Sound Stories in New York
The Metropolitan Opera House, or the Met, as everyone calls it, is one of the world's great opera houses. Rudolf Bing was one of the Met's brightest stars - although he never sang a note there. He could be called the last of the great impresarios, and his 22-year reign as general manager shook the Met to its roots. Donald Macleod traces that revolution, which saw the first black opera singer on the Met's stage and included the public dismissal of the world's greatest opera star. Music includes Puccini sung by Renata Tebaldi , Jussi Bjorling and Birgit Nilsson , Brahms sung by Marian Anderson , and Verdi sung by Leonard Warren.