The finale of the closing  of the old Met. "Auld Lang Syne" gets to me every time. Remember, I lived my youth on the old standee line, and the joys of friendship with so many other opera lovers, the fun we had, the great performances we saw (after freezing outside the Met for so many hours.) will remain in my heart forever.

Aida  Triumphal Scene:  Verna,Madeira, Baum, Sereni,Macurdy, Scott.

Cosi Fan Tutte:  Trio with Stratas, Miller, Guarrera

Magic Flute: Quintet with Pracht, Grillo, Kriese, Shirley, Uppmann

Vanessa: Quintet  with Steber, Thebom, Dunn, Alexander, Harvuot

Rosenkavalier Final Trio with Caballe, Raskin, Elias

Andrea Chenier: Final Duet with Milanov, Tucker (Zinka's very last Met appearance.)

Faust (the opera that opened the Met in 1883) Trio with Tucci, Gedda, Hines

Auld Lang Syne  (and many,many tears)          (56 min.)

 Here is part two of the Met closing of April 16, 1966:

Osie Hawkins first announces some cancellations, and then the following are sung:

Forza final trio:  Rigal,Peerce,Tozzi

Gioconda Act 2 duet:  Crespin, Cvejic

Trovatore: D'amor sul'alli rosee:   Price

Manon Lescaut Act 2 Love Duet:  Tebaldi, Corelli

Die Meistersinger  Prize Song:  Sandor Konya.

Gotterdamerung Immolation Scene;  Nilsson         (48 min.)

 Part one of the closing of the Old Met.Contents as follows:

Nat.Anthem;Lauder Greenway greeting; Tannhauser Entrance of Guests (Stokowski) and introduction of honored guests;Rudolf Bing Greeting.

Lucia Sextet: Moffo, Sergi,Walker, Diaz, Ordassy,Anthony

Ballo: Eri tu:  Merrill     Otello duet: McCracken,Colzani

Don Carlo aria: Siepi     Louise Depuis le jour: Kirsten

Carmen Quintet:  Resnik, Votipka, Baldwin, Franke, Cehanovsky

Butterfly Un Bel di:Albanese (and she kissed the stage)

Walkure: Wintersturme: Vickers

Barber of Bagdad: Heil,diesem Hause   Corena

Barbiere: Una voce poco fa    Peters

  Some of my favorite singers in this Vespri Siciliani from Palermo, 1957 under Tullio Serafin. Featured are Antonietta Stella, Giuseppe taddei, Mario Filippeschi, and Bernard Ladysz.  (70 min.)

  The great miracle of singing, Birgit Nilsson, was born on May 17, 1918. In tribute to her we present the following scenes:

Ariadne:Est gibt ein Reich (Stockholm, 1949) under Eugen Jochum

Die Frau Ohne Schatten: Act 2 finale (Munich 1977) w.Theo Adam under  Wolfgang Sawallisch   

Tristan act 2 sc.w.Grace Hoffman (Florence 1977) under Artur Rodzinski

Liebestod from Orange 1977 under Karl Boehm

Siegfried Final sc.w.Hans Hopf  Bayreuth 1960 under Rudolf Kempe

Gotterdamerung Immolation Scene  Bayreuth 1960 under Kempe       (71 min.)

An exciting performance of Verdi's "I Lombardi" from  Rome, 1969 under Gianandrea Gavazzeni, with Renata Scotto, Luciano Pavarorri, Ruggero Raimondi, Anna di Stasio (Viclinda), and Umberto Grilli (Arvino.)

From Salzburg, 1937, Arturo Toscanini conducts the Vienna Philharmonic in scenes from Die Meistersinger with Hans Herman Nissen, Maria Reining, Kerstin Thorborg, Herbert Alsen (Pogner), Hermann Wiedemann (Beckmesser), Henk Noort (Walther), and Richard Sallaba (David.)  (72 min.)

 A beautiful compilation of famous artists of the past singing Puccini material. Arias and scenes are from Tosca,Boheme,Suor Angelica, Gianni Schicchi, Mme.Butterfly, and Manon Lescaut. All selections are announced.  (69 min.)

 A collection of music as composed by Erich Wolfgang Korngold. The contents are as follow:

1. Der Ring Des Polykrates aria   Gundula Janowitz

2. Violantha Duet with Hans Hopf and Hildegard Hillebrecht

3. Die Tote Stadt  Act One scene including Marietta's aria  Ilona Steingruber and Anton Dermota

  and 4. the baritone aria from act 2 "Mein sehnen,mein Wehnen"   Alfred Poell

5. Das Wunder Der Heliane   "Ich ging zu ihm"   Steingruber  (also check out Lotte Lehmann's rendition on Youtube, which is one of my all-time favorite recordings.)

6. Die Kathrin   Scene w. Steingruber

7-11  songs as follows:  "Ich bin ein Liedersanger"   Janowitz and Rudolf Christ.

" Soldaten Marsch und Gebet"  Steingruber

"Szene in Nachtlokal"   Rose Schweiger and Anton Dermota

"Arie des Malignac"   Alfred Poell

"Wanderlied"  Anton Dermota

       The Austrian State radio Orchestra from Vienna, 1949   (59 min.)

  More material from the career of 172 year old diva Olive Middleton, the cult figure of the 1960's and star of the (in) famous La Puma Opera Company. After a decent "Pace" from around 1955, Olive sings highlights from Trovatore, Gioconda,Fedora, Norma, Walkure (as Sieglinde) and I just could not resist playing you a "typical" La Puma adventure, the act two opening of Walkure. As I always warn, if you are a purist, do not listen...(I bet you can't resist!!)  (36 min.)