] The celebrating the opening of the new opera house over, the Metropolitan Opera settled for repertory last night and put on its best show to date. Puccini’s “Turandot” began the regular subscription season as a five-year old production that readily adjusted itself to new surroundings. It looked handsome, and it moved handsomely. Sighs. Birgit Nilsson and Franco Corelli took the leading roles as usual, the singing was magnificent. What else is there to say! This was a beautifully knit performance. Cecil Beaton’s sets and costumes rate among the best creations. Nathaniel Merrill has achieved some of the most imaginative staging. The cast is excellent. A new element entered with Zubin Mehta taking the conductor’s assignment. He imparts vitality and usually comprehends everything he does. The live acoustics of the pit led to overloud playing, but most interestingly he restrained himself in giving full rein to Puccini’s romanticism.
TANNHÄUSER:Wagner
Original Air Date: 12/18/2004
Elder; Seiffert, Voigt, DeYoung, Hampson, Moll
MOD Audio SID.19070103
Seiffert was a more effective Tannhauser than I expected, but my memories of this broadcast from all participants is more solid than memorable.
LA FORZA DEL DESTINO:Verdi
Original Air Date: 03/12/1960
Schippers; Tebaldi, Tucker, Sereni, Hines, Dunn, Baccaloni
MOD Audio SID.19070105
Tebaldi and Tucker are famous for their roles in Forza, but except for 2 performances in 1956, and the Forza preceding this broadcast which was halted because of the onstage death of Leonard Warren, these are their only appearances together in it. Tebaldi is not at the vocal peak of her 1958 Naples video (with Corelli and Bastianini) or her Florence performances with Mitropoulos and Del Monaco, but there is still much to enjoy. Leonora is one of Verdi’s greatest challenges, and most performers just don’t have the stuff.
DIE FLEDERMAUS:Strauss Jr.
Original Air Date: 01/20/1951
Ormandy; Piazza, Kullman, Munsel, Tucker, Stevens, Brownlee
MOD Audio SID.19070107
This is the broadcast of arguably the biggest hit of Bing’s opening season. Welitsch, who had done the premiere gives way to Piazza, for whom this is her sole broadcast and her only role at the Met, though she has a good long run after the broadcast and a Met tour for a total of 14 performances. Piazza would turn up on early 1950s TV show where an attractive (not so much to me) but generic soprano was called for. Tucker is a sonorous Alfred he almost turns the part into a plum. There are some enjoyable moments, and others that leave me cold. Sirius leaves Gilford off the listing, but he has some of the funniest bits.
ROMÉO ET JULIETTE:Gounod
Original Air Date: 02/01/1947
Cooper; Sayão, Bjorling,, Brownlee, Moscona
MOD Audio SID.19070208
One of the greatest performances to ever emanate from the Met stage. Available on Met Player, SonyCD, and despite the AM sound, Bjorling sings his second and last Met Romeo for the broadcast airwaves. Sayao with somewhat more limited vocal artillery is still every bit his equal artistically, and this performance comes pretty close to universal. If you haven’t heard it in some time, take a listen.
LA TRAVIATA:Verdi
Original Air Date: 02/11/2006
Armiliato; Gheorghiu, Kaufmann, Michaels-Moore
MOD Audio SID.19070209
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.
LA BOHÈME:Puccini
Original Air Date: 03/26/1994
Rizzi; Gheorghiu, Leech, Litherland, Robertson, Short
MOD Audio SID.19070211
This is from Gheorghiu’s first season and is also available in MOoD. Leech is a good partner, although I never got Rizzi’s conductorial message.
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA:Barber
Original Air Date: 09/16/1966
Schippers; Díaz, Price, Thomas, Flagello, Elias
MOD Audio SID.19070212
From MOD: Expectations were high when the Metropolitan Opera announced that the world premiere of Samuel Barber’s Antony and Cleopatra would christen its new house at Lincoln Center in the fall of 1966—a suitably grand work based on Shakespeare’s tragedy and written specifically for Leontyne Price as Cleopatra. A singer himself, the composer knew Price’s voice and what it could do, shaping his conception of the opera’s heroine around this iconic American diva. The 26-year-old Puerto Rican–born bass Justino Díaz starred alongside Price as Antony while Ezio Flagello portrayed Antony’s friend Enobarbus. Tenor Jess Thomas brought his heroic presence to the role of Octavius Caesar, and the beloved mezzo-soprano Rosalind Elias, already a Met veteran in her 30s, sang the role of Cleopatra’s attendant Charmian. Thanks to a Texaco–Metropolitan Opera Radio Network broadcast from the opera’s world premiere, this indelible piece of Met history has been preserved for generations. This is the opening of the new Met at Lincoln Center and the world premiere of the opera. Leontyne never sang better than this night, and luckily it is well preserved for all to hear. Lady Bird Johnson and Imelda Marcos were among the dignitaries that night
DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN:Strauss
Original Air Date: 12/09/1989
Perick; Meier, Schunk, Martin, Courtney, Dernesch
MOD Audio SID.19070317
The big gap is Courtney being a late fill-in for Weikl as Barak. Dernesch finds some tough sledding in a lot of the Nurse’s part. I love the work, and Perick works hard. Though Johanna Meier is no Rysanek or Marton, she still has her moments. Listening to the COMPLETE performance under Jurowski from last season finds the Met and Frau particularly congenial partners. Maybe this is a minor hommage to Janis Martin who recently passed away, and so far as I can tell got no paid obituary from the Met in the NYTimes
TURANDOT:Puccini
Original Air Date: 12/03/1966
Mehta; Nilsson, Freni, Corelli, Giaiotti
MOD Audio SID.19070318
This performance is Included in the Met’s 50th Anniversary collection. “Turandot”: The Best To Date at New Met [Unsigned review in the Journal-American of opening night September 26, 1966] The celebrating the opening of the new opera house over, the Metropolitan Opera settled for repertory last night and put on its best show to date. Puccini’s “Turandot” began the regular subscription season as a five-year old production that readily adjusted itself to new surroundings. It looked handsome, and it moved handsomely. Sighs. Birgit Nilsson and Franco Corelli took the leading roles as usual, the singing was magnificent. What else is there to say! This was a beautifully knit performance. Cecil Beaton’s sets and costumes rate among the best creations. Nathaniel Merrill has achieved some of the most imaginative staging. The cast is excellent. A new element entered with Zubin Mehta taking the conductor’s assignment. He imparts vitality and usually comprehends everything he does. The live acoustics of the pit led to overloud playing, but most interestingly he restrained himself in giving full rein to Puccini’s romanticism.
TANNHÄUSER:Wagner
Original Air Date: 12/18/2004
Elder; Seiffert, Voigt, DeYoung, Hampson, Moll
MOD Audio SID.19070319
Seiffert was a more effective Tannhauser than I expected, but my memories of this broadcast from all participants is more solid than memorable.
LA FORZA DEL DESTINO:Verdi
Original Air Date: 03/12/1960
Schippers; Tebaldi, Tucker, Sereni, Hines, Dunn, Baccaloni
MOD Audio SID.19070321
Tebaldi and Tucker are famous for their roles in Forza, but except for 2 performances in 1956, and the Forza preceding this broadcast which was halted because of the onstage death of Leonard Warren, these are their only appearances together in it. Tebaldi is not at the vocal peak of her 1958 Naples video (with Corelli and Bastianini) or her Florence performances with Mitropoulos and Del Monaco, but there is still much to enjoy. Leonora is one of Verdi’s greatest challenges, and most performers just don’t have the stuff.
TURANDOT:Puccini
Original Air Date: 12/03/1966
Mehta; Nilsson, Freni, Corelli, Giaiotti
MOD Audio SID.19070422
This performance is Included in the Met’s 50th Anniversary collection. “Turandot”: The Best To Date at New Met [Unsigned review in the Journal-American of opening night September 26, 1966] The celebrating the opening of the new opera house over, the Metropolitan Opera settled for repertory last night and put on its best show to date. Puccini’s “Turandot” began the regular subscription season as a five-year old production that readily adjusted itself to new surroundings. It looked handsome, and it moved handsomely. Sighs. Birgit Nilsson and Franco Corelli took the leading roles as usual, the singing was magnificent. What else is there to say! This was a beautifully knit performance. Cecil Beaton’s sets and costumes rate among the best creations. Nathaniel Merrill has achieved some of the most imaginative staging. The cast is excellent. A new element entered with Zubin Mehta taking the conductor’s assignment. He imparts vitality and usually comprehends everything he does. The live acoustics of the pit led to overloud playing, but most interestingly he restrained himself in giving full rein to Puccini’s romanticism.
ROMÉO ET JULIETTE:Gounod
Original Air Date: 02/01/1947
Cooper; Sayão, Bjorling,, Brownlee, Moscona
MOD Audio SID.19070424
One of the greatest performances to ever emanate from the Met stage. Available on Met Player, SonyCD, and despite the AM sound, Bjorling sings his second and last Met Romeo for the broadcast airwaves. Sayao with somewhat more limited vocal artillery is still every bit his equal artistically, and this performance comes pretty close to universal. If you haven’t heard it in some time, take a listen.
LA TRAVIATA:Verdi
Original Air Date: 02/11/2006
Armiliato; Gheorghiu, Kaufmann, Michaels-Moore
MOD Audio SID.19070425
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.
LA BOHÈME:Puccini
Original Air Date: 03/26/1994
Rizzi; Gheorghiu, Leech, Litherland, Robertson, Short
MOD Audio SID.19070427
This is from Gheorghiu’s first season and is also available in MOoD. Leech is a good partner, although I never got Rizzi’s conductorial message.
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA:Barber
Original Air Date: 09/16/1966
Schippers; Díaz, Price, Thomas, Flagello, Elias
MOD Audio SID.19070428
From MOD: Expectations were high when the Metropolitan Opera announced that the world premiere of Samuel Barber’s Antony and Cleopatra would christen its new house at Lincoln Center in the fall of 1966—a suitably grand work based on Shakespeare’s tragedy and written specifically for Leontyne Price as Cleopatra. A singer himself, the composer knew Price’s voice and what it could do, shaping his conception of the opera’s heroine around this iconic American diva. The 26-year-old Puerto Rican–born bass Justino Díaz starred alongside Price as Antony while Ezio Flagello portrayed Antony’s friend Enobarbus. Tenor Jess Thomas brought his heroic presence to the role of Octavius Caesar, and the beloved mezzo-soprano Rosalind Elias, already a Met veteran in her 30s, sang the role of Cleopatra’s attendant Charmian. Thanks to a Texaco–Metropolitan Opera Radio Network broadcast from the opera’s world premiere, this indelible piece of Met history has been preserved for generations. This is the opening of the new Met at Lincoln Center and the world premiere of the opera. Leontyne never sang better than this night, and luckily it is well preserved for all to hear. Lady Bird Johnson and Imelda Marcos were among the dignitaries that night
DIE FLEDERMAUS:Strauss Jr.
Original Air Date: 01/20/1951
Ormandy; Piazza, Kullman, Munsel, Tucker, Stevens, Brownlee
MOD Audio SID.19070531
This is the broadcast of arguably the biggest hit of Bing’s opening season. Welitsch, who had done the premiere gives way to Piazza, for whom this is her sole broadcast and her only role at the Met, though she has a good long run after the broadcast and a Met tour for a total of 14 performances. Piazza would turn up on early 1950s TV show where an attractive (not so much to me) but generic soprano was called for. Tucker is a sonorous Alfred he almost turns the part into a plum. There are some enjoyable moments, and others that leave me cold. Sirius leaves Gilford off the listing, but he has some of the funniest bits.
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA:Barber
Original Air Date: 09/16/1966
Schippers; Díaz, Price, Thomas, Flagello, Elias
MOD Audio SID.19070532
From MOD: Expectations were high when the Metropolitan Opera announced that the world premiere of Samuel Barber’s Antony and Cleopatra would christen its new house at Lincoln Center in the fall of 1966—a suitably grand work based on Shakespeare’s tragedy and written specifically for Leontyne Price as Cleopatra. A singer himself, the composer knew Price’s voice and what it could do, shaping his conception of the opera’s heroine around this iconic American diva. The 26-year-old Puerto Rican–born bass Justino Díaz starred alongside Price as Antony while Ezio Flagello portrayed Antony’s friend Enobarbus. Tenor Jess Thomas brought his heroic presence to the role of Octavius Caesar, and the beloved mezzo-soprano Rosalind Elias, already a Met veteran in her 30s, sang the role of Cleopatra’s attendant Charmian. Thanks to a Texaco–Metropolitan Opera Radio Network broadcast from the opera’s world premiere, this indelible piece of Met history has been preserved for generations. This is the opening of the new Met at Lincoln Center and the world premiere of the opera. Leontyne never sang better than this night, and luckily it is well preserved for all to hear. Lady Bird Johnson and Imelda Marcos were among the dignitaries that night
DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN:Strauss
Original Air Date: 12/09/1989
Perick; Meier, Schunk, Martin, Courtney, Dernesch
MOD Audio SID.19070533
The big gap is Courtney being a late fill-in for Weikl as Barak. Dernesch finds some tough sledding in a lot of the Nurse’s part. I love the work, and Perick works hard. Though Johanna Meier is no Rysanek or Marton, she still has her moments. Listening to the COMPLETE performance under Jurowski from last season finds the Met and Frau particularly congenial partners. Maybe this is a minor hommage to Janis Martin who recently passed away, and so far as I can tell got no paid obituary from the Met in the NYTimes
TURANDOT:Puccini
Original Air Date: 12/03/1966
Mehta; Nilsson, Freni, Corelli, Giaiotti
MOD Audio SID.19070534
This performance is Included in the Met’s 50th Anniversary collection. “Turandot”: The Best To Date at New Met [Unsigned review in the Journal-American of opening night September 26, 1966] The celebrating the opening of the new opera house over, the Metropolitan Opera settled for repertory last night and put on its best show to date. Puccini’s “Turandot” began the regular subscription season as a five-year old production that readily adjusted itself to new surroundings. It looked handsome, and it moved handsomely. Sighs. Birgit Nilsson and Franco Corelli took the leading roles as usual, the singing was magnificent. What else is there to say! This was a beautifully knit performance. Cecil Beaton’s sets and costumes rate among the best creations. Nathaniel Merrill has achieved some of the most imaginative staging. The cast is excellent. A new element entered with Zubin Mehta taking the conductor’s assignment. He imparts vitality and usually comprehends everything he does. The live acoustics of the pit led to overloud playing, but most interestingly he restrained himself in giving full rein to Puccini’s romanticism.
TANNHÄUSER:Wagner
Original Air Date: 12/18/2004
Elder; Seiffert, Voigt, DeYoung, Hampson, Moll
MOD Audio SID.19070535
Seiffert was a more effective Tannhauser than I expected, but my memories of this broadcast from all participants is more solid than memorable.
LA FORZA DEL DESTINO:Verdi
Original Air Date: 03/12/1960
Schippers; Tebaldi, Tucker, Sereni, Hines, Dunn, Baccaloni
MOD Audio SID.19070105
Tebaldi and Tucker are famous for their roles in Forza, but except for 2 performances in 1956, and the Forza preceding this broadcast which was halted because of the onstage death of Leonard Warren, these are their only appearances together in it. Tebaldi is not at the vocal peak of her 1958 Naples video (with Corelli and Bastianini) or her Florence performances with Mitropoulos and Del Monaco, but there is still much to enjoy. Leonora is one of Verdi’s greatest challenges, and most performers just don’t have the stuff.
ROMÉO ET JULIETTE:Gounod
Original Air Date: 02/01/1947
Cooper; Sayão, Bjorling,, Brownlee, Moscona
MOD Audio SID.19070424
One of the greatest performances to ever emanate from the Met stage. Available on Met Player, SonyCD, and despite the AM sound, Bjorling sings his second and last Met Romeo for the broadcast airwaves. Sayao with somewhat more limited vocal artillery is still every bit his equal artistically, and this performance comes pretty close to universal. If you haven’t heard it in some time, take a listen.
LA TRAVIATA:Verdi
Original Air Date: 02/11/2006
Armiliato; Gheorghiu, Kaufmann, Michaels-Moore
MOD Audio SID.19070425
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.