Ezio Pinza live at the Met in 1939 - "Boris Godunov" coronation scene

Here is the coronation scene with Ezio Pinza from Mussorgsky's "Boris Godunov." This is from the December 9, 1939 Metropolitan Opera radio broadcast of the opera with Ettore Panizza conducting. Other cast members included Alessio De Paolis (Prince Shuisky), Nicola Moscona (Pimen), Charles Kullman (Grigory), Kerstin Thorborg (Marina), Leonard Warren (Rangoni), Norman Cordon (Varlaam), Nicholas Massue (Simpleton), George Cehanovsky (Shchelkalov), Doris Doe (Innkeeper), Giordano Paltrinieri (Missail), John Gurney (Officer), Marita Farell (Xenia), Irra Petina (Feodor), Anna Kaskas (Nurse), Wilfred Engelman (Lavitsky), Arnold Gabor (Chernikovsky), and Nicholas Massue (Boyar in Attendance). It's unfortunate that this was performed in Italian at the Met for so many years (even when Chaliapin performed it there.. and then later in English!) but I don't know that Pinza would have sang it in Russian anyways. I have several recordings of this opera, even one in French but interestingly enough not one in Russian. Perhaps I would if I were at all into modern recordings/broadcasts of opera.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Ezio
• Pinza
• Boris
• Godunov
• Coronation
• Scene
• Mussorgsky
• Bass
• Baritone
• Basso
• Metropolitan
• Opera
• radio
• broadcast
• 1939
• Ettore
• Panizza
• yt:quality=high

[jmccracken1963]

BORIS GODUNOV was intended to be done in Russian for this production, and Pinza learned the role of Boris in that language, but the Met management decided that it would cost too much to teach the chorus the Russian, so the opera was done in Italian, in which language Pinza had sung Pimen at La Scala and at the Met in the 1920s. Nonetheless, he knew the role in Russian, and sang it in Russian in - I forget the movie. GREAT sound and GREAT performances: Pinza made Boris HUMAN. Thank you!!!!!

[VinylToVideo]

Thanks for the info; I didn't know that. I have another broadcast of it with Pinza and Tucker even from 1946 but again in Italian. The picture was "Tonight We Sing;" the 'biography' of Sol Hurok (which of course being from the early 50s was semi-fictional but quite good to watch for the singing). I've posted those recordings of Pinza singing in Russian already.

[thephantom1946]

Yes Pinza did learn the entire role in Russian just as jmccracken says, but Pinza says he only sang 2 scenes in Russian for the movie Tonight We Sing, but no other movie. Figaro and Boris were his two favorite roles. He was superb.

[voxandreas]

Can anyone post an audio recording of his singing the death scene in this 1939

production? He sings it beautifully in this production. Wow!

[librarybob1958]

The conductor here was the great Hungarian-born George Szell (1899 - 1970), whose greatest US successes were to come with his 20+ year stewardship, ending only at his death, of the Cleveland Orchestra. The Shuiski, who sings the first few lines, was probably the great Alessio di Paolis (1895 - 1964), whose long stay as premier tenore secondo at the Met, would end with HIS death in a 1964 car accident.

Pinza, as ever, was more than a singer, more than a voice. He was a true force of nature.

[stevevandien]

Am pretty sure the movie was "Tonight We Sing," in which Pinza played Chaliapin:) --

[BGSourgas]

A genius!! Such an incredible scene!

I think Milling is very good and should only get better, ditto Owens. Pape is a miracle, but is everything alright?...

[GermanOperaSinger]

For me language doesn't matter too much as long as the singing is good, which of course, is not something we have to worry about for Pinza. Come recent times more people have become rather obsessed with 'purifying' the productions so now almost all of them are sung in the original language. Now if only we had some good voices nowadays to go along with that! Ramey is a good basso but he's more suited to 'lighter' roles in Rossini.

[halavey]

Of the modern Bass singers I like Ramey very much. I will take Pinza in any language of course.