This performance may already be known to some as it was once released on CD and on YouTube, but it’s no longer readily available. It is considered by many one of the very best live recordings of Francesca along with the classic 1959 La Scala broadcast with Magda Olivero and Mario Del Monaco.

Francesca occurred during OONY’s second season which also included the well-known I Lombardi with Renata Scotto, José Carreras, and Paul Plishka, previously uploaded here.

Manuguerra starred in OONY’s very first offering: Meyerbeer’s L’Africana in 1972 with Antonietta Stella and Richard Tucker and would return often to perform with the group until 1990. Domingo’s only other OONY opera was Massenet’s Le Cid with Grace Bumbry which would be released as a commercial recording.

Kabaivanska made her Met debut in 1962 as Nedda and would return to the company frequently over the next decade years in a wide variety of roles from Cio-Cio-San, Mimi, and Manon Lescaut to Elisabetta in Don Carlo and the ForzaLeonora. Her final roles with the company were Tchaikovsky’s Liza and Tatyana in their operas’ first Met performances in Russian. But today’s Francesca, her only appearance with Eve Queler’s group, proved to be her most treasured local evening showcasing her unique talents as her Met appearances rarely did.

And a hearty congratulations to Patrick Mack for winning last week’s “Timor di me?” birthday quiz by correctly guessing 7/10 sopranos. You can now view the answers here.

Zandonai: Francesca da Rimini

Francesca: Raina Kabaivanska
Samaritana: Barbara Hoffman
Adonella: Alice Marie Nelson
Biancofiore: Frederika Wisehart
Smaragdi: Carole Walters
Garsenda: Sheryl King
Altichiara: Carole Walters
Paolo: Placido Domingo
Gianciotto: Matteo Manuguerra
Malatestino: Nuccio Saetta
A Jester/Tower Warden: Donald Chapman
Ostasio: Harlan Foss
Ser Toldo Berardengo/Archer: John Sandor

Conductor: Eve Queler
Opera Orchestra of New York, Carnegie Hall
22 March 1973
In-house recording

The next installment of Chris’s Cache will feature a much loved but rarely performance verismo pinnacle.

Francesca can be downloaded by clicking on the icon of a cloud with an arrow pointing downward on the audio player above and the resulting mp3 file will appear in your download directory.

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