[78-L] Metropolitan Opera broadcasts in the old house

[Kevin P. Mostyn]

Now that the Library of Congress Sonic catalog is back on line (it was down
last night for routine maintenance), I am able to see at least a dozen full
length recordings of MET Opera broadcasts from the 1930s, in the NBC
Collection, starting about 1936. Linechecks, not airchecks. Made by NBC. I
invite you to verify this for yourself.

http://lcweb5.loc.gov/cgi-bin/starfinder/1978546/sonic.txt?action=-oyQK

I am aware of other NBC MET Opera linechecks in private collections.

So the alleged absence of NBC linechecks of the MET Opera in the 1930s turns
out to be a canard.

While the Met contract with NBC may very well have specified that "no
recordings were to be made by the network at all", it is indisputable that
many were made nonetheless. Murder is strictly illegal, yet it happens every
day.

As for the January 4, 1941 Met broadcast of Wagner's "Tannhauser," which was
the instant cause of this thread, please note that the NBC discs of this
broadcast are at the LoC. Certainly I am not the only one on this maillist
who knows that the NBC Archive, when still in NYC, was somewhat "porous."
Essentially all of the MET Opera pirate recordings sourced from actual
linechecks of the 1930s and 1940s, were copied from the NBC transcription
discs when still in NYC. Certain well-known personages had sub-rosa access
to the NBC Archive and copies were routinely made for these people. A wise
man once told me that "you can get anything you want in this world, if you
want it badly enough."

--Kevin Mostyn

-----Original Message-----
From: 78-l-bounces at klickitat.78online.com
[mailto:78-l-bounces at klickitat.78online.com] On Behalf Of Kevin P. Mostyn
Sent: Sunday, December 26, 2010 11:38 PM
To: '78-L Mail List'
Subject: Re: [78-L] Metropolitan Opera broadcasts in the old house

Elizabeth,

*All* is a pretty absolute word, not to be used casually. It is possible
that you are not fully informed on this matter. I invite you to look at
these scans:

http://www.mostyn.com/images/19360329.jpg

http://www.mostyn.com/images/19391230.jpg

These discs are parts of complete sets of these broadcasts and are in my
collection here in California. These are real discs, 16" aluminum base
lacquers.

At this late hour, I do not have access to certain other resources, but I
believe that there are several NBC transcriptions of MET broadcasts from the
1930s. Linechecks, not airchecks.

--Kevin Mostyn

-----Original Message-----
From: 78-l-bounces at klickitat.78online.com
[mailto:78-l-bounces at klickitat.78online.com] On Behalf Of Elizabeth McLeod
Sent: Saturday, December 25, 2010 5:09 AM
To: 78-L Mail List
Subject: Re: [78-L] Metropolitan Opera broadcasts in the old house

on 12/25/10 2:36 AM Michael Biel wrote:

>I wouldn't be surprised if part of the reason is that most Met 
>broadcasts survive as outside air-checks while the Tosciinini 
>broadcasts are line-checks or direct in-house recordings.  There were 
>so many opera lovers recording off-air and there has been little real 
>recordings from the network to use as upgrades, while the Toscanini 
>broadcasts are quite common from NBC and RCA originals.

I believe, in fact, that the Met contract with NBC specified that no
recordings were to be made by the network at all, at least until the
contract was renegotiated around 1940. So *all* surviving Met broadcast
recordings from the thirties are airchecks, and anything goes so far as
quality is concerned.

Jackson's book "Saturday Afternoons At The Old Met" discusses this in some
detail, and reproduces a letter from a Speak-O-Phone studio to a Met
performer, offering to record her upcoming performance. 

Elizabeth