Metropolitan Opera Record Club

[aesthete8]

Which are the best?

I liked TOSCA and MADAMA B. w/Kirsten and Mitropoulus:

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1280&bih=885&q=metropolitan+opera+record+club&oq=metropolitan+opera+record+&gs_l=img.1.0.0i24.3472.8287.0.10897.32.21.3.8.9.0.134.2118.14j7.21.0...0.0...1ac.1.5.img.6OSZswYDkes

[Tassilo]

On Wednesday, February 27, 2013 11:02:24 PM UTC-5, aesthete8 wrote:
> Which are the best?


The abridged English-language BORIS with Tozzi and Mitropoulos.

-david gable

[Jerry]

Some details on these 19 recordings are provided in Fellers’ 1984 discography on the Metropolitan Opera discs issued by the Book-of-the-Month Club. All were recorded at either the old Met on 40th St. or at Columbia’s 30th St. studios between November 1955 and February 1957. All were either single discs or 2-disc sets and are likely all excerpts or, at best, abridged. All were monaural - one assumes that Columbia may have been in charge of the recordings and they were rather late to adopt stereo. Finally, he claims that, in 1984, neither the Metropolitan Opera nor the Book-of-the-Month had the original master tapes.

The 19 titles issued (in no particular order) were:
*Carmen [Elias, Baum, Amara, Rudolf]
Andrea Chenier 2-LP [Tucker, Curtis-Verna, Lipton, Cleva]
Pagliacci [DaCosta, Amara, Guarrera, Cleva]
Tales of Hoffman [Crain, Hurley, Elias, Morel]
*La Boheme [Barioni, Amara, Krall, Cleva]
*Tosca 2-LP [Kirsten, Barioni, Guarrera, Mitropoulos]
*Fledermaus [in English] [Hurley, Krall, Haywood, Kozma]
Magic Flute 2-LP [in English] [Hines, Sullivan, Harvuot, Kozma]
Madame Butterfly 2-LP [Kirsten, Barioni, Harvuot, Mitropoulos]
Eugene Onegin 2-LP [in English] [Amara, Tucker, Elias, Mitropoulos]
*Don Pasquale [Baccaloni, Anthony, Wilson, Kozma]
Rigoletto {McFerrin, Hurley, Barioni, Warfield, Cleva]
*Boris Godunov 2-LP [Tozzi, Roggero, Hurley, Mitropoulos]
*Trovatore 2-LP [Curtis-Verna, Elias, Baum, Rudolf]
Hansel and Gretel [in English] [ Miller, Hurley, Resnik, Rudolf]
La Perichole [in English] [Ritchard, Herbert, Franke, Morel]
*Walkure 2-LP [Schech, Elias, Resnik, Mitropoulos]
*Aida 2-LP [Amara, Elias, DaCosta, Guarrera, Cleva]
Marriage of Figaro [Singher, Amara, Conner, Rudolf]

Finally, I have notes that indicate the Metropolitan Opera Guild once offered a 3-CD set of highlights from this series. I don’t know the specific contents, but the cover of the CD set featured illustrations of nine titles (identified by asterisks in the above list). Would be grateful if anyone could offer additional information on the 3-CD set “An Era Recaptured.”

Jerry

[William Sommerwerck]

I have many of these (perhaps all), along with their booklets, if anyone is
interested in purchasing them.

[wade]

I have a few of these. The pressings can be a bit noisy.

[jeffc]

There was once a CD, now deleted, from Mike Richter's wonderful Audio
Encyclopedia:

http://www.gopera.com/opera/ae/morc.pdf

Eugene Onegin 2-LP [in English] [Amara, Tucker, Elias, Mitropoulos]

Highly recommended.

Or, via pirate:

Metropolitan Opera House
December 7, 1957 Matinee Broadcast
In English

EUGENE ONEGIN

Eugene Onegin...........George London
Tatiana.................Lucine Amara
Lensky..................Richard Tucker
Olga....................Rosalind Elias
Prince Gremin...........Giorgio Tozzi
Larina..................Martha Lipton
Filippyevna.............Belén Amparan
Triquet.................Alessio De Paolis
Captain.................Louis Sgarro
Zaretsky................George Cehanovsky

Conductor...............Dimitri Mitropoulos

[greg lee]

On Feb 27, 6:02 pm, aesthete8 <art...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Which are the best?
>
> I liked TOSCA and MADAMA B. w/Kirsten and Mitropoulus:
>

> https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1280...

Concerning MADAMA B., am I the only one who didn't know about this?:

http://www.amazon.com/Giacomo-Puccini-Butterfly-Mitropoulos-Chopiniana/dp/B0017U3YFA/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1367145318&sr=8-8&keywords=kirsten+butterfly

[William Sommerwerck]

COMMERCIAL MESSAGE

I have a pile of the LPs. If anyone is interested, please contact me.

[J]

On Feb 28, 1:07 pm, Jerry <gpgenn...@aol.com> wrote:
>
> Some details on these 19 recordings are provided in Fellers’ 1984 discography on the Metropolitan Opera discs issued by the Book-of-the-Month Club.  [snip] he claims that, in 1984, neither the Metropolitan Opera  nor the Book- of-the-Month had the original master tapes.


What a surprise! My college library had the PERICHOLE, which is how I
came to know the operetta.

[wade]

that is somebody's dubbing of LPs not a transfer of master tapes.

[jcran...@gmail.com]

Has anyone seen/read and article about these records? Their influence?
I received them as a child; my father subscribed and they were a huge
influence. JC

[gggg...@gmail.com]

The following compilation cd may be of interest:

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81u9ZIVEKVL._SX355_.jpg

[Jerry]

Though this seems to be a resurrected topic from years past, it might be of interest to cite the other series of Metropolitan Opera recordings issued in Soria-designed boxes. They started in the LP era and switched over to CDs at some point (not certain when). I believe there were 27 issues (numbered MET-1 through MET-27) as documented in the ARSC Journal (Vol. 40 No. 2, Fall 2009). I have not been able to retrieve a copy of the ARSC Journal article.

Samples from the aforementioned Metropolitan Opera Club LPs were issued in a 3-CD set (MET 258) by the Metropolitan Opera Guild. This series appears to be an extensive program of re-issues, mostly compilations from commercially issued 78s and LPs. I am not aware of any attempt to document this series. The only other example I have at hand is "Met Stars Sing Operetta” (MET-244; 2-CD set). Others continue to surface in the used CD bins of my local outlet, though few have tempted me.

Jerry

[gggg gggg]

On Thursday, February 28, 2013 at 9:07:20 AM UTC-8, Jerry wrote:
> Some details on these 19 recordings are provided in Fellers’ 1984 discography on the Metropolitan Opera discs issued by the Book-of-the-Month Club. All were recorded at either the old Met on 40th St. or at Columbia’s 30th St. studios between November 1955 and February 1957. All were either single discs or 2-disc sets and are likely all excerpts or, at best, abridged. All were monaural - one assumes that Columbia may have been in charge of the recordings and they were rather late to adopt stereo. Finally, he claims that, in 1984, neither the Metropolitan Opera nor the Book-of-the-Month had the original master tapes.
>
> The 19 titles issued (in no particular order) were:
> *Carmen [Elias, Baum, Amara, Rudolf]
> Andrea Chenier 2-LP [Tucker, Curtis-Verna, Lipton, Cleva]
> Pagliacci [DaCosta, Amara, Guarrera, Cleva]
> Tales of Hoffman [Crain, Hurley, Elias, Morel]
> *La Boheme [Barioni, Amara, Krall, Cleva]
> *Tosca 2-LP [Kirsten, Barioni, Guarrera, Mitropoulos]
> *Fledermaus [in English] [Hurley, Krall, Haywood, Kozma]
> Magic Flute 2-LP [in English] [Hines, Sullivan, Harvuot, Kozma]
> Madame Butterfly 2-LP [Kirsten, Barioni, Harvuot, Mitropoulos]
> Eugene Onegin 2-LP [in English] [Amara, Tucker, Elias, Mitropoulos]
> *Don Pasquale [Baccaloni, Anthony, Wilson, Kozma]
> Rigoletto {McFerrin, Hurley, Barioni, Warfield, Cleva]

Concerning Barioni:

https://groups.google.com/u/1/g/rec.music.opera/c/VGQF-hTzcuA

[gggg gggg]

On Thursday, February 28, 2013 at 9:07:20 AM UTC-8, Jerry wrote:

https://www.amazon.com/-/es/Metropolitan-Opera-Orchestra/dp/B00H7IR376