LES TROYENS:Berlioz
Levine; Norman, Sooter, Monk, Taillon, Plishka, Ahlstedt
Original Air Date: 02/18/1984
MOD Audio
SID.20000210
Norman repeated Verrett’s double assumption on this broadcast (Verrett’s was for the opening of the production in 1973 when Ludwig was indisposed–I was there, quite an evening). I rather prefer Norman’s Didon to her Cassandre, but this broadcast now takes its place in MOoD. Enee is close to an impossible part, but Sooter is no worse than Ronald Dowd was in Boston for Caldwell.
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SIMON BOCCANEGRA:Verdi
Stiedry; Warren, Varnay, Tucker, Székely, Valdengo
Original Air Date: 01/28/1950
MOD Audio
SID.20140211
Reissued on Sony Classical in the Met’s Verdi box for his bicentennial. This is Warren’s only broadcast of the title role. He had done Paolo (the Valdengo role) a decade earlier shortly after winning the Met Auditions of the Air. His Simon was Lawrence Tibbett. This is Tucker’s first venture into the more dramatic tenor roles, and he sang it outstandingly for the next quarter century until his final Gabriel on the 1974 Met broadcast with plenty of gas still in the tank. This 1974 performance with Wixell and Maliponte is long overdue for a Sirius rebroadcast.
L’ELISIR D’AMORE:Donizetti
Schippers; Bergonzi, Peters, Corena, Guarrera
Original Air Date: 03/05/1966
MOD Audio
SID.20140212
This performance has been issued in Sony’s Historic Met CD series. Also on MOoD is Bergonzi and Corena partnered by Scotto and Sereni who I think are better matches in this opera.One cannot lose with Bergonzi and Corena.
SAMSON ET DALILA:Saint-Saëns
Fournet; Vickers, Horne, Quilico
Original Air Date: 04/18/1987
MOD Audio
SID.20140213
This is Vickers’ farewell to the Met (not announced in advance). For many of us, he is a legendary singer who spans the beginning of our operatic journey, and 26 years later still shines very brightly indeed. In almost every assumption he not only gave his individual commitment (he was Giasone to Callas in my first opera in 1958 in Dallas) but simply encompassed roles as few ever do and was always in the top rank and usually best ever seen in the roles. Samson is certainly one of those roles, and if the opera has been a bit overdone on Sirius, I am never finished with my enjoyment of Vickers. Horne is a singer I admire on many fronts– her support of young artists, the advocacy for vocal recitals, and certainly outstanding Rossinian efforts. But I’m not much of Rossini guy, and I find many of her ventures beyond not to my taste, Verdi (even as Quickly) really doesn’t work and Dalila doesn’t compare with my first (Rita Gorr in the premiere of the O’Hearn Merrill production in 1964) or some of my best more recent ones– Borodina’s voice was made for those languorous lines. This is Vickers’ only broadcast of Samson et Dalila, and sometime min the last 3 years has been added to MOoD as a testament to his work and whom we lost July 13, 2015 after a long illness.
IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA:Rossini
Benini; Mattei, DiDonato, Flórez, Del Carlo, Relyea
Original Air Date: 03/24/2007
Live in HDMOD Video
SID.20140214
This is a simulcast of the first season Live in HD videocast. It’s the only matinee broadcast appearance of Mattei, DiDonato and Florez together, and they are a splendid trio.
THE QUEEN OF SPADES:Tchaikovsky
Gergiev; Domingo, Gorchakova, Söderström, Hvorostovsky, Borodina, Putilin
Original Air Date: 04/10/1999
MOD AudioMOD Video
SID.20140215
This performance is too late for Soderstrom, too late for Domingo, and too late for Gorchakova. You can see the video of from five days later on MOoD as well. Better to hear the first season of the production with Gregorian who succeeded Heppner, Guleghina who succeeded Mattila with Rysanek. That has been on Sirius, but is not on MOoD. If Sirius had been at work when the production premiered we would have a broadcast of Heppner and Mattila at their very best. MOD is from 4-15-99 performance.
HAMLET:Thomas
Langrée; Keenlyside, Petersen, Larmore, Morris, Spence
Original Air Date: 03/27/2010
MOD Video
SID.20140216
This is the only Met broadcast of the Thomas work. Keenlyside has a commercial DVD in the same production with Dessay from Barcelona 2004. Petersen was a late substitute for Dessay for the whole run. Larmoreis especially vivid as Gertrude, part of her movement into dramatic mezzo/soprano parts.
PETER GRIMES:Britten
Davis; Vickers, Amara, Evans, Madeira, Chookasian
Original Air Date: 02/11/1967
SID.20140317
HIghly recommended. This is the first of Vickers’ four broadcast Peter Grimes and the partnership with Colin Davis yields some first-rate music making. It is the first broadcast by Vickers in the new production from the Lincoln Center Met’s first season. Colin Davis only has four broadcasts from the Met (two Grimes, Wozzeck, Pelleas) and he and Vickers contributed memorable performances on both sides of the Atlantic. This is the third performance of the Vickers/Davis/Guthrie 1967 production which added a great role to Vickers’ gallery of overwhelming portrayals. While Britten was reportedly none too pleased with Vickers’ approach, the royalty coffers were greatly enriched by Vickers performances around the world which put Grimes solidly into mainstream repertory. There is a commercial video from Covent Garden (with Davis conducting as well) which is highly recommended in addition to this broadcast. Two years later the exact same cast broadcasts it again and this second broadcast of the Guthrie/Davis/Vickers Grimes is on MOoD.
NIXON IN CHINA:Adams
John Adams: James Maddalena, Janis Kelly, Kathleen Kim
Original Air Date: 02/12/2011
Live in HD
SID.20140322
DON CARLO:Verdi
Nezet-Seguin; Poplavskaya, Smirnova, Alagna, Keenlyside, Furlanetto, Halfvarson
Original Air Date: 12/11/2010
Live in HD
SID.20140430
The Met’s new production is played in five acts with two intermissions, the first between Acts 2 and 3, and the second after Act 3. The version used is Verdi’s final revision from 1886, sung in Italian, including the act that takes place at Fontainebleau (Act 1). It is almost identical to the version used in the Met’s previous production by John Dexter, with the exception of the opening section of the Fontainebleau scene. Instead of the longer scene between Elisabeth and the woodcutters which opened the opera in the Dexter production, the new production uses the abbreviated version with which Verdi replaced the original just before the Paris premiere in 1867.
The music of the Herald is sung by the Count of Lerma.
Don Carlo……………Roberto Alagna
Elizabeth of Valois…..Marina Poplavskaya
Rodrigo……………..Simon Keenlyside
Princess Eboli……….Anna Smirnova
Philip II……………Ferruccio Furlanetto
Grand Inquisitor……..Eric Halfvarson
Priest Inquisitor…….Tommaso Matelli
Celestial Voice………Jennifer Check
Friar……………….Alexei Tanovitski8 *
Tebaldo……………. Layla Claire
Count of Lerma……….Eduardo Valdes
Countess of Aremberg….Anne Dyas
Flemish Deputy……….Donovan Singletary
Flemish Deputy……….Keith Harris
Flemish Deputy……….Christopher Schaldenbrand
Flemish Deputy……….Joshua Benaim
Flemish Deputy……….Tyler Simpson
Flemish Deputy……….Eric Jordan
Conductor……………Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Production…………..Nicholas Hytner
Designer…………….Bob Crowley
Lighting designer…….Mark Henderson
TV Director………….Gary Halvorson
LES PÊCHEURS DE PERLES:Bizet
Noseda; Damrau, Polenzani, Kwiecien, Teste*
Original Air Date: 01/16/2016
Live in HD
SID.20140538
Léila……………….Diana Damrau
Nadir……………….Matthew Polenzani
Zurga……………….Mariusz Kwiecien
Nourabad…………….Nicolas Testé
Conductor……………Gianandrea Noseda
Production…………..Penny Woolcock
Set Designer…………Dick Bird
Costume Designer……..Kevin Pollard
Lighting Designer…….Jen Schriever
Projection Design…….59 Productions
Movement Director…….Andrew Dawson
TV Director………….Matthew Diamond
ORFEO ED EURIDICE:Gluck
Wigglesworth; Hong, Park, Barton
Original Air Date: 11/01/2019
SID.20140644
NYT Tommasini [10/21/2019] … The excellent British conductor Mark Wigglesworth, best known for his work with the English National Opera in London, drew out the warmth and refinement of Gluck’s score. But the Met Orchestra’s playing lacked precision and crispness, especially during the bustling overture, which sounded somewhat wan and limp. …. The veteran soprano Hei-Kyung Hong, who made her Met debut in 1984, was a winning Euridice. Though there were moments of patchy tone and shaky pitch in her singing, the radiance of her voice came through. She sang with a vigor and clarity that brought out the best from Ms. Barton. …During the final celebration of the reunion of Orfeo and Euridice, the Mark Morris ensemble took over the show with a suite of joyous dances. The orchestra responded with its most crisp and animated playing.once the god of love, Amore, here the bright-voiced soprano Hera Hyesang Park, arrived: Winged and wearing a peach-colored shirt, floppy pants and sneakers, she descended (on wires) from the heavens. In her vibrant singing and sassy manner, Ms. Park brought a touch of jaded exuberance to the proceedings: This Amore admits to being baffled by the romantic entanglements of mortals…..The veteran soprano Hei-Kyung Hong, who made her Met debut in 1984, was a winning Euridice. Though there were moments of patchy tone and shaky pitch in her singing, the radiance of her voice came through. She sang with a vigor and clarity that brought out the best from Ms. Barton. During the final celebration of the reunion of Orfeo and Euridice, the Mark Morris ensemble took over the show with a suite of joyous dances. The orchestra responded with its most crisp and animated playing.
LES TROYENS:Berlioz
Levine; Norman, Sooter, Monk, Taillon, Plishka, Ahlstedt
Original Air Date: 02/18/1984
MOD Audio
SID.20140645
Norman repeated Verrett’s double assumption on this broadcast (Verrett’s was for the opening of the production in 1973 when Ludwig was indisposed–I was there, quite an evening). I rather prefer Norman’s Didon to her Cassandre, but this broadcast now takes its place in MOoD. Enee is close to an impossible part, but Sooter is no worse than Ronald Dowd was in Boston for Caldwell.
LES TROYENS:Berlioz
Levine; Norman, Sooter, Monk, Taillon, Plishka, Ahlstedt
Original Air Date: 02/18/1984
MOD Audio
SID.20140647
Norman repeated Verrett’s double assumption on this broadcast (Verrett’s was for the opening of the production in 1973 when Ludwig was indisposed–I was there, quite an evening). I rather prefer Norman’s Didon to her Cassandre, but this broadcast now takes its place in MOoD. Enee is close to an impossible part, but Sooter is no worse than Ronald Dowd was in Boston for Caldwell.
NORMA:Bellini
Rizzi; Radvanovsky, DiDonato, Calleja, Rose
Original Air Date: 10/07/2017
Live in HD
SID.20140754
Norma……………….Sondra Radvanovsky
Pollione…………….Joseph Calleja
Adalgisa…………….Joyce DiDonato
Oroveso……………..Matthew Rose
Clotilde…………….Michelle Bradley
Flavio………………Adam Diegel
Child……………….Christopher Reynolds
Child……………….John Reynolds
Conductor……………Carlo Rizzi
Production…………..David McVicar
Set Designer…………Robert Jones
Costume Designer……..Moritz Junge
Lighting Designerr……Paule Constable
Movement Directo……..Leah Hausman
TV Director………….Gary Halvorson
MOSES UND ARON:Schoenberg
Levine; Tomlinson, Langridge
Original Air Date: 12/20/2003
SID.20150102
This performance was issued in Levine’s 40th anniversary CD box, and is also available in MOoD. This performance is well regarded.Both the MOoD and the CD issued in the Levine 40th anniversary CD box are from the first Met season of MuA in 1999. Both performances have been on Sirius, and here is the 2003 again.
PARSIFAL:Wagner
Nezet-Seguin; Herlitzius, Vogt, Mattei, Nikitin, Pape
Original Air Date: 02/05/2018
SID.20150103
Met Music Director Designate Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts Wagner’s transcendental score, in François Girard’s remarkable production, a mystical theatrical journey. Tenor Klaus Florian Vogt, renowned across Europe, returns to the Met following his appearances in the 2016–17 season as Florestan in Fidelio. Evelyn Herlitzius is Kundry, and Peter Mattei and René Pape bring back their highly praised interpretations of Amfortas and Gurnemanz, respectively. Production a gift of the Gramma Fisher Foundation, Marshalltown, Iowa; Major funding from Rolex; Additional funding from Marina Kellen French, and the Edgar Foster Daniels Foundation; Revival a gift of Marina Kellen French
DIE FLEDERMAUS:Strauss Jr.
Ormandy & Blatt; Resnik, Kullman, Munsel, Sullivan, Thebom, Brownlee
Original Air Date: 12/22/1951
SID.20150105
This is the second season of the hit Fledermaus production, and while I never cared much for Resnik’s soprano outings, she’s an improvement on Piazza. Ormandy comes back for this, but leaves the third act to a repetiteur as he had a Saturday night in Philadelphia with his Orchestra and his real bread and butter. Munsel is still the real star. Brownlee was in practically every Fledermaus until he left the Met.
UN BALLO IN MASCHERA:Verdi
Lewis; Morell, Ross, Merrill, Peters, Forrester
Original Air Date: 12/06/1975
SID.20150106
Merrill who had a virtual lock on Renato for two decades (one broadcast to Milnes) is still in decent form for his final season. The rest of the cast is not ideal. I saw Elinor Ross several times in Philadelphia, and while it was not an especially beautiful voice she could be a notable Gioconda and Turandot, and her video Norma from Germany with Del Monaco is well up to the task. Amelia is another matter, but paired with Morrell, this is not the afternoon for glorious Verdi. Forrester has a very distinguished concert career, but she’s wrong for Ulrica at the Met. It’s too late for Peters as Oscar — she’s very good in 1955. This is Merrill’s final broadcast (he has three farewell Germonts with Moffo which constitute the final operatic appearance for both at the Met. My memory of this performance is not especially positive. Elinor Ross was a fine singer. I saw her a decade earlier in Philadelphia with an excellent Gioconda, Aida, and Turandot. She also has on Youtube a mostly complete Norma with Del Monaco from Germany. She is well up to the competition there. This is I think a bit late. For Merrlll’s Renato I strongly recommend 2 of his earlier Renatos from 1963 (with Nilsson and Tucker) and 1966 (with Price and Bergonzi). Lewis is not an inspiring conductor for me.
FIDELIO:Beethoven
Haitink; Meier, Sooter, Roar, Macurdy, Blegen, Atherton
Original Air Date: 04/10/1982
SID.20150208
This is Haitink’s only Met season, and Meier is pinch-hitting for Verrett who was sick for two other performances (also sung by Johanna Meier) in the run as well. Hard to believe the original casting for Florestan was Sooter, but in any event he gets a fine review from Harriet Johnson of the NY Post. To my knowledge, Verrett’s 3 performances are her only times in the part.
LES CONTES D’HOFFMANN:Offenbach
Varviso; Alexander, Dooley, Scovotti, Cvejic, Amara, Martin
Original Air Date: 02/27/1965
SID.20150209
This performance goes back to the old house, and has the distinction of being John Alexander’s only broadcast Hoffmann. His career is distinguished by regularly being asked for by the biggest named sopranos in the world–Beverly Sills, Montserrat Caballe, Renata Tebaldi, Leontyne Price, and a repertory that was as comfortable in Mozart and the French, as he was in German (Walther and Bacchus among his roles) and Italian. He was a bit like Alberto Remedios, but with more coloratura flexibility; both with sweet voices that could cope with roles that often defeated less technically secure colleagues. Antonia is one of Amara’s best parts.
SUSANNAH:Floyd
Conlon; Fleming, Hadley, Ramey
Original Air Date: 04/03/1999
MOD Audio
SID.20150210
This is the Met’s only broadcast of Susannah, and finds all three principals on especially fine form. Even without the visual appeal, the opera makes an impact from the music alone. This was a highly successful Met repertory debut for the Carlisle Floyd opera and both Fleming and Ramey are extremely well cast. Conlon is very committed to the work, and it is a contemporary work that works almost as well in audio only as in the theatre with its sure-fire theatrics. One of the best efforts of the Met for both American and contemporary opera. This is one of Fleming’s very best outings, and Ramey and Hadley are well cast as well. One of the better 20th century American operas.
MANON LESCAUT:Puccini
Adler; Kirsten, Alexander, Walker, Michalski
Original Air Date: 03/08/1975
SID.20150211
Kirsten replaced Leontyne Price on this broadcast. She is thoroughly professional even if she is 65 years old!!!!! Her first broadcast is 26 years earlier when she was pushing 40. Better to hear that with Bjorling. Highly recommended but still omitted from the Sirius Manon Lescaut sweepstakes are the Tebaldi-Tucker from 1959 and the Kirsten Bergonzi from 1960 (Kirsten replacing Stella) This is a rare broadcast, but it IS possible to find
, 
I PURITANI:Bellini
Bonynge; Gruberova, Merritt, Gavanelli, Plishka
Original Air Date: 03/30/1991
MOD Audio
SID.20150212
This is primarily for Gruberova fans. She doesn’t sing in USA much so just as well since she only has two Met broadcasts, this Puritani and Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos. Of greater interest would be her Queen of the Night (Met debut) and the new production of Traviata with Kleiber and Shicoff (neither broadcast; in today’s world of live Sirius, we would likely be hearing both)
ELEKTRA:Strauss
Böhm; Nilsson, Rysanek, Madeira, Stewart, Nagy
Original Air Date: 02/27/1971
MOD Audio
SID.20150213
This performance marks Madeira’s Met farewell, and reveals some of the vocal weakness that is surely partly resultant from her illness and death a little more than a year later. The rest of the cast, and especially Bohm are white hot. For Madeira at her best, go to the Bohm studio with Inge Borkh as Elektra. A very satisfying recording on all counts.
RIGOLETTO:Verdi
Cleva; Merrill, Peters, Tucker, Giaiotti, Dunn
Original Air Date: 02/22/1964
MOD Audio
SID.20150214
Amazingly Merrill (debut 1946) and Tucker (debut 1945) are also around eight years later in 1972 for them sharing their final Rigoletto broadcast. Peters who sang Gilda at the Met as late as 1985 did not broadcast it after 1967. Dunn,Giaiotti, and Macurdy are outstandingly strong support. 1/16/12 – This has recently been released in the Sony Historic Broadcasts. All of the singers are fine, and the technical command of these full voiced singers could teach some more lyric singers the art of bel canto. Giaiotti was a stalwart of the Met bass contingent in the 60s, 70s, 80s. Giaiotti also has one broadcast Monterone which also includes Dunn, and MacNeil in his first Rigoletto broadcast. This has not been on Sirius and I would love to hear it. The performance is also on MetPlayer.
ALCESTE:Gluck
Panizza; Bamptom, Maison, Warren
Original Air Date: 03/08/1941
SID.20150216
This is one of the few 1940s broadcasts that gets to Sirius, but neither the 1952 with Flagstad, nor the 1961 with Farrell (both in English) have made it to Sirius. Again, it seems the translation is inhibiting their inclusion. Review of Pitts Sanborn in the World-Telegraph, Mme. Bampton Sings Role of Alceste – Following the present method of frequently changing the allotment of prominent roles, the Metropolitan management offered its third Alceste last evening with a new representative of the name part. After the fiery magnificence of Marjorie Lawrence as Alcestis came the lyric charm of Rose Bampton. Comely, tall and statuesque, Mme. Bampton showed in her carefully studied poses and gestures what pains she had taken to portray the self-sacrificing heroine persuasively to the eye. And in her singing tenderness and pathos found touching expression. Since this was only Mme. Bampton’s first assumption of an inexorably exacting role, we may look for further development later on of its more cogently dramatic aspects. Her voice seems now, under sympathetic guidance, to have found a congenial lyric field. Her tones were often of delightful quality last evening, her phrasing was marked by grace and fine taste and there was always the thought of the accomplished musician. Altogether, Mme. Bampton may be congratulated cordially on her present achievement, which holds the promise of even better things to come. Once more Rene Maison supplied an admirable Admetus. Francesco Valentino replaced the indisposed Leonard Warren as the High Priest of Apollo, singing well apart from an excessive vibrato. The beauty of the tableau at the end of Act II made up in part for the pinchbeck naiveties that met the eye.
LE SACRE DU PRINTEMPS / LE ROSSIGNOL / OEDIPUS REX:Stravinsky
Gergiev; Trifonova, Banks, Zifchak / Forbis, Blythe, Nikitin
Original Air Date: 02/21/2004
SID.20150318
The Stravinsky evening as originally done by Levine with Hockney designs and Dexter direction was not as big a hit as the French evening, Parade, from Dexter and Hockney, but I prefer this to Rake’s Progress. Gergiev has a distinctive take on Stravinsky and always worth a listen in the Russian repertoire.
TOSCA:Puccini
de BIlly, Netrebko, Eyvazov, Volle
Original Air Date: 04/30/2018
Live in HD
SID.20150644
www.nytimes.com/2018/01/01/arts/music/tosca-metropolitan-opera.html observer.com/2018/01/review-metropolitan-opera-puccini-tosca-sonya-yoncheva/
Puccini
Original Air Date: 04/11/2020
de Billy; Netrebko, Jagde, Volle, Carfizzi
SID.20150000