The most remarkable thing about this extraordinary collection is how well it lives up to its ambitious title. It is, in fact, full of great moments, and even when it falls short of greatness (for example, in Birgit Nilsson's note-perfect but too tranquil "Pace, pace" from La forza del destino), the standard is high. A list of the participants' names is almost a who's who of the international opera elite in the 1950s and '60s--or, more specifically, of those who were singing at the Metropolitan Opera and thereby available in New York for Ed Sullivan's "Show of Shows." Intellectuals tended to look down on this show, but it did book the best talent available and it let them do what they did best--essentially, the most familiar highlights from the standard repertoire.
In the (unspecified) years that supplied these performances, the show's style changed: color replaced black and white; scenery and costumes gave way to formal evening wear and concert interpretations (though Richard Tucker was allowed to keep a clown suit and makeup mirror for his intense "Vesti la giubba"). On one occasion, Franco Corelli wore a business suit--but he was singing a Neapolitan song, not an aria. Highlights are too numerous to be detailed, but they include a very young Leontyne Price singing "Vissi d'arte," Joan Sutherland in music from Lucia and Daughter of the Regiment (the only number that includes a chorus), and Eileen Farrell's strange "Pace, pace," staged in a Greco-Roman amphitheatre with only a piano accompaniment.
This two-hour collection will be specially treasured for its inclusion of many singers inadequately represented in the video media--e.g., Lily Pons, Maria Callas, Nilsson, Farrell, Tucker, Jan Peerce, Dorothy Kirsten, and Robert Merrill. --Joe McLellan