On this day in 1974 Verdi”s I vespri siciliani was first staged at the Metropolitan Opera. 

Harold Schonberg in the New York Times:

A cast that must have looked very strong on paper was brought together—experienced star singers all. As it turned out they were not always operating under optimum conditions. Nicolai Gedda, for instance, admirable singer and artist though he may be, was miscast as Arrigo. He tried to summon up a bigger quality of sound than he can properly handle, and the result was spread, diffused singing.

When he left the natural lyricism of his voice take over, as in the third?act “Giorno di pianto,” the singing was stylish and well controlled. But then, at the end of the aria, came an ugly, forced high B. Normally Mr. Gedda can take a B the way an elephant takes peanuts, but not this time.

And Sherrill Milnes as Monforte was a little disappointing. What is happening to the former velvet of this beautiful voice? A good deal of Mr. Milnes’s singing sounded frayed.. He had plenty of authority, and his high notes were as strong as ever, but the bloom—at least last night—was all but gone from the voice.

There is not much a director can do with a woman as stately as Montserrat Caballé except pose her and let the beautiful sounds come out. That was the procedure of the director, and the sounds were beautiful indeed: not particularly intense, but possessed of an instrumental purity and a haunting color. Her famous pianissimo singing was never heard to better effect than in the third act “Che far dovea,” which was exquisitely delivered, with perfect control. The audience responded with one of the season’s longest ovations.