First Day of Spring
Evening Music | May 6, 2010
It’s the first day of Spring, but it is also the day the Metropolitan Opera National Council presents in concert the finalists from this year’s competition.
As the evening winds down, we tip our collective hats to the Met, to the finalists, and to great singers who preceded them. Tenors Beniamino Gigli and Laurtiz Melchior were both born this day in 1890! So we hear Gigli in an aria from Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut” and Melchior singing the oh-so-appropriate ‘Prize Song’ from Wagner’s “Die Mestersinger.” And we hear a Gluck aria from mezzo Susan Graham, Mistress of Ceremonies for today’s award festivities.
As the evening winds down, we tip our collective hats to the Met, to the finalists, and to great singers who preceded them. Tenors Beniamino Gigli and Laurtiz Melchior were both born this day in 1890! So we hear Gigli in an aria from Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut” and Melchior singing the oh-so-appropriate ‘Prize Song’ from Wagner’s “Die Mestersinger.” And we hear a Gluck aria from mezzo Susan Graham, Mistress of Ceremonies for today’s award festivities.
