Rigoletto was just broadcast by the Met. It was a nice performance, but check this one out. Its the broadcast of Dec 29, 1945. The cast is impossible to duplicate today. The difference between then and now is wider than the Grand Canyon. Warren and Björling seem another species; It’s on Youtube so I can’t predict how long it will persist, so listen to it now. The emotional content of this performance so far surpasses that which was heard two days ago that the opera seems almost a different work.
Rigoletto Met 1945
Metropolitan Opera House
December 29, 1945 Matinee Broadcast
RIGOLETTO {264}
Giuseppe Verdi–Francesco Maria Piave
Rigoletto……………Leonard Warren
Gilda……………….Bidú Sayao
Duke of Mantua……….Jussi Björling
Maddalena……………Martha Lipton
Sparafucile………….Norman Cordon
Monterone……………William Hargrave
Borsa……………….Richard Manning
Marullo……………..George Cehanovsky
Count Ceprano………..John Baker
Countess Ceprano……..Maxine Stellman
Giovanna…………….Thelma Altman
Page………………..Thelma Altman
Conductor……………Cesare Sodero
