2017-18 Live Broadcasts

THE GREAT GATSBY:Harbison
Levine; Hadley, Upshaw, Croft, Graham, Baker, Lieberson
Original Air Date: 01/01/2000
MOD Audio
SID.20170641
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.

PARSIFAL:Wagner
Gergiev; Domingo, Urmana, Struckmann, Pape, Putilin
Original Air Date: 04/12/2003
MOD Audio
SID.20170647
The main attraction here is Pape’s first Gurnemanz. I was not much taken with Gergiev’s work, but the part is a good one for Domingo, and the rest of the cast are top tier. It’s certainly a change from Levine, and one of Domingo’s better German offerings. Because of the contributions of Pape and Gergiev, MOoD should have this performance as well. Pape is represented in the new production on video on MOoD and on DVD. There are a number of Parsifals that have not made it to either Sirius rebroadcast or MOoD. Broadcasts featuring Crespin (under Pretre, 1966) Varnay with Hotter, 1954, Dalis with Siepi and Stewart, 1971 and several interesting casts under Levine including Gwyneth Jones are all unrepresented.

PARSIFAL:Wagner
Gergiev; Domingo, Urmana, Struckmann, Pape, Putilin
Original Air Date: 04/12/2003
MOD Audio
SID.20170648
The main attraction here is Pape’s first Gurnemanz. I was not much taken with Gergiev’s work, but the part is a good one for Domingo, and the rest of the cast are top tier. It’s certainly a change from Levine, and one of Domingo’s better German offerings. Because of the contributions of Pape and Gergiev, MOoD should have this performance as well. Pape is represented in the new production on video on MOoD and on DVD. There are a number of Parsifals that have not made it to either Sirius rebroadcast or MOoD. Broadcasts featuring Crespin (under Pretre, 1966) Varnay with Hotter, 1954, Dalis with Siepi and Stewart, 1971 and several interesting casts under Levine including Gwyneth Jones are all unrepresented.

EUGENE ONEGIN:Tchaikovsky
Ozawa; Leiferkus, Freni, Hadley, Svendén, Ghiaurov
Original Air Date: 12/19/1992
MOD Audio
SID.20170750
This is Freni’s second Met broadcast of Tatiana. In 1989 with Levine conducting, Hadley repeats with Hynninen in the title role, and Robert Lloyd as Gremin. The 1989 performance is available in MOoD. This is one of Ozawa’s two matinee broadcasts, the second one 16 years later in Tchaikovsky’s Queen of Spades. Ozawa is ok, but there’s plenty of fine Onegin conducting at the Met.

VANESSA:Barber
Mitropoulos; Steber, Gedda, Elias, Resnik, Tozzi
Original Air Date: 02/01/1958
MOD Audio
SID.20170751
Vanessa received its world premiere with this cast two weeks before this broadcast. Though Steber was not the first choice for the title role, she does some of her best broadcast singing on this. The Skating aria (later removed by Barber from the published score) has as many technical hurdles as any of Steber’s Mozart heroines, and she is up to them. The libretto gets its deserved criticisms, but Barber’s music has allowed the work to continue performances if none yet in the Met’s Lincoln Center theatre.