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.
LOHENGRIN:Wagner
Original Air Date: 02/01/1964
Rosenstock; Kónya, Crespin, Rankin, Cassel, Wiemann
SID.19350315
Bing generally avoided broadcasts as the first performance in a run, and this one could certainly have done with a few performances for the ensemble to gel. More cuts than we are used to, and Rosenstock is not the most inspiring leader. Konya is in excellent voice, and stands up to the best of the Lohengrins ever. Crespin is one of my favorites, and already by 1964 she could be uneven. Still I like an Elsa with metal for the second act confrontation with Ortrud and also the full throated singing she and Konya bring to the Bridal Chamber. Rankin and Cassel are up to the vocal demands if not always the distinction one would like, and Wiemann was an excellent house bass ready for all the Wagner roles. His phrasing is often a good deal more pleasing than Hines who had more significant vocal equipment. *** Bing generally avoided first performances of repertory as broadcasts, and sometimes things go rather bumpily (most infamously the Schwarzkopf Don Giovanni and the Moffo Lucia). This one does not find Crespin (a huge personal favorite) at her most settled, but she has her moments. Konya really is a fine Lohengrin and for a solid decade #1. The performance has some cuts as well, but by the middle of the second act, things are starting to fall into place.
LOHENGRIN:Wagner
Original Air Date: 02/01/1964
Rosenstock; Kónya, Crespin, Rankin, Cassel, Wiemann
SID.19350531
Bing generally avoided broadcasts as the first performance in a run, and this one could certainly have done with a few performances for the ensemble to gel. More cuts than we are used to, and Rosenstock is not the most inspiring leader. Konya is in excellent voice, and stands up to the best of the Lohengrins ever. Crespin is one of my favorites, and already by 1964 she could be uneven. Still I like an Elsa with metal for the second act confrontation with Ortrud and also the full throated singing she and Konya bring to the Bridal Chamber. Rankin and Cassel are up to the vocal demands if not always the distinction one would like, and Wiemann was an excellent house bass ready for all the Wagner roles. His phrasing is often a good deal more pleasing than Hines who had more significant vocal equipment. *** Bing generally avoided first performances of repertory as broadcasts, and sometimes things go rather bumpily (most infamously the Schwarzkopf Don Giovanni and the Moffo Lucia). This one does not find Crespin (a huge personal favorite) at her most settled, but she has her moments. Konya really is a fine Lohengrin and for a solid decade #1. The performance has some cuts as well, but by the middle of the second act, things are starting to fall into place.
LOHENGRIN:Wagner
Original Air Date: 02/01/1964
Rosenstock; Kónya, Crespin, Rankin, Cassel, Wiemann
SID.19350747
Bing generally avoided broadcasts as the first performance in a run, and this one could certainly have done with a few performances for the ensemble to gel. More cuts than we are used to, and Rosenstock is not the most inspiring leader. Konya is in excellent voice, and stands up to the best of the Lohengrins ever. Crespin is one of my favorites, and already by 1964 she could be uneven. Still I like an Elsa with metal for the second act confrontation with Ortrud and also the full throated singing she and Konya bring to the Bridal Chamber. Rankin and Cassel are up to the vocal demands if not always the distinction one would like, and Wiemann was an excellent house bass ready for all the Wagner roles. His phrasing is often a good deal more pleasing than Hines who had more significant vocal equipment. *** Bing generally avoided first performances of repertory as broadcasts, and sometimes things go rather bumpily (most infamously the Schwarzkopf Don Giovanni and the Moffo Lucia). This one does not find Crespin (a huge personal favorite) at her most settled, but she has her moments. Konya really is a fine Lohengrin and for a solid decade #1. The performance has some cuts as well, but by the middle of the second act, things are starting to fall into place.
TOSCA:Puccini
Original Air Date: 04/17/1965
Cleva; Crespin, Kónya, Merrill
SID.19380211
Crespin the first singer to repeat Tosca in more than a decade before the Met broadcast microphones. if you savor the Gallic tang with a dollop of Roman pepper, she is a fine Tosca. This performance has been on before, but they don’t overuse it. She was the first Tosca to repeat her Floria on the airwaves. Bing had 9 different Toscas from 1952 until 1968 when Crespin repeated with a slightly better cast. Both have been on Sirius. This broadcast finds her in marginally better voice, and is Merrill’s only Scarpia broadcast (he only has 12) and while no match dramatically for Warren or early MacNeil (Gobbi never broadcast the role from the Met), Merrill certainly has some vocal artillery to display. Arguably the most beautiful baritone voice and right up there at the very top in any vocal category.
TOSCA:Puccini
Original Air Date: 04/17/1965
Cleva; Crespin, Kónya, Merrill
SID.19380427
Crespin the first singer to repeat Tosca in more than a decade before the Met broadcast microphones. if you savor the Gallic tang with a dollop of Roman pepper, she is a fine Tosca. This performance has been on before, but they don’t overuse it. She was the first Tosca to repeat her Floria on the airwaves. Bing had 9 different Toscas from 1952 until 1968 when Crespin repeated with a slightly better cast. Both have been on Sirius. This broadcast finds her in marginally better voice, and is Merrill’s only Scarpia broadcast (he only has 12) and while no match dramatically for Warren or early MacNeil (Gobbi never broadcast the role from the Met), Merrill certainly has some vocal artillery to display. Arguably the most beautiful baritone voice and right up there at the very top in any vocal category.
TOSCA:Puccini
Original Air Date: 04/17/1965
Cleva; Crespin, Kónya, Merrill
SID.19380636
Crespin the first singer to repeat Tosca in more than a decade before the Met broadcast microphones. if you savor the Gallic tang with a dollop of Roman pepper, she is a fine Tosca. This performance has been on before, but they don’t overuse it. She was the first Tosca to repeat her Floria on the airwaves. Bing had 9 different Toscas from 1952 until 1968 when Crespin repeated with a slightly better cast. Both have been on Sirius. This broadcast finds her in marginally better voice, and is Merrill’s only Scarpia broadcast (he only has 12) and while no match dramatically for Warren or early MacNeil (Gobbi never broadcast the role from the Met), Merrill certainly has some vocal artillery to display. Arguably the most beautiful baritone voice and right up there at the very top in any vocal category.
LOHENGRIN:Wagner
Klobucar; Kónya, Arroyo, Dvoráková, Cassel, Macurdy, Milnes
Original Air Date: 02/10/1968
SID.20080209
Milnes’s one of the solid pluses, as are Konya and Arroyo. The last of this run the following week featured James King in the title role. Dvorakova did Isolde at the Met and Senta in Philadelphia.
LOHENGRIN:Wagner
Klobucar; Kónya, Arroyo, Dvoráková, Cassel, Macurdy, Milnes
Original Air Date: 02/10/1968
SID.20080425
Milnes’s one of the solid pluses, as are Konya and Arroyo. The last of this run the following week featured James King in the title role. Dvorakova did Isolde at the Met and Senta in Philadelphia.
LOHENGRIN:Wagner
Klobucar; Kónya, Arroyo, Dvoráková, Cassel, Macurdy, Milnes
Original Air Date: 02/10/1968
SID.20080642
Milnes’s one of the solid pluses, as are Konya and Arroyo. The last of this run the following week featured James King in the title role. Dvorakova did Isolde at the Met and Senta in Philadelphia.