Lauritz Melchior’s Last Broadcast Met Opera performs Lohengrin 1950

>> YOUR LINK HERE: ___ http://youtube.com/watch?v=Mzjv-XDBGjI

Another fantastic Met Opera recording I’ve found in the archive. Thanks to help from channel subscriber ‪@verdiguy‬ I've nailed down some details about this performance. It’s from January 7th, 1950 starring Lauritz Melchior in his last radio broadcast with the Met Opera, and penultimate performance with the company. Helen Traubel, Astrid Varnay, Herbert Janssen, and Dezsö Ernster round out the other starring roles. Here is the entry from the excellent Met Opera archive: • https://archives.metopera.org/MetOper... • Unfortunately this is not a complete recording - it’s the end of Act II, and an almost complete Act III. As always I hope to find the missing pieces as I continue to go through the remaining reels in my collection. However, from discussing with @verdiguy it is very worth posting what I have here. There are existing recordings of this performance (some can be found on YouTube), but they are poor quality. The recordings on YouTube in particular have very scratchy record sounds. • While Mr. Marchant’s recordings aren’t perfect (there is noticeable distortion in the loud portions) - they are dramatically better than what is out there. Danacord has made a copyright claim on this video which seems a bit unfair since my recording is so much better, but that’s the YouTube game. • As with most of my Met Opera and NY Philharmonic recordings on this channel, Mr. Marchant clearly had access to the local Minneapolis radio station that simulcasted the broadcasts and was able to record this off a direct line, or perhaps make a copy of something that was sent to the station. However he did it - I’m grateful that I get to share it with all of my subscribers. • And speaking of subscribers - I’m almost to 500 - won’t you please share my channel with fellow classical/opera fans and ask them to subscribe? It would really help this project reach a wider audience. Thank you! • Technical info: • Scotch 111B • 7” Reel • 7 1/2 IPS • Note that the B variant of the famous Scotch 111 was never released to the public. “A” is what became ubiquitous over the decades. Often I don’t know which tape is the box because the majority of my collection isn’t labeled - but this had a “111B” sticker on it. If anyone wants to see a picture of the box comment below! • There is a small glitch in the recording in the middle of Act III (around 31:18) - this is where I switched from one side of the reel to the other. Unfortunately there is a few seconds of material missing and there are loud tape stop/start noises so I tried to transparently fade out and in to not completely disturb the listening experience. • 00:00 - Partial Act II • 07:58 - Milton Cross wrap-up and intro to Act III • 12:45 - Act III

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