Tears of a clown

On this day in 1960 tenor Jon Vickers made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Canio.

Robert Sabin in Musical America:

Mr. Vickers had made an excellent impression at his New York debut, on Nov. 20, 1956, when he sang the role Florestan in the American Opera Society’s concert performance of “Fidelio.” He is an intelligent and sensitive artist, which (believe it not) is a great help in giving a good performance as Canio. We were spared excessive sobbings and rantings, and shown genuine heartbreak, instead. Vocally, Mr. Vickers strained a bit on top tones, but this may well have been debut nerves. At all times, his singing was well phrased and dramatically alive. One looks forward to hearing him in artistically more rewarding roles.