Aida - Metropolitan Opera, 1938

 This was an unusual broadcast because Martinelli was taken ill during Celeste Aida and didn't finish the aria let alone the rest of the opera. The story goes that Frederick Jagel was listening to the broadcast at home and rushed to the Met to offer his services as a replacement. The extracts that survive include the Celeste Aida, a portion later in act 1 and about 10 minutes of act 2, total 20 minutes. If you wish to hear a complete Aida with Martinelli then both his 1937 and 1941 Met broadcasts have been issued on CD by various labels.


Metropolitan Opera House
February 26, 1938 Matinee Broadcast


AIDA
Giuseppe Verdi--Antonio Ghislanzoni

Aida....................Zinka Milanov
Radamès.................Giovanni Martinelli, Act I, Scene 1 fragment
Radamès.................Frederick Jagel, Acts I, II, III, IV
Amneris.................Bruna Castagna
Amonasro................Carlo Tagliabue
Ramfis..................Ezio Pinza
King....................Norman Cordon
Messenger...............Giordano Paltrinieri
Priestess...............Thelma Votipka
Dance...................Elise Reiman

Conductor...............Gennaro Papi
http://rapidshare.com/files/447840421/Aida381a.mp3
http://rapidshare.com/files/447840422/Aida381b.mp3
http://rapidshare.com/files/447840423/Aida382.mp3

Trovatore with Martinelli, Metropolitan 1936, 1938 & 1939

Martinelli as Manrico

The great Italian tenor, Giovanni Martinelli appeared in three broadcasts of Il Trovatore from the Metropolitan Opera in New York between 1936 and 1939. None of them exist as complete performances, but the extracts here give a strong sense of what he was like in this role. There's about an hour from 1936 and 25-30 mins each from 1938 and 1939. Partnering him were Elisabeth Rethberg in 1936 and a young Zinka Milanov in 1938 and 1939.


Metropolitan Opera House
February 15, 1936 Matinee Broadcast
IL TROVATORE
Giuseppe Verdi--Salvatore Cammarano

Manrico.................Giovanni Martinelli
Leonora.................Elisabeth Rethberg
Count Di Luna...........Richard Bonelli
Azucena.................Kathryn Meisle
Ferrando................Virgilio Lazzari
Ines....................Thelma Votipka
Ruiz....................Giordano Paltrinieri
Gypsy...................Arnold Gabor

Conductor...............Gennaro Papi
http://rapidshare.com/files/447838388/1936Trovatore.mp3



Metropolitan Opera House
January 8, 1938 Matinee Broadcast
IL TROVATORE
Giuseppe Verdi--Salvatore Cammarano

Manrico.................Giovanni Martinelli
Leonora.................Zinka Milanov
Count Di Luna...........Richard Bonelli
Azucena.................Bruna Castagna
Ferrando................Virgilio Lazzari
Ines....................Thelma Votipka
Ruiz....................Giordano Paltrinieri
Gypsy...................Carlo Coscia

Conductor...............Gennaro Papi
http://rapidshare.com/files/447838389/1938Trovatore.mp3


Metropolitan Opera House
March 4, 1939 Matinee Broadcast
IL TROVATORE
Giuseppe Verdi--Salvatore Cammarano

Manrico.................Giovanni Martinelli
Leonora.................Zinka Milanov
Count Di Luna...........Richard Bonelli
Azucena.................Bruna Castagna
Ferrando................Virgilio Lazzari
Ines....................Thelma Votipka
Ruiz....................Giordano Paltrinieri
Gypsy...................Carlo Coscia

Conductor...............Gennaro Papi 
http://rapidshare.com/files/447838390/1939Trovatore.mp3 

Lohengrin Chicago 1938

Flagstad as Elsa

Here are 8 minutes toward the end of the first act of Lohengrin broadcast between 8-9pm CST by WENR. It is perhaps most notable for the Elsa of Kirsten Flagstad since she did not perform this role often (in comparison to Isolde and Brunnhilde) and there is only one complete recording of her in this opera, from the Met in 1937.

Wagner - Lohengrin
Chicago Civic Opera
November 21, 1938

Lohengrin - Rene Maison
Elsa - Kirsten Flagstad
Ortrud - Eleanor Lamont
King Henry - John Gurney
Telramund - George Chehanovsky
c. Edwin McArthur

Der Fliegende Hollander Bayreuth 1939

Here is about 30 minutes of Der Fliegende Hollander broadcast in New York by WJZ via a shortwave link direct from Bayreuth. It is a rare live example of pre-war Bayreuth, only a few weeks before World War II would begin. The principals were all famous Wagnerians in Germany before and during the war.

Maria Muller as Senta

Der Fliegende Hollander
Bayreuth, August 4, 1939
Senta - Maria Muller
Hollander - Rudolf Bockelmann
Daland - Ludwig Hoffmann
c. Karl Elmendorff
http://rapidshare.com/files/446698459/1939Dutchman.mp3

Falstaff Salzburg 1936

Here is 35 minutes, containing all of Act 1 of Falstaff from the Salzburg Festival in 1936. Taken from an NBC shortwave relay it is significant for the conducting of Arturo Toscanini. For a shortwave relay the sound is not at all bad. A complete recording of Falstaff made on Selenophone film, also conducted by Toscanini, exists from the 1937 Salzburg Festival and was issued on CD by Andante (hard to find now). An alternative remastering has been issued by Pristine Classical .

The original NBC transcription disc

Verdi: Falstaff – Act I

Salzburg  August 20, 1936

Broadcast: 2-2.45pm NBC Red

Falstaff: Mariano Stabile

Mistress Ford: Franca Somigli

Mistress Meg Page: Mita Vasari

Mistress Quickly: Angelica Cravcenco

Ford: Piero Biasini

Nannetta: Augusta Oltrabella

Fenton: Dino Borgioli

Dr. Caius: Alfredo Tedeschi

Bardolph: Giuseppi Nessi

Pistol: Virilio Lazzari

Arturo Toscanini, Conductor 

Vienna Philharmonic, Festspielhaus, Salzburg

http://rapidshare.com/files/446209505/1936FalstaffAct1.mp3

Carmen St Louis 1940

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

Marjorie Lawrence

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

Die Walkure Metropolitan Opera 1934

Frida Leider as Brunnhilde

Following on from the extracts from Tristan in January 1934, here are about 90 minutes of Die Walkure from a few weeks later. Again we get a chance to hear Gertrude Kappel, this time as Sieglinde, as well as a very rare chance to hear Frida Leider live on stage. Leider was perhaps THE Wagnernian soprano of the 1920s and 1930s, especially at Bayreuth where she sang with tenor Laurtiz Melchior for many seasons. She did not sing often in America, and only appeared in two seasons in New York between 1933 and 1934. These home recordings preserve about half of acts 1 and 3, but only 25 minutes of act 2. The sound is fairly primitive, though slightly better than the Tristan of the same season.

Metropolitan Opera House
February 3, 1934 Matinee Broadcast


DIE WALKÜRE

Brünnhilde..............Frida Leider
Siegmund................Paul Althouse
Sieglinde...............Gertrude Kappel
Wotan...................Ludwig Hofmann
Fricka..................Karin Branzell
Hunding.................Emanuel List
Gerhilde................Phradie Wells
Grimgerde...............Philine Falco
Helmwige................Dorothee Manski
Ortlinde................Margaret Halstead
Rossweisse..............Ina Bourskaya
Schwertleite............Irra Petina
Siegrune................Elda Vettori
Waltraute...............Doris Doe

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

http://rapidshare.com/files/445920279/1934Walkure.zip

Barber of Seville, Chicago 1941

Here is just over half an hour of Act 2 of the Barber of Seville broadcast from the Chicago Civic Opera House by WGN on December 8, 1941. The most noted member of the cast was baritone Richard Bonelli, a regular fixture at the Met, and it was quite possibly him who arranged for the performance to be recorded since we know he did so on other occasions. It is sobering to think that the day of this broadcast was also the day that the USA declared war on Japan following Pearl Harbor.

Rossini  - Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Act 2 extract)
Rosina - Josephine Antoine
Almaviva - Nino Martini
Figaro - Richard Bonelli
Bartolo - Vittoria Trevisan
Basilio - Virgilio Lazzari
Berta - Tina Paggi
c. Emil Cooper
http://rapidshare.com/files/445683557/1941Barbiere.mp3