Customer Reviews

First Ladies of the Opera - Birgit Nilsson, Leontyne Price, Joan Sutherland, Renata Tebaldi (The Bell Telephone Hour) [VHS]

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This program, an installment of the unforgettable,but unjustly neglected "Bell Telephone Hour" series, was originally part of the special day's lineup for January 1, 1967---New Year's Day---and was probably meant as a sort of nightcap to top off the day's parade and football activities("Bell Telephone Hour" programs usually aired at around 10:00 P.M.,E.S.T.).

"The Bell Telephone Hour" programs began on radio in the 1940's and came to television in 1959, where they were one of the few programs on which to find classical and Broadway show music attractively presented on commercial network television, something that NBC and the other two major networks did not shy away from in those pre-PBS days the way they do now.

This program is one of the first which dates from the era in which color television programs had finally become the norm. The format in this episode is quite simple. Conductor Donald Voorhees,trying to sound relaxed and informal (and largely succeeding) introduces the four operatic divas on this program. They each sing an aria--in obviously studio-built (but not ridiculous-looking) settings,then engage in some informal chat with Voorhees about their profession and their preferences for music,then proceed to sing another aria. Voorhees and the scriptwriters have clearly not aimed the conversation at a highbrow audience (his first line,spoken directly at the studio audience,is "What is a prima donna?"),and while this might make some snotty,ultra-sophsticated music experts squirm, the comments never really become embarrassing the way the comments on some modern-day presentations (i.e. "Holiday at Pops" on A & E) tend to do,due mostly to the fact that Voorhees was a respected classical conductor himself and not some ill-informed TV personality.

As for the music and the singing, that is what makes this video invaluable. The arias are not adapted or cut for mass consumption--just magnificently sung. The sound is not really state-of-the art,and the color is staight out of 1960's videotape,but then, where else could you see color footage of Joan Sutherland,Leontyne Price,Renata Tebaldi,and Birgit Nilsson singing on the same program?