[Met Performance] CID:196400



La Bohème
Metropolitan Opera House, Sat, November 23, 1963

Debut : Jolanda Meneguzzer




La Bohème (615)
Giacomo Puccini | Luigi Illica/Giuseppe Giacosa
Mimì
Raina Kabaivanska

Rodolfo
Richard Tucker

Musetta
Jolanda Meneguzzer [Debut]

Marcello
Calvin Marsh

Schaunard
Clifford Harvuot

Colline
Cesare Siepi

Benoit
Lawrence Davidson

Alcindoro
Lorenzo Alvary

Parpignol
Emil Filip

Sergeant
Lloyd Strang

Officer
Edward Ghazal


Conductor
Fausto Cleva







Review 1:

Review of John Ardoin in Musical America
Italian soprano Jolanda Meneguzzer was the third singer of the season to make her Met debut as Musetta (November 23). She is a very young, very pretty girl and sang and acted the role with enormous flair and temperament. She has a most Italian-sounding voice — brilliant, though not cutting, attractively colored by a quick vibrato, flexible, but a mite hard at the top around B. Her sense of rhythm was not always as secure as her stage presence, but this is also typically Italian. Though deeper musical values will have to be assessed in another role, Miss Meneguzzer was obviously a healthy, vivacious addition to the roster.

Overall, this was one of the most satisfying performances so far this season. Richard Tucker was in glorious voice for his first Rodolfo of the year, and Cesare Siepi was the touching, sympathetic Colline, another first of the season. Raina Kabaivanska may not be the Mimi of one's dreams, but she brought a poignancy to the part that was genuinely moving and which made many of her vocal limitations seem far less objectionable than on previous occasions. Calvin Marsh has graduated from Schaunard to Marcello with excellent results. His voice has grown in size and richness, and I hope the Metropolitan will provide him with further opportunities to be heard in large parts. It was a good night too for Fausto Cleva, who was instrumental in making the performance so fresh and spirited.


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