The Consul was composed by Gian Carlo Menotti and made its debut on March 1, 1950, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It would go on to win the New York Drama Critic Circle award as the Best Musical Play of 1950. It would also earn Menotti a Pulitzer Prize. The opera takes place in an anonymous European totalitarian state.
Cast:
Magda Sorel - Patricia Neway
The Mother - Marie Powers
The Secretary - Gloria Lane
John Sorel - Cornell MacNeil
Orchestra conducted by Lehman Engel
DECCA - 1950

Amelia al ballo (Amelia Goes to the Ball) is a one-act opera buffa by Gian Carlo Menotti, who set his own Italian libretto. Composed during 1936 when Menotti was in his mid-twenties, it was the composer's first mature opera and first critical success. The opera recounts a series of farcical events as a young Italian socialite overcomes obstacles to her attendance at the first ball of the season.
Menotti secured a premiere for the work in Philadelphia. This required, however, a translation into English of the original libretto. George Mead prepared the translation and Menotti made minor revisions to the music to fit the new English words. Staged by the Curtis Institute of Music, Amelia Goes to the Ball premiered on April 1, 1937 at the Philadelphia Academy of Music under the direction of Austrian composer, librettist, and stage director Ernst Lert, with set and costume designs by Tony Award-winning designer Donald Oenslager.
The world premiere of the original Amelia al ballo took place on April 4, 1938 in the opera house of the Sanremo Municipal Casino.
Cast:
Amelia - Marghita Carosio
The Husband - Rolando Panerai
The Lover - Giancinto Prandelli
The Friend - Maria Amandini
Nino Sanzogno conductor
Recorded at La Scala 1954