Saturday 17 September 2011

Manon Metropolitan Opera 1936

This is part of a Gala performance to mark the retirement of Spanish soprano Lucretia Bori who had sung more than 600 performances at the Met since 1910. This was her last performance in New York, but she would sing one last Mimi in Baltimore on tour a few days later. The Gala featured Bori in extracts from Traviata and Manon, Rethberg and Pinza in Forza, Flagstad and Melchior in Walkure, and Ponselle and Martinelli Trovatore. Sadly only the very last extract, Act 3 Sc 2 of Manon was broadcast, but the speeches from the stage were also broadcast, so there is about 40 minutes in total. The sound is not bad for the time.


Metropolitan Opera House
March 29, 1936 

Broadcast 10.30-11.15pm on WJZ New York


BORI FAREWELL GALA

Manon: Act III, Scene 2

Manon...................Lucrezia Bori
Des Grieux..............Richard Crooks
Count des Grieux........Léon Rothier

Conductor...............Louis Hasselmans


https://rapidshare.com/files/1570894558/1936ManonAct3.mp3

Account of Farewell Gala of Lucrezia Bori; presentations March 29, 1936 in The Sun, unsigned.

At the end of the program there was prolonged and enthusiastic cheering for Miss Bori and then the curtain was raised with the entire board of directors of the opera association and the company gathered on the stage. Then the ceremony began.

Among those who extolled Miss Bori's contribution to the Metropolitan Opera in addresses were Frederic Potts Moore, representing the board of directors; Edward Johnson for the company; Mrs. Vincent Astor, who spoke for the board and for friends, and Mrs. August Belmont for the Metropolitan Opera Guild.

A tribute to Miss Bori printed on the program and signed by Paul D. Cravath, president of the board, and Edward Ziegler, secretary, reviewed the singer's long association with the company and spoke of the personal sacrifices she has made and the labor she has given to the opera to help it through its financial reverses and the last few years. It concluded with the following paragraph:

"The board of directors hail with joy Miss. Bori's announcement that, while she is retiring as an artist, she will retain her membership on the board of directors, and continue her active interest in the causes of opera at the Metropolitan. Were it not for the continued association with Miss Bori that is thus vouchsafed to them, the directors feel that much of the pleasure and satisfaction from their association with the Metropolitan would be lost."

The program also contained the following tribute written by Edward Johnson, who is the general manager of the company:

"To Lucrezia Bori - as a friend, most understanding: as a woman, adorable; as a colleague, ideal; as an artist, irreplaceable."

Among the gifts presented to her were a diamond brooch that had been made in 1866 for the Empress Eugénie of France, the gift of her colleagues on the board and a large group of friends. The presentation was made by Mrs. Astor.

There was also a visiting card in gold, the gift of the assistant directors; a silver coffee urn from the chorus; a vase filled with roses, from the stage hands; many gifts from the singers and orchestra, and two parchments, one signed by the board and another signed by the administrative staff.

Earlier in the evening Miss Bori had distributed many gifts to singers and others in the company.

With her arms full of flowers, and evidently deeply touched by the tributes, Miss Bori said that "my heart is in such a turmoil that I do not know how to express the varied emotions I am feeling." when she made her reply.

She then thanked the board, the company and her friends for the ceremony and the gifts.

"I am supremely happy, supremely grateful, and yet supremely sad. Au revoir." she said in conclusion.

It was emphasized that Miss Bori will continue her active work on the board of directors, of which she remains a member.

"I know how to keep myself busy," she declared in an interview. "After all, I am 48 years old. I have been in the theater long enough. Now I shall travel, perhaps sing a little in concert and on the radio. I have also begun to model in clay."

Thursday 15 September 2011

Tannhauser Metropolitan Opera 1935

Richard Bonelli
About an hour and a half of this performance survives, 35 mins of act 2, and about 52 mins of act 3. It's an unusual cast for this opera at the Met. Melchior of course sang this opera plenty of times and can be heard in complete broadcasts from 1936, 1941, 1942 and 1948 (1941 has the best sound). The other main principals rarely sang this opera at the Met: this was the last of Muller's eight performances as Elisabeth, Manski sang Venus only eleven times and Bonelli sang Wolfram just 4 times. Bonelli was best known for his mainstream Italiam and French roles, so this recording adds a different dimension to his discography. The sound is moderate at best, being an aircheck recorded on fairly primitive equipment.

Metropolitan Opera House
January 12, 1935 Matinee Broadcast


TANNHÄUSER {280}

Tannhäuser..............Lauritz Melchior
Elisabeth...............Maria Müller
Wolfram.................Richard Bonelli
Venus...................Dorothee Manski
Hermann.................Ludwig Hofmann
Walther.................Hans Clemens
Heinrich................Giordano Paltrinieri
Biterolf................Arnold Gabor
Reinmar.................James Wolfe
Shepherd................Lillian Clark
Dance...................Jessie Rogge
Dance...................Beatrice Covell
Dance...................Helen Sumholz

Conductor...............Artur Bodanzky

https://rapidshare.com/files/3094863855/1935TannhauserAct2.mp3
https://rapidshare.com/files/1105068619/1935TannhauserAct3.mp3

Friday 2 September 2011

Le Nozze di Figaro, Metropolitan Opera 1947


Hjördis Schymberg
This performance is notable for two reasons. It was the last broadcast of Figaro to feature the great Ezio Pinza in the title role, and indeed Pinza would feature in just one more Met broadcast, Don Giovanni in December 1947. The other reason this broadcast is worth hearing is for the Susanna of Swedish soprano Hjördis Schymberg. Schymberg sang just four performances at the Met, two Figaros and two Rigolettos in the Spring of 1947. She is perhaps most famous as the partner of Jussi Bjorling at the Stockholm Royal Opera and complete recordings of them in Traviata and Romeo et Juliette exist. Schymberg died in 2008 at the venerable age of 99. About an hour of this performance exists, from an aircheck in fair to middling sound. Act 1 does best, with about 40 minutes, Act two has the rest. 








Metropolitan Opera House
March 15, 1947 Matinee Broadcast


LE NOZZE DI FIGARO {98}

Figaro..................Ezio Pinza
Susanna.................Hjördis Schymberg [Last performance]
Count Almaviva..........John Brownlee
Countess Almaviva.......Eleanor Steber
Cherubino...............Jarmila Novotna
Dr. Bartolo.............Salvatore Baccaloni
Marcellina..............Hertha Glaz
Don Basilio.............Alessio De Paolis
Antonio.................Lorenzo Alvary
Barbarina...............Mimi Benzell
Don Curzio..............John Garris
Peasant.................Thelma Altman
Peasant.................Maxine Stellman
Dance...................Julia Barashkova
Dance...................Lola Michel
Dance...................William Sarazen
Dance...................Josef Carmassi

Conductor...............Fritz Busch

https://rapidshare.com/files/3363119124/1947Figaro.mp3