Producer
On Christmas Eve, an old miser named Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by the spirit of his former partner, Jacob Marley. The deceased partner was in his lifetime as mean and miserly as Scrooge is now and he warns him to change his ways or face the consequences in the afterlife. Scrooge is visited by three spirits, representing his past, present and future, and, after seeing what they have to show him, must make a determination of how he will continue to live his life.
Producer
This John Dexter production, designed by Desmond Heeley, was a parting gift to the great American soprano Beverly Sills, who bid farewell to the Met as Norina, the smart young widow at the center of Donizetti’s comedy. The sensational Alfredo Kraus sings her beloved Ernesto. Håkan Hagegård, in his Met debut role and season, is Dr. Malatesta, the man who helps the young couple trick the crusty old bachelor of the title (Gabriel Bacquier at his comical best) into a fake marriage. This being a Donizetti comedy, it all turns out perfectly well at the end—and getting there is pure operatic fun.
Producer
A stellar cast brings Puccini’s spellbinding opera to life, seizing every opportunity to thrill the audience. Luciano Pavarotti is Cavaradossi, the painter and political revolutionary in love with the beautiful and famous singer Tosca (the riveting Shirley Verrett). Rome’s diabolical chief of police, Baron Scarpia (Cornell MacNeil), wants Tosca for himself—but he underestimates the fury of a woman in love. With torture, murder, and a suicide in its final moments, Tosca packs more dramatic punches than most other operas—and this classic telecast captures them all. James Conlon conducts in a production by the incomparable Tito Gobbi, one of the great Scarpias of the 20th century.
Producer
Piano Vladimir Horowitz in a televised recital from the White House on 26 January 1978, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his US debut, at the invitation of President & Mrs Carter. On the program, Chopin's Sonata #2 in B-flat minor, Waltzes in A minor and C-sharp minor, and Polonaise in A-flat, followed by encores by Schumann, Rachmaninoff, and Horowitz's own Carmen Variations.
Director
Brothers Grimm tales like "The Golden Goose," "The Bremen Town Musicians" and "The Blue Light" come to life in this stripped-down stage production, which forgoes elaborate sets and costumes in favor of creative acting techniques and storytelling.
