tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73510251175051365532024-03-19T21:55:05.717+00:00Historic OperaExtracts from live Historic Opera Performances from the 1930s, 40s and 50s.Historic Operahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11811792250122133387noreply@blogger.comBlogger73125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351025117505136553.post-1232761379789135062013-05-15T07:22:00.000+01:002013-05-15T07:22:17.057+01:00Otello Vienna 1944<span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="11">Otello by Giuseppe Verdi (in German)</a></span><br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Conductor Karl Böhm </span><br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;">August 1944</span><br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Orchestra & Chorus - Wiener Staatsoper</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdHw7_xRwdxJQfI-17r_qItb2GHfjvh7KtfKO4aMwm-8TGvIyQeHCXxY0Pec63ejvqUmNcBRiladJu0Q2vhMk0VTQzBnP-59ipXOfnRGSS-BG-cXMxitKRISDZ1bNZVOl-9jzLJ1WsnWS_/s1600/torsten-ralf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdHw7_xRwdxJQfI-17r_qItb2GHfjvh7KtfKO4aMwm-8TGvIyQeHCXxY0Pec63ejvqUmNcBRiladJu0Q2vhMk0VTQzBnP-59ipXOfnRGSS-BG-cXMxitKRISDZ1bNZVOl-9jzLJ1WsnWS_/s1600/torsten-ralf.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ralf as Otello</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Otello - Torsten Ralf</span><br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Desdemona - Hilde Konetzni</span><br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Iago - Paul Schöffler</span><br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Cassio - Josef Witt</span><br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Rodrigo - Peter Klein</span><br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Lodovico - Tomislav Neralic</span><br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Montano - Viktor Madin</span><br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Emilia - Elena Nikolaidi</span><br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Un Araldo - Roland Neumann</span></blockquote>
http://rapidshare.com/files/105113546/1944Otello.zip<br />
<br />
This radio broadcast of Otello from Vienna in the last months of the war gives us a rare chance to hear a complete opera with Viennese soprano Hilde Konetzni. Although the war severely restricted her career, she was able to appear in international houses such as Covent Garden both before and after the war. Complete recordings of her are few, but she did appear in the Moralt ring in lighter soprano parts in 1949.<br />
Swedish tenor Torsten Ralf made his career in singing the heavier Wagnerian and Verdi roles. Despite singing in Germany and Austria during the war (unlike some other Swedish singers) he was readily accepted back into the international opera scene, opening the 1945-46 season at the Met for instance as Lohengrin. <br />
Paul Schoffler was one of the greatest German baritones of the 1940s and 1950s. He had an international career even before the war, and was one of the most noted Hans Sachs of his generation, performing and broadcasting the role at Bayreuth, Vienna and New York.<br />
The sound is not bad for a radio broadcast from the 1940s.<br />
<blockquote>
<h4>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_fndN85UyTOVkz-NSy2B7HyyOMiFmJmyStchWB5Hl1DzHyhDqeVBSMEN9fmc_5ZKSGxgxg5LnGm0mTYi13gckNC0Exqyh_gNhRk-kkjJvwcdsYAUtBOdo_mFRRYM8nnG7Xrhm-faPAPuJ/s1600/konetznihilde.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_fndN85UyTOVkz-NSy2B7HyyOMiFmJmyStchWB5Hl1DzHyhDqeVBSMEN9fmc_5ZKSGxgxg5LnGm0mTYi13gckNC0Exqyh_gNhRk-kkjJvwcdsYAUtBOdo_mFRRYM8nnG7Xrhm-faPAPuJ/s200/konetznihilde.jpg" width="196" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hilde Konetzni</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</h4>
</blockquote>
Historic Operahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11811792250122133387noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351025117505136553.post-87717379912107009352013-05-09T18:35:00.000+01:002013-05-09T18:35:21.494+01:00Tosca Rio 1954<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzg-fWk5bKMWLglZLjoiY-1FXn66GtvO0a0fgZUG2Y6fcJJcwTW4sTLqWG64LG1HnhUqBG98FzHOVBNQQENcK16M3UVwqsgmrpms7-5ZxWIbIvc4PWY7Q2QZ4wii3_ZLb27fJWtWu23fge/s1600/tebaldi_tosca.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzg-fWk5bKMWLglZLjoiY-1FXn66GtvO0a0fgZUG2Y6fcJJcwTW4sTLqWG64LG1HnhUqBG98FzHOVBNQQENcK16M3UVwqsgmrpms7-5ZxWIbIvc4PWY7Q2QZ4wii3_ZLb27fJWtWu23fge/s320/tebaldi_tosca.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tebaldi as Tosca</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This recording is interesting to two reasons. Firstly it is from Rio and not that many opera recordings exist from Rio, but it was a part of the Latin American opera tradition that included the Colon in Buenos Aires and opera houses in Mexico and Uruguay. Secondly it is the earliest live recording (that I know of) of Tebaldi's Tosca. She had recorded the role for Decca in 1952 and would go on to be heard over the radio in live performances in London, New York and elsewhere. Hers is quite a different Floria Tosca to that of her contemporary Callas, but no less worthwhile. She is partnered by Di Stefano, who had been Callas's Cavaradossi for EMI the year before. The sound is not good, there's not much orchestral detail to be heard, but I think the voices come through well enough for those willing to persevere.<br />
<h2>
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="32">Tosca - Puccini</a></h2>
<h4>
Conductor Oliviero De Fabritiis</h4>
<h4>
September 21, 1954 Teatro Municipal de Rio de Janeiro
</h4>
<blockquote>
<h4>
</h4>
<h4>
Floria Tosca - Renata Tebaldi</h4>
<h4>
Mario Cavaradossi - Giuseppe di Stefano</h4>
<h4>
Il barone Scarpia - Giuseppe Taddei</h4>
<h4>
Il Sagristano - Guilhermo Damiano</h4>
<h4>
Cesare Angelotti - Giuseppe Modesti</h4>
</blockquote>
<br />
http://rapidshare.com/files/4209629066/ToscaRio54.zip<br />
Historic Operahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11811792250122133387noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351025117505136553.post-11241290271829204682013-04-17T20:48:00.000+01:002013-04-17T20:48:16.534+01:00Two Callas Mad scenes from Lucia, Mexico 1952<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2Vj7rwNL-1zHfT5vNB7YDD3_5Amgb2aOSPAPsYiGmDF9VxXVf6rEMrsVwuQfNLxug1dzmyKs2ojsdrbvpnAMipzkaaic4jTveMPMU10HICzGf4HS7Ozo0yYz7nfKXkgRmqe7tbRs2gV4P/s1600/callas-as-lucia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2Vj7rwNL-1zHfT5vNB7YDD3_5Amgb2aOSPAPsYiGmDF9VxXVf6rEMrsVwuQfNLxug1dzmyKs2ojsdrbvpnAMipzkaaic4jTveMPMU10HICzGf4HS7Ozo0yYz7nfKXkgRmqe7tbRs2gV4P/s320/callas-as-lucia.jpg" width="282" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
A complete recording of Callas's debut Lucia recorded on June 10, 1952, is available on several different 'pirate' labels, but the Mad scene of two subsequent performances were also recorded and are worth hearing. Callas's voice was as good in these performances as it was ever going to be, and has a security lacking in her 1959 EMI recording. The sound, of course, is far inferior to EMI, but the voice itself is pretty clear. The orchestra and conductor are also inferior to that procured by EMI, and these two extracts are more than a minute different in length which is quite something for a 15 minute extract. <br />
<br />
<br />
Orquesta e Coro del Palacio de Bellas Artes (Ópera Nacional)<br />
Conductor: Guido Picco, Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico - June 14 & 26, 1952<br />
<br />
<br />
http://rapidshare.com/files/2611386181/Lucia14Jun52.mp3<br />
http://rapidshare.com/files/2528126441/Lucia26Jun52.mp3Historic Operahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11811792250122133387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351025117505136553.post-46497027723670342862013-01-31T14:53:00.001+00:002013-01-31T14:53:57.864+00:00Dido and Aeneas Hamburg 1955<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivoMg7788p1q7Ok_6Fwb4ffK8VQlMKqt6g_cwcPfpG0jsLSqfk8U-WngO6nbIMMHNL1Eh4GDdEtkCRM7uuoxleHudt5ci_Zzlwx3U0jV0I-zleem0ZI_IUqgnlrJA8BYVHJJUwebGYm_bl/s1600/Martha+Modl+modl3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivoMg7788p1q7Ok_6Fwb4ffK8VQlMKqt6g_cwcPfpG0jsLSqfk8U-WngO6nbIMMHNL1Eh4GDdEtkCRM7uuoxleHudt5ci_Zzlwx3U0jV0I-zleem0ZI_IUqgnlrJA8BYVHJJUwebGYm_bl/s320/Martha+Modl+modl3.jpg" width="199" /></a></div>
This is another unusual recording to feature Martha Modl, following on from the Edinburgh Rosenkavalier. I am not sure if the great Wagnerian soprano sang this role often, this is the only example I have been able to find. Of course, she was following in the very noble tradition of Kirsten Flagstad who sang this role more than a hundred times between 1951 and 1953, recording it for EMI. The other stand-out name among the cast is a young Herman Prey, a notable Figaro and Pappageno in the 1960s, again singing a role here that otherwise is absent from his discography. The recording is in moderate sound, but a good example of the varied and interesting repertoire to be found in regional opera houses in Germany after the war.<br />
<br />
Henry Purcell Dido und Aeneas<br />
Opera in three acts - sung in German<br />
Hamburg - 14 January 1955<br />
Dido, Königin von Karthago - Martha Mödl<br />
Aeneas, Prinz von Troja - Hermann Prey<br />
Belinde, Didos Vertraute - Dora Lindgreen<br />
Zauberin - Gusta Hammer<br />
Gespenst - Fritz Göllnitz<br />
Eine Frau - Dorothea Förster-Dürlich<br />
Hexen - Lisa Bischof, Ursula Zollenkopf<br />
Ein Matrose - Kurt Marschner<br />
<br />
NDR Chor und Sinfonie-Orchester, Hamburg<br />
<br />
Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt<br />
http://rapidshare.com/files/1375684306/DidoModl1955.mp3 Historic Operahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11811792250122133387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351025117505136553.post-16617063713390179512012-12-07T08:32:00.000+00:002012-12-07T08:32:33.474+00:00Siegfried Metropolitan Opera 1938<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCCLLG8MHECdA2xB8hn7A4LzYNwHiQ8hr_6c9zIJWHMNCq2U4dFw7WfmcLb6pkyjPCjRc2txw7mIMW9pTikCNUsgPvQNBr0HQjcwnoMACRAFYI3F5c3KOOAXcjD89KaUDOidrpCtB_SqyL/s1600/flagstad1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCCLLG8MHECdA2xB8hn7A4LzYNwHiQ8hr_6c9zIJWHMNCq2U4dFw7WfmcLb6pkyjPCjRc2txw7mIMW9pTikCNUsgPvQNBr0HQjcwnoMACRAFYI3F5c3KOOAXcjD89KaUDOidrpCtB_SqyL/s320/flagstad1.jpg" width="250" /></a></div>
<code>Today is the 50th anniversary of the death of Kirsten Flagstad. To mark her passing I am posting a rare extract of her in the last act of Siegfried. Of all the Ring operas Siegfried was the gives sopranos the least to do, and therefore there are comparatively few recorded examples of Flagstad in the role even though she sang the opera many times. There is a complete recording from January 1937 with Melchior as Siegfried and then some post-war examples from La Scala and Covent Garden. This short extract (44 mins) of act 3 is all that survives from this opera, but whoever recorded it captured all of Flagstad's part. She is partnered by Carl Hartman, a German tenor specialising in Wagnerian roles, who enjoyed success in Europe in particular. He sang at the Met only 16 times between 1937 and 1940. </code><br />
<br />
<code>The sound is rough in places, but more than bearable for the beauty of Flagstad's awakening in the final scene.</code><br />
<br />
<code> </code><br />
<br />
<code>Metropolitan Opera House<br />December 10, 1938 Matinee Broadcast<br /> <br /><br /><b>SIEGFRIED </b><br /> <br />Siegfried...............Carl Hartmann<br />Brünnhilde..............Kirsten Flagstad<br />Wanderer................Friedrich Schorr<br />Erda....................Anna Kaskas<br />Mime....................Erich Witte<br />Alberich................Adolf Vogel<br />Fafner..................Norman Cordon<br />Forest Bird.............Natalie Bodanya<br /> <br />Conductor...............Artur Bodanzky</code><br />
<code>http://rapidshare.com/files/165148709/1938Siegfried.mp3 </code>Historic Operahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11811792250122133387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351025117505136553.post-78687658695656564952012-11-18T08:04:00.000+00:002012-11-18T08:04:11.228+00:00Barber of Seville Metropolitan Opera 1938<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPRPJ5luyMrOrQmQ5WSs5FeoOdCzEE_SCwzUXQOqf_yonkLo-ejPZUjNtKXgpcIL7ZUrfPT1BLqBGBf3KoDtVLJj4-_h4PwyXSH02bY-ctjgwgnYwq95yyOMAVLK9zr6khx1JUIqfBZez7/s1600/ThomasBarbiere.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPRPJ5luyMrOrQmQ5WSs5FeoOdCzEE_SCwzUXQOqf_yonkLo-ejPZUjNtKXgpcIL7ZUrfPT1BLqBGBf3KoDtVLJj4-_h4PwyXSH02bY-ctjgwgnYwq95yyOMAVLK9zr6khx1JUIqfBZez7/s320/ThomasBarbiere.jpg" width="223" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thomas as Figaro</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<code>The Barber of Seville returned to the Met in 1938 for the first time in 6 years with a new Figaro and new Count. American baritone John Charles Thomas (1891-1960) really made his name on the radio, gaining a wide public following before his Met debut in 1934. He continued to sing on the radio throughout his career and to record a wide range of popular songs. The Met's broadcast audience would hear him three times as this Figaro, twice as Amonasro, and once each as Germont and Valentin. </code><br />
<code><br /></code>
<code>Bruno Landi (1900-1968) had made his met debut just ten days before this broadcast. His most frequently performed role at the Met was Almaviva, but he also sang the Duke of Mantua, Nemorino and Rodolfo.</code><br />
<code><br /></code>
<code>French-born Lily Pons (1898-1976) was one of the most famous singers at the Met in the 1930s and 1940s. She was the leading coloratura soprano, noted for her Lucia, Gilda and Rosina. </code><br />
<code><br /></code>
<code>The sound is rough in places, but better than other performances from this season.</code><br />
<br />
<br />
<code>Metropolitan Opera House<br />January 22, 1938 Matinee Broadcast<br /> <br /><br /><b>IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA</b><br />Rossini-Sterbini<br /> <br />Figaro..................John Charles Thomas<br />Rosina..................Lily Pons<br />Count Almaviva..........Bruno Landi<br />Dr. Bartolo.............Pompilio Malatesta<br />Don Basilio.............Ezio Pinza<br />Berta...................Irra Petina<br />Fiorello................Wilfred Engelman<br />Sergeant................Giordano Paltrinieri<br /> <br />Conductor...............Gennaro Papi<br /> <br />Director................Désiré Defrère<br />Set designer............Joseph Urban<br /><br />[In the Lesson Scene Pons sang Villanelle (Dell'Acqua) and Ach ich liebte from Die Entführung aus dem Serail.]</code><br />
<code>https://rapidshare.com/files/974807896/1938Barber.zip </code>Historic Operahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11811792250122133387noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351025117505136553.post-67505322808913796322012-11-14T06:31:00.002+00:002012-11-14T06:31:52.170+00:00Der Rosenkavalier Edinburgh 1952<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFW5Ijx89Jw8S6dITCudWXUAiK5gJ9oyQOeaCjEaSNig1HTsb84Mx_2qxsCPXJo2ObOfeArg2NgjOkECwvNPlbubWV5YhgqeF69IRt2UQcGK8gYr17NdUoM9GoDPfRWUyvtLEqaqKMOyGw/s1600/Martha+Mi%CC%82dl+als+Octavian.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFW5Ijx89Jw8S6dITCudWXUAiK5gJ9oyQOeaCjEaSNig1HTsb84Mx_2qxsCPXJo2ObOfeArg2NgjOkECwvNPlbubWV5YhgqeF69IRt2UQcGK8gYr17NdUoM9GoDPfRWUyvtLEqaqKMOyGw/s320/Martha+Mi%CC%82dl+als+Octavian.jpg" width="222" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Modl as Octavian</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<style>
<!--
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
margin:0cm;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ansi-language:EN-US;
mso-no-proof:yes;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
mso-default-props:yes;
font-size:10.0pt;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
mso-ansi-language:EN-US;}
@page WordSection1
{size:595.3pt 841.9pt;
margin:70.85pt 70.85pt 2.0cm 70.85pt;
mso-header-margin:35.4pt;
mso-footer-margin:35.4pt;
mso-paper-source:0;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
-->
</style>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">This recording is of a visit by the Hamburg State Opera to the Edinburgh Festival in 1952. About 37 minutes of extracts are preserved, concentrating on the Octavian of Martha Modl. Modl is best known for her Wagnerian roles, particular Brunnhilde, Kundry and Isolde, which she would sing at Bayreuth and elsewhere during the 1950s. The recent issue by Testament of her stereo Walkure and Gotterdammerung from Bayreuth in 1955 are particularly important documents of her art, while her broadcast of Tristan under Karajan at Bayreuth in 1952 (issued by Orfeo) ranks as one of the finest performances of the opera. Her non-Wagnerian discography is more limited, and examples of her singing Richard Strauss are few. The recording is taken from the complete BBC broadcast, but no further extracts seem to survive. The sound is acceptable.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Richard Strauss</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">DER ROSENKAVALIER</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">King's Theatre, Edinburgh
September 5, 1952</span> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h4>
Marschallin - Clara Ebers</h4>
<h4>
Octavian - Martha Mödl</h4>
<h4>
Sophie - Lisa Della Casa</h4>
<h4>
Der Baron Ochs auf Lerchenau - Theo Herrmann</h4>
<h4>
Faninal - Caspar Bröcheler</h4>
<h4>
Valzacchi - Fritz Göllnitz</h4>
<h4>
Annina - Hedy Gura</h4>
<h4>
Ein Sänger - Fritz Lehnert</h4>
<h4>
Marianne Leitmetzerin - Lisa Bischof</h4>
<h4>
Polizeikommissar - Jean Pfendt</h4>
<h4>
Der Wirt - Kurt Marschner</h4>
<h4>
Ein Notar - Karl (Carl) Otto</h4>
<h4>
Der Haushofmeister bei der Feldmarschallin - Horst Wegner</h4>
<h4>
Der Haufhofmeister bei Faninal - Kurt Marschner</h4>
<h4>
Tierhändler - Robert Bodewig</h4>
<h4>
Modistin - Christine Görner</h4>
<h4>
Die drei Waisen - Agathe Bomatsch</h4>
<h4>
- Edith Witteborn</h4>
<h4>
- Kathe Feige</h4>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Conductor LEOPOLD LUDWIG</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">https://rapidshare.com/files/4039914283/1952RosenkavalierEdinburgh.mp3 </span></div>
Historic Operahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11811792250122133387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351025117505136553.post-59009083461846576782012-10-07T08:41:00.001+01:002012-10-07T08:41:25.467+01:00Tristan und Isolde Metropolitan Opera April 1938<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixL6xpjGWOgcbeqJ-2FfA5t0A7qIVeuKBY-B3C0zq0VkF5_tsrZ8-G2raNib4Gr5CL6cK31N6Qr0ScU0_DzLWNwNyoh29FKYkndPor-via7hTsu-o1JRcm9w6S2r-zQhVJyZne-TofoZxD/s1600/FlagstadMelchiorActoI.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixL6xpjGWOgcbeqJ-2FfA5t0A7qIVeuKBY-B3C0zq0VkF5_tsrZ8-G2raNib4Gr5CL6cK31N6Qr0ScU0_DzLWNwNyoh29FKYkndPor-via7hTsu-o1JRcm9w6S2r-zQhVJyZne-TofoZxD/s320/FlagstadMelchiorActoI.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flagstad and Melchior on stage in Act 2</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh78HdAtVZFqEdk4Qq1xW2KflKtT6cSK4aUbtDLM1zVB9nvPhQu2k4Mc7lyeOGbgNBc8NhP3s-X3W3eqzWM-5SEOtiQ9kW4hUTveeguSgyeqekJE6Rm1GgdP2awGb5RdHo9COdXCX-oAB5j/s1600/Flagstad_Melchior_Branzell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh78HdAtVZFqEdk4Qq1xW2KflKtT6cSK4aUbtDLM1zVB9nvPhQu2k4Mc7lyeOGbgNBc8NhP3s-X3W3eqzWM-5SEOtiQ9kW4hUTveeguSgyeqekJE6Rm1GgdP2awGb5RdHo9COdXCX-oAB5j/s320/Flagstad_Melchior_Branzell.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flagstad backstage with Melchior and Branzell</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<code>Flagstad and Melchior were probably the biggest stars the Met had on its roster of singers in 1937-8, and they were worked very hard as a result. They opened and closed the season in Tristan because the Met could virtually guarantee a full house. Melchior sang 36 Wagnerian performances during the season (November-April), Flagstad 39, her other Met role, Leonore in Fidelio, did not feature in this season. Tristan was performed 12 times and broadcast twice (January and April). Flagstad appeared in all, Melchior in 11 (Carl Hartmann took the role of Tristan on a single occasion). What is particularly remarkable about this broadcast is that it took place the day after the Parsifal broadcast I recently posted. Parsifal was a rare Friday broadcast, and in fact marked Good Friday in 1938 in recognition of the setting of the opera. The following day the last performance of the season saw large parts of Parsifal's cast appear again in the regular Saturday matinee broadcast of Tristan. Only Huehn and Branzell were 'fresh'. </code><br />
<br />
<code>Swedish mezzo Karin Branzell (1891-1974) completed the trio of Scandinavians performing Tristan at the Met. <code>Brangäne was one of her signature roles, and she sang it 74 times at the Met between 1924 and 1944 and was heard on five broadcasts.</code></code><br />
<code><code><br /></code></code>
<code><code>American baritone Julius Huehn (1904-1971) appeared more than two hundred times at the Met between 1935 and 1946. He was a noted Telramund and Wotan, and sang Kurwenal 56 times between 1936 and 1944.</code></code><br />
<br />
<code><code>The sound is not bad for an aircheck, with only the odd drop out. </code></code><br />
<br />
<code>Metropolitan Opera House <br />April 16, 1938 Matinee Broadcast<br /> <br /><br /><b>TRISTAN UND ISOLDE </b><br /> <br />Tristan.................Lauritz Melchior<br />Isolde..................Kirsten Flagstad<br />Kurwenal................Julius Huehn<br />Brangäne................Karin Branzell<br />King Marke..............Emanuel List<br />Melot...................Arnold Gabor<br />Sailor's Voice..........Karl Laufkötter<br />Shepherd................Karl Laufkötter<br />Steersman...............Louis D'Angelo<br /> <br />Conductor...............Artur Bodanzky</code><br />
<br />
<code>https://rapidshare.com/files/563746006/1938TristanApril.zip </code>Historic Operahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11811792250122133387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351025117505136553.post-51740581330466486262012-10-06T07:46:00.000+01:002012-10-06T07:46:54.037+01:00La Boheme Metropolitan Opera 1938<code></code><br />
<code></code><br />
<code></code><br />
<code></code><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8IMW_IR6NjgraxAV_lvKMEhqQue99rMNGZedHPwtP5iCxqeuVmoBOOGWOzf7_jaASmPngKO1FGv4KDKpRyRjz2JkY-7W0sodXUMq2338XyoFb5b7sTTsZtvkrOZcgL_md2XCl-jj44t2t/s1600/GraceMoore.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8IMW_IR6NjgraxAV_lvKMEhqQue99rMNGZedHPwtP5iCxqeuVmoBOOGWOzf7_jaASmPngKO1FGv4KDKpRyRjz2JkY-7W0sodXUMq2338XyoFb5b7sTTsZtvkrOZcgL_md2XCl-jj44t2t/s320/GraceMoore.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grace Moore</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<code> This broadcast of La Boheme gives us an early chance to hear American soprano Grace Moore (1898-1947) in one of her most famous roles. Moore was an early example of a cross-over artist, making her name on Broadway working with Jerome Kern and Irving Berlin before making her Met debut as Mimi in 1928. During the 1930s she made several Hollywood films including Louise, a version of Charpentier's opera which was another of her signature roles. Moore died in a plane crash in Denmark at the age of just 48. </code><br />
<br />
<code>This is the only surviving Met broadcast to feature Scottish soprano Muriel Dickson (1903-1990). Dickson appeared just 29 times at the Met between 1936 and 1940, and apart from Musetta appeared most often as Marenka in The Bartered Bride. Dickson had made her name as the principal soprano for the D'Oyly Carte and can be heard in several studio recordings of Gilbert & Sullivan operettas made in the early 1930s. After retiring from the stage she joined the faculty of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. </code><br />
<code><br /></code>
<code>The sound, as with all these airchecks, is variable, but perhaps a little more bearable than some others from this season.</code><br />
<code></code><br />
<code></code><br />
<code><br /> </code><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKcArU4VBQ3SmhyCBFOBlb41kwseQBUaxdFPM1bXVferS0RAo5lqzwrzMMZx3l3rRTQTSgF8hm5vBS1iGBieim_c2N9jCs7zvrUS_JCvQJn6muHsEAEdItUsThUggTT-PkeCX8zzw2kM5N/s1600/93d020f18b1f6814893fe6d1023d8d5f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKcArU4VBQ3SmhyCBFOBlb41kwseQBUaxdFPM1bXVferS0RAo5lqzwrzMMZx3l3rRTQTSgF8hm5vBS1iGBieim_c2N9jCs7zvrUS_JCvQJn6muHsEAEdItUsThUggTT-PkeCX8zzw2kM5N/s1600/93d020f18b1f6814893fe6d1023d8d5f.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Muriel Dickson</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<code>Metropolitan Opera House<br />January 15, 1938 Matinee Broadcast<br /> <br /><br /><b>LA BOHÈME</b><br /> <br />Mimì....................Grace Moore<br />Rodolfo.................Bruno Landi<br />Musetta.................Muriel Dickson<br />Marcello................Carlo Tagliabue<br />Schaunard...............George Cehanovsky<br />Colline.................Ezio Pinza<br />Benoit..................Louis D'Angelo<br />Alcindoro...............Louis D'Angelo<br />Parpignol...............Max Altglass<br />Sergeant................Carlo Coscia<br /> <br />Conductor...............Gennaro Papi</code><br />
<br />
<code>https://rapidshare.com/files/2976156882/1938Boheme.zip </code>Historic Operahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11811792250122133387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351025117505136553.post-37823387761818338372012-10-02T16:32:00.001+01:002012-10-02T16:32:28.447+01:00Hansel and Gretel Metropolitan Opera December 1937<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE08H5iigz8doY5sFWPNRtq1jrB4TDeoQG1g7IwSi9RJANC6ef8dei0-anIM9IDHXn2VtqZs2Regduzk5c0wgwvaceVfscqhbgzQC8Z7qEVi6nv_yBRPPPwY_CEVe1NTTSwloJkU5lSad_/s1600/18528+-+Irene+Jessner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE08H5iigz8doY5sFWPNRtq1jrB4TDeoQG1g7IwSi9RJANC6ef8dei0-anIM9IDHXn2VtqZs2Regduzk5c0wgwvaceVfscqhbgzQC8Z7qEVi6nv_yBRPPPwY_CEVe1NTTSwloJkU5lSad_/s320/18528+-+Irene+Jessner.jpg" width="254" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Irene Jessner</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0RopN2U_cZTGNef3_5oI1h7-rLCveX5ElzamHZG8l0kXJd9hdS0KZVYPooH_KjKrMOn6oP1npq-wwB7LzSWrt2caJ48qIpTcsmN13KOfXsoDoy0C7x53WuDUqaSNnsoSbzIY0qI26TGYU/s1600/70647464_130688171572.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0RopN2U_cZTGNef3_5oI1h7-rLCveX5ElzamHZG8l0kXJd9hdS0KZVYPooH_KjKrMOn6oP1npq-wwB7LzSWrt2caJ48qIpTcsmN13KOfXsoDoy0C7x53WuDUqaSNnsoSbzIY0qI26TGYU/s320/70647464_130688171572.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Queena Mario</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Hansel and Gretel was the regular Christmas broadcast between 1931 and 1938. It inaugurated the matinee broadcasts from the Met on Christmas Day 1931 and was heard on either Christmas Eve, Christmas Day or Boxing Day for the next seven seasons. Apart from a solitary January performance in 1947 it would not return to the broadcast schedule until 1967.<br />
<br />
The broadcast gives us a chance to hear soprano Queena Mario (1896-1951) as Gretel. Mario was particularly noted for her Michaela in Carmen, Marguerite in Faust, and Antonia in Hoffmann. Partnering her is Viennese soprano Irene Jessner (1901-1994). Jessner sang the lighter Wagnerian roles at the Met (Elsa, Elisabeth, Eva) and regularly made cameos as a Valkyrie. Here we get the chance to hear her early on in her Met career (she made her debut in 1936), in a role that she rarely sang. <br />
<br />
The sound is very noisy at times, as is typical with airchecks from this season. A much better sounding recording of this opera from April 1937 (with largely the same cast) exists in the New York Public Library deriving from the original transcription discs.<br />
<br />
<code>Metropolitan Opera House<br />December 24, 1937 Matinee Broadcast<br /> <br /><br /><b>HÄNSEL UND GRETEL </b><br />Humperdinck-Wette<br /> <br />Hänsel..................Irene Jessner<br />Gretel..................Queena Mario<br />Gertrud.................Doris Doe<br />Peter...................Arnold Gabor<br />Witch...................Dorothee Manski<br />Sandman.................Lucielle Browning<br />Dew Fairy...............Charlotte Symons<br /> <br />Conductor...............Karl Riedel</code><br />
<br />
https://rapidshare.com/files/3399608747/1937HanselDec1.mp3<br />
https://rapidshare.com/files/2136263492/1937HanselDec2.mp3Historic Operahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11811792250122133387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351025117505136553.post-58076280442252240102012-10-01T08:44:00.001+01:002012-10-01T08:44:38.380+01:00Parsifal Metropolitan Opera 1938<code>After a summer break I am resuming with some performances from the 1937-8 and 1938-9 seasons at the Metropolitan Opera. Unlike the 1936-7, 1939-40, and 1940-41 seasons no transcription discs exist for these two years. They were either removed from the archives ('borrowed') or destroyed. This means that recordings we have from these two years are often fragmentary and in poor quality sound since they derive from airchecks. Having said that, they often capture unique performances. One good example is the first complete Met broadcast of Parsifal in 1938, indeed it would not be broadcast again until 1952. It captures the only complete recording of Melchior and Flagstad in this opera and is therefore of great historic interest. The sound is problematic, with gaps for disc changes every 5 or 7 minutes, and might be classed as hard work. If you can listen through the noise there is certainly a great performance to be heard. There are rumours of a better sounding copy, without gaps, in existence, but it has yet to be issued. </code><br />
<code> </code><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFqHn9W7etTcyLPDz52tDCudDxeWJ9vC61Q2OQEE6QQfBcSF_O-IvIPMc_8pPJHfT7207z2Jxh4isVHFdg9PEn2CIr64fJcgpDETPL3VWiXtANL3gQ-PlSPO1QChFPqNcJ-YsyYuk_h7DG/s1600/Flagstad.Parsifal.1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFqHn9W7etTcyLPDz52tDCudDxeWJ9vC61Q2OQEE6QQfBcSF_O-IvIPMc_8pPJHfT7207z2Jxh4isVHFdg9PEn2CIr64fJcgpDETPL3VWiXtANL3gQ-PlSPO1QChFPqNcJ-YsyYuk_h7DG/s320/Flagstad.Parsifal.1.jpg" width="186" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flagstad in full cry in Act 2</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDsl-9mnrqTfx9GbJWwJ1yXlbl92xfBmcMUPrG5H7rXw6F-JZM97DMUkUpO5X3yVIfDpvISSL1YlPzyr2Hhlh-UAOey11gnxleDQlisuIPN_HUOCGQJIkYzt46CS-WIk989hsa7fffHgU-/s1600/Flagstad.Parsifal.Kundry.007.9A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDsl-9mnrqTfx9GbJWwJ1yXlbl92xfBmcMUPrG5H7rXw6F-JZM97DMUkUpO5X3yVIfDpvISSL1YlPzyr2Hhlh-UAOey11gnxleDQlisuIPN_HUOCGQJIkYzt46CS-WIk989hsa7fffHgU-/s320/Flagstad.Parsifal.Kundry.007.9A.jpg" width="255" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flagstad's costume which she can be seen wearing in the other photo</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<code>Metropolitan Opera House<br />April 15, 1938 Matinee Broadcast<br /> <br /><br /><b>PARSIFAL</b><br /> <br />Parsifal................Lauritz Melchior<br />Kundry..................Kirsten Flagstad<br />Amfortas................Friedrich Schorr<br />Gurnemanz...............Emanuel List<br />Klingsor................Arnold Gabor<br />Titurel.................Norman Cordon<br />Voice...................Doris Doe<br />First Esquire...........Natalie Bodanya<br />Second Esquire..........Helen Olheim<br />Third Esquire...........Giordano Paltrinieri<br />Fourth Esquire..........Karl Laufkötter<br />First Knight............George Cehanovsky<br />Second Knight...........Louis D'Angelo<br />Flower Maidens: Susanne Fisher, Irra Petina, Helen Olheim, <br />Hilda Burke, Thelma Votipka, Doris Doe<br /><br />The Flower Maidens<br />Group I: Susanne Fisher, Irra Petina, Helen Olheim<br />Group II: Hilda Burke, Thelma Votipka, Doris Doe<br /> <br />Conductor...............Artur Bodanzky, Acts I, III<br />Conductor...............Erich Leinsdorf, Act II</code><br />
<br />
<code>https://rapidshare.com/files/3077872396/1938Parsifal.zip </code>Historic Operahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11811792250122133387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351025117505136553.post-19441483598956453292012-05-26T07:47:00.000+01:002012-05-26T07:47:15.338+01:00Die Walkure Bayreuth 1951<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUc_gbiY5gVpmnTRRaZt23Rnk1i8hxxb05Yiw1f88IE0rVzVe-zDWYOmG0HpSjqEQ2GZMWSUjrDxfC2SMLnKC3ErskTDI8H1qzyvOS3Jv_fB948iXW8uE2TWkQ2qNTUDXagQjhdBQsFQm9/s1600/z01693rleqg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUc_gbiY5gVpmnTRRaZt23Rnk1i8hxxb05Yiw1f88IE0rVzVe-zDWYOmG0HpSjqEQ2GZMWSUjrDxfC2SMLnKC3ErskTDI8H1qzyvOS3Jv_fB948iXW8uE2TWkQ2qNTUDXagQjhdBQsFQm9/s1600/z01693rleqg.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leonie Rysanek</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
When the Bayreuth festival reopened after the war, recording engineers from Decca and EMI were there to record complete Wagner performances. Meistersinger and Parsifal were ultimately issued commercially but both ring cycles were also recorded, the first one under Knappertsbusch by Decca and the second one under Karajan by EMI. The Decca tapes were consigned to the vaults, partly due to producer John Culshaw's dislike of live recordings, and only Gotterdammerung seems to have been kept (and was later issued by Testament). EMI only issued Act 3 of Die Walkure but the entire ring remains in their archive. Rheingold and Siegfried later emerged on pirate labels but the complete Walkure has not been released. The Bayreuth performances of 1951 were broadcast throughout Europe and someone managed to capture this off-air extract from Act 1 of Die Walkure, the final 20 minutes. This is the earliest recording of Leonie Rysanek's Sieglinde, a part she would make her own for a large part of the 1950s and 1960s. Her trademark scream as Siegmund pulls the sword from the tree, famously heard on the Bohm live Bayreuth recordings from 1966/7 is absent here, so clearly was something later added to her characterisation. Treptow is a very fine Siegmund.<br />
<br />
<br />
Die Walkure<br />
Bayreuth August 12, 1951 <br />
<br />
Sieglinde - Leonie Rysanek<br />
Siegmund - Gunther Treptow <br />
<br />
c. Herbert von Karajan<br />
<br />
https://rapidshare.com/files/330558776/1951Walkure.mp3<br />Historic Operahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11811792250122133387noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351025117505136553.post-73374965278462349472012-05-13T18:33:00.000+01:002012-05-13T18:33:45.422+01:00Meistersinger Leipzig 1938<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRvu0KUq-xIeLRhclpCfs8aHmfpBDNi5JypHjPQkoF0bolWmExjKT4TgBN92fNWu7r_hFqVd9SwOJgGonIf4ivxC_S1I-xdo2sNjE-CPJZgkJuDGHLsqfaJdoYbVVIR1OXy6-9bjwhzE2p/s1600/m109554a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRvu0KUq-xIeLRhclpCfs8aHmfpBDNi5JypHjPQkoF0bolWmExjKT4TgBN92fNWu7r_hFqVd9SwOJgGonIf4ivxC_S1I-xdo2sNjE-CPJZgkJuDGHLsqfaJdoYbVVIR1OXy6-9bjwhzE2p/s320/m109554a.jpg" width="241" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Josef von Manowarda as Hans Sachs</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Here we have most of act two of Die Meistersinger, broadcast live from Leipzip and relayed via shortwave to the USA where it was heard on WEAF New York between 2 and 3pm. It's a rare chance to hear Austrian bass Josef von Manowarda (1890-1942) in an extended recording. Other surviving examples of his art tend to be fragmentary, such as various 1933 performances recorded in Vienna (issued as part of the Koch Swan series), and some pre-war Bayreuth extracts. The only complete role of his that survives, so far as I know, is Sarastro in Die Zauberflote from a 1937 Stuttgart radio broadcast. <br />
The cast of this Meistersinger was a very good one for the time. Frantz was a noted Wagnerian and would go on to be a noted Sachs himself as well as a famous Wotan. Max Lorenz was the leading European heldentenor during the 1930s, dominating particularly at Bayreuth. Margarethe Teschemacher was a leading soprano in Germany during the 1930s and created the role of Daphne for Richard Strauss.<br />
The sound is actually not bad for a shortwave transmission, and some commentary is retained. Particularly interesting is the German announcer sending greetings to America at a time when Germany had recently annexed Austria and was moving against Czechoslovakia.<br />
<br />
<br />
Richard Wagner<br />
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg<br />
Act II <br />
Reichssender Leipzig - 22 May 1938<br />
<br />
Hans Sachs - Josef von Manowarda<br />
Veit Pogner - Ferdinand Frantz<br />
Sixtus Beckmesser - Gerhard Hofmann<br />
Walther von Stolzing - Max Lorenz<br />
Eva Pogner - Margarethe Teschemacher<br />
David - Paul Reinecke<br />
Magdalene - Martha Rohs<br />
<br />
Chor und Orchester des Reichssenders Leipzig<br />
Cond. Hans Weisbach<br />
<br />
https://rapidshare.com/files/1909013092/Meistersinger_Leipzig_1938_Act_2.mp3Historic Operahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11811792250122133387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351025117505136553.post-84223009148809990742012-04-29T07:56:00.000+01:002012-04-29T07:56:04.462+01:00Parsifal Carnegie Hall 1938<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZxtHhMZSG9e6pFm4KkXp8vdYQ5Vo8nOr8LucmNGmtf7S3VSvquwKLZUQs0p6ye80VrPZCooC4ffqBBx0WC4TrCxXvPc-gV3JKlEV-4Yk9hC6WQR0NWarQwA1wgaSQenx_N8Pld2tkcMPp/s1600/l-ln9t05gtaurc3f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZxtHhMZSG9e6pFm4KkXp8vdYQ5Vo8nOr8LucmNGmtf7S3VSvquwKLZUQs0p6ye80VrPZCooC4ffqBBx0WC4TrCxXvPc-gV3JKlEV-4Yk9hC6WQR0NWarQwA1wgaSQenx_N8Pld2tkcMPp/s320/l-ln9t05gtaurc3f.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rare Picture of Norman Cordon</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Although the entire first act of Parsifal was broadcast as part of this NYPSO concert, only 23 mins seem to survive. These airchecks were recorded by a professional company in New York for Norman Cordon, who sang Titurel in this performance. Some singers were anxious to document their broadcast performances (Lawrence Tibbett did it often) and paid others to record off-air transmissions. Perhaps the company was only commissioned to record Cordon's part, understandable given the expense involved.<br />
After Cordon's death these discs were donated by his family to a charity shop run by a local PTA in Carborro, NC. They were spotted by an opera enthusiast who rescued them and now we are able to hear part of this performance.<br />
Englishman John Barbirolli had taken over from Toscanini as the principal conductor of the NYPSO in 1936, not a universally acclaimed decision with some critics particularly taking offence the job had not been offered to a more famous conductor. The survival of air-checks of Barbriolli's concerts permit us to judge his ability on the podium for ourselves and I think in general JB comes out pretty well as a result.<br />
<br />
<br />
New York Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra Concert<br />
Carnegie Hall April 17, 1938 broadcast over WABC 3-5pm.<br />
Act 1 grail scene, Norman Cordon (Titurel), Richard Bonelli (Amfortas)<br />
c. John Barbirolli<br />
<br />
https://rapidshare.com/files/2205534039/1938Parsifalextract.mp3Historic Operahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11811792250122133387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351025117505136553.post-22958367899561851222012-04-09T08:27:00.000+01:002012-04-09T08:27:55.484+01:00Otello Covent Garden 1937<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4edp10MLTm2zqZQbBiH1i8yYuRpd6-n-wey5AhrQxN3GyN-dSHlRi-qFkHhK_9RIyTKzZ7PKWJHdegecJwv5v0jvleWCb3fnuOotg8vdghTpxF43G9y0DywMPToKLTr-Fgppc0q0UuRu4/s1600/z01547g297e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4edp10MLTm2zqZQbBiH1i8yYuRpd6-n-wey5AhrQxN3GyN-dSHlRi-qFkHhK_9RIyTKzZ7PKWJHdegecJwv5v0jvleWCb3fnuOotg8vdghTpxF43G9y0DywMPToKLTr-Fgppc0q0UuRu4/s1600/z01547g297e.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Martinelli as Otello</td></tr>
</tbody></table>There are plenty of other recordings of Martinelli as Otello, four complete ones from the Met alone often in very good sound. Yet this short extract from Otello (about 4mins from act 2) is interesting because it is the earliest surviving aircheck of a Covent Garden BBC broadcast. Unlike in the US where opera lovers recorded many opera broadcasts dating back as early as 1930 (see the Lotte Lehmann Tannhauser extract previously posted), and were able to capture complete broadcasts from 1934, British opera lovers simply lacked the right equipment to do the same. Not only were disc cutters very expensive, you needed two of them to be able to capture a broadcast without breaks every 4 or 5 minutes. Thus although the BBC broadcast regularly from Covent Garden, usually just one act rather than a complete opera, very few recordings have turned up over the years. This opera was one of the first to be broadcast complete, Martinelli was of course world famous in the role of Otello. Some opera lover managed to capture this part of act 2, so we can enjoy it seventy-five years later.<br />
<br />
<br />
Otello Covent Garden April 19, 1937<br />
Otello - Giovanni Martinelli<br />
Iago - Cesare Formichi<br />
c. Thomas Beecham<br />
https://rapidshare.com/files/2777343522/1937Otello.mp3Historic Operahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11811792250122133387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351025117505136553.post-76193152748640019212012-03-26T07:24:00.000+01:002012-05-13T18:34:25.383+01:00Don Giovanni St Louis 1941<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7TAOvP3K5F6BMP17oKVdFsw0SW8QQNOXKLnSocnPj45dHCOEe3jtEl8oa-zP1Z71eaCKwiFsNtRY1CE9VGuqIYUdz6l6a2xMsmoQIOAxviPk77SJ_0-is_y5DQATuwnlo-pZN5YTNDAYl/s1600/pinzagiovanni.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7TAOvP3K5F6BMP17oKVdFsw0SW8QQNOXKLnSocnPj45dHCOEe3jtEl8oa-zP1Z71eaCKwiFsNtRY1CE9VGuqIYUdz6l6a2xMsmoQIOAxviPk77SJ_0-is_y5DQATuwnlo-pZN5YTNDAYl/s320/pinzagiovanni.jpg" width="229" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pinza as Don Giovanni</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
American Radio often broadcast from regional opera houses such as San Francisco, Chicago and St Louis during the 1930s and 1940s. Not many operas were broadcast complete, and not many recordings survive. Ezio Pinza was the Met's reigning Don Giovanni during the 1930s and 1940s, featuring in many broadcasts, and so the management of the St Louis opera house had secured themselves a real star for their production of the opera. With him is the Italian tenor Tito Schipa, a light-voiced stylish singer who is approaching the end of this career here, but still very much worth hearing.<br />
<br />
Mozart: Don Giovanni, Act II (part)<br />
<br />
Anne Roselle: Donna Anna<br />
Vivian della Chiesa: Donna Elvira<br />
Margit Bokor: Zerlina<br />
Tito Schipa: Don Ottavio<br />
Ezio Pinza: Don Giovanni<br />
Lorenzo Alvary: Leporello<br />
Carlo Alexander: Masetto<br />
St. Louis Opera, cond. Laszlo Halasz, April 16, 1941<br />
<br />
https://rapidshare.com/files/1304827348/DGStLouis41.mp3Historic Operahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11811792250122133387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351025117505136553.post-52827610599269468002012-03-17T07:14:00.000+00:002012-03-17T07:14:02.206+00:00Forza RAI 1938<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmz3NEwF-mee1TY73Ypkh9rIiLjDoxOg2ovW_7TXq19jRu_f3f4Xahf9CojBRNW8mKCsDN9wSXnW-JJOXUX8-EJQIxf1AoKSfyaDSlyXN6lUSnpbnj2j2E9dXIRby08hvZemp_44i6c0Pb/s1600/627556364c937a7bc1424.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmz3NEwF-mee1TY73Ypkh9rIiLjDoxOg2ovW_7TXq19jRu_f3f4Xahf9CojBRNW8mKCsDN9wSXnW-JJOXUX8-EJQIxf1AoKSfyaDSlyXN6lUSnpbnj2j2E9dXIRby08hvZemp_44i6c0Pb/s320/627556364c937a7bc1424.jpg" width="190" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gina Cigna</td></tr>
</tbody></table>To commemorate the 125th anniversary of the birth of Verdi RAI in Rome broadcast La Forza del Destino throughout Europe. All that seems to survive from this earliest live broadcast of Forza is Act 2 Scene 2 recorded from a shortwave relay by NBC station WJZ New York. <br />
The recording features the famous Italian soprano Gina Cigna (1900-2001) who was most noted for her interpretation of Verdi heroines. She made a number of important early studio operas including Turandot, and can be heard live on stage in Aida and Norma from the Met. So far as I know this is only live recording of her in Forza.<br />
<br />
Verdi - La forza del destino - Act 2 Scene 2<br />
RAI broadcast, 10 October 1938<br />
c. Oliviero De Fabritiis<br />
Orchestra & Chorus - EIAR Roma<br />
<br />
Leonora di Vargas - Gina Cigna<br />
Fra Melitone - Emilio Ghirardini<br />
Padre Guardiano - Giacomo Vaghi<br />
https://rapidshare.com/files/1361298058/1938Forza.mp3Historic Operahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11811792250122133387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351025117505136553.post-79693534255301149442012-02-25T12:05:00.000+00:002012-02-25T12:05:49.245+00:00Otello La Scala 1939<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqMVz8teS3TqTuRy7CjvFkAjNIWM3aHqnUVg74I2PvbleIi77PonmJq0vAKtP7jti79Y9IpSSJ14boctbJlz3uC8C54qrni3lxlaX6ZymANke4Na-S6PDVpWHtuLXtfCmvmQywHs5JN7mP/s1600/Francesco-Merli.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqMVz8teS3TqTuRy7CjvFkAjNIWM3aHqnUVg74I2PvbleIi77PonmJq0vAKtP7jti79Y9IpSSJ14boctbJlz3uC8C54qrni3lxlaX6ZymANke4Na-S6PDVpWHtuLXtfCmvmQywHs5JN7mP/s320/Francesco-Merli.jpg" width="194" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Merli as Otello</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Recorded lived at Castello Sforzesco in Milan and transmitted via shortwave to the USA we have nearly all of act 1 of Otello. This post allows us to hear the famed Italian tenor Francesco Merli (1887-1976) in one of his signature roles, Otello. Merli made studio recordings but live recordings of him on stage are rare. World War II, which would break out just weeks after this broadcast, would effectively end Merli's career. The broadcast was aired on WJZ New York (4-4.35pm).<br />
<br />
Verdi – Otello – Act 1<br />
Castello Sforzesco, Milan August 15, 1939<br />
<br />
c. Arturo Lucon<br />
<br />
Otello - Francesco Merli<br />
Desdemona - Delia Sanzio<br />
Iago - Enrico de Francheschi<br />
Cassio - Alfredo Poggianti<br />
Rodrigo - Erminio Benatti<br />
Lodovico - Giuseppe Meraina<br />
Montano - Luigi Sardi<br />
Emilia - Rina Gallo Toscani<br />
<br />
https://rapidshare.com/files/1915368377/1939Otello.mp3Historic Operahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11811792250122133387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351025117505136553.post-27786422788195494112012-02-12T08:23:00.000+00:002012-02-12T08:23:25.688+00:00Meistersinger Covent Garden 1951<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_SHFvygp3kmMSVdGNt47awGsyp6CsMmYYrfu4dq8eMnpudPNJSDPoLfUG4lQgV9g3khC7vrIBNywKRhbXqKj0VuxGB24k7fkvv_LUtNemBFVe5h85uNSpEhBtwXQ_5Ue_Q8X9C10iIETW/s1600/Hotter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_SHFvygp3kmMSVdGNt47awGsyp6CsMmYYrfu4dq8eMnpudPNJSDPoLfUG4lQgV9g3khC7vrIBNywKRhbXqKj0VuxGB24k7fkvv_LUtNemBFVe5h85uNSpEhBtwXQ_5Ue_Q8X9C10iIETW/s320/Hotter.jpg" width="228" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hotter as Sachs</td></tr>
</tbody></table> This is a rare opportunity to hear Thomas Beecham conducting Meistersinger. A large part of some 1936 performances were recorded by HMV but very little now survives. Here we have a complete act 1 and a complete act 2. The entire opera was broadcast by the BBC but a recording of act 3 has never surfaced. The cast is a mixture of home-grown talent and international stars. There are only two other complete recordings of the great bass-baritone Hans Hotter singing Sachs, in Munich in 1949 and Bayreuth in 1956. Austrian Ludwig Weber, normally associated with the ring villans Hunding and Hagen, sings Pogner. Liquid-voiced Elizabeth Grümmer would record the role of Eva in the studio under Kempe and then sang the role at Bayreuth between 1957 and 1961, but this is her earliest recording of the role. Singing Walther is Peter Anders and this is a rare example of him singing one of the Wagnerian roles that he was moving into at this stage of his career. He died in an accident aged just 46 in 1954.<br />
Among the local singers performing are Constance Shacklock, and a young Geraint Evans.<br />
<br />
Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg<br />
Acts I, II<br />
Royal Opera House Chorus and Orchestra, London<br />
Sir Thomas Beecham, Conductor<br />
July 2, 1951<br />
<br />
Hans Sachs - Hans Hotter<br />
Veit Pogner - Ludwig Weber<br />
Sixtus Beckmesser - Benno Kusche<br />
Fritz Kothner - Rhoderick Davies<br />
Walther von Stolzing - Peter Anders<br />
David - Murray Dickie<br />
Eva - Elisabeth Grümmer<br />
Magdalena - Constance Shacklock<br />
Nachtwächter - Geraint Evans<br />
Kunz Vogelgesang - Edgar Evans<br />
Konrad Nachtigall - Ernest Davies<br />
Ulrich Eisslinger - Dennis Stephenson<br />
Balthasar Zorn - Emlyn Jones<br />
Augustin Moser - David Tree<br />
Hermann Ortel - Marian Nowakowski<br />
Hans Schwarz - Charles Morris<br />
Hans Foltz - Ronald Lewis<br />
<br />
https://rapidshare.com/files/2606716127/1951MeistersingerAct1.mp3<br />
https://rapidshare.com/files/3530561516/1951MeistersingerAct2.mp3Historic Operahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11811792250122133387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351025117505136553.post-74500611293281878372012-01-21T13:46:00.000+00:002012-01-21T13:46:38.319+00:00Tosca, Metropolitan Opera House 1956<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBo_LmdsCPFKBOZdtp8YPqCjLCU59JO8pO0o5Fy837wxVQc9_9NkdlkRrVMsoA4RzCCznspfDdK9a8XlU9UYwrFrbLa6Z2k-ZF8nXgYF_jRm2nf7Hg5VtIWbWVc_uR_LdSyvh2ULyqLE69/s1600/bjoerling_cavaradossi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBo_LmdsCPFKBOZdtp8YPqCjLCU59JO8pO0o5Fy837wxVQc9_9NkdlkRrVMsoA4RzCCznspfDdK9a8XlU9UYwrFrbLa6Z2k-ZF8nXgYF_jRm2nf7Hg5VtIWbWVc_uR_LdSyvh2ULyqLE69/s320/bjoerling_cavaradossi.jpg" width="224" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jussi Bjorling as Cavaradossi</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>So far as I know this is the earliest in-house recording from the Met, made most likely from the prompter's box as he is audible throughout. It is notable for capturing Jussi Bjorling's earliest live Cavaradossi, and together with Zinka Milanov he would record the complete opera in stereo for RCA in 1957. The preserved extracts are most of acts 1 and 2 - both start from Cavaradossi's entrance and run through the end of each act. The sound is extremely variable, parts are not bad at all, but sections towards the end of act 2 are pretty dreadful. Both Jussi and Zinka are on top form though and I think it's worth persevering with.<br />
<br />
<br />
Metropolitan Opera House<br />
April 4, 1956<br />
<br />
<br />
TOSCA <br />
Tosca...................Zinka Milanov<br />
Cavaradossi.............Jussi Björling<br />
Scarpia.................Walter Cassel<br />
Sacristan...............Gerhard Pechner<br />
Spoletta................Alessio De Paolis<br />
Angelotti...............Clifford Harvuot<br />
Sciarrone...............George Cehanovsky<br />
Shepherd................Rosalind Elias<br />
Jailer..................Calvin Marsh<br />
<br />
Conductor...............Dimitri Mitropoulos<br />
https://rapidshare.com/files/3785693567/1956ToscaAct1.mp3<br />
https://rapidshare.com/files/3338737423/1956ToscaAct2.mp3Historic Operahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11811792250122133387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351025117505136553.post-6235734833628279352012-01-18T18:51:00.000+00:002012-01-18T18:51:05.481+00:00Aida Mexico City 1950<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy-W8Yssx1SVu235vlSDmNzec-zEL853-g5-RO-7iPJWNXWm9NGp7JyymXpfzSxaaxR-ZmsPakWk5XoA91eA-_mili6xf28bteL3B9YKnVCGwTVSEvnUr25bST-LJgSDvl-AUOYUe7uTMs/s1600/6a00d8341c4e3853ef0134864bd666970c-800wi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy-W8Yssx1SVu235vlSDmNzec-zEL853-g5-RO-7iPJWNXWm9NGp7JyymXpfzSxaaxR-ZmsPakWk5XoA91eA-_mili6xf28bteL3B9YKnVCGwTVSEvnUr25bST-LJgSDvl-AUOYUe7uTMs/s320/6a00d8341c4e3853ef0134864bd666970c-800wi.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Callas on stage as Aida</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Here are just over half an hour of extracts from one of Callas's earliest Aidas, captured in Mexico City in 1950. The extracts concentrate on Callas, and her main showpieces are here. The sound is only moderate, probably from off-air acetates, but her artistry shines through and we hear her long before her voice began to decline. <br />
<br />
AIDA<br />
MEXICO CITY<br />
JUNE 3, 1950<br />
<br />
AIDA - MARIA CALLAS<br />
RADAMES - KURT BAUM<br />
AMNERIS - GIULIETTA SIMIONATO<br />
AMONASRO - ROBERT WEEDE<br />
IL RE - IGNACIO RUFFINO<br />
RAMFIS - NICOLA MOSCONA<br />
A MESSENGER - CARLOS SAGARMINAGA<br />
PRIESTESS - ROSA RODRIGUEZ<br />
<br />
https://rapidshare.com/files/1237915155/Aida1950.mp3Historic Operahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11811792250122133387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351025117505136553.post-47183603096470213092011-12-28T11:13:00.000+00:002011-12-28T11:13:45.895+00:00Tristan und Isolde Covent Garden 1937<style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:Times;
panose-1:2 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:Cambria;
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{mso-style-parent:"";
margin-top:0cm;
margin-right:0cm;
margin-bottom:10.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-noshow:yes;
color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;
text-underline:single;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{mso-style-noshow:yes;
color:purple;
text-decoration:underline;
text-underline:single;}
@page Section1
{size:612.0pt 792.0pt;
margin:72.0pt 89.85pt 72.0pt 89.85pt;
mso-header-margin:36.0pt;
mso-footer-margin:36.0pt;
mso-paper-source:0;}
div.Section1
{page:Section1;}
-->
</style> <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-u2al7LBPxPc/Tvr36HSl32I/AAAAAAAAAEc/Nqnnj7jiyek/s1600/Met%252BFlagstad%252C%252BKirsten%252Band%252BLauritz%252BMelchior%252BTristan%252Bund%252BIsolde.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-u2al7LBPxPc/Tvr36HSl32I/AAAAAAAAAEc/Nqnnj7jiyek/s320/Met%252BFlagstad%252C%252BKirsten%252Band%252BLauritz%252BMelchior%252BTristan%252Bund%252BIsolde.jpg" width="261" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flagstad and Melchior on stage in Act 1 of Tristan</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal">In the summers of 1936 and 1937 EMI engineers made numerous recordings of live performances at Covent Garden using twin turntables so as to capture complete operas. Very little of what was recorded was issued commercially at the time, though some of it has subsequently appeared either on LP or on CD. The very last recordings made were two complete recordings of Tristan und Isolde conducted by Thomas Beecham on June 18<sup>th</sup> and June 22<sup>nd</sup> as Technical Tests 6547 and 6548. The subsequent history of these recordings is complex and it seems likely that neither now exist complete. In 1992 when EMI themselves issued a CD of a Beecham Tristan from 1937 it became apparent that they no longer had a complete copy of the original discs since more than half of what they issued came from the Reiner recording from 1936. Yet there have been several issues of a ‘complete’ Beecham Tristan from 1937, most recently on various small ‘pirate’ labels all of which have disappointing over-processed sound, and clearly a complete Beecham Tristan can be compiled from the surviving elements of the two performances. One possible explanation for the lack of a ‘proper’ remastering by a skilled engineer is that the two performances used different Kurwenals and Branganes, another is that the original discs (beyond what EMI have) quite probably no longer survive and working from an inferior LP source could be discouraging. Personally I would still like someone to have a go! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal">This is what seems to survive:</div><div class="MsoNormal">Act 1 – 68 minutes from June 18<sup>th</sup> performance, final 6 minutes from June 22<sup>nd</sup> performance. The transition from one performance to the other is skilfully done and this edit exists on all issues of act 1 suggesting it was done by EMI engineers back in 1937 perhaps to compensate for a broken or damaged disc. The only way to tell is that the Kurwenal for the final five minutes is Schoffler not Janssen. I have split the files by date but if you want to hear a musically complete act 1 then just play the 22nd June act end after the 18th June file. </div><div class="MsoNormal">Act 2 – both the 18<sup>th</sup> and 22<sup>nd</sup> June recordings of act 2 are complete – the 18<sup>th</sup> is taken from the EMI masters that still exist.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Act 3 – first 10 minutes from the June 18<sup>th</sup> performance, from the EMI masters, and a complete recording from June 22<sup>nd</sup>. </div><div class="MsoNormal">For this upload of the two incomplete performances I have used the EMI master transfers where they exist, the others come from LP issues that, to my ears at least, sound better than currently available CD issues that vary between the muffled and the ‘frying pan’. The LPs have quieter and cleaner surfaces than the CD issues and while not as quiet as the EMI masters and rough around the edges at times they are more than listenable to. I have uploaded them as flac files rather than as mp3 in this instance.</div><div class="MsoNormal">As to the performances, I think these perhaps capture Flagstad and Melchior at their finest. Beecham seems to get more out of these singers than either Reiner (his tempi are certainly quicker), or Bodansky (who conducted the contemporary Met performances). Rarely has the music been sung better and I don’t think the two principals have ever been so well matched. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: .1pt; mso-outline-level: 2; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0cm; mso-para-margin-right: 0cm; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd;"><a href="" name="10"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Tristan und Isolde by Richard Wagner </span></a><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: .1pt; mso-outline-level: 4; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0cm; mso-para-margin-right: 0cm; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Conductor Thomas Beecham </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: .1pt; mso-outline-level: 4; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0cm; mso-para-margin-right: 0cm; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">June 18<sup>th</sup> and 22<sup>nd</sup> 1937</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: .1pt; mso-outline-level: 4; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0cm; mso-para-margin-right: 0cm; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Orchestra - London Philharmonic Orchestra</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: .1pt; mso-outline-level: 4; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0cm; mso-para-margin-right: 0cm; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Chorus - Covent Garden</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: .1pt; mso-outline-level: 4; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0cm; mso-para-margin-right: 0cm; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: .1pt; mso-outline-level: 4; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0cm; mso-para-margin-right: 0cm; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Tristan - Lauritz Melchior</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: .1pt; mso-outline-level: 4; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0cm; mso-para-margin-right: 0cm; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Isolde - Kirsten Flagstad</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: .1pt; mso-outline-level: 4; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0cm; mso-para-margin-right: 0cm; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Brangaene - Margarete Klose (18<sup>th</sup>) / Karin Branzell (22<sup>nd</sup>)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: .1pt; mso-outline-level: 4; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0cm; mso-para-margin-right: 0cm; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Marke - Sven Nilsson</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: .1pt; mso-outline-level: 4; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0cm; mso-para-margin-right: 0cm; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Kurwenal - Herbert Janssen (18<sup>th</sup>) / Paul Schoffler (22<sup>nd</sup>)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: .1pt; mso-outline-level: 4; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0cm; mso-para-margin-right: 0cm; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Melot - Booth Hitchin</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: .1pt; mso-outline-level: 4; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0cm; mso-para-margin-right: 0cm; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Hirt - Octave Dua</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: .1pt; mso-outline-level: 4; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0cm; mso-para-margin-right: 0cm; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Steuerman - Leslie Horsman</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: .1pt; mso-outline-level: 4; mso-para-margin-bottom: .01gd; mso-para-margin-left: 0cm; mso-para-margin-right: 0cm; mso-para-margin-top: .01gd;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Stimme eines jungen Seemanns - Parry Jones</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://rapidshare.com/files/304082012/18JuneAct1.flac">https://rapidshare.com/files/304082012/18JuneAct1.flac</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://rapidshare.com/files/2675961474/18JuneAct2.flac">https://rapidshare.com/files/2675961474/18JuneAct2.flac</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://rapidshare.com/files/2767934704/18JuneAct3.flac">https://rapidshare.com/files/2767934704/18JuneAct3.flac</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://rapidshare.com/files/2173495216/22JuneAct1.flac">https://rapidshare.com/files/2173495216/22JuneAct1.flac</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://rapidshare.com/files/1624830907/22JuneAct2.flac">https://rapidshare.com/files/1624830907/22JuneAct2.flac</a></div><div class="MsoNormal">https://rapidshare.com/files/1111977871/22JuneAct3.flac </div>Historic Operahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11811792250122133387noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351025117505136553.post-58996470346381045392011-12-13T19:25:00.000+00:002011-12-13T19:25:43.780+00:00Tristan und Isolde Covent Garden 1951<h1 class="large"> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Here is the final quarter of an hour of Tristan from Kirsten Flagstad's last live broadcast of the opera, in London in 1951. The complete opera was broadcast but it does not seem to have survived. All that now exists are the last fifteen minutes, featuring the famous liebestod, and Flagstad's power and command of the role are clear for all to see. She would, of course, return to London to record the entire opera for EMI in the summer of 1952, but here we have a glimpse of the full splendour of her performance on the stage, after 4 hours of singing. The sound is bit crackly, being an aircheck of the radio broadcast, but clear enough. </span></span></h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihwGn2FTU81bwvbZmr3dUfZ_heX0rF5FPu4mqj8k4CLOR6-mdrkI11PD1zJNY_HJs-f9XCUF9VBmdfaFqscTbgT-LDHe8hYmJcAvqexzgskhzrGVrQH1BpmhcDIrRv84V996zCQ71j7ZWs/s1600/paul-dorsey-singer-kirsten-flagstad-appearing-in-the-opera-tristan-and-isolde.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihwGn2FTU81bwvbZmr3dUfZ_heX0rF5FPu4mqj8k4CLOR6-mdrkI11PD1zJNY_HJs-f9XCUF9VBmdfaFqscTbgT-LDHe8hYmJcAvqexzgskhzrGVrQH1BpmhcDIrRv84V996zCQ71j7ZWs/s320/paul-dorsey-singer-kirsten-flagstad-appearing-in-the-opera-tristan-and-isolde.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><h1 class="large"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></h1><br />
<br />
<h1 class="large"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">https://rapidshare.com/files/106685213/1951Tristan.mp3 </span></span></h1><h1 class="large">Tristan und Isolde - 29 May 1951 </h1><br />
<table class="result"><tbody>
<tr> <th><br />
</th> <td>Covent Garden Opera Company</td> </tr>
<tr> <th> Venue:</th> <td>Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London</td> </tr>
<tr> <th><br />
</th> <td><br />
</td> </tr>
<tr> <th> Conductor </th> <td>Clemens Krauss </td> </tr>
<tr> <th><br />
</th> <td><br />
</td> </tr>
</tbody></table><table class="results"><tbody>
<tr> <th colspan="3"> Cast</th> </tr>
<tr class="odd"> <td>Young Seaman <i> </i> </td> <td><br />
</td> <td>Edgar Evans</td> </tr>
<tr class="even"> <td>Isolde <i> </i> </td> <td><br />
</td> <td>Kirsten Flagstad</td> </tr>
<tr class="odd"> <td>Brangäne <i> </i> </td> <td><br />
</td> <td>Constance Shacklock</td> </tr>
<tr class="even"> <td>Kurwenal <i> </i> </td> <td><br />
</td> <td>Sigurd Bjorling</td> </tr>
<tr class="odd"> <td>Tristan <i> </i> </td> <td><br />
</td> <td>Set Svanholm</td> </tr>
<tr class="even"> <td>Melot <i> </i> </td> <td><br />
</td> <td>Geraint Evans</td> </tr>
<tr class="odd"> <td>King Mark <i> </i> </td> <td><br />
</td> <td>Norman Walker</td> </tr>
<tr class="even"> <td>Shepherd <i> </i> </td> <td><br />
</td> <td>David Tree</td> </tr>
<tr class="odd"> <td>Steersman <i> </i> </td> <td><br />
</td> <td>Rhydderch Davies</td> </tr>
<tr class="even"> <td>Sailors, Knights, Courtiers, Servants <i> </i> </td> <td><br />
</td> <td>The Covent Garden Opera Chorus</td> </tr>
<tr class="odd"> <td> <i> </i> </td> <td><br />
</td> <td>The Covent Garden Orchestra</td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>Historic Operahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11811792250122133387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351025117505136553.post-61907776131142455872011-12-03T07:54:00.000+00:002011-12-03T07:54:33.718+00:00Madama Butterfly Metropolitan Opera 1947<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJU3Rd7Ve-voa95YxKkZhDknUcec9OkEPDWZjbo8y-JZlDjgOWr33oVCAu0PhByclXDmh5WWzkmPidHxWqjnbGH8Bf3ji8_SqsUhzt6nTxEg6oRzoq0xKL53iO5JVJRWVsVF1Ozc0yT7Cv/s1600/Pinkerton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJU3Rd7Ve-voa95YxKkZhDknUcec9OkEPDWZjbo8y-JZlDjgOWr33oVCAu0PhByclXDmh5WWzkmPidHxWqjnbGH8Bf3ji8_SqsUhzt6nTxEg6oRzoq0xKL53iO5JVJRWVsVF1Ozc0yT7Cv/s1600/Pinkerton.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">James Melton as Pinkerton</td></tr>
</tbody></table><code>Metropolitan Opera House<br />
December 13, 1947 Matinee Broadcast<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>MADAMA BUTTERFLY</b><br />
<br />
Cio-Cio-San.............Licia Albanese<br />
Pinkerton...............James Melton<br />
Suzuki..................Thelma Altman<br />
Sharpless...............John Brownlee<br />
Goro....................Alessio De Paolis<br />
Bonze...................Melchiorre Luise<br />
Yamadori................George Cehanovsky<br />
Kate Pinkerton..........Irene Jordan<br />
Commissioner............John Baker<br />
<br />
Conductor...............Giuseppe Antonicelli</code><br />
<br />
<code>This was the standard cast for Madama Butterfly at the Met, Albanese, Melton and Brownlee appeared in the broadcasts of this opera in 1946 and 1950, and both Albanese and Brownlee appeared in other broadcasts as well. James Melton was perhaps best known in the 1930s as a radio star but he moved successfully into opera in the 1940s performing at the Met between 1942 and 1950 in roles such as Alfredo, Tamino, Don Ottavio, Edgardo and Wilhelm Meister in Mignon. It was as Pinkerton that he made the greatest impression however, and as the picture illustrates, his looks certainly helped.</code><br />
<code>The recording is taken from a noisy aircheck and has side breaks and missing music but a large part of the opera was preserved. </code><br />
<code>https://rapidshare.com/files/389971878/1947Butterfly.zip</code>Historic Operahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11811792250122133387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351025117505136553.post-21766817242688818122011-11-10T08:15:00.000+00:002011-11-10T08:15:32.271+00:00Carmen Metropolitan Opera 1948<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBQvHSegOmyn9v1cG3Mu7QdYptVx5PDp4H9l0KPaNzyE28WiBJQHfPdEm5CEwvQL2okH5IoTKwL3ysf1kVroEh4cETxWdkjfMQ0piR-RvJIknIQP1DRWUPZHh06fWQL6wbBBbCJ8b0ZzPu/s1600/rise_th.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBQvHSegOmyn9v1cG3Mu7QdYptVx5PDp4H9l0KPaNzyE28WiBJQHfPdEm5CEwvQL2okH5IoTKwL3ysf1kVroEh4cETxWdkjfMQ0piR-RvJIknIQP1DRWUPZHh06fWQL6wbBBbCJ8b0ZzPu/s1600/rise_th.jpg" /></a></div><code><br />
Metropolitan Opera House<br />
February 7, 1948 Matinee Broadcast<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>CARMEN</b><br />
<br />
Carmen..................Risë Stevens<br />
Don José................Ramon Vinay<br />
Micaela.................Nadine Conner<br />
Escamillo...............Martial Singher<br />
Frasquita...............Thelma Votipka<br />
Mercédès................Lucielle Browning<br />
Remendado...............Alessio De Paolis<br />
Dancaïre................George Cehanovsky<br />
Zuniga..................Philip Kinsman<br />
Moralès.................Clifford Harvuot<br />
Dance...................Aida Alvarez<br />
Dance...................Leon Varkas<br />
<br />
Conductor...............Wilfred Pelletier</code><br />
<br />
<code>Risë</code><code> Stevens dominated the role of Carmen at the Met like no other soprano before her. The opera was broadcast twelve times between 1947 and 1960 and Stevens took the title role in eleven of those. Her dusky mezzo was ideally suited to the role of Carmen, and in the early 1950s she filmed some extracts for American television. This particular broadcast is almost complete, only missing the second half of act 4. The sound is average at best, being recorded off air, but it does give a good sense of what Stevens was like when heard live. Among the rest of the cast Vinay sang many heavy tenor roles (including Otello, Siegmund and Tristan) in the late '40s and early '50s and is a solid Don Jose. French baritone Martial Singher made a name for himself in the popular French operas at the Met, particularly as Valentin in Faust and the villans in Hoffmann. </code><br />
<code> </code><br />
<code>https://rapidshare.com/files/4169925870/1948Carmen.zip</code>Historic Operahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11811792250122133387noreply@blogger.com0