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.
ELEKTRA:Strauss
Levine; Schnaut, Voigt, Schwarz, Pape, Jerusalem
Original Air Date: 12/21/2002
SID.19520101
The same 3 ladies also have a 1999 broadcast with Levine which is regularly alternated on Sirius. For my taste, this is far too much Schnaut. Schwarz whom I remember fondly for her work on the Chereau Ring at Bayreuth (an outstanding Fricka) makes her last Met appearance with this broadcast, but though gone 12 years, the database does not yet mark it as a final Met appearance [still true in 2015]. I prefer Varnay, Borkh, and Nilsson. Eva Marton did not do her Elektra at the Met, a great loss, and Gwyneth Jones did not broadcast any of her 4 Met Elektras– one of her best roles. Marton does have a fantastic Chrysothemis with Mastilovic under Leinsdorf which has been on Sirius and well worth a listen.
MADAMA BUTTERFLY:Puccini
Armiliato; Dessì, Armiliato, Bunnell, Shimell, Fracker
Original Air Date: 03/30/2002
SID.19520102
Dessi has focused her career primarily in Europe so she could regularly sing with her husband, Fabio Armiliato. She has only 20 Met performances covering a span of 15 years, and this is her final Met broadcast to date. Her brother-in-law is in the pit, who has 10 x the number of Met appearances. I relistened to the first act of this yesterday, and what a pleasure to two native Italians in the leads. Fabio’s absence from the Met tenor roster has been much felt in the last decade, and conductor Mario seemed much more detailed and involved than has been the norm from some of his recent Met outings. What IS missing us and MOOd are two broadcasts featuring native Italian speakers in the lead roles– Stella and Fernandi in 1958 and Tucci and Bergonzi from 1962.
Wagner
Levine; Domingo, Tomowa-Sintow, Marton, McIntyre, Macurdy
Original Air Date: 02/16/1985
SID.19520103
This performance is also available in MOoD. Domingo sings very well, but for me the special excitement of this performance comes from the two ladies. Marton had not yet started her heavy round of Elektra performances, and her singing is commanding without ever being less than very feminine. Lohengrin is one of Levine’s best efforts, and here’s the cast for it. The ladies are simply splendid, among the best exponents of their roles in the last 3 decades. Lohengrin is one of Levine’s best Wagner efforts.
Wagner
Levine; Domingo, Tomowa-Sintow, Marton, McIntyre, Macurdy
Original Air Date: 02/16/1985
SID.19520104
This performance is also available in MOoD. Domingo sings very well, but for me the special excitement of this performance comes from the two ladies. Marton had not yet started her heavy round of Elektra performances, and her singing is commanding without ever being less than very feminine. Lohengrin is one of Levine’s best efforts, and here’s the cast for it. The ladies are simply splendid, among the best exponents of their roles in the last 3 decades. Lohengrin is one of Levine’s best Wagner efforts.
Donizetti
Varviso; Sutherland, Tucker, Guarrera, Moscona
Original Air Date: 12/09/1961
SID.19520105
This was played around the time of Sutherland’s death in October 2010, but has not been in the rotation often. Sutherland and Tucker are quite a team in her debut role and season. I saw her in Dallas as Lucia about a month before the first Met appearance ( I think she also did San Francisco and Chicago in a jampacked American fall). The size of her voice in the early years still had the remnants of her dramatic soprano beginnings. Zeffirelli had taught her well in terms of movement, and the coloratura — to steal the Italians’ description for her– stupendous. Don’t miss this. Luckily all four of Sutherland’s broadcast seasons are in MOoD. She has her points in all of them. She has Tucker in two of the broadcasts, and Kraus in the telecast. The quality over a 21 period (1961-1983) from her is really remarkable.
Verdi
Levine; Tomowa-Sintow, Pavarotti, Cossotto, Manuguerra, Kavrakos
Original Air Date: 03/29/1986
SID.19520106
This is Pavarotti’s third performance at the Met as Radames and first broadcast, and surprisingly it is NOT on MOoD. Tomowa-Sintow is strong casting for Aida, but it’s getting late for Cossotto whose only 2 broadcast Amnerises from the Met are the Price farewell in 1985 and this performance a few months later. Manuguerra is an Amonasro such as we can only dream about today. Pavarotti has a second broadcast 15 years later with Voigt Borodina, and Delavan. I think this 1986 performance is more deserving of immortalization (but at the minimum should be included). I would also note this is the last broadcast of Robert Nagy asMessenger,though he does another dozen over the coming year. His 172 total is the Met record exceeding by a healthy margin Pietro Audisio at 113 and Giordano Paltrinieri (100) both from early in the century. Met operagoers for almost 4 decades heard (it was one of the more penetrating voices to ever grace the Met stage and who went on to leads such as Emperor in Frau and 3 Otellos on the Met tour in 1972 replacing McCracken.
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.
SALOME:Strauss
Runnicles; Malfitano, Riegel, Schwarz, Weikl, Baker
Original Air Date: 03/30/1996
SID.19520214
This performance is notable as Weikl’s last Met season and his last staged performance was four days later. Schwarz is a forceful Herodias, but Riegel is a bit light for my taste as Herod. Malfitano is OK, but I never want to return to her work very much.
Donizetti
Varviso; Sutherland, Tucker, Guarrera, Moscona
Original Air Date: 12/09/1961
SID.19520315
This was played around the time of Sutherland’s death in October 2010, but has not been in the rotation often. Sutherland and Tucker are quite a team in her debut role and season. I saw her in Dallas as Lucia about a month before the first Met appearance ( I think she also did San Francisco and Chicago in a jampacked American fall). The size of her voice in the early years still had the remnants of her dramatic soprano beginnings. Zeffirelli had taught her well in terms of movement, and the coloratura — to steal the Italians’ description for her– stupendous. Don’t miss this. Luckily all four of Sutherland’s broadcast seasons are in MOoD. She has her points in all of them. She has Tucker in two of the broadcasts, and Kraus in the telecast. The quality over a 21 period (1961-1983) from her is really remarkable.
Verdi
Levine; Tomowa-Sintow, Pavarotti, Cossotto, Manuguerra, Kavrakos
Original Air Date: 03/29/1986
SID.19520317
This is Pavarotti’s third performance at the Met as Radames and first broadcast, and surprisingly it is NOT on MOoD. Tomowa-Sintow is strong casting for Aida, but it’s getting late for Cossotto whose only 2 broadcast Amnerises from the Met are the Price farewell in 1985 and this performance a few months later. Manuguerra is an Amonasro such as we can only dream about today. Pavarotti has a second broadcast 15 years later with Voigt Borodina, and Delavan. I think this 1986 performance is more deserving of immortalization (but at the minimum should be included). I would also note this is the last broadcast of Robert Nagy asMessenger,though he does another dozen over the coming year. His 172 total is the Met record exceeding by a healthy margin Pietro Audisio at 113 and Giordano Paltrinieri (100) both from early in the century. Met operagoers for almost 4 decades heard (it was one of the more penetrating voices to ever grace the Met stage and who went on to leads such as Emperor in Frau and 3 Otellos on the Met tour in 1972 replacing McCracken.
MADAMA BUTTERFLY:Puccini
Armiliato; Dessì, Armiliato, Bunnell, Shimell, Fracker
Original Air Date: 03/30/2002
SID.19520318
Dessi has focused her career primarily in Europe so she could regularly sing with her husband, Fabio Armiliato. She has only 20 Met performances covering a span of 15 years, and this is her final Met broadcast to date. Her brother-in-law is in the pit, who has 10 x the number of Met appearances. I relistened to the first act of this yesterday, and what a pleasure to two native Italians in the leads. Fabio’s absence from the Met tenor roster has been much felt in the last decade, and conductor Mario seemed much more detailed and involved than has been the norm from some of his recent Met outings. What IS missing us and MOOd are two broadcasts featuring native Italian speakers in the lead roles– Stella and Fernandi in 1958 and Tucci and Bergonzi from 1962.
Wagner
Levine; Domingo, Tomowa-Sintow, Marton, McIntyre, Macurdy
Original Air Date: 02/16/1985
SID.19520319
This performance is also available in MOoD. Domingo sings very well, but for me the special excitement of this performance comes from the two ladies. Marton had not yet started her heavy round of Elektra performances, and her singing is commanding without ever being less than very feminine. Lohengrin is one of Levine’s best efforts, and here’s the cast for it. The ladies are simply splendid, among the best exponents of their roles in the last 3 decades. Lohengrin is one of Levine’s best Wagner efforts.
Wagner
Levine; Domingo, Tomowa-Sintow, Marton, McIntyre, Macurdy
Original Air Date: 02/16/1985
SID.19520320
This performance is also available in MOoD. Domingo sings very well, but for me the special excitement of this performance comes from the two ladies. Marton had not yet started her heavy round of Elektra performances, and her singing is commanding without ever being less than very feminine. Lohengrin is one of Levine’s best efforts, and here’s the cast for it. The ladies are simply splendid, among the best exponents of their roles in the last 3 decades. Lohengrin is one of Levine’s best Wagner efforts.
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.
Donizetti
Varviso; Sutherland, Tucker, Guarrera, Moscona
Original Air Date: 12/09/1961
SID.19520423
This was played around the time of Sutherland’s death in October 2010, but has not been in the rotation often. Sutherland and Tucker are quite a team in her debut role and season. I saw her in Dallas as Lucia about a month before the first Met appearance ( I think she also did San Francisco and Chicago in a jampacked American fall). The size of her voice in the early years still had the remnants of her dramatic soprano beginnings. Zeffirelli had taught her well in terms of movement, and the coloratura — to steal the Italians’ description for her– stupendous. Don’t miss this. Luckily all four of Sutherland’s broadcast seasons are in MOoD. She has her points in all of them. She has Tucker in two of the broadcasts, and Kraus in the telecast. The quality over a 21 period (1961-1983) from her is really remarkable.
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.
MADAMA BUTTERFLY:Puccini
Armiliato; Dessì, Armiliato, Bunnell, Shimell, Fracker
Original Air Date: 03/30/2002
SID.19520427
Dessi has focused her career primarily in Europe so she could regularly sing with her husband, Fabio Armiliato. She has only 20 Met performances covering a span of 15 years, and this is her final Met broadcast to date. Her brother-in-law is in the pit, who has 10 x the number of Met appearances. I relistened to the first act of this yesterday, and what a pleasure to two native Italians in the leads. Fabio’s absence from the Met tenor roster has been much felt in the last decade, and conductor Mario seemed much more detailed and involved than has been the norm from some of his recent Met outings. What IS missing us and MOOd are two broadcasts featuring native Italian speakers in the lead roles– Stella and Fernandi in 1958 and Tucci and Bergonzi from 1962.
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.