Metropolitan Opera
Gala 2006 Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx70Q6oJzOc
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa ,
Natalie Dessay , Deborah Voigt , Mirella Freni , Renee Fleming , Karita Mattila
,Olga Borodina, Frederica Von Stade, Waltraud Meier , Susan Graham , Wendy
White, Placido Domingo , Juan Diego Florez , Ben Heppner , Ramon Vargas ,
Dimitri Hvorostovsky , Thomas Hampson , Rene Pape , James Morris , Ildar
Abdrazakov , David Won , Matthew Polenzani , Rochelle Durkin.
Brian Zeger Piano
Valery Gergiev ,
Peter Schneider , Marco Armiliato , Patrick
Metropolitan Opera
Gala 2006 Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZD6jAygsKKQ
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa ,
Natalie Dessay , Deborah Voigt , Mirella Freni , Renee Fleming , Karita Mattila
,Olga Borodina, Frederica Von Stade, Waltraud Meier , Susan Graham , wendy
White, Placido Domingo , Juan Diego Florez , Ben Heppner , Ramon Vargas , Dimitri
Hvorostovsky , Thomas Hampson , Rene Pape , James Morris , Ildar Abdrazakov ,
David Won , Matthew Polenzani , Rochelle Durkin.
Brian Zeger Piano
Valery Gergiev ,
Peter Schneider , Marco Armiliato , Patrick Summers , James Conlon , Placido
Domingo. Conductor .
The Metropolitan
Opera Centennial Gala
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuUbFocLGjQ
The world's most
famous opera singers in a dazzling sequence of performances.
1. Smetana: Overture
from The Bartered Bride
2. Puccini: "In
questa reggia" from Turandot -- Eva Marton
3. Mozart: "Dove
sono" from Le Nozze di Figaro -- Dame Kiri Te Kanawa
4. Verdi: "Dio!
mi potevi scagliar" from Otello -- James McCracken
5. Rossini: "La
calunnia" from Il Barbiere di Siviglia -- Ruggero Raimondi
6. Donizetti: Sextet
from Lucia di Lammermoor -- Roberta Peters, Loretta Di Franco, Dano Raffanti,
Robert Nagy, Brian Schexnayder, Julien Robbins
7. Rossini: "Bel
raggio lusinghier" from Semiramide -- Dame Joan Sutherland
8. Mascagni: Prelude
and Hymn of the Sun from Iris -- Metropolitan Opera Chorus
9. R. Strauss:
Presentation of the Rose from Der Rosenkavalier -- Judith Blegen, Frederica von
Stade
10. Gounod: Act IV
Duet from Roméo et Juliette -- Catherine Malfitano, Alfredo Kraus
11. Donizetti:
"Una furtiva lagrima" from L'Elisir d'Amore -- Nicolai Gedda
12. Verdi:
"Ernani, involami" from Ernani -- Anna Tomowa-Sintow
13. R. Strauss: Final
Trio from Der Rosenkavalier -- Kathleen Battle, Elisabeth Söderström, Frederica
von Stade
14. Verdi: "Già nella notte densa"
from Otello -- Mirella Freni, Plácido Domingo
15. Beethoven:
Leonore Overture No. 3
16. Giordano: Final
Duet from Andrea Chénier -- Montserrat
Caballé, José Carreras
17. Debussy: Lia's
Aria from L'Enfant Prodigue -- Ileana Cotrubas
18. Saint-Saëns: Bacchanale from Samson et
Dalila
19. Verdi: Act III
Duet from Nabucco -- Grace Bumbry, Renato Bruson
20. Gounod: Final
Trio from Faust -- Katia Ricciarelli, William Lewis, Nicolai Ghiaurov
21. Puccini: Act I
Duet from Madama Butterfly -- Leona Mitchell, Giuliano Ciannella
22. Rossini: Act I
Finale from L'Italiana in Algeri -- Diane Kesling, Edda Moser, Gail Dubinbaum,
David Rendall, John Darrenkamp, Sesto Bruscantini, Ara Berberian and members of
the Metropolitan Opera Chorus
23. Saint- Saëns:
"Mon coeur s'ouvre à ta voix" from Samson et Dalila -- Marilyn Horne
24. Wagner: Isolde's
Narrative and Curse from Tristan und Isolde -- Birgit Nilsson
25. I Remember When I
Was Seventeen (Swedish Folk Song) -- Birgit Nilsson
26. Verdi: Act II
Duet from Un Ballo in Maschera -- Leontyne Price, Luciano Pavarotti
27. Happy Birthday --
The Company
The Closing
Gala,Met,16th April,1966.
http://thegildedageera.blogspot.com/2012/11/at-met-part-4-closing-gala.html
On April 16 1966, all
of society turned out to wish their beloved Met goodbye. Socialites,
debutantes, celebrities, millionaires and anyone who loved the Met showed up to
attend it for one last time. Soon after that night, The Metropolitan Opera
House would be demolished and replaced with an office building that would
produce triple the income for The Metropolitan Opera House Company. The night
was said to be The Met's finest.
The attendees donned
their finest that night. It was said that the estimated value of the jewelry
worn that night was said to be worth around $650 million. The Diamond Horseshoe
was alive that night, with familiar faces having showed up in their boxes or
previous boxes, along with many of the Met's Old Stalwarts. Miss Edith Wetmore
of Newport (who
at age 70 had sold her box at The Met 17 years ago) showed up to say goodbye,
sharing her old box with it's present owner. Mrs August Belmont and Giovanni
Martinelli also showed up, along with Mrs John Nicholas Brown.
The Met's Auditorium
Was Filled To The Brink, The Last Audience Having Paid $200 A Ticket ($2000
Today) To Hear 57 Of The Company's Stars.
The Closing
Gala,Met,16th April,1966.
http://thegildedageera.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-met-is-dead-long-live-met.html
On April 16, 1966,
over 3,000 people packed the gilded auditorium of the massive Metropolitan
Opera House on Broadway for it's Farewell Gala. A line-up of the Met's finest
operatic stars would be featured that night, with curtain calls from some of
their oldest singers. The long-time patrons gathered in their lush, golden
first-tier boxes, collectively known as "The Diamond Horseshoe",
named in honor of the 200-stone diamond necklace so frequently worn by Caroline
Astor, almost 70 years ago!
Many of the Met's
oldest families were represented that night. Cornelius V. Whitney (whose
grandfathers Cornelius Vanderbilt II and William C Whitney had helped find the
Met) was present, along with his wife, Marylou. Another Met stalwart, Mrs. John
Barry Ryan (whose father, Otto Kahn, had started looking for the Met's new home
in 1908) was also present, though arrived late.
Among the A-List
notables in attendance were retired heavyweight champion Gene Tunney; former
opera singer Rise Stevens; sportsman Ogden Phipps; Mrs. Joseph P. Kennedy
(mother of JFK); Mrs. August Belmont; Prince Michael and Princess Marina of
Greece; Brooke Astor, a New York philanthropist; Winthrop W. Aldrich; Mrs. William C. Langley (Jane Pickens); Lewis
W. Douglas, former Ambassador to the Court of St. James; Governor Walter J.
Kohler Jr. of Wisconsin; and Mr. and Mrs. Henry duPont.
With tickets costing
$200 a head, the evening netted $292,000 for the non-profit Metropolitan Opera
Company, which had taken over control of the Opera House in the 1940's from the
wealthy families that owned private boxes.
"I paid $200 for
my seat, and I can't even get a program!!" one disgruntled man complained.
To read my original
post on the closing gala, which features photographs of the even, courtesy of
LIFE Magazine, please click HERE.
To read the program
of the farewell gala, which that disgruntled man can now read online, please
click HERE.
Please also visit my
Pinterest boards on the subject, by clicking HERE and HERE.
Also, please visit
Gilded Age Era's Facebook Page and show your support by giving us a like.
The Closing
Gala,Met,16th April,1966.
http://thegildedageera.blogspot.com/2012/11/at-met-part-1.html
The Auditorium of The
Metropolitan Opera House In 1939, Every Seat Was Filled That Night With
Ambitious Debutantes and Eager Socialites
Going to the Opera had always been a sign of
social status. Before the Metropolitan, there had been the Academy of Music,
and before that there had been The Astor Opera House, both where the elite of New York had attended
for the Opera.
But it was the
Metropolitan Opera House that had served New
York City society for the longest. Not only was it
much larger the both The Academy and The Astor, but it was also far more
grander and luxurious. The Met had a seating capacity of 3,635 people and
numerous rows of boxes for the wealthy to purchase, the most famous and
fashionable row being the Diamond Horseshoe (Which Caroline Astor claimed had
been named after her famous 200-stone diamond necklace).
One of the most
fabulous nights at the Met was the night of January 1 1896. The reason for this
was not only that January firsts were the opening of the New York City Social Season,
but also because Mrs Astor's Annual Patriarch's Ball that night would be held
in her new mansion she had built at the corner of 65th Street overlooking the
Central Park (To Read About The Residence Click HERE). It would also be the
first night Mrs Astor attended the Opera since her husband's death in 1892.
At The Met On The
Night of January 1 1896, The Opening of The New York City Social Season and The Evening
Of Mrs Astor's Annual Patriarch's Ball
Caroline Astor, The
Undisputed Queen of New York City Society, Wore
That Night Not Only Her Famous 200-Stone Diamond Necklace, But Also Her Massive
Diamond Star Tiara and Numerous Pearl Dog
Collars
There would be many
more nights like this throughout the years, up until 1908, the year the
Caroline died. After that New York
City society was never the same, and The Met never
again had a patron as strong as Caroline, except for Grace.
Met….
The Astor Double
Mansion: Mrs. Astor's
Side
http://thegildedageera.blogspot.com/2012/06/astor-double-mansion-mrs-astors-side.html
Astor Mansion At 65th Street
http://thegildedageera.blogspot.com/2012/05/astor-mansion-at-65th-street.html
http://thegildedageera.blogspot.com/2012/11/at-met-part-2.html
http://thegildedageera.blogspot.com/2012/11/at-met-part-4-closing-gala.html
The Cornelius
Vanderbilt II Mansion, New York City
http://thegildedageera.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-cornelius-vanderbilt-ii-mansion-new.html
Of it's many patrons,
the strongest patron of the Met was Grace Wilson Vanderbilt, wife of Cornelius
Vanderbilt III. Very many people agree that after Mrs. Astor died Grace took
over as queen of society and one of her entertaining spots was in her private
box at the Met, where she could receive prominent guests and foreign
dignitaries.
http://thegildedageera.blogspot.com/2012/11/at-met-part-3.html
Met Opera House,NYC
http://thegildedageera.blogspot.com/2012/05/metropolitan-opera-house.html
Originally the elite
of New York went to the Academy
of Music to attend opera, but by the
1880's The wealthy New York
families that had been banded from the Academy decided they wanted an opera
house of their own. Architect J. Cleaveland Candy was hired to build an opera
house twice as large as the Academy and to be far more luxurious. Immediately
private boxes were put up for sale but were limited. As soon as they went up
for sale 25 of the nouveau riche families, such as Vanderbilt, Goelet, Morgan,
Wilson, Gould and Rockefeller, bought boxes for around $15,000 each and soon
after many other families followed.
Candy was instructed
to design the building to fit as many boxes as he could (there were over 250
nouveau riche who all wanted private boxes so there would need to be plenty of
space) and also to include several luxuriously designed rooms.
The opening night was
a lavish scene of musicians, actors and richly clad ladies and gentlemen.
Christine Nilsson topped the evening off with the "Jewel Song" after
which a beautiful golden casket was given to her. The wealthy spectators
watched with joy as they new that they had beaten the Academy.
House
After that night the
Academy closed it's doors and the old New
York families all moved to the Met as it was called.
Old New York families such as The Astors,
Fish, Van Alens, Mortons, Livingstons and The
Barlows bought boxes while other like Mary Mason Jones shared with others. All
in all there were 122 boxes, 83 of which were occupied. A decade later
renovations were done to the boxes and lush decorations were added all over the
place. The first tier of boxes was where the most fashionable sat, it was
called the "Diamond Horeshoe" ( Mrs. Astor always maintained that it
was named that because of her famous 200 stone diamond necklace although that
has never been proved ) while the second tier housed the nobodies according to
society.
The auditorium was
the largest room in New York
and had 3,200 seats. At one end was a grand entrance while the other was the
massive stage.
The stage was
designed to be able to hold the hundreds of actors that performed there it was
2 stories high and was equipped with the latest machines to help to help the
act run smoothly.
Of it's many patrons,
the strongest patron of the Met was Grace Wilson Vanderbilt, wife of Cornelius
Vanderbilt III. Very many people agree that after Mrs. Astor died Grace took
over as queen of society and one of her entertaining spots was in her private
box at the Met, where she could receive prominent guests and foreign
dignitaries.
After so many years
of glory and triumph, the Met was demolished in 1966 14 years after it's
strongest patron died. Today it is occupied by just another apartment building.