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.
TANNHÄUSER:Wagner
Elder; Seiffert, Voigt, DeYoung, Hampson, Moll
Original Air Date: 12/18/2004
MOD Audio
SID.20080101
Seiffert was a more effective Tannhauser than expected, but memories of this broadcast from all participants is more solid than memorable.
ROMÉO ET JULIETTE:Gounod
Molinari-Pradelli; Gedda, Freni, Macurdy, Baldwin, Reardon
Original Air Date: 04/13/1968
MOD Audio
SID.20080102
Molinari-Pradelli is an improvement on Domingo in the pit, but others are still much better. Gedda and Freni are not ideal, but it’s a wonderful memory of her youthful singing at the Met, and she is more alive on the broadcast than in the studio (and many performances) with Corelli.
PARSIFAL:Wagner
Levine; Vickers, Ludwig, Weikl, Talvela, Shinall
Original Air Date: 04/14/1979
MOD Audio
SID.20080103
There is another Vickers Parsifal broadcast from 1985 which features Rysanek, Estes, Moll, and Mazura. This performance was issued on CD as a Guild special but has not been rebroadcast in any other form. At the minimum, it should appear on Sirius, since the restoration work has already been done. How did Shinall and Talvela, whose voice does not have the roundness of a Moll or Siepi or Pape end up in these roles.
PARSIFAL:Wagner
Levine; Vickers, Ludwig, Weikl, Talvela, Shinall
Original Air Date: 04/14/1979
MOD Audio
SID.20080104
There is another Vickers Parsifal broadcast from 1985 which features Rysanek, Estes, Moll, and Mazura. This performance was issued on CD as a Guild special but has not been rebroadcast in any other form. At the minimum, it should appear on Sirius, since the restoration work has already been done. How did Shinall and Talvela, whose voice does not have the roundness of a Moll or Siepi or Pape end up in these roles.
DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN:Strauss
Böhm; Rysanek, King, Ludwig, Berry, Dalis
Original Air Date: 12/17/1966
MOD Audio
SID.20080105
This is the Met broadcast premiere of one of Strauss’ greatest works. Hearing the performance almost five decades later it still holds up as one of the great ensemble and individual performance efforts in Met history. All of the singers are excellent, and for radio only, the voice that makes the best effect is Walter Berry. His work may be less well known to newer opera-goers, but he is favorite Barak on disc or in the theatre. FiDi was by all accounts quite memorable in the theatre. This performance is now on the Met Opera on Demand (MOoD) series as well as part of the Met at Lincoln Center 50th anniversary CD box.
MADAMA BUTTERFLY:Puccini
Patanè; Scotto, Aragall, Love, Edwards, Atherton
Original Air Date: 12/17/1977
SID.20080106
Aragall only has 38 Met performances in his nine season tenure. His two broadcasts are Esclarmonde with Sutherland and this Butterfly with Scotto in close to her very best voice. Few tenor voices had such unforced beauty. His Met farewell comes in Boheme two days after this broadcast Aragall suffered from severe nervousness which could affect his pitch. Luckily his two Met broadcasts capture mostly just the remarkable voice, one much respected by his peers– Carreras, Domingo, and Pavarotti. Patane lamentably died much too young at 54 while conducting at the Bavarian State Opera, Munich. He was an excellent maestro in the Met’s Italian wing, and is the conductor for Pavarotti and Ricciarelli’s Ballo in Maschera telecast/DVD. He also is number four in Gioconda performances at 25 (Cleva at 65 (Milanov and Tebaldi); Serafin at 55, Toscanini at 29 surpass him).
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA:Barber
Schippers; Díaz, Price, Thomas, Flagello, Elias
Original Air Date: 09/16/1966
MOD Audio
SID.20080107
This is the opening of the new Met at Lincoln Center and the world premiere of the opera. Leontyne never sang better than this night, and luckily it is well preserved for all to hear. Lady Bird Johnson and Imelda Marcos were among the dignitaries that night. From MOD: Expectations were high when the Metropolitan Opera announced that the world premiere of Samuel Barber’s Antony and Cleopatra would christen its new house at Lincoln Center in the fall of 1966—a suitably grand work based on Shakespeare’s tragedy and written specifically for Leontyne Price as Cleopatra. A singer himself, the composer knew Price’s voice and what it could do, shaping his conception of the opera’s heroine around this iconic American diva. The 26-year-old Puerto Rican–born bass Justino Díaz starred alongside Price as Antony while Ezio Flagello portrayed Antony’s friend Enobarbus. Tenor Jess Thomas brought his heroic presence to the role of Octavius Caesar, and the beloved mezzo-soprano Rosalind Elias, already a Met veteran in her 30s, sang the role of Cleopatra’s attendant Charmian. Thanks to a Texaco–Metropolitan Opera Radio Network broadcast from the opera’s world premiere, this indelible piece of Met history has been preserved for generations.
ADRIANA LECOUVREUR:Cilea
Abbado; Freni, Lima, Toczyska, Milnes
Original Air Date: 03/19/1994
SID.20080208
Fedora turned out to be a much more congenial role for her late period. Tocyzyska is always an alert performer.
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.
AIDA:Verdi
Levine; Voigt, Pavarotti, Borodina, Delavan, Bezzubenkov
Original Air Date: 01/27/2001
MOD Audio
SID.20080210
This performance commemorates the centenary of Verdi’s death, and except for the plush offered by Borodina, there is not much here. You can start to hear real stylistic limitations in Voigt’s performances (well before the surgery), but it is really quite remarkable that Pavarotti is out there at the age of 66 (!!!) as Radames. The visual was supposedly very compromised, but from the radio was OK, not more, but Giovanni Martinelli (KING of Radames with 123 Met performances from 1915-1943!!!!!! was only 58 at his last Met effort) Give Pavarotti another listen.
EUGENE ONEGIN:Tchaikovsky
Levine; Hynninen, Freni, Hadley, Walker, Sotin
Original Air Date: 03/25/1989
MOD Audio
SID.20080211
This is a solid cast, but not a native Russian anywhere around. Sotin is especially odd casting, unlike a full out bass as Gremin.
ERNANI:Verdi
Schippers; Corelli, Price, Sereni, Siepi
Original Air Date: 04/10/1965
MOD Audio
SID.20080212
The Met has two outstanding Ernani broadcasts from the mid 1960s, both with Schippers and Leontyne Price. The first is with Bergonzi and MacNeil, and the second features the special contributions of Corelli and Siepi. Luckily both are on MOoD, with the first also issued on Sony Historical CD. Both these performances belong in every Verdi lover’s playlist. Ernani was back later with Domingo in the baritone role; his only Met appearance in the title role was in 1971 (not broadcast).
Various:Various
Various Artists
Original Air Date: 01/01/9999
SID.20080213
Mozart
Original Air Date: 02/18/2020
Bicket; Car, Malfi, Stober, Bliss, Pisaroni, Finley
SID.20080000
Coney Island once again comes to the stage of the Met with the first revival of Phelim McDermott’s popular staging inspired by the side shows of the boardwalk. The pairs of young lovers are a casting dream: soprano Nicole Car, mezzo-soprano Serena Malfi, tenor Ben Bliss, and bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni, with the glorious bass-baritone Gerald Finley as the cynical Don Alfonso and the charming soprano Heidi Stober as the mischievous maid Despina. Harry Bicket conducts.
Co-production of the Metropolitan Opera and English National Opera In collaboration with Improbable
Production a gift of William R. Miller, and John Sucich / Trust of Joseph Padula Additional funding from The Walter and Leonore Annenberg Endowment Fund, and the National Endowment for the Arts
COSÌ FAN TUTTE:Mozart
Bicket; Car, Malfi, Stober, Bliss, Pisaroni, Finley
Original Air Date: 02/18/2020
SID.20080214
Coney Island once again comes to the stage of the Met with the first revival of Phelim McDermott’s popular staging inspired by the side shows of the boardwalk. The pairs of young lovers are a casting dream: soprano Nicole Car, mezzo-soprano Serena Malfi, tenor Ben Bliss, and bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni, with the glorious bass-baritone Gerald Finley as the cynical Don Alfonso and the charming soprano Heidi Stober as the mischievous maid Despina. Harry Bicket conducts. Co-production of the Metropolitan Opera and English National Opera In collaboration with Improbable
DER ROSENKAVALIER:Strauss
Levine; von Otter, Gessendorf, Hawlata, Grant Murphy, Hornik, Elias, Senechal, Olsen
Original Air Date: 03/04/1995
SID.20080315
Murphy is the main drag on this performance, but Gessendorf who has almost no commercial recording career is a creditable vocal Marschallin. Because Rosenkavalier seems to still be hobbled on rights, we still don’t have Steber with Reiner, Ludwig as Oktavian in 1959, and Tomowa-Sintow or Gwyneth Jones as Marschallin.
THE MERRY WIDOW:Lehár
Fisch; von Stade, Hagegård, Welch-Babidge, Groves
Original Air Date: 12/23/2000
SID.20080316
This is the second year of the production originally mounted for Von Stade with Domingo. The production is by Tim Albery who was also responsible for Midsummer Night’s Dream for the Britten centenary. It’s not often that anything in English translation is on Sirius, but this is. Now if only they could have some of much worthier English translation evenings like Arabella and Cosi fan tutte with Steber and some of the great Boris Godunovs of the 1950s and 60s.
IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA:Rossini
Benini; Mattei, DiDonato, Flórez, Del Carlo, Relyea
Original Air Date: 03/24/2007
Live in HDMOD Video
SID.20080317
This is a simulcast of the first season Live in HD videocast. It’s the only matinee broadcast appearance of Mattei, DiDonato and Florez together, and they are a splendid trio.
ROMÉO ET JULIETTE:Gounod
Molinari-Pradelli; Gedda, Freni, Macurdy, Baldwin, Reardon
Original Air Date: 04/13/1968
MOD Audio
SID.20080318
Molinari-Pradelli is an improvement on Domingo in the pit, but others are still much better. Gedda and Freni are not ideal, but it’s a wonderful memory of her youthful singing at the Met, and she is more alive on the broadcast than in the studio (and many performances) with Corelli.
PARSIFAL:Wagner
Levine; Vickers, Ludwig, Weikl, Talvela, Shinall
Original Air Date: 04/14/1979
MOD Audio
SID.20080319
There is another Vickers Parsifal broadcast from 1985 which features Rysanek, Estes, Moll, and Mazura. This performance was issued on CD as a Guild special but has not been rebroadcast in any other form. At the minimum, it should appear on Sirius, since the restoration work has already been done. How did Shinall and Talvela, whose voice does not have the roundness of a Moll or Siepi or Pape end up in these roles.
PARSIFAL:Wagner
Levine; Vickers, Ludwig, Weikl, Talvela, Shinall
Original Air Date: 04/14/1979
MOD Audio
SID.20080320
There is another Vickers Parsifal broadcast from 1985 which features Rysanek, Estes, Moll, and Mazura. This performance was issued on CD as a Guild special but has not been rebroadcast in any other form. At the minimum, it should appear on Sirius, since the restoration work has already been done. How did Shinall and Talvela, whose voice does not have the roundness of a Moll or Siepi or Pape end up in these roles.
DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN:Strauss
Böhm; Rysanek, King, Ludwig, Berry, Dalis
Original Air Date: 12/17/1966
MOD Audio
SID.20080321
This is the Met broadcast premiere of one of Strauss’ greatest works. Hearing the performance almost five decades later it still holds up as one of the great ensemble and individual performance efforts in Met history. All of the singers are excellent, and for radio only, the voice that makes the best effect is Walter Berry. His work may be less well known to newer opera-goers, but he is favorite Barak on disc or in the theatre. FiDi was by all accounts quite memorable in the theatre. This performance is now on the Met Opera on Demand (MOoD) series as well as part of the Met at Lincoln Center 50th anniversary CD box.
EUGENE ONEGIN:Tchaikovsky
Levine; Hynninen, Freni, Hadley, Walker, Sotin
Original Air Date: 03/25/1989
MOD Audio
SID.20080422
This is a solid cast, but not a native Russian anywhere around. Sotin is especially odd casting, unlike a full out bass as Gremin.
DER ROSENKAVALIER:Strauss
Levine; von Otter, Gessendorf, Hawlata, Grant Murphy, Hornik, Elias, Senechal, Olsen
Original Air Date: 03/04/1995
SID.20080423
Murphy is the main drag on this performance, but Gessendorf who has almost no commercial recording career is a creditable vocal Marschallin. Because Rosenkavalier seems to still be hobbled on rights, we still don’t have Steber with Reiner, Ludwig as Oktavian in 1959, and Tomowa-Sintow or Gwyneth Jones as Marschallin.
ADRIANA LECOUVREUR:Cilea
Abbado; Freni, Lima, Toczyska, Milnes
Original Air Date: 03/19/1994
SID.20080424
Fedora turned out to be a much more congenial role for her late period. Tocyzyska is always an alert performer.
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.
AIDA:Verdi
Levine; Voigt, Pavarotti, Borodina, Delavan, Bezzubenkov
Original Air Date: 01/27/2001
MOD Audio
SID.20080426
This performance commemorates the centenary of Verdi’s death, and except for the plush offered by Borodina, there is not much here. You can start to hear real stylistic limitations in Voigt’s performances (well before the surgery), but it is really quite remarkable that Pavarotti is out there at the age of 66 (!!!) as Radames. The visual was supposedly very compromised, but from the radio was OK, not more, but Giovanni Martinelli (KING of Radames with 123 Met performances from 1915-1943!!!!!! was only 58 at his last Met effort) Give Pavarotti another listen.
EUGENE ONEGIN:Tchaikovsky
Levine; Hynninen, Freni, Hadley, Walker, Sotin
Original Air Date: 03/25/1989
MOD Audio
SID.20080427
This is a solid cast, but not a native Russian anywhere around. Sotin is especially odd casting, unlike a full out bass as Gremin.
ERNANI:Verdi
Schippers; Corelli, Price, Sereni, Siepi
Original Air Date: 04/10/1965
MOD Audio
SID.20080428
The Met has two outstanding Ernani broadcasts from the mid 1960s, both with Schippers and Leontyne Price. The first is with Bergonzi and MacNeil, and the second features the special contributions of Corelli and Siepi. Luckily both are on MOoD, with the first also issued on Sony Historical CD. Both these performances belong in every Verdi lover’s playlist. Ernani was back later with Domingo in the baritone role; his only Met appearance in the title role was in 1971 (not broadcast).
THE MERRY WIDOW:Lehár
Fisch; von Stade, Hagegård, Welch-Babidge, Groves
Original Air Date: 12/23/2000
SID.20080529
This is the second year of the production originally mounted for Von Stade with Domingo. The production is by Tim Albery who was also responsible for Midsummer Night’s Dream for the Britten centenary. It’s not often that anything in English translation is on Sirius, but this is. Now if only they could have some of much worthier English translation evenings like Arabella and Cosi fan tutte with Steber and some of the great Boris Godunovs of the 1950s and 60s.