PETER GRIMES:Britten
Atherton; Langridge, Racette, Opie, Christin, Blythe
Original Air Date: 01/10/1998
MOD Audio
SID.19420104
I remember listening to this and thought this a good part for Racette. Langridge is fine in the title role, but for those of us who saw Jon Vickers, he simply WAS Peter Grimes and his 38 Met performances exceed the 33 done by the other 8 interpreters starting back with Frederick Jagel in 1948 and ending with Anthony Dean Griffey in 2008 (with Racette again).
GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG:Wagner
Levine; Eaglen, Andersen, Halfvarson, Held, Radvanovsky, Palmer
Original Air Date: 04/22/2000
MOD Audio
SID.19420105
This is one of the two Ring cycles broadcast by Eaglen and Levine. This one finds Eaglen on better form than the 2004 (her Met farewell), but Salminen is a stronger Hagen than Halfvarson. The 2004 has been on Sirius, but even though I previously posted that it was available on MOoD, I do not see it present in current availability. This is Felicity Palmer’s Met debut and really potent Gibich siblings in Held and Radvanovsky.
DER ROSENKAVALIER:Strauss
Kout; Ziegler, Gessendorf, Haugland, Kilduff, Meredith
Original Air Date: 03/09/1991
SID.19420106
Part of the draw is certainly Pavarotti, but this mostly low voltage marquee cast is very solid. Gessendorf has a second Marschallin four years later under Levine with von Otter and Hawlata which has also been on Sirius. I saw Gessendorf several times in the house, and though not a dramatic house of fire, I like her very much, and find she fills the “big lyric” German roles very well. She’s definitely worth a listen. 7/2/11 Gessendorf is one of those singers who flew under the radar during her Met career. This is the first of her two broadcast Marschallins, and I highly recommend. I think she is even better served on the second one in 1995 with von Otter and Hawlata under Levine. Her Senta broadcast is on Met Player, and her Walkure Sieglinde was also broadcast (Ludwig’s farewell, and G. Jones as the Brunnhilde). She has a number of other Met performances, but alas only these four broadcasts.
Donizetti
Benini; Alaimo, Netrebko, Flórez, Kwiecien
Original Air Date: 04/15/2006
MOD Audio
SID.19420107
This is the first year of the production, and I am sorry this was not the one that was filmed for DVD. This was the end of the Volpe era, and when Levine who was originally attached to this production did not appear because of illness (not the most recent one), any televising disappeared — TV production had practically disappeared under Volpe. Alaimo is a superior Pasquale to Del Carlo, and Florez’ Ernesto should have been captured in this Met production. As much as I enjoy this final video with Levine and gang several years later, for the best in Donizetti audio singing, this is the performance you want. I’m not especially partial to either Sills or Peters as Norina, and my favorite is Grist with Kraus, Corena, and Krause under Franci. Even though Netrebko is several voice sizes bigger than Florez, they are both star performers, and give high profile performances. This is the year of the new production, and the unifying presence of Alaimo is no small contribution. I enjoy Netrebko’s HD (also on DVD and MOoD) at the next revival under Schenk, but I’m grateful this performance is in the MOoD.
FIDELIO:Beethoven
Böhm; Nilsson, King, Evans, Edelmann, Pracht, Anthony
Original Air Date: 01/22/1966
MOD Audio
SID.19420208
Even though the classic 1960 broadcast is Bohm, Nilsson, and Vickers; Nilsson and King are fine, but Geraint Evans is not meant for this kind of role vocally. Uhde has his deficiencies but is much more appropriate. It’s a bit too late for Edelmann, but there “never was” for Czerwenka in the 1960. The 1960 performance also appears on a Sony Historical CD. What has not appeared in the Sirius run is the Beethoven 1971 bicentenary broadcast of the new production with Rysanek, Vickers with an excellent effort by Berry and Tozzi also under Bohm. Serious omission!
DER FLIEGENDE HOLLÄNDER:Wagner
Conlon; Morris, Behrens, Lakes, Salminen
Original Air Date: 01/18/1992
MOD Audio
SID.19420209
Salminen is the main interest of this performance. It comes relatively late in Behrens’ Met career Met goers were very spoiled by the Rysanek/London era in this opera (and esp. so under Bohm) Behrens would have been better pre-Ring. Hollander has to really have some magic to work for me.
LES CONTES D’HOFFMANN:Offenbach
Rudel; Kraus, Malfitano, Morris, Bybee
Original Air Date: 01/26/1985
SID.19420210
I always liked Kraus in the title role, and though Domingo, Shicoff, Gedda, and Tucker all have trumps to play, Kraus cedes nothing to them in terms of style. Malfitano does all the heroines, and in 1985 she was within hailing distance of doing that respectably. I’ll be taking a listen to see how my memory has been. Morris also appears to good effect 3 years later in a Met video with Shicoff. Rudel, after a lengthy association with the New York City Opera is the 2nd leading Met conductor of Hoffmann with 37 (Hasselmanns runs up 40 performances in the 20s)
DON CARLO:Verdi
Stiedry; Bjorling, Rigal, Merrill, Barbieri, Siepi, Hines
Original Air Date: 11/11/1950
MOD Audio
SID.19420211
This is the production that opened the Bing regime in 1950, and re-introduces Don Carlo to New York audiences. The men are the equal or superior of just about anyone who has ever sung these roles. Barbieri was new, and if Eboli was not quite her meat as much as her Amneris, Azucena, and Quickly, she was still the Eboli of choice when the sainted Covent Garden production of 1958 made the case in London for the opera 8 years later. New York was to see more sensational Ebolis in the 1960s with Bumbry, Cossotto, and Verrett delivering masterful portrayals of the Princess. Rigal would not have seemed quite so short of desirable had she had less outstanding colleagues. Elisabetta remains a challenging role, and though never essayed by Milanov (then the queen of Verdi in New York) or Tebaldi (never did the part onstage), the part didn’t turn out to be a major success for either Steber or Rysanek, though both have their moments in the role. Caballe, Freni, Kabaiwanska and Millo all were notable exponents, but runs were very limited. Scotto is mostly very good (not too late, not too heavy, but still not quite the right voice, if still wonderful stylistically. A propos the discussion on Verdi sopranos, Leontyne Price never did the part, which is unsurprising as it does not play to her considerable Verdian strengths—but that’s another discussion. Siepi’s contribution is particularly important in that he opens and closes the Bing regime as Filippo, and it is a shame that the April 1972 performance has not been rebroadcast. Three veterans of the 1950 broadcast, Merrill, Siepi, and Amara (Celestial Voice) as well as two new Verdian stars in Caballe and Milnes.
BENVENUTO CELLINI:Berlioz
Levine; Giordani, Bayrakdarian, Del Carlo, Jepson, Lloyd
Original Air Date: 12/27/2003
MOD Audio
SID.19420212
This is the opera’s only broadcast from its only season. There is much lovely music along the way, but it does not have cumulative impact for me. Giordani copes not always pleasantly with an extremely challenging role. Twice a year for Cellini is just about the maximum desired cycling. Once a year would be enough especially since it’s in MOoD.
FALSTAFF:Verdi
Levine; MacNeil, Lear, Stewart, Barbieri, Valente, Ahlstedt
Original Air Date: 04/05/1975
MOD Audio
SID.19420742
This performance is Levine’s first Falstaff broadcast and Barbieri’s penultimate company broadcast (she returns for Trittico (minus Frugola) 2 years later. MacNeil is a very good Falstaff which I think is his only run in the part– he is a stellar Ford on a Chicago broadcast with Gobbi in 1958. Lear is in better form than her husband — Stewart is not really a Verdian, and the monologue is among the showiest music in the opera.
TOSCA:Puccini
Molinari-Pradelli; Ross, Bergonzi, Colzani
Original Air Date: 12/12/1970
SID.19420214
Bergonzi has a memorable Cavaradossi in 1959 with Steber and London which is also available on Met Player. I remember hearing parts of this 1970, and Bergonzi is in better form for the earlier broadcast but still a master stylist. He actually does a third Cavaradossi on the airwaves in 1975 with Zylis-Gara and Bacquier under Erede (Met debut 1951! and long absent– now THAT performance interests me. My #1 Sirius omission remains the Stella Tosca of 1958 under MItropoulos. There are some uninspiring Tosca casts in the last 25 years, not as bad as Trovatore, but nothing that I panting for. This is a break from some of the more common Toscas on Sirius. Ross had a powerful voice and I saw her several times in Philadelphia (often partnered with Tucker in Turandot, Aida, and Gioconda). This is late in her career (not early for Bergonzi or Colzani) I’ll probably tune in to this to hear to see how late Ross sounds compared to some of today’s Toscas. It’s the Puccini work most in need of a rest, at least for me. Bergonzi broadcasts Cavaradossi three times, first in 1959 with Eleanor Steber and George London, and in 1975 with Teresa Zylis-Gara and Gabriel Bacquier under Alberto Erede. HIs last Met performance is Edgardo in 1988 with Lucia Aliberti and then eight years later appears in the James Levine 25th anniversary gala. The Steber performance is the best of the three performances, but Ross is worth checking out.
THE GREAT GATSBY:Harbison
Levine; Hadley, Upshaw, Croft, Graham, Baker, Lieberson
Original Air Date: 01/01/2000
MOD Audio
SID.19420315
Levine is a great promoter of Harbison’s work, but I miss the appeal. First appearance of Hunt Lieberson whose only other role was Didon in the new Troyens production whose broadcast marks Hunt Lieberson’s Met farewell in February 2003 before her untimely death in July 2006.
PORGY AND BESS:Gershwins
Robertson; Blue, Brugger, Moore, Graves, Ballentine, Owens, Walker, Green
Original Air Date: 10/16/2019
SID.19420319
One of America’s favorite operas returns to the Met for the first time in nearly 30 years. James Robinson’s stylish production transports audiences to Catfish Row on the Charleston waterfront, vibrant with the music, dancing, emotion, and heartbreak of its inhabitants. “If you’re going to stage Gershwin’s opera, this is how,” raved the Guardian when the new production premiered in London in 2018. David Robertson conducts a dynamic cast, featuring the sympathetic duo of Eric Owens and Angel Blue in the title roles The worldwide copyrights in the works of George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin for this presentation are licensed by the Gershwin family. GERSHWIN is a registered trademark of Gershwin Enterprises. Porgy and Bess is a registered trademark of Porgy and Bess Enterprises. A co-production of the Metropolitan Opera; Dutch National Opera, Amsterdam; and English National Opera Production a gift of The Sybil B. Harrington Endowment Fund and Douglas Dockery Thomas
DEATH IN VENICE:Britten
Atherton; Rolfe Johnson, Allen, Gall, von Aroldingen,
Original Air Date: 02/26/1994
MOD Audio
SID.19430102
The production, shared with Covent Garden in London, where it was presented in 1992, is by the same English team that first staged the opera, in 1973 at the Maltings, near Britten’s home in Suffolk, and later at Covent Garden and the Met: Colin Graham, director; John Piper (who has since died), set designer, and Charles Knode, costume designer. Yet this is no revival. In fact, the old production no longer exists; the original sets were destroyed by fire, and the costumes are in rags. Mr. Graham sets the opera in a black box, like the inside of a camera whose iris opens to reveal images inside Aschenbach’s mind. A hanging gloom of black velour pervades the stage. Images are projected on a central screen and, to stress the theme of fragmentation, deconstructed into abstract parts on side screens framed by reflective pillars. In recreating the costumes from Mr. Knode’s original sketches, Hilary Philpot of Covent Garden eliminated the many stylistic references to the 70’s that had crept in, along with the use of synthetic fabrics. Most of the singers have only one costume, and the Edwardian suits, for men and women, are made with couture perfection of linen, silk or cotton in off-white or pale colors that can be bleached out by the lights. They are transformed by multiple accessories, including more than 80 hats that are pure fantasies of the millinery profession, many in a kind of diaphanous lampshade parchment. The most important costume of all, Aschenbach’s suit, was originally made of a beige linen that is no longer manufactured. Tadzio’s mother is dressed in green rather than the former grays and blues, though her hat retains the famous plumes. (from NYTIMES Feb. 6, 1994) Both Met revivals, the original with Peter Pears from 1974 and this 1994 revival are available in MOoD.
IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA:Rossini
Weikert; Hampson, von Stade, Olsen, Quilico, Ramey
Original Air Date: 02/29/1992
MOD Audio
SID.19430103
Louis Quilico is not my ideal Bartolo. Von Stade’s first Rosina broadcast from 1976 with Stilwell, Corena, and Morris has been on Sirius, but not 1983 which features Pablo Elvira, Sesto Bruscantini (as Bartolo) and Paolo Montarsolo as Basilio. This 1992 performance is her last Met performance as Rosina. Appears almost as much as BOHEME
UN BALLO IN MASCHERA:Verdi
Santi; Tucker, Nilsson, Merrill, Dobbs, Madeira
Original Air Date: 01/12/1963
MOD Audio
SID.19430104
This performance finds the principals in very strong form (Nilsson’s only broadcast from the Met of Amelia) and Tucker is an excellent match for her. Merrill is in his run of eight of the nine Ballo broadcasts between 1955 and 1985!!!! Definitely worth a listen. (Schonberg NYT Review,1/11/63) Birgit Nilsson is by common consent the greatest active Wagenrian soprano, but that does not mean she cannot sing other music. She mader her first appearance of the season at the Metropolitan Opera on Wednesday night, and she sang the role of Amelia in Verdi’s UN BOOLO IN MASCHERA for the first time at the house. And she sang a spectacular performance. It was not the kind of singing, though, that most Italian sopranos bring to the role…Nillsson’s is a Nordic voice with a wider sound than that produced by the Italians, and hence a little cooler. Also, like most Nordic singers, she holds her emotins in check. There is no sobbing, no carrying on, and the general impression is one of complete vocal and emotional control. But what control! …. for more >
DIE WALKÜRE:Wagner
Levine; Behrens, Morris, Norman, Lakes, Ludwig, Moll
Original Air Date: 04/08/1989
MOD AudioMOD Video
SID.19430105
This performance is in the MOoD as a video. Lakes is operating in a league that is at least a half step beyond him. Behrens, who is certainly well schooled, is not the right voice for me. Norman is very much her own stylist. Still this is a strong cast overall, and finds the Met orchestra and Levine in their first cycle together in extremely committed form.
SAMSON ET DALILA:Saint-Saëns
Abravanel; Maison, Wettergren, Pinza
Original Air Date: 12/26/1936
MOD Audio
SID.19430107
This is the second oldest Met performance to have been rebroadcast on Sirius — the Lawrence/Melchior Gotterdammerung also from 1936 (but previous season) is the oldest. Abravanel is more remembered as longtime conductor of the Utah Symphony, but his three Met seasons beginning with this broadcast showed him as a sure hand in the French and German wings of the repertory. The principals have plenty of profile, and Pinza is an excellent High Priest.
RIGOLETTO:Verdi
Erede; Warren, Güden, Tucker, Pernerstorfer, Madeira
Original Air Date: 12/08/1951
SID.19430208
Though Gueden’s 24 Met Gildas isn’t going to threaten Roberta Peters’ 88 performance record, this was her Met debut a month before this broadcast in a new production designed by Eugene Berman and directed by Herbert Graf (same team as for classic Don Giovanni 6 years later). Warren was the pre-eminent Met Rigoletto during his Met years, and few have sung it so powerfully. Tucker sings the ‘Possente amor’ cabaletta to his ‘Parmi veder’ (only this season if memory serves; the cabaletta does not return until the appearance of Alfredo Kraus 15 years later) None of the 1951 matinee performers are short when it comes to filling out the vocal lines. What is unfortunate is the only broadcast of Warren’s Rigoletto from 1945 to 1959 has not made it to MOoD, and only two of Warren’s SEVEN broadcasts have appeared on Sirius. This 1951 broadcast is very deserving of being promoted to MOoD.
DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN:Strauss
Thielemann; Voigt, Moser, Schnaut, Brendel, Runkel
Original Air Date: 01/05/2002
SID.19430209
This was Thielemann’s high water mark at the Met with a popular production by Herbert Wernicke who died an untimely death not long after this production was premiered in December 2001 (he died in April 2002). Thielemann did the score absolutely uncut for the first time at the Met, and the women on the whole garnered high praise. Schnaut’s voice is not a beautiful one (but Christel Goltz was not exactly Kiri te Kanawa either) but she certainly gets to the heart of the character. I have never been able to tolerate Moser’s voice, and Brendel is caught just a little too late in the day for this. For many of us Barak will always be Walter Berry, but of course those lucky to have seen DFD in Europe it was a fine part for him as well. The main draw here is Thielemann conducting the opera complete, something Bohm never did at the Met, and one of the best outings for Voigt. Still FROSCH has some of the best music Strauss ever wrote, and Thielemann is a master of this score against any competition. Highly recommended.
LA GIOCONDA:Ponchielli
Cleva; Tebaldi, Bergonzi, MacNeil, Cossotto, Giaiotti
Original Air Date: 03/02/1968
MOD Audio
SID.19430211
This is Tebaldi’s second broadcast of the street singer, and what a sensational cast the Met surrounds her with. Bergonzi did a run with Bumbry eleven years later but that was not broadcast. Tebaldi’s first broadcast a year earlier has also been on Sirius, and is also on MOoD. The earlier broadcast has Morrell (replacing Corelli) and Elias in the Bergonzi and Cossotto parts. Siepi and Giaiotti are both top class Alvises. The Met listing leaves off Dunn, and Cieca is definitely one of the star parts. This is Tebaldi’s second Gioconda broadcast, and despite the wear and tear from 32 Met Giocondas in two years — it is her final Gioconda. Bing serves up A+ colleagues for her, and it is a rousing afternoon. This performance is on Met Player, highly recommend.
COSÌ FAN TUTTE:Mozart
Kord; Carson, Di Giuseppe, Tourangeau, Carlson, Boky, Corena
Original Air Date: 12/20/1975
SID.19430212
This is most notable for Corena’s only Don Alfonso broadcast. The opera was out of the Met repertory from 1928 until 1951, when Steber, Thebom, and Tucker premiered the hugely successful Alfred Lunt production in English (a Columbia studio recording of this production was made, and holds upeven against Italian language originals). The opera remained in English until 1971, when John Pritchard premiered a fall cast which included Corena, but no broadcast.
I PURITANI:Bellini
Müller; Swenson, Neill, Hampson, Miles
Original Air Date: 02/01/1997
MOD Audio
SID.19430213
The Netrebko video and the Gruberova and Sutherland Elviras are all available in MOoD as well as this one. Swenson has an attractive voice, but I don’t find her especially compelling, and the supporting cast is much better on the other performances. Cavalleria/ Pagliacci from 1988 and Idomeneo from 1991 are added into the schedule beginning Wednesday.
OTELLO:Verdi
Stiedry; Vinay, Steber, Warren, Hayward
Original Air Date: 02/09/1952
SID.19430214
This performance has been on a European private label for some years, and the cast (including the conductor) get better and better as the afternoon progresses. Vinay is an acquired taste for some, but he fits well with this role. This is a very good time for Steber, and if you enjoyed her 1949 Violetta , this is very fine singing indeed. This is arguably Tebaldi’s best role, and her first two Met broadcasts first with Stiedry in 1955 and Cleva in 1958, both with Del Monaco still remain missing from the Sirius rebroadcast listings. Del Monaco’s first Met Otello (not broadcast ) is with this 1952 cast 6 days after Steber does her first with Vinay on the broadcast. The other major interest from Steber here is she sang Fiordiligi at night after this broadcast.
LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR:Donizetti
Molinari-Pradelli; Scotto, Alexander, Sereni, Plishka
Original Air Date: 04/21/1973
SID.19430315
This is Scotto’s only Met broadcast of Lucia, even though she has two 39th street (old house) performances. Alexander is well suited to Edgardo and his Lucias include Sutherland, Moffo, Sills, Robinson, and Negri (his last in a Bronx Parks assignment). Sereni was a regular Enrico and Molinari-Pradelli is a solid maestro. Scotto the previous performance she cancelled after Act 1, and this broadcast is her final New York Lucia. She does do five tour Lucias after this broadcast. The male contingent is fairly standard B+ casting from the Met, not more, not less. This is the first Met broadcast of Lucia since the Moffo, Gedda performance (debut of Franci and Bruson) of 2/1/69 which is a performance not yet on Sirius, but Jackson spends some time on it (and I remember it like yesterday). This was a bad period at the Met for the Bride of Lammermoor.
FEDORA:Giordano
Abbado; Freni, Domingo, Croft, Arteta
Original Air Date: 04/26/1997
MOD Video
SID.19430316
This is the Met’s only broadcast of this verismo work, and is available on DVD also. This is a solid performance even if it catches Freni in the extreme twilight of a very long career. This is Freni’s penultimate opera performance at the Met, with another Fedora 5 days later. She appears 5 years later in an opening night gala doing Act 2 of Fedora, and she returns 3 years later for an end of season concert that marks her last vocal appearance on any stage.
ORFEO ED EURIDICE:Gluck
Wigglesworth; Hong, Park, Barton
Original Air Date: 10/24/2019
SID.19430428
Mark Morris’s spirited take on the ancient Orpheus myth stars mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton as Orfeo, the grieving lover on a quest through the underworld. Soprano Hei-Kyung Hong sings the plaintive Euridice. Mark Wigglesworth conducts Gluck’s elegant score, a pinnacle of the Baroque repertoire. Production a gift of Mr. and Mrs. Wilmer J. Thomas, Jr.
LA BOHÈME:Puccini
Armiliato; Pérez, Kulchynska, Polenzani, Bizic, Zhilikhovsky, Park, Woodley
Original Air Date: 10/25/2019
SID.19430535
Three casts of captivating artists bring Puccini’s classic tragedy of bohemian friends and lovers to life in Franco Zeffirelli’s immortal staging. Tenors Matthew Polenzani, Roberto Alagna, and Joseph Calleja trade off as the exuberant Rodolfo, alongside sopranos Ailyn Pérez, Hei-Kyung Hong, and Maria Agresta as the fragile Mimì. Marco Armiliato and Emmanuel Villaume share conducting duties.
MANON:Massenet
Maurizio Benini: Lisette Oropesa, Michael Fabiano, Artur Ruciński, Carlo Bosi
Original Air Date: 10/26/2019
Live in HD
SID.19430640
Exhilarating soprano Lisette Oropesa stars as the irresistible title character, the tragic beauty who yearns for the finer things in life, in Laurent Pelly’s revealing production. Tenor Michael Fabiano is the besotted Chevalier des Grieux, whose desperate love for Manon proves their undoing. Maurizio Benini conducts Massenet’s sensual score. A co-production of the Metropolitan Opera; Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London; Teatro alla Scala, Milan; and Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse Production a gift of The Sybil B. Harrington Endowment Fund
VICTORY LAP Interview with Lisette Oropesa from metopera.org
HÄNSEL UND GRETEL:Humperdinck
Mackerras; Larmore, Upshaw, Forst, Blythe, Josephson
Original Air Date: 12/29/2001
MOD Audio
SID.19440102
This performance is indeed in German and yet is performed by a 100% Anglophone cast. Irony indeed. Mackerras is the most distinctive contributor to a work whose orchestral passages are among its most interesting. Also worth noting is there is a separate listing in MOoD for the English language versions and the German version. But though the language was German it was the same production as premiered in English in 1967-1968 by O’Hearn and Merrill and concluded with these performances in 2001-2. Hansel returned in a new also English language production by Richard Jones in 2007-2008.