 |
| Rosa Ponselle in 1936 |
|
In response to a request here is Ponselle's 1935 Don Giovanni broadcast. Only six of Ponselle's live broadcasts exist, her 1935 Traviata, four Carmens (two in 1936 [one incomplete] and two in 1937), and this incomplete Don Giovanni. Ponselle, perhaps America's most famous soprano, only performed in Don Giovanni 15 times at the Met and this is her very last performance in the role of Donna Anna. The cast was excellent for the time, Pinza featured in eight met broadcasts as the Don between 1932 and 1947 and this was the third and final Don Ottavio broadcast for the stylish Tito Schipa. While incomplete, there is a lot of material here, more than an hour of act 1 and 45 minutes of act 2. The sound is not good, but worth it for the historical interest I think. Sometimes this recording has been attributed to the previous year since an identical cast broadcast the opera on January 20th 1934. However the 12" aluminium discs used to record the opera off the radio were apparently only manufactured in 1935 which makes it much more likely that the recording dates from that year and not 1934.
Metropolitan Opera House
February 9, 1935 Matinee Broadcast
DON GIOVANNI
Don Giovanni............Ezio Pinza
Donna Anna..............Rosa Ponselle
Don Ottavio.............Tito Schipa
Donna Elvira............Maria Müller
Leporello...............Virgilio Lazzari
Zerlina.................Editha Fleischer
Masetto.................Louis D'Angelo
Commendatore............Emanuel List
Conductor...............Ettore Panizza
https://rapidshare.com/files/459554627/1935DG.zip
Many thanks for posting this magnificent performance and for providing insightful information about its provenance. Ponselle sounds like she has plenty of soprano gas left in her tank here and none of the extravagance that characterized her Carmens from the following 2 years. She is certainly an ideal Donna Anna and the rest of the cast is superb. And what conducting!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the upload. Maybe you also have Carmen 1936 with Ponselle?
ReplyDeleteThere is also another Ponselle Don Giovanni with Serafin conducting. And probably more broadcasts, including, if I remember correctly, part of La forza del destino. Anyway, thank you very much for this Panizza version,
ReplyDeleteEDIT Now you've got me all confused: online there is another Don Giovanni with Ponselle, with Serafin conducting. Your upload is the same length as the other one, and it sounds identical. Also, there is no information online about an existent Panizza recording. The only one mentioned is the one from 1934.
ReplyDeleteThere is only one Ponselle DG, this one. The original discs (12inch aluminium) where only manufactured in 1935, so this must be the broadcast that was recorded not the 1934 one, though the casts were identical.
ReplyDeleteI know that your blog is (unfortunately) no longer active, but if possible could you please post a new link to this exceedingly rare recording of Don Giovanni with Rosa Ponselle? After your enticing description I would dearly love to hear it.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
I know that your blog is (unfortunately) no longer active, but if possible could you please post a new link to this exceedingly rare recording of Don Giovanni with Rosa Ponselle? After your enticing description I would dearly love to hear it.
ReplyDeleteThank you!