[Met Performance] CID:123120



Aida
Metropolitan Opera House, Sat, February 26, 1938 Matinee Broadcast





Aida (421)
Giuseppe Verdi | Antonio Ghislanzoni
Aida
Zinka Milanov

Radam?s
Giovanni Martinelli [Act I, Scene 1 fragment]

Radam?s
Frederick Jagel [Acts I, II, III, IV]

Amneris
Bruna Castagna

Amonasro
Carlo Tagliabue

Ramfis
Ezio Pinza

King
Norman Cordon

Messenger
Giordano Paltrinieri

Priestess
Thelma Votipka

Dance
Elise Reiman


Conductor
Gennaro Papi





Halfway through Celeste Aida, Martinelli collapsed onstage. Jagel, who was listening to the broadcast at home, hastened to the theater and finished the performance for his ailing colleague.

Review 1:

Review in the New York News

Martinelli Collapses on Stage of Met

Giovanni Martinelli, 54-year old world famous tenor, collapsed on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera House yesterday afternoon as he reached the conclusion of "Celeste Aida" in a performance of Verdi's "Aida." His great voice was going over the air on a coast-to-coast hookup when it started to grow husky.

The tenor tried to stagger toward the wings, but stumbled and fell at the stair landing.

Conductor Gennaro Papi signaled for the curtain. The packed audience, with hundreds of standees, remained quiet, as if stunned.

Meanwhile attendants carried the unconscious Martinelli to his dressing room where Dr. George N. Flattery, Met house physician, said the singer was suffering from acute indigestion. He said Martinelli will recover fully after a short rest. The tenor's wife, Lele, said her husband had eaten crabmeat, a dish that does not agree with him.

Edward Johnson, general manager of the company, came out on the stage and told the audience what had happened. He begged them to remain seated, saying that Frederick Jagel, another tenor, would replace Martinelli and that the performance would be resumed.

Substitute Twice Before

It was learned later that Jagel had been in his apartment, 225 W. 86th St., listening to the performance on the radio and had heard Martinelli choke up. Realizing something was wrong he hurried out of his apartment. In the street he found his two children playing. Packing them into a cab with him he hurried to the Met, donned costume and went on the stage to take up Martinelli's role of Radames.

Jagel had substituted for Martinelli twice before in emergencies. Early this season he flew to Chicago to substitute in "Norma" when Martinelli became indisposed. Three years ago he replaced in him in "Vasco da Gama."

Martinelli has been a leading tenor of the Metropolitan for twenty-five years,



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