[Met Performance] CID:183200



Cavalleria Rusticana
Pagliacci
Metropolitan Opera House, Mon, November 16, 1959




Cavalleria Rusticana (411)
Pietro Mascagni | Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti, Guido Menasci
Santuzza
Giulietta Simionato

Turiddu
Jussi Björling

Lola
Rosalind Elias

Alfio
Walter Cassel

Mamma Lucia
Thelma Votipka


Conductor
Nino Verchi


Pagliacci (450)
Ruggero Leoncavallo | Ruggero Leoncavallo
Nedda
Gloria Davy

Canio
Dimiter Uzunov

Tonio
Cornell MacNeil

Silvio
Mario Sereni

Beppe
Charles Anthony

Villager
Joseph Folmer

Villager
William Starling


Conductor
Nino Verchi







Review 1:

Review of Richard Lewis in the December 1, 1959 issue of Musical America

No victorious Caesar returning to Rome could have produced a greater ovation than that which greeted Jussi Bjoerling when he made his entrance as Turiddu in "Cavalleria Rusticana." The opera came to a standstill, and the audience gave forth an explosive bravo that even now continues to linger as a reminder of a performance which was transcendent and electrifying.

Mr. Bjoerling, who has been absent for two years, is one of the great tenors of our time. His clear and beautifully focused voice, even when heard in the Prologue behind the thick curtain, could ecstatically project a refined expressiveness, all-embracing in its warmth. His dramatic sense is unerring, and his ability to portray the nuances of a character equally acute. One will not forget the pathos in Mr. Bjoerling's voice, when, foreseeing that he will die in his duel with Alfio, he suddenly becomes a trembling child and asks his mother to bless him and protect Santuzza. It will be a long time before we hear another duet like the one Mr. Bjoerling sang with Giulietta Simionato - a duet which steadily grew in its elemental passions until, at the end, it left the audience mesmerized.

The whole performance, with Miss Simionato as Santuzza, Rosalind Elias as Lola, Walter Cassel as Alfio, Thelma Votipka as Mamma Lucia and the beautiful conducting of Nino Verchi, set off Mr. Bjoerling's homecoming in a manner befitting an historic occasion.

The remainder of the evening was devoted to a performance of "Pagliacci", with Gloria Davy as Nedda, Dimiter Uzunov as Canio, Cornell MacNeil as Tonio, and Mario Sereni as Silvio, in familiar roles.



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