Soprano Maralin Niska and Tenor John Stewart in 1970 Recital

The soprano Maralin Niska made her Metropolitan Opera debut March 17, 1970, as Violetta in Verdi's La Traviata. She went on to perform with the company for the next eight years in such diverse performances as Musetta in La Bohème, Elena in I Vespri Siciliani, Nedda in I Pagliacci, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, and the title roles in Tosca and Salome. Tenor John Stewart sang at the MET in only two roles, both during the 1972-73 season: Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni and Alfred in Die Fledermaus. The above recordings are of the tenor and soprano singing "Già nella notte densa s'estingue ogni clamor" from Otello, ""Non la sospiri, la nostra casetta" from Tosca, and the final moments of "Vogliatemi bene" from Act 1 of Madama Butterfly. All recordings were taken from a 1970 joint recital in Lexington, Kentucky. Listen to Ms. Niska sing "Oh! quand je dors" (Liszt), "Le manoir de Rosemonde" (Duparc) and "Depuis le jour" (from Charpentier's Louise) and Joasquín Rodrigo's Cuatro Madrigales Amatorios (1. "¿Con qué la lavaré?"/2. "Vos me matásteis"/3. "¿De dónde venís, amore?"/4. "De los álamos vengo, madre") after the jump.