WERTHER:Massenet
Original Air Date: 04/16/1988
Fournet; Kraus, von Stade, Upshaw, Stilwell
SID.19010214
This is not exactly big scale vocal artillery except Kraus (he broadcast Werther nine years earlier with Crespin), but the Met brings out one of the better French repertoire conductors, and Kraus is a good match for von Stade. This is available all the time on Met Player, as is Kraus/Crespin.
LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR:Donizetti
Original Air Date: 12/12/1992
Panni; Anderson, Leech, Fu, Plishka
MOD Audio SID.19010315
Nothing really saves this afternoon as can be read in the Met database listing for the second performance of this new production by Francesca Zambello which comes in for some pretty harsh treatment from Martin Mayer– far from my favorite critic, but I think he has the right bead on this performance if not the musical excellence of Lucia as a great musical achievement. A Volpe miscue of large proportions (18 performances this season). 9/3/2013 – From my comments then: This is the newly preferred Sirius Lucia which I don’t think is very good. It does feature the conducting of Marcello Panni, who died shortly after his run of La Juive at the Met.
IL TROVATORE:Verdi
Original Air Date: 02/27/1960
Cleva; Bergonzi, Stella, Simionato, Bastianini, Wilderman
SID.19010316
Wonder of wonders. Sirius/the Met finally figured out they could broadcast this again. This is Simionato’s only Met broadcast, and her supporting singers are in her league. Now this performance is worth hearing at least twice a year (at least until the Met sees fit to put it in the MOoD catalog. It’s also Bergonzi’s only broadcast Manrico from the Met. Please note that this performance is NOT in MOoD (it should be) and is rarely in rotation 8/1/2011- Outstanding broadcast alert. Simionato’s only Met broadcast; Bergonzi’s only Manrico broadcast. One of Bastianini’s outstanding broadcasts, as also for Stella.
OTELLO:Verdi
Original Air Date: 01/05/2019
Dudamel; Yoncheva, Johnson Cano, Skelton, Dolgov, Lucic, Morris
SID.19010639
Intermission
Backstage Pass – Loren Toolajian interviews Stuart Skelton
Mary Jo Heath interviews Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Mary Jo Heath narrates “In Memoriam” feature
Conducting sensation Gustavo Dudamel makes his Met debut leading Verdi’s towering Shakespearean masterpiece, in the first revival of Bartlett Sher’s gripping 2015 production. The cast includes dynamic tenor Stuart Skelton in the title role, star soprano Sonya Yoncheva as the devoted but doomed Desdemona, and outstanding baritone Željko Lučić as the treacherous Iago.
DIE ÄGYPTISCHE HELENA:Strauss
Original Air Date: 03/31/2007
Luisi; Voigt, Kerl, Damrau, Grove, Brendel
MOD Audio SID.19020102
This is the Met’s only broadcast of the Strauss work and Kerl and Damrau are very impressive. I don’t love the work, but like most Strauss, it has its moments. It’s repeated too often in rotation which in no way approximates its importance in the Strauss canon. This was the first Met production in more than eight decades. I love the awakening scene, but for me it’s one of the weaker Strauss works. I shouldn’t complain. No Strauss at all this season or next. To date this is the only Met matinee broadcast of this uncommon Strauss work. The strongest profile is from Damrau who is an excellent Aithra. The opera has some great moments, and was one of Met
audience’s first chances to encounter Luisi, now the Principal Conductor.
COSÌ FAN TUTTE:Mozart
Original Air Date: 03/15/1997
Isepp; Vaness, Croft, Graham, Gunn, McLaughlin, Shimell
SID.19020103
This is the season after the Bartoli run as Despina also with Vaness. Most of the interest in this broadcast centers on Richard Croft now in Satyagraha and Susan Graham for whom this is an early broadcast. Her second Dorabella run is in 2001 has also been on Sirius. For Vaness fans she has two Cosi broadcasts from early in her Met career 1984 and 1991, and the 1984 is particularly recommended. Her Mozart singing in the early 1980s was right up there with the very best– Steber, Fleming, Lorengar, Te Kanawa.
FAUST: Gounod
Original Air Date: 12/30/1972
Benzi; Gedda, Boky, Macurdy, Manuguerra, Forst
SID.19020104
Gedda and Manuguerra are two of my favorite singers, and well cast,but neither Boky nor Macurdy is what I want in Gounod. It is indeed sad that such a Faust is presented when I can think of several Fausts which have never been on the airwaves are deserving of hearing– 12/31/1949 Pelletier Kirsten DiStefano Warren Tajo WHY NOT? 12/23/1950 Cleva Kirsten Bjorling Guarrera Siepi WHY NOT? 12/5/1953 Monteux DeLosAngeles Conley Merrill Rossi-Lemeni 2/19/1955 Monteux DeLosAngeles Peerce Merrill Siepi SIRIUS MOoD 2/4/1956 Monteux Kirsten Campora Guarrera Hines Monteux farewell 1/4/1958 Morel Guden Gedda Merrill Hines SIRIUS MOoD 12/19/1959 Morel Soderstrom Bjorling Merrill Siepi WHY NOT? 1/4/1964 Cleva Moffo Morell Ruzdak Siepi SIRIUS 4/9/1966 Pretre Fenn Gedda Walker Siepi 1/18/1969 Varviso Lorengar Gedda Merrill Siepi WHY NOT? 2/26/1972 Rich Zylis-Gara Domingo Sereni Tozzi SIRIUS MOoD 12/30/1972 Benzi Boky Gedda Manuguerra Macurdy SIRIUS 1/8/1977 Pretre Meier, Johanna Burrows Carlson Giaiotti WHY NOT? More recent Fausts are well covered, but missing Bjorling’s Faust not once but twice (he has no studio recording, and is one of the all-time Met stars). The other Why not have their points. And no, we don’t need more repetitions of the 1972 Faust with Domingo which has been overplayed in recent months.
LUISA MILLER:Verdi
Original Air Date: 03/23/2002
Levine; Frittoli, Shicoff, Frontali, Tian, Ens, Graves
SID.19020105
This performance just doesn’t get off the ground, For me, though Frittoli and Frontali are at least Italianate, they are short of the critical goods necessary to really be full voiced enough for these roles; the interpreters at this new production’s fall premiere earlier in the season did not even have the stylistics. Not one of Met casting’s finest hours. A disappointing revival in a new production. Frittoli was a bit light for the role, and Shicoff would have been much better 10 years earlier. Frontali is a small scaled Miller.
TOSCA:Puccini
Original Air Date: 03/23/1957
Mitropoulos; Albanese, Barioni, Warren
SID.19020106
This performance was supposed to be Bjorling with Albanese and Warren. Tosca is not an ideal part for Albanese, but she certainly knows the idiom.
DON PASQUALE:Donizetti
Original Air Date: 12/21/1940
Papi; Baccaloni, Sayão, Martini, Valentino
MOD Audio SID.19020107
This is one of the older Met broadcasts to appear in the Sirius rebroadcast series. It’s also one of the best, with Baccaloni and Sayao in very top form. This is also available in MOoD.
Sayao and Baccaloni have a lot of charm in our only broadcast from the 40s this week This is also on Met Player, and it’s good to hear why Baccaloni and Sayao were so beloved. What personality even in 1940 AM sound.
MANON LESCAUT:Puccini
Original Air Date: 03/17/1990
Santi; Freni, Dvorsk, Schexnayder, Tajo
SID.19020208
This is Freni’s only Met broadcast of Manon Lescaut (she did three performances in 1984 as well), and she is one of my favorite Manons even though she is well into the veteran stage.
Dvorsky is acceptable, but not lots of good Des Grieux available in 1990 (a much more challenging part than the Massenet). Santi understands the tradition well, but I prefer Mitropoulos or Levine, both of whom are much more animated.
3/16/12 – Freni was a wonderful Manon Lescaut, but she saved it for close to the end of her career. Luckily she made a great recording with Pavarotti and Levine under Met auspices (Bartoli as the madrigal singer! Taddei as Lescaut) Still, she’s a fine Manon Lescaut, and deserves a better supporting cast and conductor than she gets.
Manon Lescaut is one Puccini that is not overdone so I always look forward to hearing it, and the Met has some great broadcasts including two Bjorlings that have been on Sirius and are in MetOpera on Demand.
GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG:Wagner
Original Air Date: 03/29/1975
Ehrling; Nilsson, Thomas, Rundgren, Dooley, Rankin, Reynolds
SID.19020209
This is Nilsson’s final Wagner opera from the Met airwaves. I am rooting for her to be good on this broadcast because she only has two other Gotterdammerung broadcasts, the first in 1962 when she was in very fresh voice under Leinsdorf (and on Met Opera in Demand (MOoD) and 1963 under Rosenstock — originally planned for Reiner– with extensive cuts. The supporting cast with the exception of possibly Anna Reynolds’ Waltraute don’t offer much help to Nilsson.
My reaction is as qualified as Paul Jackson in his final volume on the Met broadcasts. She is still in much better voice than when she returned to the Met after a 5 year absence in Elektra. Once again I will make a plea for the Rita Hunter Gotterdammerung broadcast from the year before (where she replaces Nilsson) which features her in very fresh voice, and one of the few broadcast appearances of Helge Brilioth as Siegfried, all under Kubelik. Kubelik only has 2 Met broadcasts (Troyens is the other with Verrett, Ludwig, and Vickers) and neither has been on the Sirius rebroadcast series.
But back to Gotterdammerung, Hagen is almost as important as Brunnhilde and Siegfried, and Rundgren is distinctly second grade goods. Thomas Stewart premiered the production in 1974, but Dooley was the Gunther on both the Kubelik and this broadcast, so no broadcast record for one of Stewart’s best roles. Rankin, a well traveled mezzo mostly in the Italian wing, is a curious choice for Gutrune (maybe Kubelik had a fond memory of her Troyens Cassandra when he premiered the opera 15 years earlier at La Scala with Del Monaco and Simionato in Italian. So this Gotterdammerung will be a curiosity, but for me her 1962 broadcast and the two commercial (Decca studio and Philips live from Bayreuth are noble indeed.
———
12/25/11 This is from Nilsson’s last Met appearance (save the following week’s Sieglinde with Hunter!!) that she would make for 5 years, when she absented herself from the country because of tax problems. A great loss to the Met, but the years were starting to add up. Ehrling conducts a competent cycle, but the real stick in the mud in this performance is Rundgren who is definitely a non-marquee Hagen. A high profile Hagen is really essential for a good Gotterdammerung, and Chereau made the same mistake in 1978 when I saw the centennial Ring in its third season with Firtz Hubner. We’ve been very spoiled by mostly Salminen for the last 20 years. Along with Frick and Bohme and (Greindl in Europe– no loss to my ears) they have been the dominant singers of one of the great Wagner roles.
GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG:Wagner
Original Air Date: 03/29/1975
Ehrling; Nilsson, Thomas, Rundgren, Dooley, Rankin, Reynolds
SID.19020210
This is Nilsson’s final Wagner opera from the Met airwaves. I am rooting for her to be good on this broadcast because she only has two other Gotterdammerung broadcasts, the first in 1962 when she was in very fresh voice under Leinsdorf (and on Met Opera in Demand (MOoD) and 1963 under Rosenstock — originally planned for Reiner– with extensive cuts. The supporting cast with the exception of possibly Anna Reynolds’ Waltraute don’t offer much help to Nilsson.
My reaction is as qualified as Paul Jackson in his final volume on the Met broadcasts. She is still in much better voice than when she returned to the Met after a 5 year absence in Elektra. Once again I will make a plea for the Rita Hunter Gotterdammerung broadcast from the year before (where she replaces Nilsson) which features her in very fresh voice, and one of the few broadcast appearances of Helge Brilioth as Siegfried, all under Kubelik. Kubelik only has 2 Met broadcasts (Troyens is the other with Verrett, Ludwig, and Vickers) and neither has been on the Sirius rebroadcast series.
But back to Gotterdammerung, Hagen is almost as important as Brunnhilde and Siegfried, and Rundgren is distinctly second grade goods. Thomas Stewart premiered the production in 1974, but Dooley was the Gunther on both the Kubelik and this broadcast, so no broadcast record for one of Stewart’s best roles. Rankin, a well traveled mezzo mostly in the Italian wing, is a curious choice for Gutrune (maybe Kubelik had a fond memory of her Troyens Cassandra when he premiered the opera 15 years earlier at La Scala with Del Monaco and Simionato in Italian. So this Gotterdammerung will be a curiosity, but for me her 1962 broadcast and the two commercial (Decca studio and Philips live from Bayreuth are noble indeed.
———-
12/25/11 This is from Nilsson’s last Met appearance (save the following week’s Sieglinde with Hunter!!) that she would make for 5 years, when she absented herself from the country because of tax problems. A great loss to the Met, but the years were starting to add up. Ehrling conducts a competent cycle, but the real stick in the mud in this performance is Rundgren who is definitely a non-marquee Hagen. A high profile Hagen is really essential for a good Gotterdammerung, and Chereau made the same mistake in 1978 when I saw the centennial Ring in its third season with Firtz Hubner. We’ve been very spoiled by mostly Salminen for the last 20 years. Along with Frick and Bohme and (Greindl in Europe– no loss to my ears) they have been the dominant singers of one of the great Wagner roles.
ELEKTRA:Strauss
Original Air Date: 03/25/1961
Rosenstock; Borkh, Rysanek, Madeira, Uhde, Vinay
MOD Audio SID.19020211
Rosenstock appears for the originally scheduled Mitropoulos who had died the previous November. Still, this is a powerful cast in a masterpiece. The whole cast is top drawer, and highly recommended. This is the only Elektra Borkh and Rysanek ever did together, and they are among the very best in these roles. Nice to welcome this performance to MOoD in their 2014 reissues. For me a highlight of the week.
Rosenstock comes to the Met first in 1929, and left after one season (poor reviews compared to Bodanzky and Bodanzky returned the following season). Rosenstock returned to Germany, then to Japan for the WHOLE WWII at NHK. He gets back to New York, and starts anew at New York City Opera and succeeds Halasz as director in 1952. After 4 seasons as director, he is replaced by Julius Rudel, and then returns to the Met in 1961 replacing the recently deceased Mitropoulos.
He goes on to conduct over 250 Met performances in the next 8 years. including Tosca and Lucia on the Met tour among just about everything. He is a solid conductor, and Borkh in 1961 one of the very great Elektras.
I PURITANI:Bellini
Original Air Date: 02/01/1997
Müller; Swenson, Neill, Hampson, Miles
MOD Audio SID.19020212
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.
LA TRAVIATA:Verdi
Original Air Date: 12/19/1998
Rizzi; Racette, Álvarez, Chernov
SID.19020213
This production had been through multiple cast changes. Originally for Gheorgiu and Alagna, it moved to Fleming, who begged off because of schedule overcrowding. By the time of the broadcast, Levine had been succeeded by Rizzi. Although Marcelo Alvarez sang much better than today, he never quite made the top tier for me; his work in Ballo and Cav/Pag the past few seasons have been very solid. Racette was too generic vocally at thetime of this broadcast, and major move into Puccini and verismo did little good for her voice. Chernov who never quite made it had a lovely voice, if not exactly the Russian Robert Merrill (that was more likely Yuri Mazurok). MOoD also features Ponselle, Steber, Tebaldi, and Cotrubas prior to Racette, and Fleming and Gheorghiu post all of whom are more distinctive. Albanese has 10 broadcasts of her Violetta –5 pre Bing, 5 under Bing, but only her last from 1959 has been on Sirius. Sutherland has a 1964 broadcast that the archives show as having been on Sirius, but it has not been rebroadcast since I started tracking the Sirius rebroadcasts in 2011; De Los Angeles has a 1958 broadcast which has not been rebroadcast. Caballe, despite an opening night did not show for her broadcast (Pilou sang) so one of her most famous roles is not documented on the Met airwaves.
THAÏS:Massenet
Original Air Date: 01/28/1978
Pritchard; Sills, Milnes, Gibbs
SID.19020214
For a long time this was the only Met broadcast of Thais, but with Fleming’s effort in 2008 one can hear a much fresher sound in the title role. I love Massenet, but I often prefer Esclarmonde to Thais (Manon and Werther are better by far). It’s on twice a year, but has seemed more frequent. Fleming was far preferable. The Sills performance is on MOoD as is the Fleming video. Has been on Sirius a lot. I’m not a big fan of the performance.
Thank goodness this was NOT videoed. Sills did not have enough vocal allure for this role. Fleming’s broadcast and video are available in every format including Met Player, as well as a commercial CD that precedes her Met performances by several years. This Sills Thais is on Met Player and appears disproportionately often in the rotation. Sills clearly brought a number of people to opera but she was one of the first singers I grew weary of because of excessive hype. Her Cleopatra was very fine at NYCO.
LUISA MILLER:Verdi
Original Air Date: 03/23/2002
Levine; Frittoli, Shicoff, Frontali, Tian, Ens, Graves
SID.19020315
This performance just doesn’t get off the ground, For me, though Frittoli and Frontali are at least Italianate, they are short of the critical goods necessary to really be full voiced enough for these roles; the interpreters at this new production’s fall premiere earlier in the season did not even have the stylistics. Not one of Met casting’s finest hours. A disappointing revival in a new production. Frittoli was a bit light for the role, and Shicoff would have been much better 10 years earlier. Frontali is a small scaled Miller.
IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA:Rossini
Original Air Date: 12/21/1957
Rudolf; Guarrera, Peters, Valletti, Corena, Hines
MOD Audio SID.19020321
Guarrera is an alert if not so suave Figaro. Rudolf leads an experienced ensemble. One should listen to Corena here to hear why he’s remains so missed. The Met should release the Berganza 1968 video if for no other reason to preserve his Bartolo.
OTELLO:Verdi
Original Air Date: 01/10/2019
Dudamel; Yoncheva, Johnson Cano, Skelton, Dolgov, Lucic, Morris
SID.19020428
Conducting sensation Gustavo Dudamel makes his Met debut leading Verdi’s towering Shakespearean masterpiece, in the first revival of Bartlett Sher’s gripping 2015 production. The cast includes dynamic tenor Stuart Skelton in the title role, star soprano Sonya Yoncheva as the devoted but doomed Desdemona, and outstanding baritone Željko Lučić as the treacherous Iago.
Production a gift of Jacqueline Desmarais, in memory of Paul G. Desmarais Sr. Revival a gift of Rolex
ADRIANA LECOUVREUR:Cilea
Original Air Date: 01/12/2019
Noseda; Netrebko, Rachvelishvili, Beczala, Bosi, Maestri, Muraro
Live in HD SID.19020640
Based on a play by Eugène Scribe, the story was inspired by the real-life intrigues of famed actress Adrienne Lecouvreur and the legendary soldier—and lover—Maurice of Saxony. Cilea’s operatic retelling quickly became a favorite of charismatic soloists. The title character in particular is a quintessential diva role.
Pre-Show
Backstage Pass: General Manager Peter Gelb interviews Anna Netrebko
First Intermission
Backstage Pass: HD Host Matthew Polenzani interviews Anita Rachvelishvilli
TOLL BROTHERS – METROPOLITAN OPERA QUIZ
Guest Artist: Paul Appleby Host: Brian Zeger
Panelists: Jon Tolins, George Preston, and Melanie Spector
Second Intermission
Backstage Pass: HD Host Matthew Polenzani interviews Piotr Beczala
Backstage Pass: General Manager Peter Gelb interviews Director David McVicar
Backstage Pass: HD Host Matthew Polenzani interviews maestro Gianandrea Noseda
Drama Queen (Article by William Berger)
“On New Year’s Eve, Francesco Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur returns to the Met with soprano Anna Netrebko in the touchstone title role. She teams up with tenor Piotr Beczała as her lover, Maurizio—a brilliant pairing of stars fresh off a joint triumph in performances of Adriana in Vienna. Mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili rounds out the all-star principal trio, and maestro Gianandrea Noseda is on the podium. Sir David McVicar’s new staging—the Met’s first new production of the work in more than half a century—embraces Cilea’s glamorous 18th-century Parisian setting but also mines for deeper artistic significance in an opera that is often underestimated.” (William Berger)
Co-Production of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London; Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona; Wiener Staatsoper; San Francisco Opera; and L’Opéra National de Paris Production a gift of The Sybil B. Harrington Endowment Fund
DER FLIEGENDE HOLLÄNDER:Wagner
Original Air Date: 03/05/1960
Schippers; London, Rysanek, Liebl, Tozzi
SID.19030102
This is the first of Rysanek’s five Senta broadcasts and she is paired with her longtime Dutchman partner, George London. Most of this cast re-assembled in London for a studio recording under Dorati, but the sound was never quite right, and the electricity of a live performance definitely not there. Rysanek’s two greatest roles for me were Senta and Empress in Frau. Her Senta was simply one of the greatest evenings in the theatre in 50 years of operagoing. Both this and two later Dutchman broadcasts with her are available in MOoD. This performance follows by less than 24 hours Leonard Warren’s onstage death in Forza. Warren had been Rysanek’s husband in her Met debut in Macbeth two years earlier. The fourth performance of the matchless combination of London and Rysanek. Three years later there is another broadcast under Bohm, which is on Met Player. This is the first broadcast pairing of Rysanek and London together. They were an unbeatable pair, and although I prefer Bohm’s rendition, this is best one for London. Best broadcast of the week by far.
LES CONTES D’HOFFMANN:Offenbach
Original Air Date: 04/10/1971
Baudo; Gedda, Bacquier, Boky, Crespin, Amara, von Stade
SID.19030103
Here is why I love the current Sirius service for Met repertory : The fall performances went unbroadcast. This 1970/71 Hoffmann was divided between a fall group with Grist, Elias, and Lorengar in the three ladies and the spring offering was Boky, Crespin, and Amara. The excellent Gedda and Bacquier were in both parts of the revival. I saw one of the fall performances and Grist and Lorengar were excellent. The broadcast does not come until spring, and much as Ilove Crespin as an artist, her Giulietta while visually dazzling was one rocky ride on the Venetian canal. Amara sang a solid Antonia, but her tone never had the luster of a Lorengar. Boky I found similarly lacking compared to Grist. Baudo is no Julius Rudel (among the best conductors I’ve ever heard for Hoffmann) or Chailly, let alone Monteux who originated the production in 1955. What should be mentioned is the strong supporting cast including von Stade as Nicklausse , Velis in the 4 comic tenor parts, and Paul Franke as an inimitable Spalanzani.
ANDREA CHÉNIER:Giordano
Original Air Date: 12/28/1957
Cleva; Tucker, Milanov, Warren, Elias, Lipton, Amparan
MOD Audio SID.19030104
As I noted in 2012, I prefer Corelli to Tucker, Tebaldi to Milanov, and Bastianini to Warren in these Chenier roles, but the last four decades have rarely brought one let alone three singers for these roles. So enjoy this 1957 cast with 1966 (which Sirius still hasn’t rebroadcast) with Tebaldi, Corelli, and Colzani probably the last one with such authentic style. I love Chenier, but we definitely don’t have the singers for it. I’m afraid the Met’s 2013-2014 revival confirmed the current state of Chenier singing.
LOHENGRIN:Wagner
Original Air Date: 03/21/1998
Levine; Heppner Voigt, Polaski, Ketelsen, Halfvarson
MOD Audio SID.19030106
Heppner is the star here with outstanding orchestral performance as well. He did it the following season with Mattila and Pape, but that improved casting was not broadcast, and by the time 2006 rolled around, Levine was unavailable, Heppner was in more variable form, and Mattila was not the singer she was 8 years earlier.
LOHENGRIN:Wagner
Original Air Date: 03/21/1998
Levine; Heppner Voigt, Polaski, Ketelsen, Halfvarson
MOD Audio SID.19030107
Heppner is the star here with outstanding orchestral performance as well. He did it the following season with Mattila and Pape, but that improved casting was not broadcast, and by the time 2006 rolled around, Levine was unavailable, Heppner was in more variable form, and Mattila was not the singer she was 8 years earlier.
ERNANI:Verdi
Original Air Date: 12/29/1956
Mitropoulos; Del Monaco, Milanov, Warren, Siepi
MOD Audio SID.19030208
This is the first Met broadcast of Ernani, and although Del Monaco is slightly better in his Florence broadcast with Cerquetti, he is the Verdian bandit to the life. This is a bit late for Milanov, but Warren and Siepi are certainly top drawer as well. Mitropoulos brings his accustomed fire and a few odd choices in musical text. Not a bad preparation for the revival coming in February with Meade. I love Ernani, but I don’t love this performance. Mitropoulos and Del Monaco are better represented from Florence, and this part is simply too late for Milanov. This part is HARD– check Freni’s challenge at La Scala. Ernani involvami demands full blown coloratura mastery from the moment you open your mouth, and while the rest of the role is mostly ensembles, it’s challenging. Leona Mitchell is mostly very up to the challenges. Two good stabs at the part were NOT broadcast, Arroyo’s opening night with Bergonzi and Milnes, and Millo, (2 in the house, 4 in the parks very early in her Met career). The good news on Ernani is the complete Met broadcast history is documented on Sirius. The Met trots out its star Verdians for the first appearance of Ernani in a quarter century. It’s a bit too late for Milanov, but Del Monaco and Siepi are in especially fine form. This is also available on MOoD. Elvira is definitely a bit late for Milanov, but the men are the best in the business for these roles in 1956, and all among the greatest ever in these roles.
LA GIOCONDA:Ponchielli
Original Air Date: 04/20/1957
Cleva; Milanov, Poggi, Warren, Rankin, Siepi
SID.19030209
I never saw Milanov’s Gioconda, and strangely Paul Jackson in his history of Met broadcasts only deals with 1953 and 1961 in his volume that covers post 1950 Milanov. Rankin, Warren and Siepi are all among the very best exponents of their roles, but I’ve never gotten Poggi’s message. So it’s all about Milanov, and generally I always want her earlier (like 1939) rather than later. Milanov was definitely variable in the 50s for her Giocondas. She has 2 more going as last as 1961. Rankin, Warren and Siepi are fine support, and it all depends what kind of a day ZM is having. Her first (not yet broadcast by Sirius) is her best, though the 1946 is also very good (Tucker’s debut year, and he is leagues ahead of Poggi).
MAZEPPA:Tchaikovsky
Original Air Date: 03/18/2006
Gergiev; Putilin, Guryakova, Balashov, Burchuladze, Diadkova
SID.19030210
This is the only Met broadcast of Tchaikovsky’s powerful work. This performance is notable for Tchaikovsky’s powerful music, Gergiev’s assured conducting, and Putilin giving his considerable all to the title role. This is offbeat repertory that I’m glad we’ve had. Gergiev and Putilin make a strong case for hearing the work more often. It should really be on MOoD.
UN BALLO IN MASCHERA:Verdi
Original Air Date: 02/26/1966
Molinari, Pradelli, Bergonzi, Price, Merrill, Peters, Dunn
SID.19030211
This is the first of Corelli’s four Don Carlo broadcasts and the 1964 performance which was issued in 2011 on Sony only retains Dalis and Uhde in their roles. Since Curtis-Verna is generally underrepresented, I am happy to have this on, but the missing broadcast which is earnestly called for is Bing’s final broadcast as general manager from 1972 with Siepi and Amara returning in their roles from Bing’s inaugural broadcast 22 years earlier. Curtis-Verna only has one other broadcast, that of Aida in 1957 replacing Tebaldi who had withdrawn the day before due to her mother’s death. Curtis-Verna has a very respectable 97 performances over 9 seasons all in leads, but does not make it past 1966 into the new House. She was interviewed in Opera News before her death in 2009 and finished off her career with a distinguished tenure at University of Washington for more than 3 decades in their voice department.