Customer Reviews

Saturday Afternoons at the Old Met: The Metropolitan Opera Broadcasts, 1931-1950

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Even glacing through this superbly written volume will whet the appetite to sample the riches Prof Jackson discusses in this thick volume. This is not a pedantic dissection of broadcast after broadcast. Prof Jackson flows from one to another (not always in chronological order) with ease and smoothness. His history of how the Met broadcasts began and the evolving politics over the ensuing seasons makes for fascinating reading.

Dr. Paul Drake the emeritus professor of Drake University has written a sine qua non tome on the history of the Metropolitan Opera from 1931-1950. During these years the Met's General Manager was Gatti-Cassazi and Canadian Edward Johnson.
This huge coffee table sized book is heavy to hold and rich
with Met lore! Beautiful full color black and white photos portray the stars of the era: Flagsted and Melchior; Alabanses and Tucker: Lily Pons and Rise Stevens; Eleanor Steber and
countless more; some are forgotten while some remain famous to the opera going public.
The casual opera goer should be advised that countless pages of this book deal with the technical aspects of the singing art.
While I as a layperson could not understand all of this analysis I did enjoy the anecdotes and the flavor of the golden age of radio when Milton Cross served as the voice of the Metropolitan.
In our time when classical music is fallen into disfavor and the majority of Americans are ignorant of the glories of opera this book is a joy to read, savor and re-read.
It is recommended to the opera buff and music student.

Now that so many historical Metropolitan Opera Broadcasts are appearing on CD, this first book of a three volume set (additional volumes:Sign-Off for the Old Met: The Metropolitan Opera Broadcasts, 1950-1966 and Start-Up at the New Met: The Metropolitan Opera Broadcasts, 1966-1976 (Amadeus)) has become an essential reference resource. It is full of interesting and useful facts, and has a generous, accurate and astute commentary on the strengths and weaknesses of each broadcast.

As an example: recently I saw a new release of a Met broadcast from 1947 of Il Trovatore. There were no reviews yet, but the Product Description read "On West Hill Radio Archives 6010; 2 CD's; This frequently underrated performance is finally available complete on CD. Bjorling and Warren are stupendous, while Harshaw is quite solid. Stella Roman is her usual exciting, tempestuous self, and Vaghi is a typically firm Italian bass. Veteran Emil Cooper conducts. Excellent sound restoration by Ward Marston." It sounded wonderful, but at $30+ (after s&h), I thought I should check to see what Prof. Jackson had to say.

A few brief excerpts: "Roman... is scratchy and unsettled in the lower octave and perpetually agitated" "The reliable Harshaw is again cruelly miscast as the wild Azucena. Neither by temperament or timbre can she counterfeit the vengeful gypsy, and without a believable Azucena, Verdi's opera is ruderless." "The albatross on the performance is Cooper's flaccid conducting. If there were a rudder, this ship would have no hand on the tiller." "Even when the tempo is accurate (metronomically), Cooper is incapable of animating Verdi's simple but propulsive accompaniment patterns. Tempos alter in mid-aria as the singer struggles to ... inject some life into the drama." Jackson is very complimentary of both Björling and Warren at considerable length and in considerable detail; and discusses their obvious and frequent difficulties in staying with the conductor's erratic beat. He sums up by saying: "[This broadcast]...points up the ills of the Johnson regime more than most: ill-considered casting, threadbare vocalism, rehearsal-shy ensemble work, and even superior artists at the mercy of unidiomatic leadership."

Somehow, the purchase opportunity does not seem nearly as attractive as formerly.

All three volumes are highly recommended for anyone contemplating a purchase from this recently available banquet of Metropolitan Opera broadcasts.

If , as i do , you love great voices of 1910-1940 years ,
please rush buying this book!

One reserve ,the book is difficult to read because the text is too compact ! Not enough blanks on the pages,and the names of the singers are not sufficently apparents;

JP SCHMITT

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This is an outstanding and detailed chronology of the radio broadcasts of the Metropolitan Operan House.

Jackson, the author presented a very interesting and detailed study with outsanding comments of the operas,

singers , conductors and producers in a very profesional way. Its reading is easy to understand if you are

an opera fan with a clear knowledge of the music and the plots of the operas performed those glorious years.

He made special mention to the composers and their operas an the voices of singers like Melchior, Flagstad,

Lehmann, Tibbet, Martinelli, Gigli, and others singers that were the first rate artists those days. I noticed

that he made special and detailed analisis of wagner operas more than many other composers. I recommend this

interesring book to all the opera loversin the world. J.M.lopez