Meme chanson, meme refrain
La Cieca is indebted to those Wellsungs for this idea:Â what’s your birth opera? Or, in other words, which opera (and cast, if applicable) was the Met performing on the day you were born? (You get this information, of course, from the Met Archives Database.)
Unfortunately, La Cieca, being a Leo, was born outside the regular Met season. So, for the purposes of this meme, she’ll look to the the Salzburg Festival for her birth opera:
Don Giovanni (Don Giovanni: Cesare Siepi; Donna Anna: Elisabeth Grümmer; Don Ottavio: Anton Dermota; Donna Elvira: Elisabeth Schwarzkopf; Leoporello: Otto Edelmann; Il Commendatore: Dezsö Ernster; Masetto: Walter Berry; Zerlina: Erna Berger. Wilhelm Furtwängler; Wiener Philharmoniker.)
 What’s your birth opera?
I am an Aida
Aida………………..Martina Arroyo
Radamès……………..Franco Corelli
Amneris……………..Grace Bumbry
Amonasro…………….Mario Sereni
Ramfis………………Cesare Siepi
King………………..Paul Plishka
Messenger……………Rod MacWherter
Priestess……………Carlotta Ordassy
Dance……………….Jacques Cesbron
Dance……………….Andra Corvino
Dance……………….Edilio Ferraro
Dance……………….Diana Levy
Dance……………….Donald Mahler
Dance……………….Lucia Sciorsci
Dance……………….Nancy Sklenar
Conductor……………Fausto Cleva
Sadly I was born the day after the world premiere of Death in Venice. That would be quite a birth opera.
Ooh, Carmen for me!
Carmen………………Kerstin Meyer
Don José…………….Leonard Del Ferro [Only performance]
Micaela……………..Teresa Stratas
Escamillo……………Frank Guarrera
Frasquita……………Carlotta Ordassy
Mercédès…………….Helen Vanni
Remendado……………Paul Franke
Dancaïre…………….George Cehanovsky
Zuniga………………Norman Scott
Moralès……………..Clifford Harvuot
Dance……………….Nancy King
Dance……………….Bruce Marks
Conductor……………Jean Morel
I was born a few days before the Met season began (10/23). Where should I look now?
Well.
I also was born outside the regular performing season, but how about this? I put in my DOB just for grins, and what do you know? I was born the day of the VERY FIRST “MET in the PARKS” performance ever!
La Bohème; New York, Queens, Crocheron Park
(First performance of the Met in the Parks. )
New York, Crocheron Park,
Bayside, Queens
Mimì………………..Anna Moffo
Rodolfo……………..Sándor Kónya
Musetta……………..Laurel Hurley
Marcello…………….Frank Guarrera
Schaunard……………Russell Christopher
Colline……………..John Macurdy
Benoit………………Robert Schmorr
Alcindoro……………Robert Schmorr
Parpignol……………Emil Filip
Sergeant…………….Edward Ghazal
Officer……………..Lloyd Strang
Conductor……………Jan Behr
[This was the first of the free outdoor concert performances of operas in the parks.]
LA TRAVIATA 3/14/1960
Giuseppe Verdi–Francesco Maria Piave
Violetta…………….Licia Albanese
Alfredo……………..Eugenio Fernandi
Germont……………..Robert Merrill
Flora……………….Joan Wall
Gastone……………..Gabor Carelli
Baron Douphol………..Calvin Marsh
Marquis D’Obigny……..George Cehanovsky
Dr. Grenvil………….Louis Sgarro
Annina………………Teresa Stratas
Giuseppe…………….Lou Marcella
Gardener…………….John Trehy
Conductor……………Fausto Cleva
Please notice that the opera is about a slut and that I used to have membership cards for both the West Side Club in NYC and the Glory Hole in D.C. And also note, that so far Teresa Stratas is in two operas. Wouldn’t it be interesting if we could rank singers byt eh number of performances during our births?
Parsifal for me and since I’m a committed Wagnerian, it’s very appropriate. Never heard of the Parsifal, but this perf had Astrid Varnay and George London.
Alas, also an August baby, so I had to go Austrian:
ARABELLA
Lyric Comedy in three acts Op. 79
Libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal
New production
Joseph Keilberth, Conductor
Rudolf Hartmann, Stage director
Stefan Hlawa, Stage sets
Erni Kniepert, Costumes
Otto Edelmann, Graf Waldner
Ira Malaniuk, Adelaide
Lisa Della Casa, Arabella
Anneliese Rothenberger, Zdenka
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Mandryka
Kurt Ruesche, Matteo
Helmut Melchert, Graf Elemer
Georg Stern, Graf Dominik
Karl Weber, Graf Lamoral
Eta Köhrer, Die Fiaker-Milli
Kerstin Meyer, Eine Kartenaufschlägerin
Willi Lenninger, Welko
Fritz Sengl, Djura
Otto Vajda, Jankel
Karl Kolovratnik, Ein Zimmerkellner
Maria Langhans, Begleiterin der Arabella
Johann Hahn, Erster Spieler
Ludwig Fleck, Zweiter Spieler
Franz Kieseberg, Dritter Spieler
Hmm, not bad. Not bad at all-
‘Macbeth……………..Sherrill Milnes
Lady Macbeth…………Grace Bumbry
Banquo………………Giorgio Tozzi
Macduff……………..William Lewis’
The Last Savage on my day; 12-31-1964
Abdul……………….George London
Kitty……………….Roberta Peters
Sardula……………..Teresa Stratas
Kodanda……………..John Alexander
Maharajah……………Donald Gramm
Maharanee……………Lili Chookasian