Carmen St Louis 1940

Here is about 12 minutes of Act 3 of Carmen, broadcast from the St Louis Grand Opera over the NBC Red network on April 25, 1940. Originally supposed to be a 25 minute broadcast, the previous programme over-ran, thus only 12 minutes were actually broadcast. It is noticeable for the preservation of part of the Carmen of Marjorie Lawrence. Australian-born Lawrence was most noted for her Wagner and Strauss roles at the Met and her career was tragically cut short in 1941 after she was left in a wheelchair after contracting polio. Carmen was not a role she sang often, but in addition to this extract of Act 3, a complete Act 2 from San Francisco also exists (issued on CD by Guild).

Marjorie Lawrence

Carmen (Act 3 extract) St Louis Grand Opera, 25 April 1940
Carmen - Marjorie Lawrence
Don Jose - Jan Kiepura
Mercedes - Elisabeth Brown
Frasquita - Florence Kirk
Dancaire - Carlo Alexander
Remendado - Giuseppe Cavadore
c. Laslo Halasz
http://rapidshare.com/files/446203095/1940CarmenStLouis.mp3