ESCLARMONDE:Massenet
Bonynge; Sutherland, Aragall, Tourangeau, Grant
Original Air Date: 12/11/1976
MOD Audio
SID.19510743
This is the Met’s only broadcast of Esclarmonde, and the performance in addition to the predictable glitter from Sutherland, captures Aragall in one of his best performances. For many, his material was the best of absolute best, and the new generation of tenors in the 1970s, but it never quite all came together. Here is the exception. Enjoy.
IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA:Rossini
Erede; Valdengo, Pons, Di Stefano, Baccaloni, Hines
Original Air Date: 12/16/1950
MOD Audio
SID.19510744
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.
IDOMENEO:Mozart
Levine; Heppner, Upshaw, Vaness, Mentzer, Kazaras
Original Air Date: 12/21/1991
MOD Audio
SID.19510745
This is a solid performance, and especially so for the young Heppner, and Vaness, who is probably the best Electra the Met has seen.
DON CARLO:Verdi
Stiedry; Tucker, Rigal, Silveri, Barbieri, Hines, Hotter
Original Air Date: 04/05/1952
MOD Audio
SID.19510746
This is most distinctive for being Tucker’s first Don Carlo broadcast and one of Hotter’s few. This is the first of Tucker’s three Don Carlo broadcasts, and I find his 1955 preferable. What I’ve never heard, but also from 1952 (but next season) is his second which has a better supporting cast with Merrill for Silveri, and Siepi for Hines as Filippo; Erede is in the pit for his only Don Carlo broadcast. Also unusual is that though Tucker went on to sing the opera for 15 more years after his 1955 broadcast with Steber, he never went to the airwaves for it again. At 26 performances, he is by far the Don Carlo champion– I saw him in it three times. most notably at a fall 1968 matinee not broadcast with (Orlandi, Verrett, Merrill, Ghiaurov, and Talvela under Abbado). Bing did not see Hotter in leading roles and in Walkure he was cast as Hunding, not Wotan. What has not been rebroadcast on Sirius is Hotter’s farewell which is a 1954 Parsifal with Svanholm, Varnay, and London, and Hotter as Gurnemanz under Stiedry.
ERNANI:Verdi
Schippers; Bergonzi, Price, MacNeil, Tozzi, Ordassy, Nagy, Reitan
Original Air Date: 12/01/1962
MOD Audio
SID.19520208
This is one of the classic Met broadcasts, and on balance the best of the Ernani broadcasts. Corelli was more of an in-house Ernani, but for the broadcast mikes, Bergonzi is close to ideal. MacNeil, one of the Met mainstay baritones on this occasion delivers an absolutely historic performance with a seemingly unending upper register, but also a command of the style that surpassed any modern baritone at the Met. Price is not ideal as Elvira, but she has many superb moments, especially as captured by the mikes. Fortunately this performance as well as the 1965 with Corelli, Sereni, and Siepi joining Price are BOTH on MOoD, and both performances serve Verdi very well indeed. Available in a Sony historical CD and on MOoD. As much as I love Bergonzi, the most remarkable performance of the afternoon is MacNeil in one of his greatest if not greatest broadcast appearance. Do not miss.
DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN:Strauss
Perick; Meier, Schunk, Martin, Courtney, Dernesch
Original Air Date: 12/09/1989
MOD Audio
SID.19520209
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 [rechecked this afternoon and still so]
VANESSA:Barber
Steinberg; Costa, Alexander, Elias, Thebom, Tozzi
Original Air Date: 04/03/1965
MOD Audio
SID.19520210
The Met does well by Samuel Barber, and regularly programs on Sirius the Steber world premiere season broadcast from 1958. Elias and Tozzi remain from the original cast under William Steinberg. The skating aria for Vanessa is gone by this revival, another reason to check out the Steber broadcast in MOoD.
LES CONTES D’HOFFMANN:Offenbach
Morel; Gedda, London, Dobbs, Elias, Amara, Vanni
Original Air Date: 02/07/1959
MOD Audio
SID.19520211
This performance is always welcome on Sirius, for it is one of Gedda’s very best broadcasts. Morel’s style is also welcome. I’m not a huge fan of London’s villains (I prefer Singher’s) but this is a solid performance from top to bottom.
EUGENE ONEGIN:Tchaikovsky
Jurowski; Hampson, Kringelborn, Giordani, Karnéus, Lloyd
Original Air Date: 02/23/2002
MOD Audio
SID.19520212
Jurowski is on especially congenial turf, but my memories of Kringelborn are not quite so positive. Hampson has a commercial Onegin in English with te Kanawa under Mackerras. I love the opera, but my favorite Met archival broadcasts are with Yuri Mazurok –he has two Onegin broadcasts from 1979 (adjacent season).
DAS RHEINGOLD:Wagner
Levine; Morris, Schwarz, Langridge, Wlaschiha, Hölle, Koptchak
Original Air Date: 03/27/1993
MOD Audio
SID.19520213
This is close to the end of Schwarz’s Met career. Not quite. She is back for the 2016 season for Buryja in Jenufa after an absence of 14 years. She has an earlier Rheingold Fricka in 1993, and I saw her in the Chereau Ring in 1978 and she closes her Met career with a 2002 Klytemnestra with Schnaut. There is also an excellent Erda in Madrid in 2007. One also encounters Phillip Langridge’s fine Loge.
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM:Britten
Atherton; McNair, Kowalski, Rose, Streit, Bunnell, Gilfry, Gustafson
Original Air Date: 12/21/1996
MOD Audio
SID.19520321
The work was revived under Conlon in 2013 for 3 Sirius streamed live broadcasts, one of which was rebroadcast on Sirius as part of their June Friday night encores, but no national free network. I saw a lovely production at the original Sadler’s Wells Theatre almost 20 years ago under the late Richard Hickox. It’s one of those works I seem to like less as the years go on, but that may be just me.
LES CONTES D’HOFFMANN:Offenbach
Morel; Gedda, London, Dobbs, Elias, Amara, Vanni
Original Air Date: 02/07/1959
MOD Audio
SID.19520422
This performance is always welcome on Sirius, for it is one of Gedda’s very best broadcasts. Morel’s style is also welcome. I’m not a huge fan of London’s villains (I prefer Singher’s) but this is a solid performance from top to bottom.
ERNANI:Verdi
Schippers; Bergonzi, Price, MacNeil, Tozzi, Ordassy, Nagy, Reitan
Original Air Date: 12/01/1962
MOD Audio
SID.19520424
This is one of the classic Met broadcasts, and on balance the best of the Ernani broadcasts. Corelli was more of an in-house Ernani, but for the broadcast mikes, Bergonzi is close to ideal. MacNeil, one of the Met mainstay baritones on this occasion delivers an absolutely historic performance with a seemingly unending upper register, but also a command of the style that surpassed any modern baritone at the Met. Price is not ideal as Elvira, but she has many superb moments, especially as captured by the mikes. Fortunately this performance as well as the 1965 with Corelli, Sereni, and Siepi joining Price are BOTH on MOoD, and both performances serve Verdi very well indeed. Available in a Sony historical CD and on MOoD. As much as I love Bergonzi, the most remarkable performance of the afternoon is MacNeil in one of his greatest if not greatest broadcast appearance. Do not miss.
DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN:Strauss
Perick; Meier, Schunk, Martin, Courtney, Dernesch
Original Air Date: 12/09/1989
MOD Audio
SID.19520425
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 passed away, and got no paid obituary from the Met in the NYTimes
VANESSA:Barber
Steinberg; Costa, Alexander, Elias, Thebom, Tozzi
Original Air Date: 04/03/1965
MOD Audio
SID.19520426
The Met does well by Samuel Barber, and regularly programs on Sirius the Steber world premiere season broadcast from 1958. Elias and Tozzi remain from the original cast under William Steinberg. The skating aria for Vanessa is gone by this revival, another reason to check out the Steber broadcast in MOoD.
LES CONTES D’HOFFMANN:Offenbach
Morel; Gedda, London, Dobbs, Elias, Amara, Vanni
Original Air Date: 02/07/1959
MOD Audio
SID.19520428
This performance is always welcome on Sirius, for it is one of Gedda’s very best broadcasts. Morel’s style is also welcome. I’m not a huge fan of London’s villains (I prefer Singher’s) but this is a solid performance from top to bottom.
EUGENE ONEGIN:Tchaikovsky
Jurowski; Hampson, Kringelborn, Giordani, Karnéus, Lloyd
Original Air Date: 02/23/2002
MOD Audio
SID.19520529
Jurowski is on especially congenial turf, but my memories of Kringelborn are not quite so positive. Hampson has a commercial Onegin in English with te Kanawa under Mackerras. I love the opera, but my favorite Met archival broadcasts are with Yuri Mazurok –he has two Onegin broadcasts from 1979 (adjacent season).
DAS RHEINGOLD:Wagner
Levine; Morris, Schwarz, Langridge, Wlaschiha, Hölle, Koptchak
Original Air Date: 03/27/1993
MOD Audio
SID.19520530
This is close to the end of Schwarz’s Met career. Not quite. She is back for the 2016 season for Buryja in Jenufa after an absence of 14 years. She has an earlier Rheingold Fricka in 1993, and I saw her in the Chereau Ring in 1978 and she closes her Met career with a 2002 Klytemnestra with Schnaut. There is also an excellent Erda in Madrid in 2007. One also encounters Phillip Langridge’s fine Loge.
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM:Britten
Atherton; McNair, Kowalski, Rose, Streit, Bunnell, Gilfry, Gustafson
Original Air Date: 12/21/1996
MOD Audio
SID.19520532
The work was revived under Conlon in 2013 for 3 Sirius streamed live broadcasts, one of which was rebroadcast on Sirius as part of their June Friday night encores, but no national free network. I saw a lovely production at the original Sadler’s Wells Theatre almost 20 years ago under the late Richard Hickox. It’s one of those works I seem to like less as the years go on, but that may be just me.
LES CONTES D’HOFFMANN:Offenbach
Morel; Gedda, London, Dobbs, Elias, Amara, Vanni
Original Air Date: 02/07/1959
MOD Audio
SID.19520637
This performance is always welcome on Sirius, for it is one of Gedda’s very best broadcasts. Morel’s style is also welcome. I’m not a huge fan of London’s villains (I prefer Singher’s) but this is a solid performance from top to bottom.
EUGENE ONEGIN:Tchaikovsky
Jurowski; Hampson, Kringelborn, Giordani, Karnéus, Lloyd
Original Air Date: 02/23/2002
MOD Audio
SID.19520638
Jurowski is on especially congenial turf, but my memories of Kringelborn are not quite so positive. Hampson has a commercial Onegin in English with te Kanawa under Mackerras. I love the opera, but my favorite Met archival broadcasts are with Yuri Mazurok –he has two Onegin broadcasts from 1979 (adjacent season).
ERNANI:Verdi
Schippers; Bergonzi, Price, MacNeil, Tozzi, Ordassy, Nagy, Reitan
Original Air Date: 12/01/1962
MOD Audio
SID.19520641
This is one of the classic Met broadcasts, and on balance the best of the Ernani broadcasts. Corelli was more of an in-house Ernani, but for the broadcast mikes, Bergonzi is close to ideal. MacNeil, one of the Met mainstay baritones on this occasion delivers an absolutely historic performance with a seemingly unending upper register, but also a command of the style that surpassed any modern baritone at the Met. Price is not ideal as Elvira, but she has many superb moments, especially as captured by the mikes. Fortunately this performance as well as the 1965 with Corelli, Sereni, and Siepi joining Price are BOTH on MOoD, and both performances serve Verdi very well indeed. Available in a Sony historical CD and on MOoD. As much as I love Bergonzi, the most remarkable performance of the afternoon is MacNeil in one of his greatest if not greatest broadcast appearance. Do not miss.
DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN:Strauss
Perick; Meier, Schunk, Martin, Courtney, Dernesch
Original Air Date: 12/09/1989
MOD Audio
SID.19520642
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 passed away, and got no paid obituary from the Met in the NYTimes [rechecked this afternoon and still so]
VANESSA:Barber
Steinberg; Costa, Alexander, Elias, Thebom, Tozzi
Original Air Date: 04/03/1965
MOD Audio
SID.19520743
The Met does well by Samuel Barber, and regularly programs on Sirius the Steber world premiere season broadcast from 1958. Elias and Tozzi remain from the original cast under William Steinberg. The skating aria for Vanessa is gone by this revival, another reason to check out the Steber broadcast in MOoD.
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM:Britten
Atherton; McNair, Kowalski, Rose, Streit, Bunnell, Gilfry, Gustafson
Original Air Date: 12/21/1996
MOD Audio
SID.19520744
The work was revived under Conlon in 2013 for 3 Sirius streamed live broadcasts, one of which was rebroadcast on Sirius as part of their June Friday night encores, but no national free network. I saw a lovely production at the original Sadler’s Wells Theatre almost 20 years ago under the late Richard Hickox. It’s one of those works I seem to like less as the years go on, but that may be just me.
DAS RHEINGOLD:Wagner
Levine; Morris, Schwarz, Langridge, Wlaschiha, Hölle, Koptchak
Original Air Date: 03/27/1993
MOD Audio
SID.19520746
This is close to the end of Schwarz’s Met career. Not quite. She is back for the 2016 season for Buryja in Jenufa after an absence of 14 years. She has an earlier Rheingold Fricka in 1993, and I saw her in the Chereau Ring in 1978 and she closes her Met career with a 2002 Klytemnestra with Schnaut. There is also an excellent Erda in Madrid in 2007. One also encounters Phillip Langridge’s fine Loge.
DIE ÄGYPTISCHE HELENA:Strauss
Luisi; Voigt, Kerl, Damrau, Grove, Brendel
Original Air Date: 03/31/2007
MOD Audio
SID.20010107
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.
L’ITALIANA IN ALGERI:Rossini
Campanella; Larmore, Polenzani, Ramey, Corbelli
Original Air Date: 02/17/2001
MOD Audio
SID.20010210
This is Ramey’s only Mustafa broadcast, and early appearances by Polenzani and Kwiecien who are Met regulars in star parts these days. My own favorite Isabella is Borodina whose performance with Florez and Furlanetto is also on MOoD.
LA BOHÈME:Puccini
Cleva; Sayão, Di Stefano, Hunt, Valdengo, Siepi
Original Air Date: 03/17/1951
MOD Audio
SID.20010211
The oldest BOHEME in the MOD catalog, it’s Siepi’s debut MET season. Although Sayao is Brazilian, she is certainly at one with the idiom and the luxury of Di Stefano, Valdengo, and Siepi among the Bohemians is pleasure indeed. Paul Jackson in his survey of Met broadcasts isn’t thrilled with Cleva, but listening to the MOoD is quite a dose of sunshine, and the sound for a 65 year old broadcast is quite clear.
WERTHER:Massenet
Bonynge; Kraus, Crespin, Battle, Carlson
Original Air Date: 02/03/1979
MOD Audio
SID.20010316
This performance is one I always enjoy. Kraus and Crespin are solid exponents of the style, and Battle is a delight as Sophie. This is Crespin’s final Charlotte, and finds Kraus on very congenial ground. This is also on Met Player. Nice to have a mini-Crespin festival this week. One of the most enjoyable of Met Werther broadcasts.