These days, the Metropolitan Opera trots out Turandot almost every season. The Zeffirelli production is as lavish as ever, but with rather unimpressive casts, it’s like the later seasons of ER after George Clooney and Anthony Edwards had left. The sets are still there but the voices are not. The old Nilsson/Corelli radio checks from the 1960s are a reminder that what this opera needs are VOICES. Corelli and Nilsson were truly symbiotic. You can feel them feed off each others’ energy. There are quite a few broadcasts from that era, but this one might be the best. A young Anna Moffo‘s Liu is perfect. Stokowski‘s uniquely “creative” brand of conducting somehow lends to the spontaneity of the performance. And the sound is fantastic. I almost chose a 1966 aircheck with Mehta conducting and Freni as Liu, but the sound was not nearly as good.