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.
FALSTAFF:Verdi
Original Air Date: 02/03/1996
Levine; Plishka, Daniels, Quilico, Horne, Bonney, Groves
MOD Audio SID.19340532
Levine, Plishka, Bonney, and Horne are all in the 1992 revival which is on MOoD, but with Freni for Daniels, and Bruno Pola for Quilico. My experience with almost all of the Falstaff casting in the Levine era is OK, but not really an ensemble. We still keep having the Bernstein performance overlooked (LB’s only other Met broadcast beside Cavalleria) from 1964. The bad luck continues with Rosenstock’s conducting from 1965 and Amaducci’s conducting fom 1967. The Dohnanyi performance from 1972 features Gobbi in one of HIS two Met broadcasts (the other is Otello, no Scarpia on the Met airwaves alas) with Tebaldi, Resnik, Paskalis in sterling support. This should be in MOoD.
FALSTAFF:Verdi
Original Air Date: 02/03/1996
Levine; Plishka, Daniels, Quilico, Horne, Bonney, Groves
MOD Audio SID.19350101
Levine, Plishka, Bonney, and Horne are all in the 1992 revival which is on MOoD, but with Freni for Daniels, and Bruno Pola for Quilico. My experience with almost all of the Falstaff casting in the Levine era is OK, but not really an ensemble. We still keep having the Bernstein performance overlooked (LB’s only other Met broadcast beside Cavalleria) from 1964. The bad luck continues with Rosenstock’s conducting from 1965 and Amaducci’s conducting fom 1967. The Dohnanyi performance from 1972 features Gobbi in one of HIS two Met broadcasts (the other is Otello, no Scarpia on the Met airwaves alas) with Tebaldi, Resnik, Paskalis in sterling support. This should be 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.

FALSTAFF:Verdi
Levine; MacNeil, Lear, Stewart, Barbieri, Valente, Ahlstedt
Original Air Date: 04/05/1975
MOD Audio
SID.19420531
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.
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.
FALSTAFF:Verdi
Levine; Taddei, Neblett, Monk, Cossotto, Blegen, Ahlstedt
Original Air Date: 03/08/1986
MOD Audio
SID.20050316
Its particularly good to have this performance back on the radio. Taddei and Cossotto make a most interesting pair, and I’m sorry she did not do more of the part. I don’t have strong memories of Neblett and Monk. Taddei who came very late to the Met did this run of Falstaff followed by a run in L’elisir which was broadcast and has been on Sirius. If they run that performance again I will check it out. Taddei’s actual Met farewell is as Dulcamara in Met in the Pennsauken Cooper River Park in New Jersey with Hong as his Adina. Taddei appeared as both Scarpia and Rigoletto in Philadelphia (both with Tucker) and I also saw his Leporello in Dallas (with Sutherland and the EMI gang), Germont (with Callas) and much later Leporello again in San Francisco with Siepi. The Met was not starving for good baritones in those days, so we got too little of him and very late. He has a nice non-Met legacy of studio and live performances. He died at 93 June 2, 2010.
FALSTAFF:Verdi
Levine; Taddei, Neblett, Monk, Cossotto, Blegen, Ahlstedt
Original Air Date: 03/08/1986
MOD Audio
SID.20050636
Its particularly good to have this performance back on the radio. Taddei and Cossotto make a most interesting pair, and I’m sorry she did not do more of the part. I don’t have strong memories of Neblett and Monk. Taddei who came very late to the Met did this run of Falstaff followed by a run in L’elisir which was broadcast and has been on Sirius. If they run that performance again I will check it out. Taddei’s actual Met farewell is as Dulcamara in Met in the Pennsauken Cooper River Park in New Jersey with Hong as his Adina. Taddei appeared as both Scarpia and Rigoletto in Philadelphia (both with Tucker) and I also saw his Leporello in Dallas (with Sutherland and the EMI gang), Germont (with Callas) and much later Leporello again in San Francisco with Siepi. The Met was not starving for good baritones in those days, so we got too little of him and very late. He has a nice non-Met legacy of studio and live performances. He died at 93 June 2, 2010.
FALSTAFF:Verdi
Amaducci; Flagello, Curtin, Guarrera, Barbieri, Raskin, Alva
Original Air Date: 12/16/1967
MOD Audio
SID.20130106
RWW: Barbieri, Guarrera, and Alva are veterans of many Falstaffs, and Flagello features a lot of voice for a bass Falstaff. Amaducci, by memory, didn’t have much sparkle. High praise for Alva and Barbieri; she is a characterful Quickly, and he a perfect Fenton, but Amaducci is possibly the weakest Falstaff conductor in Met history(certainly on broadcasts). The 1964 Bernstein has never been on Sirius, and though the Met Database records the 1972 as having been on Sirius with Gobbi, Tebaldi, and Paskalis under von Dohnanyi, it has not been on more than once, and should be heard again. Both of these performances belong in MOoD not this performance. Flagello who had one of the great voices in a time when the Met’s bass cabinet was chock full sings the part very well, but for this work, you must have a conductor to work with you, and that he doesn’t have. Alas, Falstaff is about ensemble, not individual efforts.
FALSTAFF:Verdi
Amaducci; Flagello, Curtin, Guarrera, Barbieri, Raskin, Alva
Original Air Date: 12/16/1967
MOD Audio
SID.20130425
RWW: Barbieri, Guarrera, and Alva are veterans of many Falstaffs, and Flagello features a lot of voice for a bass Falstaff. Amaducci, by memory, didn’t have much sparkle. High praise for Alva and Barbieri; she is a characterful Quickly, and he a perfect Fenton, but Amaducci is possibly the weakest Falstaff conductor in Met history(certainly on broadcasts). The 1964 Bernstein has never been on Sirius, and though the Met Database records the 1972 as having been on Sirius with Gobbi, Tebaldi, and Paskalis under von Dohnanyi, it has not been on more than once, and should be heard again. Both of these performances belong in MOoD not this performance. Flagello who had one of the great voices in a time when the Met’s bass cabinet was chock full sings the part very well, but for this work, you must have a conductor to work with you, and that he doesn’t have. Alas, Falstaff is about ensemble, not individual efforts.
FALSTAFF:Verdi
Amaducci; Flagello, Curtin, Guarrera, Barbieri, Raskin, Alva
Original Air Date: 12/16/1967
MOD Audio
SID.20130757
RWW: Barbieri, Guarrera, and Alva are veterans of many Falstaffs, and Flagello features a lot of voice for a bass Falstaff. Amaducci, by memory, didn’t have much sparkle. High praise for Alva and Barbieri; she is a characterful Quickly, and he a perfect Fenton, but Amaducci is possibly the weakest Falstaff conductor in Met history(certainly on broadcasts). The 1964 Bernstein has never been on Sirius, and though the Met Database records the 1972 as having been on Sirius with Gobbi, Tebaldi, and Paskalis under von Dohnanyi, it has not been on more than once, and should be heard again. Both of these performances belong in MOoD not this performance. Flagello who had one of the great voices in a time when the Met’s bass cabinet was chock full sings the part very well, but for this work, you must have a conductor to work with you, and that he doesn’t have. Alas, Falstaff is about ensemble, not individual efforts.
FALSTAFF:Verdi
James Levine: Ambrogio Maestri, Angela Meade, Stephanie Blythe
Original Air Date: 12/14/2013
Live in HD
SID.20150323
RWW Review: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1RMiPKOgCMMZcpJOyf4zIeCwiMaNWIjI3Wx7i1Z7etM4
FALSTAFF:Verdi
Farnes; Schultz, Pérez, Lemieux, Johnson Cano, Demuro, Maestri, Rodríguez
Original Air Date: 02/22/2019
SID.20170103
Baritone Ambrogio Maestri brings his larger-than-life portrayal of the title role back for the first time since his Met role debut in the 2013–14 season. Robert Carsen’s insightful production—which moves the action to postwar England in the 1950s—features an exceptional cast that includes soprano Ailyn Pérez as Alice Ford and soprano Golda Schultz as Nannetta.
FALSTAFF:Verdi
Farnes; Schultz, Pérez, Lemieux, Johnson Cano, Demuro, Maestri, Rodríguez
Original Air Date: 02/22/2019
SID.20170321
Baritone Ambrogio Maestri brings his larger-than-life portrayal of the title role back for the first time since his Met role debut in the 2013–14 season. Robert Carsen’s insightful production—which moves the action to postwar England in the 1950s—features an exceptional cast that includes soprano Ailyn Pérez as Alice Ford and soprano Golda Schultz as Nannetta.
FALSTAFF:Verdi
Farnes; Schultz, Pérez, Lemieux, Johnson Cano, Demuro, Maestri, Rodríguez
Original Air Date: 02/22/2019
SID.20170538
Baritone Ambrogio Maestri brings his larger-than-life portrayal of the title role back for the first time since his Met role debut in the 2013–14 season. Robert Carsen’s insightful production—which moves the action to postwar England in the 1950s—features an exceptional cast that includes soprano Ailyn Pérez as Alice Ford and soprano Golda Schultz as Nannetta.
