--- product_id: 4678603 title: "Verdi at the MET: Legendary Performances from The Metropolitan Opera" price: "811.37 DT" currency: TND in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.tn/products/4678603-verdi-at-the-met-legendary-performances-from-the-metropolitan-opera store_origin: TN region: Tunisia --- # Verdi at the MET: Legendary Performances from The Metropolitan Opera **Price:** 811.37 DT **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Verdi at the MET: Legendary Performances from The Metropolitan Opera - **How much does it cost?** 811.37 DT with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.tn](https://www.desertcart.tn/products/4678603-verdi-at-the-met-legendary-performances-from-the-metropolitan-opera) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Verdi at the Met captures the drama of Verdi's greatest operas as they were performed live at The Metropolitan Opera in New York. These ten recordings cover four decades starting with La Traviata in 1935 and feature some of the best-loved voices and conductors of the twentieth century. The famous pairing of tenor Richard Tucker and baritone Leonard Warren can be heard in Simon Boccanegra and La Forza del Destino. Also included are Carlo Bergonzi, Grace Bumbry, Leontyne Price and Robert Merrill singing the leading roles in Aida. These historic radio broadcasts, restored and remastered, bring these great interpretations of Verdi's masterpieces back to life and are available for the first time. Box Set includes: Track list: La Traviata 1935 Ponselle - Jagel Y- Tibbett Ettore Panizza Otello 1940 Martinelli - Rethberg - Tibbett - Votipka - De Paolis Ettore Panizza Un Ballo in Maschera 1940 Milanov - Andreva - Castagna - Bjorling - Sved Ettore Panizza Rigoletto 1945 Warren - Sayao - Bjorling - Lipton - Cordon Cesare Sodero Falstaff 1949 Warren - Resnik - Valdengo - Elmo - Albanese - Di Stefano - Lipton Fritz Reiner Simon Boccanegra 1950 Warren - Varnay - Tucker - Székely Fritz Stiedry La Forza del Destino 1952 Milanov - Tucker - Warren - Hines - Miller Fritz Stiedry Macbeth 1959 Warren - Rysanek - Bergonzi - Hines Erich Leinsdorf Nabucco 1960 MacNeil - Rysanek - Siepi - Fernandi - Elias Thomas Schippers Aida 1967 Price - Bergonzi - Bumbry - Merrill - Hines Thomas Schippers Review: Fine live performances, at a bargain price - Verdi's 200th birthday provided a good excuse for this boxed set of Metropolitan Opera performances that were broadcast live between 1935 and 1967. These have appeared in other editions, most "unofficial," though UN BALLO IN MASCHERA and OTELLO were in the Met's "historic broadcast" series on LP, issued for fund-raising purposes around 1980. All but two of these had been run by Metropolitan Opera Radio on Sirius/XM prior to release of this set, and the AIDA was also heard in 2005 as an "archive" performance during the Saturday network radio broadcasts. The sound quality varies, and as might be expected the 1935 LA TRAVIATA requires the most indulgence from the listener. The sound has been improved considerably from earlier copies, and while quite a bit of distortion from the source recording remains, noise and speed variation issues have been addressed. Applause after arias has been truncated, possibly when the original transfer was made years ago from the acetate discs, but the defects are worth tolerating to hear Rosa Ponselle's Violetta, and Lawrence Tibbett when he was still in prime vocal condition. While sounding far better than the TRAVIATA, there's a small amount of distortion in the 1945 RIGOLETTO, 1949 FALSTAFF and 1959 MACBETH. The RIGOLETTO seems an odd choice; the sound is a little dim and, as noted by the critics at the time, The Duke of Mantua was not one of Bjoerling's better roles from a dramatic standpoint. But the voice is splendid, and Leonard Warren supplies plenty of drama. It's also good to have an example of Cesare Sodero's competent conducting, since he was busy at the Met in the early 1940's, and his commercial recordings are not representative of his abilities, made when he worked as music director for the Edison phonograph company. The MACBETH, from the Met's first production of the work, invites comparison with the commercial recording RCA Victor made with the same cast. The live performance has a strange acoustic, evidently not sourced from the microphones used for the broadcasts, providing more resonance than usual. The frequency response is good and the voices are captured fairly well, but the orchestra sounds like it was in another room. I'm guessing the microphones were above the stage, without a direct path to the orchestra pit. Distortion levels aren't extreme, but do unfortunate things especially to Leonie Rysanek's voice. While the voices and orchestra sound better in the commercial recording, it was made in the early days of stereo, emphasizing separation of the channels, distracting enough that playing it in monaural mode helps. Even so, the balance between singers is better in the live performance. The two from 1940 are especially attractive, being fine performances with interesting casts, and the sound is quite good with low distortion and a surprising amount of dynamic range. The OTELLO is very impressive, energetic and precisely executed by all forces under Ettore Panizza, with Martinelli's voice captured far better than it was in the studio-recorded excerpts he made at the same time for Victor. The sound quality is also fine on the rest of the performances, with the 1950 SIMON BOCCANEGRA and 1952 LA FORZA DEL DESTINO excellent for the time they were recorded, and having little surface noise from the discs. I have a couple minor gripes about the editing. Scene and act changes happen without a break; I don't expect commentary by Milton Cross, but a few seconds of silence would have helped. There is also no hint in the notes as to how these were presented in performance "at the Met" where RIGOLETTO and LA TRAVIATA were usually given in four acts. In a couple places the applause has been truncated; it may make some sense at the end of a disc side, such as after the tenor aria in Act III of LA FORZA DEL DESTINO, but there isn't much excuse for dropping 30 seconds of it after "O patria mia" in the 1967 AIDA. Fortunately this only seems to occur in a few places, so I don't consider it a major issue. The 136-page booklet has plot synopses of the operas and some information on events surrounding the performances, with the text in English, German and French, but very little technical detail on the recordings, other than for the 1935 LA TRAVIATA. The cast lists and pictures are probably the most useful parts of it. Access to the discs is somewhat awkward, since they are in cardboard envelopes arranged as folders. Squeezing the envelope open near the "spine" of the folder usually allows the disc to drop out far enough to grab the center hole, and the cut-out on the edge is an improvement over the similar packaging of the Wagner collection. At least the box doesn't take up a lot of space, and the envelopes provide plenty of area for identifying the tracks on the discs. With ten operas in generally fine performances, this is an excellent release, a bargain at the price, and despite a few minor issues it is fully deserving of a 5-star "I love it" rating. Review: A Listening Treat for All Verdi Lovers - An excellent collection of Saturday matinee broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera. We can complain that a few "historical" performances were not included and question one selection in particular because there exists a fine commercial studio performance of the work featuring mostly the same cast .... but if you love Verdi and treasure great singing, this is an album you should purchase immediately while it's still available. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | ASIN | B00DWOUY3Y | | Customer Reviews | 4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars (58) | | Date First Available | July 12, 2013 | | Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No | | Label | Sony Classical | | Language | English | | Manufacturer | Sony Classical | | Number of discs | 20 | | Original Release Date | 2013 | | Product Dimensions | 5.27 x 5.15 x 3.08 inches; 1.8 Pounds | | Run time | 21 hours and 30 minutes | ## Images ![Verdi at the MET: Legendary Performances from The Metropolitan Opera - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81JvEUEs0zL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Fine live performances, at a bargain price *by S***; on November 19, 2013* Verdi's 200th birthday provided a good excuse for this boxed set of Metropolitan Opera performances that were broadcast live between 1935 and 1967. These have appeared in other editions, most "unofficial," though UN BALLO IN MASCHERA and OTELLO were in the Met's "historic broadcast" series on LP, issued for fund-raising purposes around 1980. All but two of these had been run by Metropolitan Opera Radio on Sirius/XM prior to release of this set, and the AIDA was also heard in 2005 as an "archive" performance during the Saturday network radio broadcasts. The sound quality varies, and as might be expected the 1935 LA TRAVIATA requires the most indulgence from the listener. The sound has been improved considerably from earlier copies, and while quite a bit of distortion from the source recording remains, noise and speed variation issues have been addressed. Applause after arias has been truncated, possibly when the original transfer was made years ago from the acetate discs, but the defects are worth tolerating to hear Rosa Ponselle's Violetta, and Lawrence Tibbett when he was still in prime vocal condition. While sounding far better than the TRAVIATA, there's a small amount of distortion in the 1945 RIGOLETTO, 1949 FALSTAFF and 1959 MACBETH. The RIGOLETTO seems an odd choice; the sound is a little dim and, as noted by the critics at the time, The Duke of Mantua was not one of Bjoerling's better roles from a dramatic standpoint. But the voice is splendid, and Leonard Warren supplies plenty of drama. It's also good to have an example of Cesare Sodero's competent conducting, since he was busy at the Met in the early 1940's, and his commercial recordings are not representative of his abilities, made when he worked as music director for the Edison phonograph company. The MACBETH, from the Met's first production of the work, invites comparison with the commercial recording RCA Victor made with the same cast. The live performance has a strange acoustic, evidently not sourced from the microphones used for the broadcasts, providing more resonance than usual. The frequency response is good and the voices are captured fairly well, but the orchestra sounds like it was in another room. I'm guessing the microphones were above the stage, without a direct path to the orchestra pit. Distortion levels aren't extreme, but do unfortunate things especially to Leonie Rysanek's voice. While the voices and orchestra sound better in the commercial recording, it was made in the early days of stereo, emphasizing separation of the channels, distracting enough that playing it in monaural mode helps. Even so, the balance between singers is better in the live performance. The two from 1940 are especially attractive, being fine performances with interesting casts, and the sound is quite good with low distortion and a surprising amount of dynamic range. The OTELLO is very impressive, energetic and precisely executed by all forces under Ettore Panizza, with Martinelli's voice captured far better than it was in the studio-recorded excerpts he made at the same time for Victor. The sound quality is also fine on the rest of the performances, with the 1950 SIMON BOCCANEGRA and 1952 LA FORZA DEL DESTINO excellent for the time they were recorded, and having little surface noise from the discs. I have a couple minor gripes about the editing. Scene and act changes happen without a break; I don't expect commentary by Milton Cross, but a few seconds of silence would have helped. There is also no hint in the notes as to how these were presented in performance "at the Met" where RIGOLETTO and LA TRAVIATA were usually given in four acts. In a couple places the applause has been truncated; it may make some sense at the end of a disc side, such as after the tenor aria in Act III of LA FORZA DEL DESTINO, but there isn't much excuse for dropping 30 seconds of it after "O patria mia" in the 1967 AIDA. Fortunately this only seems to occur in a few places, so I don't consider it a major issue. The 136-page booklet has plot synopses of the operas and some information on events surrounding the performances, with the text in English, German and French, but very little technical detail on the recordings, other than for the 1935 LA TRAVIATA. The cast lists and pictures are probably the most useful parts of it. Access to the discs is somewhat awkward, since they are in cardboard envelopes arranged as folders. Squeezing the envelope open near the "spine" of the folder usually allows the disc to drop out far enough to grab the center hole, and the cut-out on the edge is an improvement over the similar packaging of the Wagner collection. At least the box doesn't take up a lot of space, and the envelopes provide plenty of area for identifying the tracks on the discs. With ten operas in generally fine performances, this is an excellent release, a bargain at the price, and despite a few minor issues it is fully deserving of a 5-star "I love it" rating. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Listening Treat for All Verdi Lovers *by P***E on November 8, 2013* An excellent collection of Saturday matinee broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera. We can complain that a few "historical" performances were not included and question one selection in particular because there exists a fine commercial studio performance of the work featuring mostly the same cast .... but if you love Verdi and treasure great singing, this is an album you should purchase immediately while it's still available. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Excellent. *by A***N on January 30, 2014* One can only hope this is the first of many more to come at such reasonable prices and excellent quality. This is only a sample of the second golden age at the Met from the 1930s to the 1970s, documented by recordings. And it is a great sample. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.tn/products/4678603-verdi-at-the-met-legendary-performances-from-the-metropolitan-opera](https://www.desertcart.tn/products/4678603-verdi-at-the-met-legendary-performances-from-the-metropolitan-opera) --- *Product available on Desertcart Tunisia* *Store origin: TN* *Last updated: 2026-06-23*