[Met Performance] CID:121160



Aida
Metropolitan Opera House, Fri, March 19, 1937 Matinee Broadcast





Aida (413)
Giuseppe Verdi | Antonio Ghislanzoni
Aida
Elisabeth Rethberg

Radamès
Sydney Rayner

Amneris
Bruna Castagna

Amonasro
Carlo Morelli

Ramfis
Chase Baromeo

King
Norman Cordon

Messenger
Giordano Paltrinieri

Priestess
Thelma Votipka

Dance
Daphne Vane

Dance
William Dollar


Conductor
Ettore Panizza





This was the first in the series of matinee performances for student audiences sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera Guild. A fifteen minute portion of Act II, Scene 2 was broadcast over the NBC Blue Network.

Review 1:

Review of Grena Bennett in the American

4,000 Youngsters Hear 'Aida' At Metropolitan

An audience including nearly 4,000 children attended yesterday's bargain matinee of "Aida" at the Metropolitan Opera House, the event sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera Guild. A squadron of forty huge motor buses transported the young folk from out-lying districts. Every precaution was taken by the opera forces for the safety of the boys and girls. Extra traffic police guided the buses; entrances and exits were guarded by special representatives of the Fire Department; and groups of physicians and nurses were in attendance.

Childish faces rimmed the boxes and balconies and many a chair that managed to accommodate the dowagers in the parterre was occupied by pairs of girls or boys. The bar in the salon did poor business, but at the candy counter the customers stood four deep in the intermissions.

The beautiful music of Verdi's most popular work and the various colorful spectacles held the youngsters in absorbed attention. Not drilled, however, in the technique of the professional claque, the children often applauded with enthusiasm in most unexpected episodes. But it was all a vastly interesting experience to the grown-ups and to the artists.

The cast was in fine form and comprised Elisabeth Rethberg as Aida; Bruna Castagna, Amneris; Thelma Votipka, Priestess; Sydney Rayner, Radames; Carlo Morelli, Amonasro; Norman Cordon, the King; Virgilio Lazzari, Ramphis; and Giordano Paltrinieri, Messenger. Mr. Panizza was the batonist.



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