The Golden Age of Singing, Vol. 1

All performances digitally remastered for the first time!

Legendary Opera stars from the Golden Age of Television. Many performances released for the first time. All newly remastered from Voice of Firestone telecasts, 1949-1963, and issued for the first time with English subtitles. Arias from Aida, Semiramide, Faust, Don Pasquale, Barber of Seville, etc., sung by Leontyne Price, Joan Sutherland, Jussi Bjoerling, Richard Tucker, Hilde Gueden, Cesare Siepi, Leonard Warren, Jan Peerce, Rise Stevens, Jean Madeira, Eugene Conley, Patrice Munsel, Anna Moffo, Renata Tebaldi, Franco Corelli, Eleanor Steber, Bidu Sayao, and Mildred Miller. Black & White, Mono, NTSC (Playable all regions), 4:3, 96 minutes.

  1. HILDE GUEDEN Donizetti: Don Pasquale - Quel guardo il cavaliere (3/9/1953) 3:28
  2. CESARE SIEPI Rossini: Il Barbiere di Siviglia - La Calunnia (2/9/1953) 4:26
  3. LEONARD WARREN Rossini: Il Barbiere di Siviglia - Largo al factotum (12/5/1949) 4:37
  4. JAN PEERCE Rossini: La Danza (1/9/1950) 2:35
  5. JOAN SUTHERLAND Rossini: Semiramide - Bel raggio lusinghier (4/21/1963) 5:15
  6. JUSSI BJOERLING Gounod: Faust - Salut! Demeure (3/6/1950) 4:57
  7. RISE STEVENS Tchaikovsky: Jeanne d’Arc - Adieu, forêts (10/1/1956) 4:50
  8. JEAN MADEIRA Saint-Saëns: Samson & Dalila - Amour, viens aider ma faiblesse (4/29/1957) 4:54
  9. EUGENE CONLEY Lalo: Le Roi d’Ys - Vainement, ma bien-aimée (9/10/1951) 3:51
10. PATRICE MUNSEL Puccini: La Bohème - Mi chiamano Mìmì (11/9/1953) 4:39
11. ANNA MOFFO Puccini: Madama Butterfly - Un bel dì (3/10/1963) 4:39
12. RENATA TEBALDI Puccini: Tosca - Vissi d’arte (2/2/1959) 3:59
13. FRANCO CORELLI Di Capua: I' te vurria vasà (6/2/1963) 3:00
14. ELEANOR STEBER Verdi: La forza del destino - Pace, pace, mio Dio (6/9/1952) 5:26
15. RICHARD TUCKER Verdi: Aida - Celeste Aida (1/21/1957) 4:52
16. LEONTYNE PRICE Verdi: Aida - O patria mia (12/30/1962) 6:39

ENCORES:

17. RISE STEVENS Program Opening & Firestone: If I Could Tell You (10/1/1956) 1:49
18. RISE STEVENS Trad: Greensleeves (10/1/1956) 2:17
19. MILDRED MILLER Thomas: Mignon - Connais-tu le pays? (11/11/1962) 4:28
20. BIDU SAYAO Hahn: Si mes vers avaient des ailes (11/26/1951) 1:54
21. WILFRID PELLETIER, cond. Mascagni: l’Amico Fritz - Prelude to Act III (1/24/1955) 5:00
22. HILDE GUEDEN Strauss: Die Fledermaus - Czardas (3/9/1953) 3:41
23. HILDE GUEDEN Program Closing & Firestone: In My Garden (3/91953) 2:34

Firestone Orchestra & Chorus
Howard Barlow, Richard Bonynge, Wilfrid Pelletier, Harry John Brown, and others

Selections never before available include: 1, 2, 7-11, 17-19, and 21-23.
Selections available for the first time ever on DVD: 3, 4, 14, and 20.

All performances newly remastered from Kinescope sources from The Voice of Firestone Collection, New England Conservatory, Boston, MA
Special Thanks to Jamie Rigler