Two Callas Mad scenes from Lucia, Mexico 1952

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.


Orquesta e Coro del Palacio de Bellas Artes (Ópera Nacional)
Conductor: Guido Picco, Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico - June 14 & 26, 1952


http://rapidshare.com/files/2611386181/Lucia14Jun52.mp3
http://rapidshare.com/files/2528126441/Lucia26Jun52.mp3

Dido and Aeneas Hamburg 1955

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.

Henry Purcell Dido und Aeneas
Opera in three acts - sung in German
Hamburg - 14 January 1955
Dido, Königin von Karthago - Martha Mödl
Aeneas, Prinz von Troja - Hermann Prey
Belinde, Didos Vertraute - Dora Lindgreen
Zauberin - Gusta Hammer
Gespenst - Fritz Göllnitz
Eine Frau - Dorothea Förster-Dürlich
Hexen - Lisa Bischof, Ursula Zollenkopf
Ein Matrose - Kurt Marschner

NDR Chor und Sinfonie-Orchester, Hamburg

Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt
http://rapidshare.com/files/1375684306/DidoModl1955.mp3

Siegfried Metropolitan Opera 1938

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. 

The sound is rough in places, but more than bearable for the beauty of Flagstad's awakening in the final scene.

 

Metropolitan Opera House
December 10, 1938 Matinee Broadcast


SIEGFRIED

Siegfried...............Carl Hartmann
Brünnhilde..............Kirsten Flagstad
Wanderer................Friedrich Schorr
Erda....................Anna Kaskas
Mime....................Erich Witte
Alberich................Adolf Vogel
Fafner..................Norman Cordon
Forest Bird.............Natalie Bodanya

Conductor...............Artur Bodanzky
http://rapidshare.com/files/165148709/1938Siegfried.mp3

Barber of Seville Metropolitan Opera 1938

Thomas as Figaro

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. 

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.

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. 

The sound is rough in places, but better than other performances from this season.


Metropolitan Opera House
January 22, 1938 Matinee Broadcast


IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA
Rossini-Sterbini

Figaro..................John Charles Thomas
Rosina..................Lily Pons
Count Almaviva..........Bruno Landi
Dr. Bartolo.............Pompilio Malatesta
Don Basilio.............Ezio Pinza
Berta...................Irra Petina
Fiorello................Wilfred Engelman
Sergeant................Giordano Paltrinieri

Conductor...............Gennaro Papi

Director................Désiré Defrère
Set designer............Joseph Urban

[In the Lesson Scene Pons sang Villanelle (Dell'Acqua) and Ach ich liebte from Die Entführung aus dem Serail.]
https://rapidshare.com/files/974807896/1938Barber.zip

Der Rosenkavalier Edinburgh 1952

Modl as Octavian

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.

Richard Strauss

DER ROSENKAVALIER

King's Theatre, Edinburgh September 5, 1952

Marschallin - Clara Ebers

Octavian - Martha Mödl

Sophie - Lisa Della Casa

Der Baron Ochs auf Lerchenau - Theo Herrmann

Faninal - Caspar Bröcheler

Valzacchi - Fritz Göllnitz

Annina - Hedy Gura

Ein Sänger - Fritz Lehnert

Marianne Leitmetzerin - Lisa Bischof

Polizeikommissar - Jean Pfendt

Der Wirt - Kurt Marschner

Ein Notar - Karl (Carl) Otto

Der Haushofmeister bei der Feldmarschallin - Horst Wegner

Der Haufhofmeister bei Faninal - Kurt Marschner

Tierhändler - Robert Bodewig

Modistin - Christine Görner

Die drei Waisen - Agathe Bomatsch

- Edith Witteborn

- Kathe Feige

Conductor LEOPOLD LUDWIG

https://rapidshare.com/files/4039914283/1952RosenkavalierEdinburgh.mp3

Tristan und Isolde Metropolitan Opera April 1938

Flagstad and Melchior on stage in Act 2

Flagstad backstage with Melchior and Branzell

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'.

Swedish mezzo Karin Branzell (1891-1974) completed the trio of Scandinavians performing Tristan at the Met. 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.

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.

The sound is not bad for an aircheck, with only the odd drop out. 

Metropolitan Opera House
April 16, 1938 Matinee Broadcast


TRISTAN UND ISOLDE

Tristan.................Lauritz Melchior
Isolde..................Kirsten Flagstad
Kurwenal................Julius Huehn
Brangäne................Karin Branzell
King Marke..............Emanuel List
Melot...................Arnold Gabor
Sailor's Voice..........Karl Laufkötter
Shepherd................Karl Laufkötter
Steersman...............Louis D'Angelo

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

https://rapidshare.com/files/563746006/1938TristanApril.zip

La Boheme Metropolitan Opera 1938

Grace Moore

 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. 

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. 

The sound, as with all these airchecks, is variable, but perhaps a little more bearable than some others from this season.



 

Muriel Dickson

Metropolitan Opera House
January 15, 1938 Matinee Broadcast


LA BOHÈME

Mimì....................Grace Moore
Rodolfo.................Bruno Landi
Musetta.................Muriel Dickson
Marcello................Carlo Tagliabue
Schaunard...............George Cehanovsky
Colline.................Ezio Pinza
Benoit..................Louis D'Angelo
Alcindoro...............Louis D'Angelo
Parpignol...............Max Altglass
Sergeant................Carlo Coscia

Conductor...............Gennaro Papi

https://rapidshare.com/files/2976156882/1938Boheme.zip