Sir John Falstaff…….Giuseppe Taddei [Debut]
Alice Ford…………..Adriana Maliponte
Ford………………..Brent Ellis
Dame Quickly…………Fiorenza Cossotto
Nannetta…………….Mariella Devia
Fenton………………Dalmacio Gonzalez
Meg Page…………….Gail Dubinbaum
Dr. Cajus……………Charles Anthony
Bardolfo…………….Anthony Laciura
Pistola……………..Ara Berberian
Mistress of the Inn…..Constance Webber
Innkeeper……………Merle Schmidt

Conductor……………James Levine

Production…………..Franco Zeffirelli
Stage Director……….Bodo Igesz
Designer…………….Franco Zeffirelli
Lighting designer…….Gil Wechsler
Choreographer………..William Burdick

Boy, do I have a bummer birth opera!

Hans Pfitzner PALESTRINA
New production, Premiere performance
Rudolf Kempe, Conductor
Günther Rennert, Stage director
Wilhelm Reinking, Stage sets/costumes

Gottlob Frick, Papst Pius IV.
Ferdinand Frantz, Giovanni Morone
Helmut Melchert, Bernardo Novagerio
Otto von Rohr, Kardinal Christoph Madruscht
Paul Schöffler, Carlo Borromeo
Hans Herbert Fiedler, Kardinal von Lothringen
Peter Klein, Abdisu
Walter Berry, Anton Brus von Müglitz
Alfred Poell, Graf Luna
Rudolf Christ, Bischof von Budoja
August Jaresch, Theophilus
Waldemar Kmentt, Dandini von Grosseto
Georges Müller, Bischof von Fiesoli
Franz Bierbach, Bischof von Feltre
Theo Baylé, Avosmediano
Walter Raninger, Spanischer Bischof
Karl Gmachl, Junger Doktor
Otto Wiener, Bischof Ercole Severolus
Max Lorenz, Giovanni Pierluigi Palestrina
Elisabeth Söderström, Ighino
Jean Madeira, Silla
Hilde Rössel-Majdan, Erscheinung der Lukrezia

Chor der Wiener Staatsoper
Vienna Philharmonic

They were doing Flying Dutchman at Bayreuth at about the same time. Have no idea about casts.

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
May 13, 1953
In English

LA BOHÈME {485}

Mimì………………..Nadine Conner
Rodolfo……………..Eugene Conley
Musetta……………..Regina Resnik
Marcello…………….Robert Merrill
Schaunard……………Clifford Harvuot
Colline……………..Norman Scott
Benoit………………Lawrence Davidson
Alcindoro……………Lorenzo Alvary
Parpignol……………Paul Franke
Sergeant…………….Algerd Brazis

Conductor……………Alberto Erede

Peter Brook‘s house debut directing a nineteenth-century Faust designed by Rolf Gérard, with Jussi Björling, Victoria de los Angeles, Robert Merrill and Nicola Rossi-Lemeni debuting as Méphistophélès.

UN BALLO IN MASCHERA {72}
Giuseppe Verdi–Antonio Somma

Amelia………………Antonietta Stella
Riccardo…………….Jan Peerce
Renato………………Mario Sereni
Ulrica………………Belén Amparan
Oscar……………….Mattiwilda Dobbs
Samuel………………Nicola Moscona
Tom…………………Norman Scott
Silvano……………..Calvin Marsh
Judge……………….William Olvis
Servant……………..Robert Nagy

Conductor……………Thomas Schippers

s my birthday opera

Interesting new layout La Cieca, BTW. It’s been a while since I’ve visited…

DIE ENTFÃœHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL {37}

Constanze……………Gail Robinson
Belmonte…………….David Rendall
Blonde………………Judith Blegen
Pedrillo…………….Philip Creech
Osmin……………….Ara Berberian
Selim……………….James Courtney

Conductor……………James Levine

I’m probably more of a Blonde then Constanze…

That is too funny; is there a spycam in my house? And followiing in La Cieca’s footsteps, I transferred my personal blog to wordpress.

http://sschimel.wordpress.com/

Metropolitan Opera House
February 12, 1962

UN BALLO IN MASCHERA {78}
Giuseppe Verdi–Antonio Somma

Amelia………………Leonie Rysanek
Riccardo…………….Carlo Bergonzi
Renato………………Robert Merrill
Ulrica………………Nell Rankin
Oscar……………….Anneliese Rothenberger
Samuel………………Bonaldo Giaiotti
Tom…………………Luben Vichey
Silvano……………..Calvin Marsh
Judge……………….Andrea Velis
Servant……………..Robert Nagy
Dance……………….Judith Chazin
Dance……………….Ron Sequoio
Dance……………….Richard Zelens

Conductor……………Nello Santi

How the heck do I make accents on teh internets??

Not only was there a Nabucco in October with Leonie Rysanek, you had the following on 10/13/60:

Metropolitan Opera House
October 13, 1960

SILVER JUBILEE

The Metropolitan Opera Guild
1935 – 1960

Tannhäuser: Entrance of the Guests
Metropolitan Opera Chorus

Conductor……………Kurt Adler

L’Africaine: O Paradiso!
Barry Morell

De Curtis: Non ti scordar di me
Rosalind Elias

Conductor…………….Martin Rich

La Gioconda: L’amo come il fulgor del creato!
Mary Curtis-Verna
Regina Resnik

I Puritani: Qui la voce
Laurel Hurley

La Forza del Destino: Solenne in quest’ora
Jan Peerce
Mario Sereni

Conductor………………Fausto Cleva

Carmen: Quintet
Helen Vanni
Carlotta Ordassy
Joan Wall
Paul Franke
Robert Nagy

Louise: Depuis le jour
Dorothy Kirsten

Conductor……………….Jean Morel

Tannhäuser: Dich teure Halle
Leonie Rysanek

Herodiade: Ne me refuse pas
Blanche Thebom

Paint Your Wagon: They Call the Wind Maria
Cesare Siepi

Conductor………………..Ignace Strasfogel

Tosca: Vissi d’arte
Licia Albanese

La Rondine: Ch’il bel sogno di Doretta
Licia Albanese

Madama Butterfly: Love Duet
Dorothy Kirsten
Eugenio Fernandi

La Bohème: Donde lieta uscì
Zinka Milanov

Gianni Schicchi: O mio babbino caro
Zinka Milanov

Conductor…………………Fausto Cleva

Presentation: Rudolf Bing, General Manager, Anthony A. Bliss, President of the Metropolitan Opera Association, and Langdon Van Norden, President of the Metropolitan Opera Guild, spoke in tribute to Mrs. August Belmont, Founder and President Emeritus of the Guild, in whose honor the concert was given. The silver tray, inscribed with the signatures of the Guild’s Board of Directors and Staff and presented to Mrs. Belmont on this occasion, hangs in the Belmont Room of the Metropolitan Opera House.

J. Strauss: The Emperor Waltz
Edith Jerell
Bruce Marks
Metropolitan Opera Ballet
Choreography by Alexandra Danilova

Conductor…………………Erich Leinsdorf

[The audience at this performance was composed of members of the Guild and invited guests.]

Hope this cheers you up. I tried searching Bayreuth, but their archives only seem to go back to 2002.

LES CONTES D’HOFFMANN {92}
Offenbach-Barbier/Carré

Hoffmann…………….Nicolai Gedda
Olympia……………..Mattiwilda Dobbs
Giulietta……………Rosalind Elias
Antonia……………..Lucine Amara
Stella………………Nancy King
Lindorf……………..George London
Coppélius……………George London
Dappertutto………….George London
Dr. Miracle………….George London
Nicklausse…………..Mildred Miller
Andrès………………Alessio De Paolis
Cochenille…………..Alessio De Paolis
Pitichinaccio………..Alessio De Paolis
Frantz………………Alessio De Paolis
Luther………………Lawrence Davidson
Nathanael……………Robert Nagy
Hermann……………..Calvin Marsh
Spalanzani…………..Paul Franke
Schlemil…………….Clifford Harvuot
Crespel……………..Norman Scott
Mother’s Voice……….Mignon Dunn

Conductor……………Jean Morel

October 26, 1970

DON PASQUALE

Don Pasquale…………Fernando Corena
Norina………………Reri Grist
Ernesto……………..Alfredo Kraus
Dr. Malatesta………..Tom Krause
Notary………………Gabor Carelli
Servant……………..Judit Schichtanz
Servant……………..Frank D’Elia
Servant……………..Arthur Backgren

Conductor……………Carlo Franci

Ah, but I might have had the loopiest sporting event of all time…: http://sohothedog.blogspot.com/2008/02/il-ciel-lho-fatto-nascere-per-far-beato.html

IL TROVATORE

Manrico……………..Kurt Baum
Leonora……………..Regina Resnik
Count Di Luna………..Leonard Warren
Azucena……………..Margaret Harshaw
Ferrando…………….Giacomo Vaghi
Ines………………..Maxine Stellman
Ruiz………………..Lodovico Oliviero
Gypsy……………….George Cehanovsky

Conductor……………Cesare Sodero

In the meantime, I’m quite happy with this lineup in Salzburg:

OTELLO
New production

Herbert von Karajan, Conductor
Herbert von Karajan, Stage director
Günther Schneider-Siemssen, Stage sets

Jon Vickers, Otello
Peter Glossop, Jago
Ryland Davies, Cassio
Hans Wegmann, Rodrigo
Luigi Roni, Lodovico
Siegfried Rudolf Frese, Montano
Victor von Halem, Ein Herold
Mirella Freni, Desdemona
Stefania Malagu, Emilia

CARMEN {796}

Carmen………………Grace Bumbry
Don José…………….Vladimir Popov
Micaela……………..Jeannette Pilou
Escamillo……………Ryan Edwards [Last performance]
Frasquita……………Dawn Upshaw
Mercédès…………….Ariel Bybee
Remendado……………Andrea Velis
Dancaïre…………….Russell Christopher
Zuniga………………James Courtney
Moralès……………..John Darrenkamp
Lillas Pastia………..Nico Castel
Guide……………….Charles Duval

Conductor……………James Levine

…YAY! Coincidentally, I have this version on record. Or, to be precise, cd.

In San Francisco from 1923 to 1932 she often sang many of the same parts, plus Manon Lescaut, Mignon and Ravel’s Enfant.

She taught Rose Bampton, Helen Japson and Frances Bible.

Granted it’s one of the truly FABULOUS diva names, but– if not a historical figure– she certainly had an admirable, serious professional career.

We are all American at puberty; we die French.

–Evelyn Waugh (1903-1966), diary entry 18 July 1961

There’s something slightly operatic about this assertion: It’s at once incredibly dramatic, droll, and profound, but also doesn’t really make any sense at all, and at the end of the day informs a great deal about the human experience without actually telling you anything; OPERA.

Performance: October 26, 1992

Semiramide…………..Christine Weidinger
Arsace………………Gloria Scalchi [Debut]
Assur……………….Barseg Tumanyan
Azema……………….Youmi Cho [Debut]
Idreno………………Frank Lopardo
Oroe………………..Jeffrey Wells
Nino’s Ghost…………Yanni Yannissis
Mitrane……………..Michael Forest
Attendant……………Suzanne Laurence
Conductor……………Ion Marin [Debut]

=)