In this 11th year, over ten nights performances from the Met’s Live in HD series will be shown starting with a screening of FUNNY FACE in a special co-presentation with Film at Lincoln Center. Screenings run from August 23 through September 2. There will be 3000 seats in the Plaza in front of the Opera House with an additional standing room area. Cancellations due to thunder/lighting or high wind will not be rescheduled.
CARMEN:Bizet
Original Air Date: 01/16/2010
Nezet-Seguin; Frittoli, Garanca, Alagna, Tahu Rhodes
Live in HDMOD Video SID.19349993
RWW Review: Overall, I give the afternoon an A; not that there weren’t things to NOT like, but that I felt the balance of elements was extremely satisfying, and you understand why Carmen can survive anything from Spike Jones (set in a bubble gum factory decades before regie theatre was thought of) to Carmen Jones to whatever some crazy director somewhere in the EU is cooking up. What a score, even if you’re listening mostly to Choudens and Guiraud recitatives. The melodies, the characters, the everything. Almost every time I listen/watch Carmen at home, I am overwhelmed anew; in the theatre its length (no, not Wagnerian, but it isn’t short and as it used to be with 3 intervals with work the next day etc, etc. often the whole was not the sum of its parts. Today, it emphatically was. I have not yet seen the production in the house, and probably won’t be able to see the original cast when I do.
Now to the particulars. I loved Elina Garanca; her voice to me is both fruity and clear. Her middle and upper voice are technically very satisfying and if there is a little weakness at the bottom in a theare the size of the Met, she has baby blue eyes and a command of the role that clearly put her as one of my very favorite Carmens (never saw Stevens, but Resnik (Dallas, 1963 my first), Bumbry, Verrett, Borodina, De Los Angeles (Newark, and I enjoyed), Crespin, Horne, Baltsa are the ones most worthy of mention. Garanca wowed the Paramus audience besides me as well.
Alagna is such a theatre performer that you go with him even when everything is not perfect. He is a very fine Jose, had to make the high climax of the Flower song pure falsetto to avoid a crack, but overall one of my favorite Joses. That he is arguably the best with the text of any doesn’t hurt, and visually he’s quite a specimen at 47. Carmen has to give him up because he’s immature not because he isn’t the hottest guy in Seville.
Frittoli is a singer I like, having adored her Fiordiligi in the house, many
Desdemonas, and her wrenching Suor Angelica. Her vibrato is always 10% too “loose” to be ideal, but when she needs to get out a big climax, she’s right there, only Freni and Lidia Marimpietri (Dallas, 1963) have made a greater impact.
Teddy Tahu Rhodes was a late (10 am this morning) replacement for Kwiecien who was ill. Though he is often portrayed as a bari hunk, he looked skinny in the costume, and I wasn’t much impressed. The vocal if not stylistic standard is Merrill. The best Escamillos for me (all seen live) Jose van Dam, Sam Ramey, Rene Pape, Norman Treigle (also in that first Carmen). I’ve heard and seen worse Escamillos than Rhodes, MUCH worse.
Conducting. I liked Yannick Nezet-Seguin very much. The musical preparation was outstanding. He started the first act prelude like a house of fire, but as he was accompanying the singers, came into more traditional tempi; he got a nice Gallic tang out of the orchestra. Where the preparation showed was in the many numbers that mix in the quintet of smugglers with chorus and 1 or more of the principals. Elizabeth Caballero as Frasquita sounded VERY good; I want to hear more of her, but the ensemble was really terrific today.
I have to cut this short, but except for the final tableau , i found the production very satisfactory, and easily the best visual Carmen of my experience (i liked John Bury’s sets in the Peter Hall production but not a lot else). I didn’t mind the dancing (might not feel so on repeated viewings) This is the 5th Met production I’ve seen (I alas never saw the Guthrie which showcased Stevens and Tucker (plus on some occasions others, but mostly RS and RT for the whole of the 50s.”
CARMEN:Bizet
Original Air Date: 01/09/1937
Papi; Ponselle, Rayner, Bodanya, Huehn
MOD Audio SID.19360105
This is the third oldest Met broadcast in the Sirius rebroadcast series (Gotterdammerung and Samson are older). The calling card is Ponselle whose Carmen was controversial even when she did it. A memento of her in live performance is also available on MOoD. This is one of the oldest broadcasts to appear on Sirius, and there isn’t much Ponselle around.
CARMEN:Bizet
Original Air Date: 01/09/1937
Papi; Ponselle, Rayner, Bodanya, Huehn
MOD Audio SID.19360321
This is the third oldest Met broadcast in the Sirius rebroadcast series (Gotterdammerung and Samson are older). The calling card is Ponselle whose Carmen was controversial even when she did it. A memento of her in live performance is also available on MOoD. This is one of the oldest broadcasts to appear on Sirius, and there isn’t much Ponselle around.
CARMEN:Bizet
Original Air Date: 01/09/1937
Papi; Ponselle, Rayner, Bodanya, Huehn
MOD Audio SID.19360638
This is the third oldest Met broadcast in the Sirius rebroadcast series (Gotterdammerung and Samson are older). The calling card is Ponselle whose Carmen was controversial even when she did it. A memento of her in live performance is also available on MOoD. This is one of the oldest broadcasts to appear on Sirius, and there isn’t much Ponselle around.
CARMEN:Bizet
Mehta; Resnik, Tucker, Raskin, Díaz
Original Air Date: 03/15/1969
SID.19410103
This is Resnik’s only Carmen broadcast, and Mehta is plenty fiery. Although he had premiered the production with Bumbry, the first season broadcast went to Lombard conducting Bumbry with Tucker and Freni). Resnik’s tone, even for Carmen was a bit worn in 1969, but very stylish. Bing almost could not think of Carmen without Tucker. He has four broadcasts during the 1950s and indeed the first two of the new production in 1968 and 1969. My enjoyment of Tucker’s Jose was always limited by the fact that dramatically Domingo and Vickers were far more satisfying. That he sang one more Jose broadcast in 1972– excepting a Domingo replacement for Vickers in 1972 would have had Tucker as the only Jose on the airwaves from 1958 till 1972 (admittedly Bing took Carmen out of the repertoire from 1960-1967). Certainly few other tenors could have supported such an extended string, and been as strong vocally in 1969 as he was in 1952. I like his excellence in other roles more. It is worth noting here that for Tucker’s 99th birthday, there was supposedly some promise of major Sirius broadcasting. Guess Resnik won that battle this week. Raskin is an ordinary Micaela without the magic that attended her Nannetta or her Mozart at City Opera and her career was cut short by illness and an early passing. Diaz is a replacement for the originally scheduled Merrill, and is OK. Mehta (conductor for life of the Israel Philharmonic, though Zoroastrian) makes this a very Kosher Carmen indeed.
CARMEN:Bizet
Mehta; Resnik, Tucker, Raskin, Díaz
Original Air Date: 03/15/1969
SID.19410318
This is Resnik’s only Carmen broadcast, and Mehta is plenty fiery. Although he had premiered the production with Bumbry, the first season broadcast went to Lombard conducting Bumbry with Tucker and Freni). Resnik’s tone, even for Carmen was a bit worn in 1969, but very stylish. Bing almost could not think of Carmen without Tucker. He has four broadcasts during the 1950s and indeed the first two of the new production in 1968 and 1969. My enjoyment of Tucker’s Jose was always limited by the fact that dramatically Domingo and Vickers were far more satisfying. That he sang one more Jose broadcast in 1972– excepting a Domingo replacement for Vickers in 1972 would have had Tucker as the only Jose on the airwaves from 1958 till 1972 (admittedly Bing took Carmen out of the repertoire from 1960-1967). Certainly few other tenors could have supported such an extended string, and been as strong vocally in 1969 as he was in 1952. I like his excellence in other roles more. It is worth noting here that for Tucker’s 99th birthday, there was supposedly some promise of major Sirius broadcasting. Guess Resnik won that battle this week. Raskin is an ordinary Micaela without the magic that attended her Nannetta or her Mozart at City Opera and her career was cut short by illness and an early passing. Diaz is a replacement for the originally scheduled Merrill, and is OK. Mehta (conductor for life of the Israel Philharmonic, though Zoroastrian) makes this a very Kosher Carmen indeed.
CARMEN:Bizet
Mehta; Resnik, Tucker, Raskin, Díaz
Original Air Date: 03/15/1969
SID.19410534
This is Resnik’s only Carmen broadcast, and Mehta is plenty fiery. Although he had premiered the production with Bumbry, the first season broadcast went to Lombard conducting Bumbry with Tucker and Freni). Resnik’s tone, even for Carmen was a bit worn in 1969, but very stylish. Bing almost could not think of Carmen without Tucker. He has four broadcasts during the 1950s and indeed the first two of the new production in 1968 and 1969. My enjoyment of Tucker’s Jose was always limited by the fact that dramatically Domingo and Vickers were far more satisfying. That he sang one more Jose broadcast in 1972– excepting a Domingo replacement for Vickers in 1972 would have had Tucker as the only Jose on the airwaves from 1958 till 1972 (admittedly Bing took Carmen out of the repertoire from 1960-1967). Certainly few other tenors could have supported such an extended string, and been as strong vocally in 1969 as he was in 1952. I like his excellence in other roles more. It is worth noting here that for Tucker’s 99th birthday, there was supposedly some promise of major Sirius broadcasting. Guess Resnik won that battle this week. Raskin is an ordinary Micaela without the magic that attended her Nannetta or her Mozart at City Opera and her career was cut short by illness and an early passing. Diaz is a replacement for the originally scheduled Merrill, and is OK. Mehta (conductor for life of the Israel Philharmonic, though Zoroastrian) makes this a very Kosher Carmen indeed.
CARMEN:Bizet
Pelletier; Swarthout, Kullman, Albanese, Warren
Original Air Date: 03/15/1941
MOD Audio
SID.19450315
This performance is on MOoD. Swarthout was certainly a media creation of the 30s and 40s and lasted into the 50s as an occasional panelist on What’s my line? Albanese and Warren are heard in less familiar roles. Warren does not do Escamillo after 1944, and Albanese has no Met Micaelas after 1949. There are many Met performances from the 40s more deserving than this one, but it has its curiosities.
CARMEN:Bizet
Pelletier; Swarthout, Kullman, Albanese, Warren
Original Air Date: 03/15/1941
MOD Audio
SID.19450427
This performance is on MOoD. Swarthout was certainly a media creation of the 30s and 40s and lasted into the 50s as an occasional panelist on What’s my line? Albanese and Warren are heard in less familiar roles. Warren does not do Escamillo after 1944, and Albanese has no Met Micaelas after 1949. There are many Met performances from the 40s more deserving than this one, but it has its curiosities.
CARMEN:Bizet
Pelletier; Swarthout, Kullman, Albanese, Warren
Original Air Date: 03/15/1941
MOD Audio
SID.19450746
This performance is on MOoD. Swarthout was certainly a media creation of the 30s and 40s and lasted into the 50s as an occasional panelist on What’s my line? Albanese and Warren are heard in less familiar roles. Warren does not do Escamillo after 1944, and Albanese has no Met Micaelas after 1949. There are many Met performances from the 40s more deserving than this one, but it has its curiosities.
CARMEN:Bizet
Lewis; Horne, McCracken, Amara, Krause
Original Air Date: 03/10/1973
SID.19490213
I was surprised to find that there is only one other Horne-McCracken Carmen broadcast (from a year later with Reardon for Krause). The loss to the broadcasts is the premiere of the production with them under Bernstein (there is a commercial DG recording, but esp. for McCracken, live is very different). Most of the protagonists in Met broadcast Carmens have been represented back to 1937 with Ponselle. There are three 1950s performances which include two Joses from Mario del Monaco,and one with Giuseppe di Stefano, all with Stevens. I’ve heard excerpts of these, and they should be broadcast. The second Del Monaco from 1957 features Mitropoulos in the pit, so that would be first on my list. The DiStefano has been available on private recordings and features Di Stefano breaking her arm (literally) and her clearly saying Put my arm down. I would put in a word for Borodina’s 2001 Carmen (she has been streamed in recent years) with Richard Leech and snappy conducting from Bertrand de Billy. Vocally she is the most glamorous Carmen in some time, and especially so on this broadcast. Horne was very good when she opened the season under Bernstein, but the performance became steadily less subtle vocally,and by the time Lenny was gone, I found it very vin ordinaire Same cast and conductor (except Reardon for Krause) broadcast it again a year later in a performance available on MOoD. The performers are no better.
CARMEN:Bizet
Lewis; Horne, McCracken, Amara, Krause
Original Air Date: 03/10/1973
SID.19490530
I was surprised to find that there is only one other Horne-McCracken Carmen broadcast (from a year later with Reardon for Krause). The loss to the broadcasts is the premiere of the production with them under Bernstein (there is a commercial DG recording, but esp. for McCracken, live is very different). Most of the protagonists in Met broadcast Carmens have been represented back to 1937 with Ponselle. There are three 1950s performances which include two Joses from Mario del Monaco,and one with Giuseppe di Stefano, all with Stevens. I’ve heard excerpts of these, and they should be broadcast. The second Del Monaco from 1957 features Mitropoulos in the pit, so that would be first on my list. The DiStefano has been available on private recordings and features Di Stefano breaking her arm (literally) and her clearly saying Put my arm down. I would put in a word for Borodina’s 2001 Carmen (she has been streamed in recent years) with Richard Leech and snappy conducting from Bertrand de Billy. Vocally she is the most glamorous Carmen in some time, and especially so on this broadcast. This is not my kind of Carmen. Horne was very good when she opened the season under Bernstein, but the performance became steadily less subtle vocally,and by the time Lenny was gone, I found it very vin ordinaire Same cast and conductor (except Reardon for Krause) broadcast it again a year later in a performance available on MOoD. The performers are no better.
CARMEN:Bizet
Lewis; Horne, McCracken, Amara, Krause
Original Air Date: 03/10/1973
SID.19490745
I was surprised to find that there is only one other Horne-McCracken Carmen broadcast (from a year later with Reardon for Krause). The loss to the broadcasts is the premiere of the production with them under Bernstein (there is a commercial DG recording, but esp. for McCracken, live is very different). Most of the protagonists in Met broadcast Carmens have been represented back to 1937 with Ponselle. There are three 1950s performances which include two Joses from Mario del Monaco,and one with Giuseppe di Stefano, all with Stevens. I’ve heard excerpts of these, and they should be broadcast. The second Del Monaco from 1957 features Mitropoulos in the pit, so that would be first on my list. The DiStefano has been available on private recordings and features Di Stefano breaking her arm (literally) and her clearly saying Put my arm down. I would put in a word for Borodina’s 2001 Carmen (she has been streamed in recent years) with Richard Leech and snappy conducting from Bertrand de Billy. Vocally she is the most glamorous Carmen in some time, and especially so on this broadcast. Horne was very good when she opened the season under Bernstein, but the performance became steadily less subtle vocally,and by the time Lenny was gone, I found it very vin ordinaire Same cast and conductor (except Reardon for Krause) broadcast it again a year later in a performance available on MOoD. The performers are no better.
CARMEN:Bizet
Domingo; Horne, Luchetti, Freni, Ramey
Original Air Date: 12/17/1988
SID.20010102
I love Carmen, but Horne does two of her three Met broadcasts with her ex-husband, Henry Lewis, and this performance rather late in her career. Horne’s collaboration with Bernstein is at least partially transferred to the studio. Her live performance that fall with Lenny was one of the best things I ever saw from her. Luchetti was more often encountered in Verdi Requiems when Bergonzi, Pavarotti, and Richard Lewis were not available. This is his final Met performance in a one season, one role Met career (his wife Mietta Sighele Met debuted in an earlier performance in the run as Micaela and two Micaelas are her Met total; I saw her do an excellent Butterfly in Philadelphia 21 years earlier– much in the Tucci lyric mod). Luchetti is rather a good Jose, as they go. Ramey is an excellent Escamillo. Domingo, despite many fine Don Joses, is not the Carmen conductor I want. Freni is quite good for a 50+ Micaela, having brought the house down 20 years earlier and stealing the show from Verrett (debut) and Vickers.
CARMEN:Bizet
Domingo; Horne, Luchetti, Freni, Ramey
Original Air Date: 12/17/1988
SID.20010318
I love Carmen, but Horne does two of her three Met broadcasts with her ex-husband, Henry Lewis, and this performance rather late in her career. Horne’s collaboration with Bernstein is at least partially transferred to the studio. Her live performance that fall with Lenny was one of the best things I ever saw from her. Luchetti was more often encountered in Verdi Requiems when Bergonzi, Pavarotti, and Richard Lewis were not available. This is his final Met performance in a one season, one role Met career (his wife Mietta Sighele Met debuted in an earlier performance in the run as Micaela and two Micaelas are her Met total; I saw her do an excellent Butterfly in Philadelphia 21 years earlier– much in the Tucci lyric mod). Luchetti is rather a good Jose, as they go. Ramey is an excellent Escamillo. Domingo, despite many fine Don Joses, is not the Carmen conductor I want. Freni is quite good for a 50+ Micaela, having brought the house down 20 years earlier and stealing the show from Verrett (debut) and Vickers.
CARMEN:Bizet
Domingo; Horne, Luchetti, Freni, Ramey
Original Air Date: 12/17/1988
SID.20010422
I love Carmen, but Horne does two of her three Met broadcasts with her ex-husband, Henry Lewis, and this performance rather late in her career. Horne’s collaboration with Bernstein is at least partially transferred to the studio. Her live performance that fall with Lenny was one of the best things I ever saw from her. Luchetti was more often encountered in Verdi Requiems when Bergonzi, Pavarotti, and Richard Lewis were not available. This is his final Met performance in a one season, one role Met career (his wife Mietta Sighele Met debuted in an earlier performance in the run as Micaela and two Micaelas are her Met total; I saw her do an excellent Butterfly in Philadelphia 21 years earlier– much in the Tucci lyric mod). Luchetti is rather a good Jose, as they go. Ramey is an excellent Escamillo. Domingo, despite many fine Don Joses, is not the Carmen conductor I want. Freni is quite good for a 50+ Micaela, having brought the house down 20 years earlier and stealing the show from Verrett (debut) and Vickers.
CARMEN:Bizet
Domingo; Horne, Luchetti, Freni, Ramey
Original Air Date: 12/17/1988
SID.20010534
I love Carmen, but Horne does two of her three Met broadcasts with her ex-husband, Henry Lewis, and this performance rather late in her career. Horne’s collaboration with Bernstein is at least partially transferred to the studio. Her live performance that fall with Lenny was one of the best things I ever saw from her. Luchetti was more often encountered in Verdi Requiems when Bergonzi, Pavarotti, and Richard Lewis were not available. This is his final Met performance in a one season, one role Met career (his wife Mietta Sighele Met debuted in an earlier performance in the run as Micaela and two Micaelas are her Met total; I saw her do an excellent Butterfly in Philadelphia 21 years earlier– much in the Tucci lyric mod). Luchetti is rather a good Jose, as they go. Ramey is an excellent Escamillo. Domingo, despite many fine Don Joses, is not the Carmen conductor I want. Freni is quite good for a 50+ Micaela, having brought the house down 20 years earlier and stealing the show from Verrett (debut) and Vickers.
CARMEN:Bizet
Patanè; Crespin, Chauvet, Mitchell, Devlin
Original Air Date: 12/09/1978
SID.20060105
Crespin’s earlier broadcast Carmen is on Met Player with William Lewis replacing the scheduled Domingo, and Henry Lewis conducting. My affection moves more strongly to this performance because it’s a great thrill to have Carmen and Jose sung by two Francophones, and Patane is a very fine conductor we lost much too soon. I am such a partisan of Crespin– she can be a very uneven singer, that I always suggest that you sample and see if this Gallic tang is to your taste. For me, just about always. A highly recommended Carmen.
CARMEN:Bizet
Patanè; Crespin, Chauvet, Mitchell, Devlin
Original Air Date: 12/09/1978
SID.20060213
Crespin’s earlier broadcast Carmen is on Met Player with William Lewis replacing the scheduled Domingo, and Henry Lewis conducting. My affection moves more strongly to this performance because it’s a great thrill to have Carmen and Jose sung by two Francophones, and Patane is a very fine conductor we lost much too soon. I am such a partisan of Crespin– she can be a very uneven singer, that I always suggest that you sample and see if this Gallic tang is to your taste. For me, just about always. A highly recommended Carmen.
CARMEN:Bizet
Patanè; Crespin, Chauvet, Mitchell, Devlin
Original Air Date: 12/09/1978
SID.20060531
Crespin’s earlier broadcast Carmen is on Met Player with William Lewis replacing the scheduled Domingo, and Henry Lewis conducting. My affection moves more strongly to this performance because it’s a great thrill to have Carmen and Jose sung by two Francophones, and Patane is a very fine conductor we lost much too soon. I am such a partisan of Crespin– she can be a very uneven singer, that I always suggest that you sample and see if this Gallic tang is to your taste. For me, just about always. A highly recommended Carmen.
CARMEN:Bizet
Patanè; Crespin, Chauvet, Mitchell, Devlin
Original Air Date: 12/09/1978
SID.20060746
Crespin’s earlier broadcast Carmen is on Met Player with William Lewis replacing the scheduled Domingo, and Henry Lewis conducting. My affection moves more strongly to this performance because it’s a great thrill to have Carmen and Jose sung by two Francophones, and Patane is a very fine conductor we lost much too soon. I am such a partisan of Crespin– she can be a very uneven singer, that I always suggest that you sample and see if this Gallic tang is to your taste. For me, just about always. A highly recommended Carmen.
CARMEN:Bizet
Abel; Dunleavy, Knoop Very, Graves, Perez, Shicoff, Stevenson, Tézier, Josephson, Boutros, Wells
Original Air Date: 01/18/2003
SID.20090104
Shicoff is not a bad Jose, but this is not the most exciting Carmen. In the house, Graves could be quite an attractive Carmen.
CARMEN:Bizet
Abel; Dunleavy, Knoop Very, Graves, Perez, Shicoff, Stevenson, Tézier, Josephson, Boutros, Wells
Original Air Date: 01/18/2003
SID.20090320
Shicoff is not a bad Jose, but this is not the most exciting Carmen. In the house, Graves could be quite an attractive Carmen.
CARMEN:Bizet
Abel; Dunleavy, Knoop Very, Graves, Perez, Shicoff, Stevenson, Tézier, Josephson, Boutros, Wells
Original Air Date: 01/18/2003
SID.20090636
Shicoff is not a bad Jose, but this is not the most exciting Carmen. In the house, Graves could be quite an attractive Carmen.
CARMEN:Bizet
Abel; Dunleavy, Knoop Very, Graves, Perez, Shicoff, Stevenson, Tézier, Josephson, Boutros, Wells
Original Air Date: 01/18/2003
SID.20090745
Shicoff is not a bad Jose, but this is not the most exciting Carmen. In the house, Graves could be quite an attractive Carmen.
CARMEN:Bizet
Nezet-Seguin; Frittoli, Garanca, Alagna, Tahu Rhodes
Original Air Date: 01/16/2010
Live in HDMOD Video
SID.20120100
Go to metopera.org: click on link there or download app to your mobile device or add to your ROKU or Apple TV or Smart TV
Overall, the afternoon gets an A; not that there werent things to NOT like, but the balance of elements was extremely satisfying, and you understand why Carmen can survive anything from Spike Jones (set in a bubble gum factory decades before regie theatre was thought of) to Carmen Jones to whatever some crazy director somewhere in the EU is cooking up. What a score, even if you’re listening mostly to Choudens and Guiraud recitatives. The melodies, the characters, the everything. Elina Garanca voice’s is both fruity and clear. Her middle and upper voice are technically very satisfying and if there is a little weakness at the bottom in a theare the size of the Met, she has baby blue eyes and a command of the role that clearly put her as a favorite Carmen (Stevens, but Resnik (Dallas, 1963), Bumbry, Verrett, Borodina, De Los Angeles (Newark), Crespin, Horne, Baltsa are the ones most worthy of mention. Alagna is such a theatre performer that you go with him even when everything is not perfect. He is a very fine Jose, had to make the high climax of the Flower song pure falsetto to avoid a crack, but overall one of my favorite Joses. That he is arguably the best with the text of any doesn’t hurt, and visually he’s quite a specimen at 47. Carmen has to give him up because he’s immature not because he isn’t the hottest guy in Seville. Frittoli has many roles her Fiordiligi in the house, many Desdemonas, and her wrenching Suor Angelica. Her vibrato is always 10% too “loose” to be ideal, but when she needs to get out a big climax, she’s right there. only Freni and Lidia Marimpietri (Dallas, 1963) have made a greater impact. Teddy Tahu Rhodes was a late (10 am this morning) replacement for Kwiecien who was ill. Though he is often portrayed as a bari hunk, he looked skinny in the costume, and I wasn’t much impressed. The vocal if not stylistic standard is Merrill. Better Escamillos – Jose van Dam, Sam Ramey, Rene Pape, Norman Treigle (also in that first Carmen). Conducting. Yannick Nezet-Seguin. The musical preparation was outstanding. He started the first act prelude like a house of fire, but as he was accompanying the singers, came into more traditional tempi; he got a nice Gallic tang out of the orchestra. Where the preparation showed was in the many numbers that mix in the quintet of smugglers with chorus and 1 or more of the principals. Elizabeth Caballero as Frasquita sounded VERY good; we should hear more of her, but the ensemble was really terrific today. Except for the final tableau , the production is very satisfactory, and a good visual Carmen.
CARMEN:Bizet
Pelletier; Djanel, Jobin, Albanese, Valentino
Original Air Date: 03/24/1945
SID.20140106
I don’t remember this as well as Albanese’s earlier Micaela with Swarthout which is available on Met Player. We don’t get many broadcasts from the 1940s (this is not new to Sirius, but not played all that often). I wish that instead of the Micaela, MetRadio had programmed the 1941 Faust Beecham ;Jobin, Albanese, Pinza, Thomas,Browning
CARMEN:Bizet
Pelletier; Djanel, Jobin, Albanese, Valentino
Original Air Date: 03/24/1945
SID.20140324
I don’t remember this as well as Albanese’s earlier Micaela with Swarthout which is available on Met Player. We don’t get many broadcasts from the 1940s (this is not new to Sirius, but not played all that often). I wish that instead of the Micaela, MetRadio had programmed the 1941 Faust Beecham ;Jobin, Albanese, Pinza, Thomas,Browning
CARMEN:Bizet
Pelletier; Djanel, Jobin, Albanese, Valentino
Original Air Date: 03/24/1945
SID.20140755
I don’t remember this as well as Albanese’s earlier Micaela with Swarthout which is available on Met Player. We don’t get many broadcasts from the 1940s (this is not new to Sirius, but not played all that often). I wish that instead of the Micaela, MetRadio had programmed the 1941 Faust Beecham ;Jobin, Albanese, Pinza, Thomas,Browning