Carlo Bergonzi, the great Italian tenor who died on July 25 at the age of 90, is the subject of a week-long retrospective on the Metropolitan Opera’s satellite radio station.
Broadcasts include Bergonzi's 1958 La bohème and 1968 performance of La Gioconda with Renata Tebaldi and Cornell MacNeil. The foremost Verdi tenor of his era will be heard in five signature roles: the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto, Manrico in Il trovatore, Riccardo in Un Ballo in Maschera, Don Alvaro in La Forza del Destino, and the title role in Ernani.
A 1964 performance of Verdi’s Requiem, conducted by Georg Solti featuring Bergonzi, Leontyne Price, Rosalind Elias and Cesare Siepi will be broadcast on Saturday. Originally, it was performed in memory of President John F. Kennedy.