THE CONDUCTORS 1883-1983
Side 1 (MONO)
17. Born in Graz, Austria, KARL BOHM
(1894-1981) worked at Dresden in the Thirties
and was twice director of the Vienna State Opera
before arriving at the Met on October 31,1957, in
charge of a new production of Don Giovanni. As-
sociated with Strauss in Dresden, Bohm gave the
Met premieres of Ariadne anfNaxos and Fran
ohne Schatten, as well as Berg's Wozzeck, also
leading Mozart, Wagner, and Otello.
18. Though he has concentrated on symphonic
conducting and on composition, the rare visits
to the opera house of LEONARD BERNSTEIN
(b. 1918), the multi-talented musician from Law-
rence, Massachusetts, have always been wel-
comed. He first appeared at the Met in Verdi's
Falstaff, when that masterpiece returned to the
house in Franco Zeffirelli's production on March
6, 1964, after an absence of fifteen years. Later,
Bernstein led Cavalleria (another Zeffirelli pro-
duction) and the Carmen that would have been
Gentele's first opening night; we hear the "Aragon-
aise" from the recording of that production.
1 Metropolitan Opera Chorus (Kurt Adlfir, dir.) &
Text for Side 4, Band 2
Verdi MACBETH
Act IV — Patria oppressa
Metropolitan Opera Chorus (Kurt Adler, dir.) & Orchestra
Erich Leinsdorf
CHORUS
Patria oppressa! il dolce nome,
no, di madre aver non puoi,
or che tutta a' figli tuoi
sei conversa in un avel!
D'orfanelli e di piangenti
chi lo sposo e chi la prole.
AI venir del nuovo Sole
s'alza un grido e fere il Ciel
a quel grido il Ciel risponde
quasi voglia impietosito.
Propagar per l'infinito,
patria oppressa, il tuo dolor!
Suona a morto ognor la squilla.
Ma nessuno audace e tanto
che pur doni un vano pianto
a chi soffre ed a chi muor?
19. On June 5, 1971, during the June Festival,
JAMES LEVINE (b. 1943), a native of Cincinnati,
made his Met debut conducting Tosca. Trained by
such former Met maestros as Jean Morel, Max
Rudolf, Cleva, and Szell, Levine immediately
proved himself at home in the opera-house pit.
His knack for securing clean and stylish playing,
his ear for balance and color, his ability to gener-
ate movement and tension, and his voracious ap-
petite for work and taking pains, soon brought
him the position of musical leadership. Sharing his
summers among the festivals of Ravinia, Salzburg,
and Bayreuth, Levine is now in residence at the
Met virtually all season, cultivating the standard of
orchestral brilliance and conviction attested by
this live-performance recording of Verdi's Vespri
overture. Along with Vespri, Levine has intro-
duced to the house Lulu and Oedipus Rex, and
achieved special acclaim for his direction oiTann-
hauser, Parsifal, Otello, Pelleas, and Wozzeck.
Oppressed homeland! No, the sweet name
of mother we can no longer give you,
now that, for all your children,
you have become a tomb!
There is weeping of the bereaved,
some are fathers, some are children.
At the coming of each new sun
a cry of grief rises to heaven,
to which heaven replies
as if with sentiments of pity
We shall spread, wherever we go,
word of your sorrow, oppressed homeland!
Everywhere the death-knell is tolling.
But are there none so brave
as to offer up a prayer
for those who suffer, those who die?
1. Donizetti: DON PASQUALE - Overture*
La Scala Orchestra — Arturo Toscanini
Recorded March 29/30,1921
Source: Victor 66030/1 (6:16)
2. Wagner: TRISTAN UND ISOLDE - Prelude*
San Francisco Symphony Orchestra —
Alfred Hertz Recorded April 20,1926
Source: Victor 6585 (9:00)
Side 2 ( MONO )
1. Wagner: LOHENGRIN - Prelude**
Berlin State Opera Orchestra —
Artur Bodanzky Recorded June 14,1928
Source: Parlophone P-9150 (8:20)
2. Gounod: FAUST — Ballet Music, Nos. 5-7*
San Francisco Symphony Orchestra —
Pierre Monteux Recorded December 22,1947
Source: RCA Victor unpublished recording (5:35)
3. Bizet: CARMEN - Prelude to Act I
(Les Toreadors)***
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra —
Albert Wolff Recorded 1928
Source: Polydor 66727 (2:03)
Side3 (MONO)
1. Mozart: DIE ZAUBERFLOTE - Overture****
Columbia Symphony Orchestra —
Bruno Walter Recorded December 1954
Source: Columbia MI.-5004 (6:48)
2. Wagner: DIE MEISTERSINGER VON
NURNBERG - Prelude****
Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York —
George Szell Recorded January 14,1954
Source: Columbia AAI.-54 (9:05)
3. Rimsky-Korsakov: THE GOLDEN
COCKEREL — Bridal
Procession****
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra —
Sir Thomas Beecham - Recorded January 25,1951
Source: Columbia M 1.-4454 (4:13)
(STEREO)
1. Strauss: SALOME — Salome's Dance*
Chicago Symphony Orchestra — •
Fritz Reiner Recorded March T>, 1954
Source: RCA Victor LM-1806 (9:20)
2. Verdi: MACBETH - Patria oppressa*
Orchestra — Erich Leinsdorf Recorded February/
March 1959
Source: RCA Victor LSC-6147 (4:37)
3. Berg: WOZZECK - Interlude before the Final
Scene***
Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper, Berlin —
Karl Bohm . Recorded April 1965
Source: Deutsche Grammophon SLPM-138991/2 (3:25 )
The One Hundred Years of Great Artists at the Met series Thanks
conceived, programmed and annotated by David Hamilton.
Producer: Paul Gruber
Design: Douglas Sardo, Kathrvn Perry
MET records are produced by The Metropolitan Opera Guild. Bellezza by Herman Mishkin: Schippers bv Cecil Beaton:
1865 Broadway. New York. N.Y. 10023
© 1986 Metropolitan Opera Guild, Inc.
® 1986 RCA/Ariola International
3. Wagner: GOTTERDAMMERUNG - Dawn
and Siegfrieas Rhine Journey*
Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York —
Arturo Toscanini Recorded February 8,1936
Source: Victor 14007/8 in M-308 (11:12)
4. Puccini: MANON LESCAUT — Intermezzo
before Act III**
Orchestra of L'Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Rome —
Tullio Serafin Recorded July 1946
source: HMV C-4055 (4:49)
5. Wolf-Ferrari: I GIOIELLI DELLA
MADONNA — Intermezzo
before Act III**
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden —
Vincenzo Bellezza Recorded July 2,1930
Source: HMV S-10224 (3:05)
6. Mozart: LE NOZZE DI FIGARO - Overture*
Glyndebourne Festival Orchestra —
Fritz Busch Recorded June 24,1935
Source: HMV DB-2583 (3:51)
4. Verdi: LA TRAVIATA - Prelude****
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra —
Fausto Cleva Recorded February 9/10,1953
Source: Columbia SI.-123 (3:35)
5. Moussorgsky: BORIS GODUNOV -
Polonaise
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra — Dimitri
Mitropoulos Recorded March 5/7,1956
Source: Metropolitan Opera Record Club M0-4l7(2:40)
6. Bizet: CARMEN — Entr'acte before Act III
(Intermezzo) (STEREO)****
Columbia Symphony Orchestra —
Thomas Schippers Recorded March 14, I960
Source: Columbia MS-6164 (2:48)
4. Bizet: CARMEN — Entr'acte before Act IV
(Aragonaise)***
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra — Leonard
Bernstein Recorded October 1972
Source: Deutsche (irammophon 2709-043 (2:22) ® 1972 lXi
5. Verdi: I VESPRI SICILIANI - Overture*
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra — James Levine
Recorded March 28, 1982 (in performance)
Source: RCA Red Seal CRC2-4609 ( 8 £ 2 ) ® 1982 RCA/Ariola
International
'Courtesy of RCA/Ariola International
•"•Courtesy of KM I
'••Courtesy of DCi —
a division of Polygram Classics, Inc.
••••Courtesy of CBS Records. Inc.
was to Thomas L. Clear, David Hamilton, Donald Kane,
William Pulos, Barton Wimble and the late Walter Skalecki for
the loan of source material.
PHOTO CREDITS: Cover photo of Karl Bohm conducting a
rehearsal of Wozzeck, courtesy of OPERA NEWS. Wolff and
Monteux and Levine courtesv of RCA/Ariola International; all
others courtesy of OPERA NEWS.