fbpx
Wikipedia

The Metropolitan Opera Centennial Gala

The Metropolitan Opera Centennial Gala was a televised concert, lasting more than eight hours, that New York City's Metropolitan Opera staged on 22 October 1983 to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of its first performance. A 230-minute selection of excerpts from the concert was first released in 1985 on a pair of Pioneer Artists Laserdiscs, subsequently appearing on a pair of Bel Canto Paramount Home Video VHS videocassettes in 1989 and on a Pioneer Classics DVD in 1998. A remastered double DVD of the film was issued by Deutsche Grammophon in 2009.

The Metropolitan Opera Centennial Gala
Deutsche Grammophon DVD, 00440-073-4538
GenreOpera
Directed byKirk Browning
Country of originUnited States
Original languagesEnglish, French, German and Italian
Production
ProducersMichael Bronson
Clemente d'Alessio
Running time230 minutes
Original release
NetworkPBS

Background edit

The Metropolitan Opera's first performance was given on 22 October 1883 at its former home on the junction of Broadway and 39th Street in New York City: a staging of Charles Gounod's Faust starring Italo Campanini in the title role and Christine Nilsson as Marguerite. With the one hundredth anniversary of that occasion chancing to fall on a Saturday, the Met chose to commemorate its centenary with a two-part gala comprising a matinée at 2 p.m. and an evening session at 8 p.m.[1]

More than seventy singers were invited to participate, chosen either for their eminence or their long association with the house. Performing on a series of sets created by the most distinguished designers in the Met's history, they sang arias, duets and ensembles from an eclectic range of operas as well as a few items drawn from other genres. There were also contributions from the Met's chorus and resident ballet company as well as some purely orchestral selections.[1]

The entire event was broadcast live on both radio and television in the United States and in some other countries. The US television broadcast was supported by a grant from the Texaco Philanthropic Foundation, Inc., with supplementary help from the Charles E. Culpeper Foundation, Inc., and the National Endowment For the Arts. The production of Deutsche Grammophon's DVD of the gala was supported by the Charles A. Dana Foundation.[1][2]

Deutsche Grammophon DVD chapter listing edit

Disc 1: matinée session edit

  • 1 (0:44) Opening credits

Set design for Les Mamelles de Tirésias by David Hockney (b. 1937)

Bedřich Smetana

Prodaná nevěsta (The Bartered Bride, Prague, 1866), with a libretto by Karel Sabina

Giacomo Puccini, posthumously completed by Franco Alfano

Turandot (Milan, 1926), with a libretto by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni after Turandot (1762) by Carlo Gozzi

  • 3 (6:57) "In questa reggia", with Éva Marton (Turandot), conducted by James Levine

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Le nozze di Figaro ("The marriage of Figaro", K. 492, Vienna, 1786), with a libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte after La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro ("The mad day, or the marriage of Figaro", 1784) by Pierre Beaumarchais

Giuseppe Verdi

Otello (Milan, 1887), with a libretto by Arrigo Boito after The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice (?1603) by William Shakespeare

  • 5 (5:04) "Dio! Mi potevi scagliar", with James McCracken (Otello), conducted by James Levine

Gioachino Rossini

Il barbiere di Siviglia, ossia L'inutile precauzione ("The barber of Seville, or The useless precaution", Rome, 1816), with a libretto by Cesare Sterbini after Le barbier de Séville (1775) by Pierre Beaumarchais

Gaetano Donizetti

Lucia di Lammermoor (Naples, 1835), with a libretto by Salvadore Cammarano after The Bride of Lammermoor (1819) by Sir Walter Scott)

Gioachino Rossini

Semiramide (Venice, 1823), with a libretto by Gaetano Rossi after Sémiramis by Voltaire, a play based on the legend of Semiramis of Assyria

  • 8 (8:27) "Bel raggio lusinghier", with Joan Sutherland (Semiramide), conducted by Richard Bonynge

Set design for act 2 of Arabella by Günther Schneider-Siemssen

Pietro Mascagni

Iris (Rome, 1898), with a libretto by Luigi Illica

  • 9 (10:40) Prelude: "Son io! Son io la vita", with the Metropolitan Opera Chorus, conducted by David Stivender

Richard Strauss

Der Rosenkavalier ("The knight of the rose", Op. 59, Dresden, 1911), with a libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal after Les amours du chevalier de Faubles by Jean-Baptiste Louvet de Couvrai and Monsieur de Pourceaugnac (1669) by Molière

Charles Gounod

Roméo et Juliette (Paris, 1867), with a libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré after Romeo and Juliet (circa 1593) by William Shakespeare

Gaetano Donizetti

L'elisir d'amore ("The elixir of love", Milan, 1832), with a libretto by Felice Romani after that written by Eugène Scribe for Le philtre (1831) by Daniel Auber

  • 12 (5:49) "Una furtive lagrima", with Nicolai Gedda (Nemorino), conducted by James Levine

Giuseppe Verdi

Ernani (Venice, 1844), with a libretto by Francesco Maria Piave after Hernani (1830) by Victor Hugo

  • 13 (7:54) "Surta è la note... Ernani! Ernani, involami", with Anna Tomowa-Sintow (Elvira), conducted by James Levine

Richard Strauss

Der Rosenkavalier

Giuseppe Verdi

Otello

Disc 2: evening session edit

  • 1 (0:25) Opening

Set design for act 2 of La bohème by Franco Zeffirelli

Ludwig van Beethoven

Fidelio (Op. 72, Vienna, 1805), with a libretto by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of Jean-Nicolas Bouilly

Umberto Giordano

Andrea Chénier (Milan, 1896), with a libretto by Luigi Illica based on the life of the poet André Chénier

Claude Debussy

L'enfant prodigue ("The prodigal son", Paris, 1884), with a text by Édouard Guinand

Set design by Robert O'Hearn

Camille Saint-Saëns

Samson et Dalila (Op. 47, Weimar, 1877), with a libretto by Ferdinand Lemaire after the story of Samson and Delilah in Chapter 16 of the Book of Judges in the Old Testament

  • 5 (8:23) Bacchanale, with Linda Gelinas (dancer), Ricardo Costa (dancer) and the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, conducted by James Levine

Giuseppe Verdi

Nabucco (Milan, 1842), with a libretto by Temistocle Solera after Antonio Cortese's 1836 ballet version of a play by Auguste Anicet-Bourgeois and Francis Cornu that was in turn based on the Book of Jeremiah and the Book of Daniel in the Old Testament

Set design for Die Zauberflöte by Marc Chagall

Charles Gounod

Faust (Paris, 1859), with a libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré from Carré's play Faust et Marguerite, after Faust: Eine Tragödie ("Faust, a tragedy", 1808) by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Giacomo Puccini

Madama Butterfly (Milan, 1904), with a libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa after Madame Butterfly (1898) by John Luther Long, in turn based on reminiscences of Long's sister, Jennie Correll, and Madame Chrysanthème (1887) by Pierre Loti

Gioachino Rossini

L'italiana in Algeri ("The Italian girl in Algiers", Venice, 1813), with a libretto by Angelo Anelli after his libretto for L'italiana in Algeri (1808) by Luigi Mosca

Camille Saint-Saëns

Samson et Dalila

Richard Wagner

Tristan und Isolde (WWV 90, München, 1865), with a libretto by Wagner after Tristan by Gottfried von Strassburg (d. circa 1210)

  • 11 (11:06) "Wie lachend sie mir Lieder singen", with Birgit Nilsson (Isolde), conducted by James Levine

Traditional Swedish folk song

  • 12 (3:29) "Fjorton år tror jag visst att jag var" ("When I was seventeen"), with Birgit Nilsson

Giuseppe Verdi

Un ballo in maschera ("A masked ball", Rome, 1859), with a libretto by Antonio Somma after Eugène Scribe's libretto for Daniel Auber's Gustave III, ou Le bal masqué (1833)

Patty Hill and Mildred J. Hill (attributed), with a text attributed to Preston Ware Orem and Mrs R. R. Forman

Personnel edit

Artists edit

Metropolitan Opera personnel edit

  • Charles Riecker, gala coordinator
  • Phebe Berkowitz, stage director
  • Bruce Donnell, stage director
  • David Kneuss, stage director
  • Leslie Koenig, stage director
  • Pamela McRae, stage director
  • Paul Mills, stage director
  • David Sell, stage director
  • Joan Dornemann, prompter
  • William Vendice, prompter
  • Stephen R. Berman, stage manager
  • Stephen A. Brown, stage manager
  • Tom Connell, stage manager
  • Stanley Levine, stage manager
  • Chris Mahan, stage manager
  • William McCourt, stage manager
  • Gil Wechsler, lighting designer
  • Sander Hacker, master electrician
  • Stephen Diaz, master carpenter
  • Arthur Ashenden, properties master
  • Nina Lawson, wig and hair stylist
  • Victor Callegari, make-up artist
  • Millicent Hacker, wardrobe mistress[1]

Broadcast personnel edit

  • Michael Bronson, executive producer
  • Clemente d'Alessio, producer
  • Kirk Browning, director
  • Karen Adler, associate producer
  • Alan Skog, associate director
  • John Leay, engineer-in-charge
  • Jay David Saks, audio director
  • Mark Schubin, transmission consultant
  • Paul C. York, senior technician
  • Emmett Loughran, technical director
  • Bill King, audio supervisor
  • Mel Becker, audio engineer
  • Michael Shoskes, audio engineer
  • Robert M. Tannenbaum, audio engineer
  • William Steinberg, video engineer
  • Bill Akerlund, camera operator
  • Juan Barrera, camera operator
  • Jim Covello, camera operator
  • John Feher, camera operator
  • Manny Gutierrez, camera operator
  • Jay Millard, camera operator
  • Jake Ostroff, camera operator
  • David Smith, camera operator
  • Ron Washburn, handheld camera operator
  • Alan Buchner, video recording engineer
  • Paul Ranieri, video recording engineer
  • Karen McLaughlin, electronic graphics
  • Kim Anway, television stage manager
  • Gerry Crosland, television stage manager
  • Kevin Tracy, television stage manager
  • Martha Yates, television stage manager
  • Howard Heller, score reader
  • John Rice, production assistant
  • Vivienne de Stefano, production assistant
  • Alfred Muller, post-production (Nexus Productions)
  • Unitel Mobile Video, production facilities[1]

DVD production personnel edit

  • Burkhard Bartsch, project manager
  • Veronika Holek, project coordinator
  • Johannes Müller, producer, msm-Studios GmbH, München
  • Hermann Enkemeier, screen designer, msm-Studios
  • Markus Ammer, video encoding and authoring, msm-Studios
  • Sven Mevissen, mSurround upmixing and encoding, msm-Studios
  • Monica Ling, subtitles
  • Eva Reisinger, booklet editor
  • Merle Kersten, booklet art director[1]

Critical reception edit

Reviews edit

Donal Henahan reviewed the gala in The New York Times on 24 October 1983. Financial considerations, he wrote, had led the Metropolitan Opera to stage a concert which, including intermissions, ran for some eleven hours. The result was that "there were many stretches of unremarkable singing by minor or obscure artists". Indeed, "there were so many obscure names or unfamiliar faces that the listener had to keep diving into the program to learn their identities, and even then was seldom the wiser". Every opera company needed singers who, although well schooled and competent, were more or less anonymous, but it was questionable whether such artists should figure prominently in what was a once-in-a-lifetime jamboree. The Met's brisk stage management had not helped matters by hustling singers through their contributions without allowing the customary encores or floral tributes, or even more than a few ovations. It was disappointing to spend a long time at an event such as this without finding oneself shedding a nostalgic tear.[3]

This was not to say that the Met had not done "a magnificent job of hugging itself". Dotted amongst the gala were many moments that were "thrilling" and even "euphoric".[3]

Éva Marton was "galvanizing" in Turandot's "In questa reggia". Ruggero Raimondi was "wickedly funny" in Basilio's "La calunnia". Joan Sutherland's "glittering" "Bel raggio lusinghier" was the most ecstatic item of the entire event, and the most enthusiastically applauded.[3]

The Met's chorus played only a small part in the proceedings, but acquitted themselves well in the Prelude and "Hymn to the sun" from Mascagni's Iris. Catherine Malfitano and Alfredo Kraus were "touching" in a duet from Gounod's Roméo et Juliette. Nicolai Gedda was "excitingly ardent" in "Una furtive lagrima".[3]

In the trio from the concluding pages of Der Rosenkavalier, Kathleen Battle and Frederica von Stade sang "delectably", and Elisabeth Söderström was able to present a three-dimensional portrait of the Feldmarschallin despite having only a few minutes in which to do so. Mirella Freni and Plácido Domingo were "affecting" in a love duet from Otello. Preceded by a "somewhat ludicrous caricature of opera ballet" in which the Met's dancers enacted the Bacchanale from Samson et Dalila, Renato Bruson and Grace Bumbry performed a duet from Nabucco that was particularly enjoyable. Bruson was the epitome of cool serenity, but Bumbry sang electrifyingly in a voice that sounded "richer and more rested" than it had for a considerable while.[3]

It was after the final intermission, with midnight approaching, that the gala truly melted hearts. The curtain rose to reveal twenty-five of the Met's most distinguished former luminaries seated at the back of the stage like jurors in a vocal competition. Among them were Helen Jepson, Dorothy Kirsten, Zinka Milanov, Jarmila Novotná, Bidu Sayão, Eleanor Steber, Risë Stevens, Ferruccio Tagliavini, Cesare Valletti and Ramón Vinay. Their presence endowed the concert with a feeling of historical significance that it had thitherto lacked. It was worth the price of one's ticket just to watch the expressions on their faces as they listened to their successors singing in front of them.[3]

Leona Mitchell and Giuliano Ciannella sang the nuptial duet from Madama Butterfly, and the last of three laudable selections from Rossini came in the form of a "delectable exhibition of ... ensemble precision" in the finale to act 1 of L'italiana in Algeri. Marilyn Horne then lifted the occasion onto a new level of feeling and drama in a "sumptuous" rendition of "Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix", after which, to the manifest delight of the audience, she offered a wordless but eloquent embrace to Risë Stevens, the pre-eminent Dalila of her era.[3]

Birgit Nilsson, in a voice that betrayed her sixty-five years yet was still something to marvel at, performed Isolde's Narrative and Curse. One of her admirers was so overcome that an usher had to restrain him from invading the stage with a bouquet. In the evening's only encore, Nilsson then offered a Swedish folk song which, she explained, had been a favourite of her compatriot namesake, Christine Nilsson, who had been Faust's Marguerite on the opening night of the old Met in 1883.[3]

Leontyne Price and Luciano Pavarotti delivered a culminating, "soaring" love duet from Un ballo in maschera, the tenor "in clarion voice", the soprano more slender of form than of late but "never in recent years ... more voluptuous or freer" in her singing. But neither of them was likely to linger in the memory as vividly as Horne putting her arms around Stevens, or Nilsson's simple melody from her homeland. It was episodes such as these that were "the real stuff that opera galas are made of".[3]

Joseph McLellan reviewed the gala on Laserdisc in The Washington Post on 31 May 1985. It was, he wrote, "the most spectacular event in the history of opera". From the very first note of the Bartered bride overture in the middle of the afternoon to Luciano Pavarotti and Leontyne Price duetting in Verdian ecstasy in the small hours of the morning, "it was operatic caviar". No previous concert had brought together such a dazzling constellation of opera stars for a single event. The quality of the performances was uneven, but the best of them were "stratospheric". Nothing like this gala had ever been presented before[4]

Pioneer's pair of Laserdiscs omitted the gala's weaker items and abbreviated singers' comings and goings. The audio quality that they offered far outclassed that of PBS's broadcast. Collectors who enjoyed concerts of operatic excerpts sung by first class artists were sure to find Pioneer's release the most important issue of the year, and maybe even of the decade.[4]

The gala was also reviewed in Gramophone,[5] Opera Quarterly,[6] Richard M. Jacobs's and Ed Schwartz's Music Videodiscs: An Annual Guide,[7] Rebecca Krafft's and Brian O'Doherty's The Arts on Television, 1976–1990[8] and Douglas Pratt's The Laser Video Disc Companion[9] and Doug Pratt's DVD Video Guide.[10]

Accolades edit

The gala was recognized several times in the Emmy Awards of 1984. In the Performing Arts division of the Daytime Awards, the award for Outstanding Program Achievement was won by Michael Bronson and Clemente D'Alessio , and in the Outstanding Individual Achievement category, James Levine won the award for Music, Kirk Browning was nominated for the award for Directing and Jay David Saks won the award for Audio.[11] In the Outstanding Individual Achievement – Classical Music/Dance Programming category of the Primetime Awards, Kirk Browning was nominated for the award for Directing, and James Levine won the award for Performance.[12]

Broadcast and home media history edit

Both the afternoon and evening segments of the gala were broadcast in their entirety live on PBS television on 22 October 1983.[13] The gala was also broadcast on radio, and, via satellite, to Europe.[2]

All home media releases of the gala provide the same 230-minute selection of excerpts from it, with a 4:3 aspect ratio and NTSC colour. In 1985, Pioneer Artists released this edition on a pair of CLV (constant linear velocity) Laserdiscs (catalogue number PA-84-095) with CD-quality digital stereo audio and an accompanying booklet.[14] In 1989, Bel Canto Paramount Home Video issued it on a pair of VHS videocassettes (catalogue number 2364) with stereo audio and with liner notes by Martin Mayer.[15] In 1998, Pioneer Classics issued it on a DVD with Dolby Digital compressed stereo audio and English-only subtitles.[2] Pioneer's disc was accompanied by an eight page leaflet including four photographs and essays on the Met's history by Frank E. Taplin and Anthony A. Bliss, as well as notes on each item in the concert by Charles Rizzuto.[2]

In 2009, Deutsche Grammophon supplanted Pioneer's DVD with a two-disc issue (catalogue number 00440-073-4538), one DVD being dedicated to the afternoon segment of the gala and one to its evening session. DG's Region 0 DVDs offer both uncompressed PCM stereo audio and an ersatz 5.1-channel DTS surround sound upmix, with subtitles in Chinese, English, French, German, Spanish and – although only for items sung in that language – Italian. DG's 16-page insert booklet includes two photographs and an essay by Richard Evidon in English, French and German.[1]

Gallery of artists edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j The Metropolitan Opera Centennial Gala, Deutsche Grammophon DVD, 00440-073-4548, 2009
  2. ^ a b c d The Metropolitan Opera Centennial Gala, Pioneer Classics DVD, PC-94-046-D, 1998
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Henahan, Donal (October 24, 1983). "Met Gives Gala Hug to Itself". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
  4. ^ a b McLellan, Joseph (May 31, 1985). "The Met's Great Performances" – via www.washingtonpost.com.
  5. ^ Gramophone, vol. 79, issues 945–948, 2001, p. 40
  6. ^ Opera Quarterly, vol. 4, issues 1–2, 1986, p. 162
  7. ^ Jacobs, Richard M. and Schwartz, Ed: Music Videodiscs: An Annual Guide, Wm. C. Brown Publishers, 1991, p. 139
  8. ^ Krafft, Rebecca and O'Doherty, Brian: The Arts on Television, 1976–1990, Media Arts: Film/Radio/Television Program, National Endowment for the Arts, 1991, p. 24
  9. ^ Pratt, Douglas: The Laser Video Disc Companion, Zoetrope, 1988, p. 12
  10. ^ Pratt, Douglas: Doug Pratt's DVD Video Guide, Harbor Electronic Publishing, 2000, p. 243
  11. ^ "Daytime Emmy Awards (1984)". IMDb.
  12. ^ "Primetime Emmy Awards (1984)". IMDb.
  13. ^ "The Metropolitan Opera: Centennial Gala" – via www.imdb.com.
  14. ^ The Metropolitan Opera Centennial Gala, Pioneer Artists LD, PA-84-095, 1985
  15. ^ The Metropolitan Opera Centennial Gala, Bel Canto Paramount Home Video VHS, 2364, 1989

metropolitan, opera, centennial, gala, televised, concert, lasting, more, than, eight, hours, that, york, city, metropolitan, opera, staged, october, 1983, commemorate, hundredth, anniversary, first, performance, minute, selection, excerpts, from, concert, fir. The Metropolitan Opera Centennial Gala was a televised concert lasting more than eight hours that New York City s Metropolitan Opera staged on 22 October 1983 to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of its first performance A 230 minute selection of excerpts from the concert was first released in 1985 on a pair of Pioneer Artists Laserdiscs subsequently appearing on a pair of Bel Canto Paramount Home Video VHS videocassettes in 1989 and on a Pioneer Classics DVD in 1998 A remastered double DVD of the film was issued by Deutsche Grammophon in 2009 The Metropolitan Opera Centennial GalaDeutsche Grammophon DVD 00440 073 4538GenreOperaDirected byKirk BrowningCountry of originUnited StatesOriginal languagesEnglish French German and ItalianProductionProducersMichael BronsonClemente d AlessioRunning time230 minutesOriginal releaseNetworkPBS Contents 1 Background 2 Deutsche Grammophon DVD chapter listing 2 1 Disc 1 matinee session 2 2 Disc 2 evening session 3 Personnel 3 1 Artists 3 2 Metropolitan Opera personnel 3 3 Broadcast personnel 3 4 DVD production personnel 4 Critical reception 4 1 Reviews 4 2 Accolades 5 Broadcast and home media history 6 Gallery of artists 7 See also 8 ReferencesBackground editThe Metropolitan Opera s first performance was given on 22 October 1883 at its former home on the junction of Broadway and 39th Street in New York City a staging of Charles Gounod s Faust starring Italo Campanini in the title role and Christine Nilsson as Marguerite With the one hundredth anniversary of that occasion chancing to fall on a Saturday the Met chose to commemorate its centenary with a two part gala comprising a matinee at 2 p m and an evening session at 8 p m 1 More than seventy singers were invited to participate chosen either for their eminence or their long association with the house Performing on a series of sets created by the most distinguished designers in the Met s history they sang arias duets and ensembles from an eclectic range of operas as well as a few items drawn from other genres There were also contributions from the Met s chorus and resident ballet company as well as some purely orchestral selections 1 The entire event was broadcast live on both radio and television in the United States and in some other countries The US television broadcast was supported by a grant from the Texaco Philanthropic Foundation Inc with supplementary help from the Charles E Culpeper Foundation Inc and the National Endowment For the Arts The production of Deutsche Grammophon s DVD of the gala was supported by the Charles A Dana Foundation 1 2 Deutsche Grammophon DVD chapter listing editDisc 1 matinee session edit 1 0 44 Opening creditsSet design for Les Mamelles de Tiresias by David Hockney b 1937 Bedrich SmetanaProdana nevesta The Bartered Bride Prague 1866 with a libretto by Karel Sabina 2 7 21 Overture conducted by James LevineGiacomo Puccini posthumously completed by Franco AlfanoTurandot Milan 1926 with a libretto by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni after Turandot 1762 by Carlo Gozzi 3 6 57 In questa reggia with Eva Marton Turandot conducted by James LevineWolfgang Amadeus MozartLe nozze di Figaro The marriage of Figaro K 492 Vienna 1786 with a libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte after La folle journee ou le Mariage de Figaro The mad day or the marriage of Figaro 1784 by Pierre Beaumarchais 4 7 24 E Susanna non vien Dove sono i bei momenti with Kiri Te Kanawa La Contessa Almaviva conducted by James LevineGiuseppe VerdiOtello Milan 1887 with a libretto by Arrigo Boito after The Tragedy of Othello the Moor of Venice 1603 by William Shakespeare 5 5 04 Dio Mi potevi scagliar with James McCracken Otello conducted by James LevineGioachino RossiniIl barbiere di Siviglia ossia L inutile precauzione The barber of Seville or The useless precaution Rome 1816 with a libretto by Cesare Sterbini after Le barbier de Seville 1775 by Pierre Beaumarchais 6 5 13 La calunnia e un venticello with Ruggero Raimondi Basilio conducted by Richard BonyngeGaetano DonizettiLucia di Lammermoor Naples 1835 with a libretto by Salvadore Cammarano after The Bride of Lammermoor 1819 by Sir Walter Scott 7 5 13 Chi mi frena in tal momento with Dano Raffanti Edgardo Brian Schexnayder Enrico Roberta Peters Lucia Julien Robbins Raimondo Loretta Di Franco Alisa and Robert Nagy Arturo conducted by Richard BonyngeGioachino RossiniSemiramide Venice 1823 with a libretto by Gaetano Rossi after Semiramis by Voltaire a play based on the legend of Semiramis of Assyria 8 8 27 Bel raggio lusinghier with Joan Sutherland Semiramide conducted by Richard BonyngeSet design for act 2 of Arabella by Gunther Schneider SiemssenPietro MascagniIris Rome 1898 with a libretto by Luigi Illica 9 10 40 Prelude Son io Son io la vita with the Metropolitan Opera Chorus conducted by David StivenderRichard StraussDer Rosenkavalier The knight of the rose Op 59 Dresden 1911 with a libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal after Les amours du chevalier de Faubles by Jean Baptiste Louvet de Couvrai and Monsieur de Pourceaugnac 1669 by Moliere 10 7 56 Mir ist die Ehre widerfahren with Frederica von Stade Octavian and Judith Blegen Sophie conducted by Jeffrey TateCharles GounodRomeo et Juliette Paris 1867 with a libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carre after Romeo and Juliet circa 1593 by William Shakespeare 11 13 18 Va Je t ai pardonne Nuit d hymenee with Catherine Malfitano Juliette and Alfredo Kraus Romeo conducted by Jeffrey TateGaetano DonizettiL elisir d amore The elixir of love Milan 1832 with a libretto by Felice Romani after that written by Eugene Scribe for Le philtre 1831 by Daniel Auber 12 5 49 Una furtive lagrima with Nicolai Gedda Nemorino conducted by James LevineGiuseppe VerdiErnani Venice 1844 with a libretto by Francesco Maria Piave after Hernani 1830 by Victor Hugo 13 7 54 Surta e la note Ernani Ernani involami with Anna Tomowa Sintow Elvira conducted by James LevineRichard StraussDer Rosenkavalier 14 6 17 Hab mir s gelobt with Elisabeth Soderstrom Marschallin Kathleen Battle Sophie and Frederica von Stade Octavian conducted by James LevineGiuseppe VerdiOtello 15 13 30 Gia nella notte densa with Placido Domingo Otello and Mirella Freni Desdemona conducted by James Levine 1 Disc 2 evening session edit 1 0 25 OpeningSet design for act 2 of La boheme by Franco ZeffirelliLudwig van BeethovenFidelio Op 72 Vienna 1805 with a libretto by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of Jean Nicolas Bouilly 2 15 59 Overture Leonore III conducted by Leonard BernsteinUmberto GiordanoAndrea Chenier Milan 1896 with a libretto by Luigi Illica based on the life of the poet Andre Chenier 3 10 09 Vicino a te s acqueta l irrequieta anima with Jose Carreras Andrea Chenier and Montserrat Caballe Maddalena conducted by James LevineClaude DebussyL enfant prodigue The prodigal son Paris 1884 with a text by Edouard Guinand 4 6 34 L annee en vain chasse l annee with Ileana Cotrubas Lia conducted by John PritchardSet design by Robert O HearnCamille Saint SaensSamson et Dalila Op 47 Weimar 1877 with a libretto by Ferdinand Lemaire after the story of Samson and Delilah in Chapter 16 of the Book of Judges in the Old Testament 5 8 23 Bacchanale with Linda Gelinas dancer Ricardo Costa dancer and the Metropolitan Opera Ballet conducted by James LevineGiuseppe VerdiNabucco Milan 1842 with a libretto by Temistocle Solera after Antonio Cortese s 1836 ballet version of a play by Auguste Anicet Bourgeois and Francis Cornu that was in turn based on the Book of Jeremiah and the Book of Daniel in the Old Testament 6 13 37 Donna chi sei with Renato Bruson Nabucco and Grace Bumbry Abigaille conducted by Thomas FultonSet design for Die Zauberflote by Marc ChagallCharles GounodFaust Paris 1859 with a libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carre from Carre s play Faust et Marguerite after Faust Eine Tragodie Faust a tragedy 1808 by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 7 4 00 Alerte Ou vous etes perdus with Nicolai Ghiaurov Mephistopheles Katia Ricciarelli Marguerite and William Lewis Faust conducted by James LevineGiacomo PucciniMadama Butterfly Milan 1904 with a libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa after Madame Butterfly 1898 by John Luther Long in turn based on reminiscences of Long s sister Jennie Correll and Madame Chrysantheme 1887 by Pierre Loti 8 11 54 Bimba dagli occhi pieni di malia with Giuliano Ciannella Pinkerton and Leona Mitchell Cio Cio San conducted by James LevineGioachino RossiniL italiana in Algeri The Italian girl in Algiers Venice 1813 with a libretto by Angelo Anelli after his libretto for L italiana in Algeri 1808 by Luigi Mosca 9 10 11 Pria di dividerci de voi signore with Edda Moser Elvira Diane Kesling Zulma David Rendall Lindoro Gail Dubinbaum Isabella Ara Berberian Mustafa John Darrenkamp Haly Sesto Bruscantini Taddeo and members of the Metropolitan Opera Chorus conducted by James LevineCamille Saint SaensSamson et Dalila 10 8 50 Mon cœur s ouvre a ta voix with Marilyn Horne Dalila conducted by James LevineRichard WagnerTristan und Isolde WWV 90 Munchen 1865 with a libretto by Wagner after Tristan by Gottfried von Strassburg d circa 1210 11 11 06 Wie lachend sie mir Lieder singen with Birgit Nilsson Isolde conducted by James LevineTraditional Swedish folk song 12 3 29 Fjorton ar tror jag visst att jag var When I was seventeen with Birgit NilssonGiuseppe VerdiUn ballo in maschera A masked ball Rome 1859 with a libretto by Antonio Somma after Eugene Scribe s libretto for Daniel Auber s Gustave III ou Le bal masque 1833 13 10 37 Teco io sto Gran dio with Luciano Pavarotti Riccardo and Leontyne Price Amelia conducted by James LevinePatty Hill and Mildred J Hill attributed with a text attributed to Preston Ware Orem and Mrs R R Forman 14 1 28 Happy birthday to you 1893 with the Company 15 1 27 Closing credits 1 Personnel editArtists edit Kathleen Battle soprano Ara Berberian bass Judith Blegen soprano Sesto Bruscantini baritone Renato Bruson baritone Grace Bumbry mezzo soprano Montserrat Caballe soprano Jose Carreras tenor Giuliano Ciannella tenor Ileana Cotrubas soprano John Darrenkamp baritone Placido Domingo tenor Gail Dubinbaum mezzo soprano Loretta Di Franco soprano Mirella Freni soprano Nicolai Gedda tenor Nicolai Ghiaurov bass Marilyn Horne mezzo soprano Kiri Te Kanawa soprano Diane Kesling mezzo soprano Alfredo Kraus tenor William Lewis tenor Catherine Malfitano soprano Eva Marton soprano James McCracken tenor Leona Mitchell soprano Edda Moser soprano Robert Nagy tenor Birgit Nilsson soprano Luciano Pavarotti tenor Roberta Peters soprano Leontyne Price soprano Dano Raffanti tenor Ruggero Raimondi bass baritone David Rendall tenor Katia Ricciarelli soprano Julien Robbins bass baritone Brian Schexnayder baritone Elisabeth Soderstrom soprano Frederica von Stade mezzo soprano Joan Sutherland soprano Anna Tomowa Sintow soprano Raymond Gniewek concertmaster The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra The Metropolitan Opera Chorus Roberto Costa dancer Linda Gelinas dancer The Metropolitan Opera Ballet Donald Mahler ballet director Leonard Bernstein conductor Richard Bonynge conductor Thomas Fulton conductor James Levine conductor John Pritchard conductor David Stivender conductor and chorus master Jeffrey Tate conductor 1 Metropolitan Opera personnel edit Charles Riecker gala coordinator Phebe Berkowitz stage director Bruce Donnell stage director David Kneuss stage director Leslie Koenig stage director Pamela McRae stage director Paul Mills stage director David Sell stage director Joan Dornemann prompter William Vendice prompter Stephen R Berman stage manager Stephen A Brown stage manager Tom Connell stage manager Stanley Levine stage manager Chris Mahan stage manager William McCourt stage manager Gil Wechsler lighting designer Sander Hacker master electrician Stephen Diaz master carpenter Arthur Ashenden properties master Nina Lawson wig and hair stylist Victor Callegari make up artist Millicent Hacker wardrobe mistress 1 Broadcast personnel edit Michael Bronson executive producer Clemente d Alessio producer Kirk Browning director Karen Adler associate producer Alan Skog associate director John Leay engineer in charge Jay David Saks audio director Mark Schubin transmission consultant Paul C York senior technician Emmett Loughran technical director Bill King audio supervisor Mel Becker audio engineer Michael Shoskes audio engineer Robert M Tannenbaum audio engineer William Steinberg video engineer Bill Akerlund camera operator Juan Barrera camera operator Jim Covello camera operator John Feher camera operator Manny Gutierrez camera operator Jay Millard camera operator Jake Ostroff camera operator David Smith camera operator Ron Washburn handheld camera operator Alan Buchner video recording engineer Paul Ranieri video recording engineer Karen McLaughlin electronic graphics Kim Anway television stage manager Gerry Crosland television stage manager Kevin Tracy television stage manager Martha Yates television stage manager Howard Heller score reader John Rice production assistant Vivienne de Stefano production assistant Alfred Muller post production Nexus Productions Unitel Mobile Video production facilities 1 DVD production personnel edit Burkhard Bartsch project manager Veronika Holek project coordinator Johannes Muller producer msm Studios GmbH Munchen Hermann Enkemeier screen designer msm Studios Markus Ammer video encoding and authoring msm Studios Sven Mevissen mSurround upmixing and encoding msm Studios Monica Ling subtitles Eva Reisinger booklet editor Merle Kersten booklet art director 1 Critical reception editReviews edit Donal Henahan reviewed the gala in The New York Times on 24 October 1983 Financial considerations he wrote had led the Metropolitan Opera to stage a concert which including intermissions ran for some eleven hours The result was that there were many stretches of unremarkable singing by minor or obscure artists Indeed there were so many obscure names or unfamiliar faces that the listener had to keep diving into the program to learn their identities and even then was seldom the wiser Every opera company needed singers who although well schooled and competent were more or less anonymous but it was questionable whether such artists should figure prominently in what was a once in a lifetime jamboree The Met s brisk stage management had not helped matters by hustling singers through their contributions without allowing the customary encores or floral tributes or even more than a few ovations It was disappointing to spend a long time at an event such as this without finding oneself shedding a nostalgic tear 3 This was not to say that the Met had not done a magnificent job of hugging itself Dotted amongst the gala were many moments that were thrilling and even euphoric 3 Eva Marton was galvanizing in Turandot s In questa reggia Ruggero Raimondi was wickedly funny in Basilio s La calunnia Joan Sutherland s glittering Bel raggio lusinghier was the most ecstatic item of the entire event and the most enthusiastically applauded 3 The Met s chorus played only a small part in the proceedings but acquitted themselves well in the Prelude and Hymn to the sun from Mascagni s Iris Catherine Malfitano and Alfredo Kraus were touching in a duet from Gounod s Romeo et Juliette Nicolai Gedda was excitingly ardent in Una furtive lagrima 3 In the trio from the concluding pages of Der Rosenkavalier Kathleen Battle and Frederica von Stade sang delectably and Elisabeth Soderstrom was able to present a three dimensional portrait of the Feldmarschallin despite having only a few minutes in which to do so Mirella Freni and Placido Domingo were affecting in a love duet from Otello Preceded by a somewhat ludicrous caricature of opera ballet in which the Met s dancers enacted the Bacchanale from Samson et Dalila Renato Bruson and Grace Bumbry performed a duet from Nabucco that was particularly enjoyable Bruson was the epitome of cool serenity but Bumbry sang electrifyingly in a voice that sounded richer and more rested than it had for a considerable while 3 It was after the final intermission with midnight approaching that the gala truly melted hearts The curtain rose to reveal twenty five of the Met s most distinguished former luminaries seated at the back of the stage like jurors in a vocal competition Among them were Helen Jepson Dorothy Kirsten Zinka Milanov Jarmila Novotna Bidu Sayao Eleanor Steber Rise Stevens Ferruccio Tagliavini Cesare Valletti and Ramon Vinay Their presence endowed the concert with a feeling of historical significance that it had thitherto lacked It was worth the price of one s ticket just to watch the expressions on their faces as they listened to their successors singing in front of them 3 Leona Mitchell and Giuliano Ciannella sang the nuptial duet from Madama Butterfly and the last of three laudable selections from Rossini came in the form of a delectable exhibition of ensemble precision in the finale to act 1 of L italiana in Algeri Marilyn Horne then lifted the occasion onto a new level of feeling and drama in a sumptuous rendition of Mon cœur s ouvre a ta voix after which to the manifest delight of the audience she offered a wordless but eloquent embrace to Rise Stevens the pre eminent Dalila of her era 3 Birgit Nilsson in a voice that betrayed her sixty five years yet was still something to marvel at performed Isolde s Narrative and Curse One of her admirers was so overcome that an usher had to restrain him from invading the stage with a bouquet In the evening s only encore Nilsson then offered a Swedish folk song which she explained had been a favourite of her compatriot namesake Christine Nilsson who had been Faust s Marguerite on the opening night of the old Met in 1883 3 Leontyne Price and Luciano Pavarotti delivered a culminating soaring love duet from Un ballo in maschera the tenor in clarion voice the soprano more slender of form than of late but never in recent years more voluptuous or freer in her singing But neither of them was likely to linger in the memory as vividly as Horne putting her arms around Stevens or Nilsson s simple melody from her homeland It was episodes such as these that were the real stuff that opera galas are made of 3 Joseph McLellan reviewed the gala on Laserdisc in The Washington Post on 31 May 1985 It was he wrote the most spectacular event in the history of opera From the very first note of the Bartered bride overture in the middle of the afternoon to Luciano Pavarotti and Leontyne Price duetting in Verdian ecstasy in the small hours of the morning it was operatic caviar No previous concert had brought together such a dazzling constellation of opera stars for a single event The quality of the performances was uneven but the best of them were stratospheric Nothing like this gala had ever been presented before 4 Pioneer s pair of Laserdiscs omitted the gala s weaker items and abbreviated singers comings and goings The audio quality that they offered far outclassed that of PBS s broadcast Collectors who enjoyed concerts of operatic excerpts sung by first class artists were sure to find Pioneer s release the most important issue of the year and maybe even of the decade 4 The gala was also reviewed in Gramophone 5 Opera Quarterly 6 Richard M Jacobs s and Ed Schwartz s Music Videodiscs An Annual Guide 7 Rebecca Krafft s and Brian O Doherty s The Arts on Television 1976 1990 8 and Douglas Pratt s The Laser Video Disc Companion 9 and Doug Pratt s DVD Video Guide 10 Accolades edit The gala was recognized several times in the Emmy Awards of 1984 In the Performing Arts division of the Daytime Awards the award for Outstanding Program Achievement was won by Michael Bronson and Clemente D Alessio and in the Outstanding Individual Achievement category James Levine won the award for Music Kirk Browning was nominated for the award for Directing and Jay David Saks won the award for Audio 11 In the Outstanding Individual Achievement Classical Music Dance Programming category of the Primetime Awards Kirk Browning was nominated for the award for Directing and James Levine won the award for Performance 12 Broadcast and home media history editBoth the afternoon and evening segments of the gala were broadcast in their entirety live on PBS television on 22 October 1983 13 The gala was also broadcast on radio and via satellite to Europe 2 All home media releases of the gala provide the same 230 minute selection of excerpts from it with a 4 3 aspect ratio and NTSC colour In 1985 Pioneer Artists released this edition on a pair of CLV constant linear velocity Laserdiscs catalogue number PA 84 095 with CD quality digital stereo audio and an accompanying booklet 14 In 1989 Bel Canto Paramount Home Video issued it on a pair of VHS videocassettes catalogue number 2364 with stereo audio and with liner notes by Martin Mayer 15 In 1998 Pioneer Classics issued it on a DVD with Dolby Digital compressed stereo audio and English only subtitles 2 Pioneer s disc was accompanied by an eight page leaflet including four photographs and essays on the Met s history by Frank E Taplin and Anthony A Bliss as well as notes on each item in the concert by Charles Rizzuto 2 In 2009 Deutsche Grammophon supplanted Pioneer s DVD with a two disc issue catalogue number 00440 073 4538 one DVD being dedicated to the afternoon segment of the gala and one to its evening session DG s Region 0 DVDs offer both uncompressed PCM stereo audio and an ersatz 5 1 channel DTS surround sound upmix with subtitles in Chinese English French German Spanish and although only for items sung in that language Italian DG s 16 page insert booklet includes two photographs and an essay by Richard Evidon in English French and German 1 Gallery of artists edit nbsp Kathleen Battle nbsp Sesto Bruscantini nbsp Renato Bruson nbsp Grace Bumbry nbsp Montserrat Caballe nbsp Jose Carreras nbsp Placido Domingo nbsp Mirella Freni nbsp Nicolai Gedda nbsp Marilyn Horne nbsp Kiri Te Kanawa nbsp Alfredo Kraus nbsp Catherine Malfitano nbsp James McCracken nbsp Edda Moser nbsp Robert Nagy nbsp Birgit Nilsson nbsp Luciano Pavarotti nbsp Roberta Peters nbsp Leontyne Price nbsp Ruggero Raimondi nbsp Katia Ricciarelli nbsp Elisabeth Soderstrom nbsp Frederica von Stade nbsp Joan Sutherland nbsp Leonard Bernstein nbsp James LevineSee also editThe Metropolitan Opera Gala 1991 James Levine s 25th Anniversary Metropolitan Opera GalaReferences edit a b c d e f g h i j The Metropolitan Opera Centennial Gala Deutsche Grammophon DVD 00440 073 4548 2009 a b c d The Metropolitan Opera Centennial Gala Pioneer Classics DVD PC 94 046 D 1998 a b c d e f g h i Henahan Donal October 24 1983 Met Gives Gala Hug to Itself The New York Times via NYTimes com a b McLellan Joseph May 31 1985 The Met s Great Performances via www washingtonpost com Gramophone vol 79 issues 945 948 2001 p 40 Opera Quarterly vol 4 issues 1 2 1986 p 162 Jacobs Richard M and Schwartz Ed Music Videodiscs An Annual Guide Wm C Brown Publishers 1991 p 139 Krafft Rebecca and O Doherty Brian The Arts on Television 1976 1990 Media Arts Film Radio Television Program National Endowment for the Arts 1991 p 24 Pratt Douglas The Laser Video Disc Companion Zoetrope 1988 p 12 Pratt Douglas Doug Pratt s DVD Video Guide Harbor Electronic Publishing 2000 p 243 Daytime Emmy Awards 1984 IMDb Primetime Emmy Awards 1984 IMDb The Metropolitan Opera Centennial Gala via www imdb com The Metropolitan Opera Centennial Gala Pioneer Artists LD PA 84 095 1985 The Metropolitan Opera Centennial Gala Bel Canto Paramount Home Video VHS 2364 1989 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Metropolitan Opera Centennial Gala amp oldid 1178477493, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.