Il Trovatore 27/12/1947 MetOpera (Björling, Harshaw, Roman, Warren, Vaghi - Cooper)
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 15 окт 2024
- Il Trovatore - Verdi
Metropolitan Opera
Matinée Broadcast
27th December, 1947
Manrico..................Jussi Björling
Azucena.................Margaret Harshaw
Leonora..................Stella Roman
Count Di Luna........Leonard Warren
Ferrando................Giacomo Vaghi
Ines........................Inge Manski
Ruiz........................Lodovico Oliviero
Gypsy.....................John Baker
Conductor..............Emil Cooper
The glow and silver in Bjorling's wonderful legato singing is a lesson in how it should be done.
This is a mind blowing performance, an incredible revelation.
Even Giacomo Vaghi's "Ferrando" is outstanding.
I just heard a recording of Anna Netrebko decimate "Tacea la notte placida" and was not impressed by her performance of "Anna Bolena"
Now I understand why some people have long considered her overrated.
Margaret Harshaw, whom I never knew about until now, is an amazing Azucena, although I must admit I've never heard of most of this cast except Warren and Björling.
NOBODY sings like this anymore, too bad.
❤
Interesting to note that a mere three years later, Margaret Harshaw transformed to a dramatic soprano and sang a lot of Wagner. From what I've read, she sang more Wagnerian roles than anyone else in the Metropolitan Opera's history.
This is a top notch performance by all. Unbelievable Björling and Warren live in the same opera. No singers like this today. Thank you for posting-John
No singers like this yesterday either!
And a nightmare as both died during the same year !!
@@sgnmath1234, also were born in the same year, 1911.
This performance is sublime. Thanks for posting.
OMG what the fantastic voices!
And Börling just amazing!
For those who don't know....
STELLA ROMAN
Stella Roman (née Florica Viorica Alma Stela Blasu) was born in 1904 in Cluj, Romania. She came from a musical background, and studied singing for eight years before making her concert début in Cluj and then in Bucharest. She then won a scholarship to continue her training in Italy with the great verismo interpreter Giuseppina Baldassare-Tedeschi [Wikidata], of whom she later said: "her style did not really suit me"..Roman moved on to study with Hariclea Darclée (who had created the title role of Tosca at the première in 1900), and was much happier under her guidance: "she taught me the value of every word and phrase".
Her operatic début was, by her own account, at Bologna in 1934 in the role of Maddalena in Andrea Chénier, (though other accounts mention a performance in Piacenza in 1932). She sang Tosca at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples which inaugurated a long partnership with the tenor Giacomo Lauri-Volpi. In 1937 she was offered a three-year contract at Rome Opera House by Tullio Serafin, and she found herself making a sudden début as Aida.
It was as Aida that she also made her first appearance at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1941, and she continued to sing there throughout the 1940s in the Italian repertoire: Il trovatore, Otello, Un ballo in maschera, Cavalleria rusticana, La Gioconda, Tosca. She often shared these roles at the Met with Zinka Milanov. She left the Met in 1950 after the arrival of Rudolf Bing as its general manager.
Stella Roman had a particular association with Richard Strauss, who chose her to sing the role of the Empress in Die Frau ohne Schatten for its Italian première at La Scala in 1940. She later went to visit Strauss at Pontresina in 1948 to study with him the Four Last Songs and the role of the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier, and it was as the Marschallin that she ended her career at the San Carlo theatre in Naples. She retired in 1953 after having married for the second time; her operatic career had lasted for 19 years.
Her voice was admired for its warm lyrical quality and its ability to deliver high pianissimi and vibrant climaxes, but her technique was said to be "unorthodox and sometimes hectic".
After her retirement, she took up painting and her work was exhibited. She died in New York at the age of 87.
(Source:Wikipedia)
I was pleased to discover that during the 'forties, Stella Roman appeared on a lot of the Met's Saturday Afternoon Recording. Impressive considering who else was there, for example, Zinka Milanov, Astrid Varnay, Risë Stevens, Jarmila Novotna, Dorothy Kirsten, Helen Traubel, Regina Resnik etc.
This is the same production I saw in Los Angeles with the traveling Met company. Bjorling and Warren sang along with Chloe Elmo as Azucena, Jerome Hines as Ferrando, and Leonie Rysanek as Leonora before she became a mezzo. Bjorling was a revelation, my favorite tenor to this day.
@Thomasbauer2621....what an extraordinary cast!
You must mean Regina Resnik, not Rysanek.
Thank you, a thousand times, for uploading this AMAZING performance. Bjoerling and Warren are my favorites tenor and baritone respectively. Thank you!
Very welcome. Check my playlist of Metropolitan live performances for more of both
What a delight to hear in these trying days of Covid. My sincere thanks to you. Lady M
Grandissimo Verdi!!! Versione godibilissima , scorrevole e con un Manrico (Biorling artista sensibile e con grande tecnica in funzione dell'arte) sfavillante e in forma come spesso per sua buona abitudine!!!!
1:43:06 In the background there is a sound that is the best that is björling. Sound, purity, feeling, BJÖRLING
The singing from Harshaw and Bjoerling in act 4 is absolutely stunning!
Harshaw was my voice teacher in the 70's= Alberto
@@KmwAmg she was my voice teacher in the late '60s.
@@Ernie1 Lucky guys--you 2!!
@@MrTrackman100 Maybe not. She was at IU, and was thought by some to be a voice-wrecker.
@@ransomcoates546 Email the 2 above who had her as a voice teacher. Wonder what they would say?
First time hearing Harshaw. What a wonderful mezzo timbre that she never needed to turn to gravel in the lower registers as most. Wonderful.
Dramatic Soprano, but she still manages to make an incredible Azucena.
Grand Opera at its best, shear heaven, voices to die for, Irving Guttman was at this performance inspiring him to have a career in Opera, the rest is history. Bravo, Robert.
Warren!!! I had forgotten how magnificent his voice was!
Great Leonard Warren
Björling! What a great tenor !!
Wonderful singing not available today
Warren and Bjorling at their incomparable best.Where is their like today?
If one just thinks only logically, Jussi Bjorling should not have been a great Manrico because of the size of his voice. Then you actually HEAR Bjorling as Manrico and you realize not only is he a great one, you don't want to listen to anyone else after being spoiled such perfection. Callas said Bjorling was the greatest Manrico she had ever heard, and after listening to this, it's easy to understand why.
Actually Bjorling to me is theory is the ideal Manrico. I think it does seem obvious too. A spinto voice with a beautiful lyric-sung quality, and great pin point high notes.
A troubadour sings, and so I find the more lyric voices to fit the role properly.
Bjorling is said by people who heard both, to have a voice like that of Caruso.
The whole style of voices like del Monaco style of singing the role is wrong and I think is a modern thing.
The role wants lots of lyrical singing.
@@MrQwerty88 People who heard him at the Met said that the voice was small, but the high notes and the beauty of the voice were impressive. If you were sitting in the balcony you wuld hear that he was not a spinto like Lauri-Volpi.
@@tommacdonald7990 @marlenehartley7742
2 years ago
I heard Jussi at the Met several times from the standing room at the top of the Met and believe me his voice was not small! Magnificent tenor.
During ww2 he sang for soldiers around Sweden. My grandfather heard him in a church, he sat close , his ears was ringing.By the way it was the moment of his life the best tenor ever.
Thank you so very much!!!! Please more, more! I began to listen to these broadcasts at age 17; I knew nothing; it was a revelation! I believe I heard Milton Cross on his last or next to last broadcast. I still remember his voice. Bless you for this!!! Joseph
You'll find here 78 live metropolitan Opera broadcast in this playlist I have uploaded so far: ruclips.net/video/Rt0BGzuQ8-8/видео.html
@@MrQwerty88 Is there any chance you'll have the Eugene Onegin from 1964 with Price and Jess Thomas? I've read about it, but haven't found found trace
@@rossmerchant8435 I do have that one. It’s 29th February, 1964.
I won’t upload it to RUclips because it’s within copyright, but I’ll upload it to separate link that will let you save it.
I’ll comment back soon with a link for you.
@@rossmerchant8435 Here is the link:
www.dropbox.com/s/402597qngf0kjyt/1964-02-29%20-%20Eugene%20Onegin%20%28Dooley%2C%20L.Price%2C%20Thomas%2C%20Elias%2C%20Tozzi%20-%20Schippers%29.rar?dl=0
@@MrQwerty88 Oh wow, just like that! Thanks so much!!! Can't wait to listen
MrQuerty88 ....arguably one of the best Trovatore ensembles I have ever heard.....even the supporting role of Giacomo Vaghi , as Ferrando is impeccable .....and with 38 year old Jussi Bjorling heading the cast...Harshaw, Roman and of course Leonard Warren as di Luna are superb.
This is a perfect display of immense Leonard Warren's vocal artistry.
The size and the heroic quality of Warren's magnificent baritone - 1:44 - have to be heard to be believed...
Bjorling and Warren....GIANTS
I love your posts. Such a legacy we have in the old Met broadcasts. Keep 'em coming. Thank you!
Thanks!
1:28:09 "Suo fiiiiiiiigliooo". Wonderful Bjorling..!
BJORLING and WARREN-BRAVISSIMI
There is a God in heaven! How else can you explain such wonder?
YES! I KNOW!!!! This has made my day. I pretty much stopped listening to the Met and most singers. I wasn't near being alive when this was performed, but this and the 50s, 60s are my favorite. They SANG, not "acted"; they sang and acted with the voice. Glory!!!!!
Milanov and Bjorling at the Met 1947 - no one still can match them, they were the best for all times.
The Leonora is Stella Roman.
What a marvelous performance!!
Yes, they are always on pitch, full-bodied tone, not trying to be Meryl Streep and rolling all over the floor and jumping on couches. Harshaw is a bit wild but still wonderful. I hate what the Met and singers have become. I started listening to opera in the 70s, but what I loved were these singers and a few who came later. But, for me, it was Price, Warren, Sutherland, Tozzi, etc. I could tell a difference even as a kid. It is also incredible and sad that the first thing I said was about pitch! Wait, he said Roman was Leonora! Not Harshaw. Stella Roman, wonderful! And, I got to hear Milton Cross. Thanks for this!!!
Harshaw was a great artist who later became the top vocal teacher in America
Björling, Warren e Vaghi strepitosi 👍👍
It's called art, it's called technique. It's called not using microphones,it's called tradition. No one except a few have it, and they are not hired, because they want the pretty boys and girls.
Superb production,but very big surprise for me is Stela Roman.She was fantastic.
I find it hard to tell the players without a program :)
la vera arte lirica italiana .
addio bel passato,per sempre addio !
@SHICOFF1
Hi, I'm going to translate it for you:
The real lyrical Italian art.
Farewell beautiful past time, farewell for ever!
@SHICOFF1
PS. He also makes a subtle allusion to "Adio del passato" (La Traviata).
Stella Roman best soprano, tante recite al met, poi se ne ando' xche' non andava d'accordo con Rudolf Bing.
Super! Brilliant Bierling, Warren with a fantastic avalanche of sound and the very Italian Cooper.
Супер! Блестящий Бьерлинг, Уоррен с фантастической лавиной звука и очень итальянский Купер.
Che meraviglia di voci, scomparsepurtroppo troppo presto. E Bjoerling cantò in Italia solo una volta al Maggio Fiorentino, senza essere notato! E Warren alla Scala fu fischiato!
Warren e Bjorling nati e morti nello stesso anno 1911 1960.
He also sang at la scala, in 1946 rigoletto with Carlo tagliabue and 1951 in ballo w Maria caniglia
Thanks a lot for posting. Great post! In comparison with the MET production of 1941, I prefer Roman: I like her voice better and I find her more moving. Both Azucenas are wonderful: Castagna is more impetuous, but Harshaw is not less passionate and dramatic. A gorgeous mezzosoprano indeed!
bruno donderi Margaret Harshaw was A fine singer and teacher and was always very passionate
Phantastic 👌
What an absurd comment regarding Bjorling's 'vocal weight' by one who clearly has no discerning ear for what a constricted voice actually sounds like. What set Bjorling apart from most other lyric tenors is the fact that his vocal production was achieved with such release and complete freedom he was able to sing spinto roles on stage without any damage to his instrument. The voice itself exhibited very little sign of deterioration throughout his entire career his alcoholism notwithstanding. His medium sized lyric voice was focused and could cut through a large orchestra with ease.
"medium sized lyric voice" , "was focused and could cut through" and "release and complete freedom" is an absolute 100% accurate description of the voice. I usually say so myself. People who wants to discredit Björling usually do not come up with anything other than to say that the voice was small, without put it in relation to his being a lyrical tenor.
I always say Domingo at his best is the best. Until I started listening to Jussi Bjorling. Il meglio di Jussi Bjorling on you tube is one of my favorites today. What an incredible voice!
I heard Jussi at the Met several times from the standing room at the top of the Met and believe me his voice was not small! Magnificent tenor.
That his Father suffered from the same malady persuades that the problem was genetic. Some folks should not drink. The effect it had on Americans Indians is proof of that.
Toward the end of his too, too short career, his voice darkened and his recordings of the Verdi "Requiem" and "Turandot" speak to another fach opening up. What a fucking tragedy.
Fantástico trovatore.
This is an improvement in sound from the usual copies which have been readily available. The performance itself is another story, although not as bad as described by a few reviewers. Björling and Warren are in good voice, but take a few liberties here and there (holding on to high notes, slow tempo -probably trying to tame Maestro Cooper), but who cares? Stella Roman has a luscious tone, a true spinto soprano with delicious pianissimi. Alas, this opera is still rooted in bel canto, and Leonora needs an artist who can deal with all the score's demands. She doesn't even attempt a trill (sine qua non in key places), and her rapid singing is sloppy. She's great in the final scene. Margaret Harshaw was a great singer, here still a mezzo-soprano. Some reviewers think she was miscast, but I don't think that's true. She was a pupil of Anna Schoen-René, a pupil of Pauline Viardot-García and also her brother Manuel García, fils. This she demonstrates amply in her performance. Brava! Thank you for uploading this little treasure from the many treasures found in these broadcasts.
I was disappointed that I couldn't remove that high pitch hiss somewhere around 11000Hz. No matter what I tried to remove it, it removed too much of the actual sound. I might upload a new version if I can remove it
You care that Bjorling and Warren take liberties? Those were the days!!!
Caro signore, no I do not care and I stated it clearly... "...but who cares?" I merely made a comment about those liberties. Naturally, compared with what passes as great singing today, I'd take these great artists with any liberties. Grazie tante.
InBoccaChiusa Beautiful to hear your thoughts (read them rather)
You really have a beautiful understanding of our world of opera.
I agree with your joke about taking the conductor.....I only listened to the beginning because the poor bass wasn't able to quite sing at the tempo of the conductor...he stayed his ground however! Lol.
I can't stand Leonoras who have slap-dash fast singing....the conductor , in my opinion is to blame - to me this particular conductor was a peculiar duck.
Margaret Harshaw was absolutely NOT miscast as Azucena. Her condotta ell'era in ceppi in the first act is positively stunning. True golden age singing. Don't hear anyone singing like that today. Haven't really had that truly GREAT dramatic Mezzo since Obratsova left the scene.
JUSSI BJORLING is second to none.I awoke yesterday to him singing "unchained melody",my GOD how great this is.
Están todos estupendos, pero el poderío de Warren es fantástico, que facultades.
So glad I found you!!! Top-Notch stuff thanks so much!!!
Thank you!
God damn. Harshaw is on fire as Azucena!
In the lyric moments of the role Bjorling is among the best (quite possibly THE. Greatest) I have ever heard in this music. Some probably prefer the slightly more Italianate timbre of a Pavarotti but for me Bjorling has the musicality & stylistic finesse that the former for all his lyric glamour lacks. However when it comes to moments like DI QUELLA PIRA only a full spinto like Corelli can do justice to this moment. But the lyric tenors like Pavarotti & Bjorling can make a better impression in a larger portion of Manrico’s role. And then there is Warren who at this time really shows what he learned from working with De Luca. Really amazing.
Amazing that Warren is so neglected. Top of the line.
@@JRobbySh Not neglected by me that’s for sure. Other fine Verdi baritones have come along since Warren some with perhaps even superior qualities in terms of musicianship & dramatic effectiveness. But the instrument itself & how he continued to develop it remains unique & like Bjorling, Warren’s singing in all types of music goes straight to the ❤️, mine anyway.
@@petergraham8681 "....superior qualities in terms of musicianship & dramatic effectiveness." Puhleeze.
No tenor have been greater than Bjoerling ... he was a real tenor!
Beniamino Gigli
Corelli in 1962 performance with Bastianini@@e.g.8454
Really Roger? Bjorling was truly a great tenor but did NOT do well in bigger opera houses like the MET and CHICAGO in the heavier rolls. Take a look at the Met Archives and read his reviews that fell short in the heavier roles like Trovatore, Tosca, and even Manon Lescaut at the Met and Aida in Chicago. His Rigoletto at the Met was not received well either. Proclamations are rarely accurate.
Jussi Bjorling fue el mejor Manrico sin dudas.
No es cierto, incluso su voz no tuvo el tamaño suficiente para el papel. Otros Manricos como Lauri-Volpi, Pertile, Martinelli, Baum, Penno, Tucker o Corelli fueron más adecuados al papel. No basta tener los agudos, que Björling los derrochaba, sino también el volumen y expresión vocales, que Björling no poseyó como tenor lírico que era y que los papeles dramáticos no eran para su voz. Recomiendo escuchar a todos los Manricos que han grabado el papel para que se tenga más amplitud de criterio sobre los intérpretes de este papel, si bien no todos son tan brillantes como Björling, pero algunos, como Corelli, sí lo eran. Saludos,.
@@silvioivanbendanamora1682 no hay duda que Corelli está más acorde al rol y es uno sino el más grande Manrico de la historia. Pero a mí me gusta la voz de Bjorling, aunque pequeña mucho más clara y musical que esos vozarrones que o ladraban o tenían sonido caprino, lo que le sacaban belleza al sonido. Si usted busca un torneo de gritos es cosa suya. Si bien tengo entendido Bjorling era respetuoso de los autores y no se excedía en agudos bonitos sino que los podía hacer naturalmente cuando correspondía. Para cerrar le digo que soy también fanático de Corelli pero a veces no puedo escuchar 10 arias seguidas de el porque aturde tanta potencia. Prefiero voces más cantarinas. Desde ya usted es un experto y yo un simple aficionado. En síntesis es cosade gustos; Kaufman mata a Schipa si fuera por quien grita sobre quien canta. Saludos
margaret harshaw had an
interesting voice,a natural
voice,very well place and
a great technique. maybe
in this difficult role of the
gypsy azucena,she lacks
the histrionics of her italians
counterparts. but the italians
ladies sopranos and mezzo
sopranos alike,are a case
apart for others singers from
others countris.margaret
harshaw had a carrear both
as a soprano and as a mezzo
i find her very good as azuce
na,her voice natural,does not
have to force her middle or
low register and sang like
a contralto with piurity of
voice in her low notes,soun
ding natural and well place
of the voice.her voice sounds
between a dramatic soprano
and a dramatic mezzo,just
right there.i enjoyed her
azucena singing very,very
much.
I studied with her in the early '90's at IU, and even at age 80 -something, her voice was incredible! The amplitude was still so blazing and effortless.
There exists a Saturday matinee Met recording with MH as Amneris alongside an embarrassingly sloppy Ljuba Welitsch. Makes Harshaw's note perfect, dramatically perfect, vocally perfect performance all the more outstanding.
Amazing 🎭
Thank you
Geez... i really like Harshaw as a mezzo!
Yes! She should have stayed a mezzo. Her top notes always gave her trouble in her soprano forays.
@@alleviation91 Not always. When she wasn't having health problems, she was spectacular. Check this out: ruclips.net/video/iAqWJUlHK_0/видео.html
During the last years of her career at the Met her family refused to attend her performances. They didn't want to see another Leonard Warren.
22:57 amazing!!!
Grazie mille
MARAVILLOSA OPERA
Warren is on fire.
He always perfected dramatic roles of villains in Verdi operas and as a Baron Scarpia in Tosca.
Both of them! Warren and Bjorling! Sublime voices without equals in my opinion!
Bjorling - unsurpassable!
excelentessss
yes!!the basso in question
is the italian basso. giacomo
vaghi.
Non ostante un pessimo direttore, cantanti da sogno. Jussi in testa.
Si, no es precisamente un buen director.
Quien tuvo o tiene la voz de Bjorling ?
Thanks
the basso is the italian
basso. giacomo vaghi?
then?who else is named
vaghi in the opera world?
he was a great basso!!
Yep. Full cast list and information is in the drop down at the top. "SHOW MORE" or the arrow.
It's too bad that Vaghi had to 'h' most of the notes. Listen to Pinza's recording if you want to hear this aria with a trill and no 'h'ing.
You can also hear the acoustics at the Old Met. A voice like Vaghi's fills the place up. This is due to the fact that the cubic volume of the Old Met was about 680,000 cubic feet. That's 170,000 cubic smaller than Carnegie Hall. The new Met's cubic volume is 1.2 million cubic feet. Twice the size of the Old Met but with the same number of seats. People are more comfortable in the new Met. Unless you get uncomfortable with sloppy singing.
@@tobiolopainto LOL
You know, MrQwerty88, you could post both recordings of Don Carlo with Bjoerling when you have the time.
Bjorling for the AH, SI BEN MIO, Corelli for DI QUELLA PIRA. Such are the anomalies regarding tenor arias within the same opera. But both are my 2 favorite tenor voices in the Full Lyric & Spinto repertoire. Some before & since can manage BOTH the aria & cabaletta in a credible fashion but taken seperately Bjorling & Corelli, different as their instruments are, remain the champions. They stand alone. Roman does some wonderful work as well, especially in the 4th act, actually rivaling Milanov at this time who was temporarily absent from the MET until Bing brought her back.
Do you have the Don Carlo broadcast from 1950? No survey of Bjoerling's Met performances would be complete without that.
I do. I have Don Carlo excerpts of the surviving audio from the now lost Telecast from the 6th November, 1950
and the full performance of 11th November, 1950
I will see about uploading them soon
@@MrQwerty88 Thank you. It's the latter I'm really craving (I'm into the Saturday afternoon broadcasts).
@@lauracross5776 I could send it to you quickly if you like, right now. File transfer?
If you don't mind giving your email to send a download link to?
Or gimme like 2-3 days
@@MrQwerty88 I'll just let you upload it as soon as you can.
@@lauracross5776 Hey I just checked and that very performance is available on the Met on Demand online, which means they'll issue a copyright claim if I upload it to youtube. (It's happened to me before) but I did find a way to upload it to a site (Dropbox) that gives me a download link (rather than sending it directly to email via wetransfer.com, the only way I previously knew how).
Here is a link that should download the file for you:
www.dropbox.com/s/hfnhnhn0zxqxbor/Don%20Carlo%20-%2011Nov1950%20-%20Met.wav?dl=0
Bjorling!
After this, listening to other tenors is a laughable experience.
Beautiful. Is it possible to buy this? Is it available on CD?
Premiered #otd in 1853 🔥🔥🔥
Був час Золотих голосів.
And there's Milton Cross
Ah, yes. Every commentator since then has been so......petit. The one who should have succeeded MC was George Jellinek. Politics.
Oh, sorry. I guess Harshaw is Azucena...I have heard Harshaw sing soprano roles.
She sang mezzo roles at the Met from 1942 to 1950. By 1950, her body was mature and strong enough to support her enormous voice in the "hoch dramatische" roles. This has worked with other singers with huge voices. James King comes to mind.
@@hrh4961 Thank you!
I wonder where was Zinka Milanov - that was her big role around that time.
At the end of 1947/ early 1948, Milanov left the Met when she married Yugoslav general and diplomat Ljubomir Ilić, and returned to live in Yugoslavia. She was at the peak of her artistic and vocal powers when she made her debut at the Teatro alla Scala as Tosca in 1950. Milanov returned to the Metropolitan Opera in 1950, invited by Rudolf Bing in his first year there as general manager.
(She still performed as recent as the 11th November 1947 for the Met, so she must have left late 1947, early 1948)
Thanks, have Zinka's live recordings of Trovatore from 1945 and 1956 both from the Met, conducted by Sodero and Cleva respectively, and knew she had left the Met for a while, just forgot the years.
@MrQwerty88
Actually, Zinka Milanov did not sing at the Met at all in 1947-48 (nor in 1948-49 or 1949-50). General Manager Edward Johnson, who disliked Milanov personally as well as professionally, let her contract lapse at the end of the 1946-47 season, though others on the Met staff disagreed with him. One can see evidence of this dislike in the fact that, as the 1940s progressed, Milanov sang only one or two Saturday-matinee broadcasts a season - only those for which the conductors insisted that she be cast. (In 1944-45, she broadcast only "Norma" and "Il trovatore"; in 1945-46, only "Un ballo in maschera" and "La Gioconda"; and in 1946-47, only "Il trovatore.")
And so the Met had to go through 1947-48 with Daniza Illitsch, Stella Roman, Regina Resnik, and Florence Kirk singing roles which Milanov had sung in seasons past, including the title roles in "La Gioconda" and "Aida," Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Leonora in "Il trovatore," Amelia in "Un ballo in maschera," and Santuzza in "Cavalleria rusticana." (Granted, Mr. Johnson did add Ljuba Welitsch and Gertrude Ribla to the company roster the following season, and both did well in "Aida" for a couple of seasons, but neither Welitsch nor Ribla lasted very long at the Met.)
Milanov's final performance of the 1940s with the Met was, in fact, in "Aida" on Saturday, 22 March 1947 - a tour performance, in Boston. Daniza Illitsch sang Amelia in the 10 November 1947 opening-night performance of "Un ballo in maschera." And it was Regina Resnik, not Zinka Milanov, who sang Donna Anna in "Don Giovanni" the following night (11 November 1947) with the Met in Philadelphia. (The Metropolitan Opera Annals don't lie.)
@@jmccracken1963 Wonderful history. Thank you.
1:39:54
Ya no existe este nivel..
9
9 what?
I find Bjoerling so obviously over parted here as Manrico, It brings to mind pictures of Mighty Mouse in his tight little uniform with his little bulging muscles trying to impress as a super hero. Once you have heard a Del Monico for example or Corelli or Martinelli, et.al, with the kind of weight in the voice that the part so clearly demands I can't understand enduring Bjoerlings bright, small tremulous pushed sound as acceptable.
About as ridiculous a comment on this Opera as I've read. Bjoerling's Manrico is nothing short of magnificent here.
@@kimmillard9445 -You obviously are young and proud of your ignorance. Had you been able to speak to anyone who heard him in the house they always made the same comment, "...small voice." Bjoerling always sang very well and as his pretty sound recorded so nicely he was often recorded in roles that were too heavy for him on stage.
@@photo161 , don't be a flaming jackass. I'm 58 and have followed Opera for over 40 years and have been a Bjoerling for about as long. I'm well aware of his capabilities, his limitations, and his idiosyncrasies. Maria Callas was not one to mince words and she said Bjoerling was the best Manrico she had ever heard. The reknowned music critic Irving Kolodin said essentially the same thing. Please take your trolling elsewhere.
@@kimmillard9445 There's NOT one word written about Bjorling in the Callas book. This also reminds me of people who write that JB was Pavarotti's favorite tenor, and again Pavarotti never mentioned Bjorling in his book and Pavarotti's favorite tenor was Di Stefano. Imo, I believe that Lauri Volpi was the best Manrico in operatic history. Enjoy
@@redgrapeskins Pavarotti was very diplomatic and spoke well of many tenor's when interviewed. He did say that he would study the way JB sung a role and admired him. Pav also made favorable comments about Aragall, Corelli, Tucker, and Gigli, but GDS was his favorite. In other interviews Pav also stated that Caruso was number one, but GDS was still his favorite. But, I do believe that Bjorling was a great lyric tenor
Thank you