Verdi at the MET: Legendary Performances from The Metropolitan Opera

Verdi's 200th birthday provided a good excuse for this boxed set of Metropolitan Opera performances that were broadcast live between 1935 and 1967. These have appeared in other editions, most "unofficial," though UN BALLO IN MASCHERA and OTELLO were in the Met's "historic broadcast" series on LP, issued for fund-raising purposes around 1980. All but two of these had been run by Metropolitan Opera Radio on Sirius/XM prior to release of this set, and the AIDA was also heard in 2005 as an "archive" performance during the Saturday network radio broadcasts.The sound quality varies, and as might be expected the 1935 LA TRAVIATA requires the most indulgence from the listener. The sound has been improved considerably from earlier copies, and while quite a bit of distortion from the source recording remains, noise and speed variation issues have been addressed. Applause after arias has been truncated, possibly when the original transfer was made years ago from the acetate discs, but the defects are worth tolerating to hear Rosa Ponselle's Violetta, and Lawrence Tibbett when he was still in prime vocal condition.While sounding far better than the TRAVIATA, there's a small amount of distortion in the 1945 RIGOLETTO, 1949 FALSTAFF and 1959 MACBETH. The RIGOLETTO seems an odd choice; the sound is a little dim and, as noted by the critics at the time, The Duke of Mantua was not one of Bjoerling's better roles from a dramatic standpoint. But the voice is splendid, and Leonard Warren supplies plenty of drama. It's also good to have an example of Cesare Sodero's competent conducting, since he was busy at the Met in the early 1940's, and his commercial recordings are not representative of his abilities, made when he worked as music director for the Edison phonograph company.The MACBETH, from the Met's first production of the work, invites comparison with the commercial recording RCA Victor made with the same cast. The live performance has a strange acoustic, evidently not sourced from the microphones used for the broadcasts, providing more resonance than usual. The frequency response is good and the voices are captured fairly well, but the orchestra sounds like it was in another room. I'm guessing the microphones were above the stage, without a direct path to the orchestra pit. Distortion levels aren't extreme, but do unfortunate things especially to Leonie Rysanek's voice. While the voices and orchestra sound better in the commercial recording, it was made in the early days of stereo, emphasizing separation of the channels, distracting enough that playing it in monaural mode helps. Even so, the balance between singers is better in the live performance.The two from 1940 are especially attractive, being fine performances with interesting casts, and the sound is quite good with low distortion and a surprising amount of dynamic range. The OTELLO is very impressive, energetic and precisely executed by all forces under Ettore Panizza, with Martinelli's voice captured far better than it was in the studio-recorded excerpts he made at the same time for Victor.The sound quality is also fine on the rest of the performances, with the 1950 SIMON BOCCANEGRA and 1952 LA FORZA DEL DESTINO excellent for the time they were recorded, and having little surface noise from the discs.I have a couple minor gripes about the editing. Scene and act changes happen without a break; I don't expect commentary by Milton Cross, but a few seconds of silence would have helped. There is also no hint in the notes as to how these were presented in performance "at the Met" where RIGOLETTO and LA TRAVIATA were usually given in four acts. In a couple places the applause has been truncated; it may make some sense at the end of a disc side, such as after the tenor aria in Act III of LA FORZA DEL DESTINO, but there isn't much excuse for dropping 30 seconds of it after "O patria mia" in the 1967 AIDA. Fortunately this only seems to occur in a few places, so I don't consider it a major issue.The 136-page booklet has plot synopses of the operas and some information on events surrounding the performances, with the text in English, German and French, but very little technical detail on the recordings, other than for the 1935 LA TRAVIATA. The cast lists and pictures are probably the most useful parts of it.Access to the discs is somewhat awkward, since they are in cardboard envelopes arranged as folders. Squeezing the envelope open near the "spine" of the folder usually allows the disc to drop out far enough to grab the center hole, and the cut-out on the edge is an improvement over the similar packaging of the Wagner collection. At least the box doesn't take up a lot of space, and the envelopes provide plenty of area for identifying the tracks on the discs.With ten operas in generally fine performances, this is an excellent release, a bargain at the price, and despite a few minor issues it is fully deserving of a 5-star "I love it" rating.

An excellent collection of Saturday matinee broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera. We can complain that a few "historical" performances were not included and question one selection in particular because there exists a fine commercial studio performance of the work featuring mostly the same cast .... but if you love Verdi and treasure great singing, this is an album you should purchase immediately while it's still available.

This is a must have collection. No one has ever touched the likes of Ponselle, Tibbett, Martinelli as Otello, etc., just to name the most obvious of the earlier singers represented here. Price's incomparable Aida,Bjorling's only recorded Ballo, Tucker, Bergonzi, Warren..... It would take a book to describe the many wonders of this set. Get it while it lasts. The Operatic Ear, anotheramerica.org

I started with the first opera in the set, a 1935 performance of Otello with Lawrence Tibbett as Iago and Giovanni Martinelli as Otello. From the first chords, I blurted out, "Oh, no!" as the quality of the sound was so substandard. Then Martinelli's passion came through, and I smiled and chortled, "Oh, yes!" Something about these live performances with dream casts - just spectacular. Leonard Warren's Falstaff was a revelation to me. A young Richard Tucker as Alvaro in Forza del Destino was almost as exciting as a young Pavarottie. Only caveat thus far - Leonie Rysanek, whom I have loved - sounded shrill in Macbeth. And Zinka Milanov who in my opinion was the most overrated singer of all time was mediocre in Forza, especially compared to a recording a few years later that started Tucker again as Alvara and Leontyne Price as Leonara - Yum!

All the performances are indeed legendary. I am eight-two years old, and have been attending Met performanes since I was sixteen. I never thought I would hear them again. I have recommended them to all of my friends in the States and here in Spain. where I now reside. Leonard Brownstein,PhD. Madrid

Yes,the sound may be hard to take at times, but us listeners should consider ourselves lucky for the care and lavishness put in this release.-- The performances, the detail and the passion...and sense of Ensemble drive and commitment in these broadcasts should be an inspiration for generations of singers to come!

One can only hope this is the first of many more to come at such reasonable prices and excellent quality. This is only a sample of the second golden age at the Met from the 1930s to the 1970s, documented by recordings. And it is a great sample.

The recordings area mixed bag, but the entire set is worth it for the Ponselle La Traviata alone---one of the great performances of this opera ever. There's not a single recording here without interest, but (excepting the Traviata) not one that would make me dispense with a preferred studio version (or two) of the same work.

Il prezzo

泣き笑いの藤山寛美の劇を思い出した。しかし、感情の起伏は、さらにさらに大きく。その泣き（笑い）、叫びぷりは、さらに強烈である。戦前から戦後にかけて、ニューヨークに生きた人々は、修羅、激情の実人生を歩み、メトロポリタン歌劇場にも自分たちの世界の写し絵を求めたのであろう。そういう訳で、録音も劇場に展開される地獄絵に注目した形で収録されている。

This is a wild and woolly ride at times, but definitely worth the money. Much of it is the Leonard Warren show, and he is pretty impressive with his huge, unbalanced instrument (wobbling middle, fabulous top). He really throws himself into it - his Falstaff is practically hysterical (not hysterically funny, just hysterical). I endorse most of the other comments. The Ernani is a really odd choice. All of the principals save Fernandi are in poor voice - for them. Velvet-voiced Siepi has such a wobble he's hard to listen to much of the time. MacNeil is unusually grey and unimposing in tone, at least until the last act. As for Rysanek, in the mid and lower range she often displays such poor intonation and precarious sound that you wonder how anybody would let her on stage; but then those thrilling, laser-focused high notes pop out and she bestrides the stage like a collosus. Her fans will know all about this, but this Abigaille is a particularly lurid example. (She's more consistent as Lady Macbeth.) Schippers is his usual taut and energetic self. For this Nabucco a split 2/4 stars, for the whole set a 4.5.

Voilà plusieurs mois que je savoure ce coffret et plus je l'écoute plus je me dis que c'est à NY que Verdi se trouve chez lui :; bien sur la Scala reste la Scala mais le MET nous apporte de l'exceptoionnel.

Ein toller Coup der Sony! Ich will es kurz machen, quasi als Ergänzung zu der Besprechung von Hans-Walter Scheffler - denn es gibt viele schöne Besprechungen, die Lust und neugierig machen, aber letztlich dem Sammler oder einfach "Klassik-Verrücken" keine konkreten Hinweise zum Klang oder einen Vergleich mit anderen früheren Veröffentlichungen (bei solch historischen Aufnahmen und Aufführungen) geben:Beim erstenmal Hören mag man die Aufführungen als stumpfer empfinden als bei manch anderen VÖs. Im Direktvergleich stellt sich aber heraus, dass es nur "Ambient-Sound" (künstlich hinzugefügter Raumklang) oder das Anheben von Höhen oder Tiefen ist, was frühere Ausgaben im ersten Moment als "frischer" erscheinen lässt.Wenn man aber genau auf die musikalische Substanz des Originals hört, dann merkt man, dass in den hier vorgelegten Ausgabe die Höhen nur wenig beschnitten sind: nur soviel, dass das "Bandhiss" (Rauschen der Bänder) oder die Oberflächengeräusche der Plattenvorlagen nicht allzusehr im Vordergrund stehen. Es gibt keinen zusätzlichen Hall, der dem Klang die Kraft nimmt, und auch keine auffälligen Frequenzanhebungen oder -Absenkungen, welche die Klangfarbe von Singstimmen und Orchester unangenehm verändern. Außerdem wird es sich um die bestmöglichen Quellen handeln, die verwendet wurden.Fazit: Wer einen historischen Überblick über die Met bezüglich Verdi-Produktionen haben möchte oder auch nur zwei oder drei der besonderen Aufführungen in bestmöglicher Qualität hören möchte, ist mit dieser Box allerbestens bedient!- - - - -Über ein Feedback (Kommentare) zu meinen Bemühungen des Rezensierens würde ich mich freuen! Lesen Sie gern auch andere meiner weit über 200 Klassik-Besprechungen mit Schwerpunkt "romantische Orchestermusik" (viel Bruckner und Mahler), "wenig bekannte nationale Komponisten" (z.B. aus Skandinavien), "historische Aufnahmen" und immer wieder Interpretationsvergleiche und für den Kenner bzw. Interessierten meist Anmerkungen zum Remastering!