This recording is taken from a memorable broadcast from the Metropolitan Opera. Leading the performance is the French-born conductor Louis Hasselsmans, who had a complete command of the style required to yield up all the riches of Gounod’s score. The two lovers are sung by Eidé Norena, whose light and flexible voice, technique and sensitive acting, made her unrivalled, and Charles Hackett, a tenor gifted with a beautiful lyric voice and handsome stage appearance. He declaims Roméo’s music with a beauty of legato tone and an amplitude of phrasing which is rarely heard today. Their duets are the highlights of the performance.