The first opera performance I attended was a 1974 production of Wagner’s Parsifal at the Metropolitan Opera. The cast included Jess Thomas (Parsifal), Janis Martin (Kundry), John Macurdy (Gurnemanz) and Thomas Stewart (Amfortas) with William Steinberg conducting. Opera hit me like a narcotic and I’ve been addicted ever since. The current Metropolitan Opera house in Lincoln Center opened on September 16, 1966 and I can think of no better way to honor that historic day than with recordings of operas that are receiving new productions this season.
