I was glad to discover this New York City Opera performance of Puccini’s TOSCA from 1975 has been posted on YouTube.
Johanna Meier (above) – a great favorite of mine – sang with both The NYC Opera and The Met; I had the great pleasure of seeing her as Musetta, Contessa Almaviva, Strauss’s Ariadne, Marguerite in FAUST, Chrysothemis, the Marschallin, Donna Anna, Elisabeth in TANNHAUSER, the Empress in FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN, and – outstandingly – as Sieglinde.
Listen here.
(Two outstanding passages in this TOSCA are Meier’s introspective and sustained singing of the “Vissi d’arte“, with its gorgeous pianissimo final note, and her blazing top-C in Act III as she tells her lover how she murdered Scarpia. These moments are at 1:09:45 and 1:36:30 respectively. )
Oberon's Glade 