Campbell Vertesi

Regular readers (those muscular, witty, discerning people) will know that I recently got a Sirius digita radio set for my car. For the non-tech-oriented: digital radio is a new way to send radio broadcasts, in crystal clear CD quality audio. It works very similarly to a regular radio, except for the quality difference, and that the spectrum is owned by private companies (rather than the FCC). This means that in order to get a channel, you pay a company, rather than a politician. There are several competing systems (XM, Digital Radio, Sirius... more?), but the reason I have Sirius is because of the Met.

Part of the Metropolitan's initiative to release all of their archival broadcast recordings was to purchase a radio station on Sirius, and broadcast met archives, all day long. In truth, it's about 5 full operas a day, with a lot of filler music (lieder, chansons, and other drivel) in between. I love it.

So every morning and night, during my hour commute to/from school, or to/from rehearsal, I get to listen to great singing. But I've noticed a bias in the recordings they play: it seems to be almost always recordings from the last 20-25 years. Maybe this is perception bias - I'm looking up their program schedules now. But it's interesting that I have yet to hear any recordings from the 40's or 50's. This morning I heard my first recording from the 60's... but there's been lots from the 80's and 90's.

The frustrating thing about this time bias is the caliber of the singing: the 80's and 90's were a period of serious decline in the quality of singer on the Met stage. So I've suffered through hours of mediocre warbling, with the occasional redeeming moment when John Vickers or Placido Domingo opens their mouth.

There is also a gaping hole in the repertory of singers I get to hear: hardly any of the real ear-popping greats. How is it that I've yet to hear Jerome Hines, Cesare Siepi, George London, Robert Merrill, Lawrence Tibbett, Richard Tucker, Jussi Bjoerling, Renata Tebaldi, Leontyne Price, Joan Sutherland, Maria Callas or Roberta Peters? How is it possible that this morning was the first Corelli I've heard? This is certainly not a random sampling of Met archives.

There also seems to be a repetition issue. I've heard the same 70's Tozzi/Domingo Faust three times now - a poor showing for Tozzi in this one, too... don't we have any other Fausts to hear? Oh how I would kill to hear a Hines Faust!

As an example: Let's get a sample line up: tomorrow, Friday January 11th, we get:

6:00 AM Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor
2/27/1937-Papi; Pons, Jagel, Brownlee, Pinza (WONDERFUL. I heard it two days ago though. No other Lucias lying around?)

9:00 AM Verdi: La Forza del Destino
3/24/1984-Levine; Price, Giacomini, Nucci, Jones, Fissore, Giaiotti (ooh! Leontyne Price! I thought she had been erased from history)

12:00 PM Puccini: Tosca
4/16/1994-Badea; Guleghina, Pavarotti, Morris

3:00 PM Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro
2/9/2002-Runnicles; Furlanetto, Uecker, Isokoski, Jepson, Mattei,Plishka (heard this last night)

6:00 PM Massenet: Thaïs
1/28/1978-Pritchard; Sills, Gibbs, Milnes, Morris (heard it last week, I think...)

9:00 PM Rossini: L'Assedio di Corinto
4/19/1975-Schippers; Sills, Verrett, Theyard, Díaz

Does anyone else notice the time bias here? And why are we repeating broadcasts? They are (generally) good recordings (that '37 Lammermoor is phenomenal. Pinza sounds like God himself), but come on! We have three quarters of a century to choose from! How many Nozzes are there in the Met library? Why repeat Furlinetto's?  Can we hear Siepi's, just once PLEEEEEEASE?

And kind of frighteningly: why wouldn't the Met put it's best foot forward on these broadcasts, by picking out the crown jewels of its' library?  What rationale could lead to the selection of anything but the best of the best recordings?

I have a few theories:

Saving the best for purchase - the Met is still (AFAIK) selling their archives as well. Maybe they're saving those eargasmic jewels for sale.

Audio quality - Bryn's theory is that they may be avoiding earlier recordings because the audio quality isn't as good... and the assumption is that a digital radio subscriber is interested in only the best audio quality.

Not everything is digitized yet - It also may just be because not all of the archives are digitized yet. They have literally thousands of recordings, and the press releases have all mentioned that this is an ongoing project. Maybe they're doing them in reverse chronological order. But then, where did that Lucia di Lammermoor come from?

Embarrassment - I hate that this is even a possibility in my mind. That they avoid the incredible works because they put the modern Live broadcasts into such a poor light. That if I had just heard Moffo/Bonisolli/Bechi sing Traviata, it would cast last night's live Hong/Kim/Taylor Traviata (I think that was the cast) into sharp relief. Not that last night's broadcast was dreadful or anything, but let's be serious: beside Moffo or Callas, one couldn't help but notice the difference.

What's your opinion? Why does the sampling seem so biased against the Met's best era and best recordings?

UPDATE: I forgot one other possible explanation:

Marketing: Emphasis is placed on singers still working and singing with the Met... for a bit of artificial prestige for the singers, and therefore for the house.  People arrive at the Met recognizing singers' names, and having been told at least once before that singer X is a 'great singer' by virtue of their radio presence - whatever the truth of the matter. 

This would explain the steady diet of Domingo: I've never heard so much of that tenor as I have in the last few weeks.  He's on at least one broadcast a day, usually more.  Don't get me wrong: he's one of the Great Tenors of the Century, no doubt about it, but maybe they're plugging him over Corelli because one of them is still singing at the Met. 

It's also worth noting that I have yet to hear a peep out of Pavarotti, despite his career that spans the emphasized period on Sirius.  This would support the Marketing theory, since Pav doesn't sing much at the Met anymore.

 I welcome your thoughts on the matter.  Remember, if you're concerned about criticizing the Met or singers who are still working, you can always post anonymously.