Metropolitan Opera House
March 17, 1934 Matinee Broadcast
PETER IBBETSON {20}
Peter Ibbetson..........Edward Johnson
Mary....................Lucrezia Bori
Colonel Ibbetson........Lawrence Tibbett
Mrs. Deane..............Gladys Swarthout
Mrs. Glyn...............Ina Bourskaya
Achille.................Angelo Badà
Duquesnois..............Léon Rothier
Chaplain................Louis D'Angelo
Madge...................Grace Divine
Charlie.................Giordano Paltrinieri
Guy.....................Millo Picco
Diana...................Phradie Wells
Mme. Seraskier..........Helen Gleason
Mimsey..................June Lockhart
Pasquier................George Cehanovsky
Marie...................Dorothea Flexer
Gogo....................B L. Knight
Victorine...............Philine Falco
Footman.................Max Altglass
Manservant..............Alfredo Gandolfi
Sister of Charity.......Elda Vettori
Prison Governor.........George Cehanovsky
Turnkey.................Alfredo Gandolfi
Conductor...............Tullio Serafin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gbcf-uYAtk8&tMetropolitan Opera House
May 8, 1937 Matinee Broadcast
In English
THE BARTERED BRIDE {49}
Marenka.................Hilda Burke
Jeník...................Mario Chamlee
Vasek...................George Rasely
Kecal...................Louis D'Angelo
Ludmila.................Lucielle Browning
Krusina.................Wilfred Engelman
Háta....................Anna Kaskas
Tobias..................John Gurney
Circus Barker...........Norman Cordon
Esmeralda...............Natalie Bodanya
Red Indian..............Ludwig Burgstaller
Act I: "Polka" by Ruthanna Boris, William Dollar and American Ballet Group
Act II: "Waltz" by Ariel Lang [Debut] and American Ballet Group
Act III: "Dance of the Comedians" by the American Ballet Ensemble
Conductor...............Wilfred Pelletier
Stage Director..........Désiré Defrère
Set Design..............Joseph Novack
Choreographer...........George Balanchine
English Translation by Graham Jones
Review of Noel Straus in The New York Times
"BARTERED BRIDE" AT METROPOLITAN
First Spring Performance of Smetana Opera Presents Hilda Burke as Marie
REWARDED WITH SUCCESS
The Exaggerated Fun-Making of Newer Form of Work Greeted With Frequent Laughter
The first performance of the Spring season of Smetana's delightful comic opera, "The Bartered Bride," was given at the Metropolitan yesterday afternoon. The presentation was practically identical with the one of last year, which proved such an outstanding success. There was but one change in the cast as it then stood: Hilda Burke made her initial appearance in the grateful role of Marie, and proved herself quite capable of holding her own with the rest of the popular personnel.
It happened that the opera did not draw a capacity house like those which greeted its several repetitions last Spring. If the fact indicated a falling off of interest in this production on the part of the opera-going public, or was just due to chance, remains to be seen. Smetana's music in this work possesses such potent charm, and the performance accorded it at the Metropolitan is so exuberant and full of the joy of life that it is difficult to understand why the auditorium was not as packed as heretofore at this latest staging of the opera.
That the Metropolitan turns the comic opera into musical comedy gives the score and interpretation a different character entirely. But granting those in charge the right thus to alter the accepted traditions of the work, the performance has the merit of forming first-rate entertainment, at all events. When heard as comic opera, the humor is more subtle and at the same time more realistic in its folk atmosphere than in the present version, where the slap-stick type of fooling has the upper hand. Moreover, the opera, when not treated as musical comedy, tends to heighten the peasant qualities of the music, especially in the orchestra, which yesterday lacked the sharp accentuation and pungency that used to obtain when the music was less lightly approached.
But even in its newer conception, the opera makes a definite appeal which cannot be gainsaid. It went yesterday with gusto, and the exaggerated fun-making was rewarded with constant spontaneous laughter.
Louis D'Angelo made every point tell in his well-rounded portrayal of the marriage-broker, Kezal, which was expert as low comedy, though the rôle can be more effective when less broadly treated. Mario Chamlee was sufficiently intense as the lovelorn Hans, and Norman Cordon grotesquely droll as Springer. Miss Burke entered whole-heartedly into the spirit of the work and sang acceptably from first to last. The audience was much amused at the tomfoolery of George Basely as the simpleminded Wenzel.
Other rôles were ably taken by Lucielle Browning, John Gurney, Anna Kaskas, Natalie Bodanya and Ludwig Burgstaller. The American Ballet Ensemble danced with abandon and the chorus sang lustily and well. Wilfred Pelletier's conducting was up to his usual standard in this opera.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Bf69Nz26ZEMetropolitan Opera House
March 10, 1945 Matinee Broadcast
In English
LE COQ D'OR {65}
Cockerel................Thelma Votipka
Queen...................Patrice Munsel
Dodon...................Norman Cordon
Amelfa..................Margaret Harshaw
Astrologer..............Anthony Marlowe
Polkan..................John Gurney
Gvidon..................Richard Manning
Afron...................Hugh Thompson
Dance...................Marina Svetlova
Dance...................Monna Montes
Dance...................Alexis Dolinoff
Dance...................Leon Varkas
Dance...................Michael Arshansky
Conductor...............Emil Cooper
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0YuomwWUrQ&tMetropolitan Opera House
March 17, 1945 Matinee Broadcast
In English
FIDELIO {67}
Beethoven-Sonnleithner/Breuning/Treitschke
Leonore.................Regina Resnik
Florestan...............Arthur Carron
Don Pizarro.............Kenneth Schon [Debut]
Rocco...................Lorenzo Alvary
Marzelline..............Frances Greer
Jaquino.................John Garris
Don Fernando............Hugh Thompson
First Prisoner..........Richard Manning
Second Prisoner.........John Gurney
Conductor...............Bruno Walter
Director................Herbert Graf
Designer................Joseph Urban
Translation by T. Baker
Review of Olin Downes in The New York Times
WALTER CONDUCTS 'FIDELIO' IN ENGLISH
Metropolitan Scores Triumph with Beethoven's Opera - Cast Wins Plaudits
The performance of Beethoven's "Fidelio," sung in English yesterday afternoon in the Metropolitan Opera House, will go down as one of the proudest records in the annals of the institution whose name that theatre bears. The interpretation reflected the highest credit upon the members of the cast, almost entirely of American singers, who performed under Bruno Walters' baton. The singers, most of them of the rising generation, were of astonishingly high quality and adequate both to the vocal and dramatic demands of Beethoven's creation. This is no slight thing to say of vocal parts which in certain instances make cruel demands upon the voice and a curious and imperfect libretto which often puts the singers in the most difficult situations.
The musical direction was supplemented by the admirable stage direction of Dr. Graf. And there was this almost incredible achievement: an admirable English translation. We understand that this translation was based upon the text of Theodore Baker, with the rhymes removed and with various emendations by Mrs. Drowne and by Mr. Walter. The result is exceptional for simplicity, dignity and dramatic meaning.
Audience Gained Much
Here was an example of an English translation that was unquestionably of aid to the audience in its understanding of plot and therefore of music. Fortunately, the Metropolitan has dispensed with the singing of the recitatives as they were arranged by a former interpreter. They are now spoken, as Beethoven intended. Perhaps the words do not carry to all the confines of the house as the singing tone does, but so far as the writer is concerned they were audible and effectively explanatory of the situations.
For a final touch of the excellent scenic treatment there was the moment when, with the trumpet call from above, signal of the rescuing host, the light streamed down in the black dungeon where Florestan was confined. As the delivered pair, husband and wife, staggered up the steps to freedom, the curtain slowly gathered and the first mysterious tones of the Third Leonore overture sounded from the orchestra as if from space. It was an unforgettable impression, summation of the drama which is the matrix of the incomparable overture, and an apotheosis only possible in the lyric theatre.
The cast had some excellent surprises. Regina. Resnik, who had done well in other parts, showed that she had the voice, the high intelligence and the dramatic sincerity required for Leonora's great role. That its tessitura is almost impossible was not an obstruction to Miss Resnik's achievement. Her highest tones had impact and emotion. The voice is of a warm color and stamina and resourcefulness through its range. She spoke her recitatives movingly. The fact that she looked more like Peter Pan than a heroic statue when she confronted the murderous Pizzaro did not lessen the tension of that instant or the excitement that she communicated by her gifts and personality.
Schon Makes Debut
Kenneth Schon made his debut as Pizzaro, with a dignity and dramatic power which neither cheapened nor flagged. He sings with a strong and manly resonance and with equally commendable diction. The fire of his delivery singing was made the more convincing by good taste and musicianship, so that the Pizzaro was a real figure on the stage and not a puppet of melodrama.
Mr. Carron sang Florestan's difficult air with full tone and with an effect so genuine and intense that the audience was stirred for the moment beyond demonstration. All this carried the dungeon scene ever more powerfully to its climax, only to be completely fulfilled by the wild hosannas of Beethoven's orchestra.
There were no weak links in the musico-dramatic chain. Mr. Alvary's Rocco was a first-class accomplishment in the timbre of the voice and its purposeful employment, in his capacity for attack and resonance in declamatory passages and, at the same time, his mastery of legato and of mezza voce when he wanted that for expressive purposes. These resources were remarkably utilized in the grave-digging episode. His English accent could be improved, which it is to be hoped will be done, but his dramatic distinctness and his sound comprehension of every detail of his role were obvious.
Other Roles Well Done
Then there were the first and second prisoners of Richard Manning and John Gurney and the unforgettable chorus of the trembling, helpless prisoners - their supplications, their gratitude and ecstasy in the light and the air.
Other parts were Mr. Thompson's Fernando and the competent Miss Greer's Marzelline. The synthesis of the whole occasion was Mr. Walter's. Not for nothing did the audience applaud him for minutes at the beginning of Act II. It seemed an occasion when most of the effects that a great and sincere musician aims at in an operatic performance actually came off, and to his pleasure. He had entire and invigorating control of all the factors on the stage and in the orchestra pit. His inspiration was unchecked as the performance progressed. And so, for a great rarity, did Beethoven's "Fidelio" come into its own.
Review of Jerome D. Bohm in the New York Herald Tribune
The revival of "Fidelio" after an absence of about four years from the repertory of the Metropolitan Opera House yesterday afternoon will hardly occupy a place among the finest performances of Beethovan's great opera here. The performance, which was given for the first time in this auditorium in the clumsy English translation of Dr. Theodore Baker, by a cast that was at best barely able to cope with the arduous demands of the score, made this reviewer wonder whether it would not have been advisable to postpone the restoration of this work until vocalists of the kind essential to a satisfactory conveyence of its taxing music were again available. For even the presence of Bruno Walter in the conductor's chair was not sufficient to atone for the short-comings on the stage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzwilcKUwfgMetropolitan Opera House
February 12, 1949 Matinee Broadcast
PETER GRIMES {9}
Peter Grimes............Brian Sullivan
Ellen Orford............Polyna Stoska
Captain Balstrode.......Lawrence Tibbett
Mrs. Sedley.............Martha Lipton
Auntie..................Jean Madeira
Niece...................Paula Lenchner
Niece...................Maxine Stellman
Hobson..................Philip Kinsman
Swallow.................Jerome Hines
Bob Boles...............Thomas Hayward
Rev. Horace Adams.......John Garris
Ned Keene...............Hugh Thompson
Lawyer..................Anthony Marlowe
Fisherwoman.............Thelma Altman
Fisherman...............Lawrence Davidson
Thorp...................Matthew Vittucci
John....................Peggy Smithers
Conductor...............Emil Cooper
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwA61qU-7LY