Where were you on the night of April 22, 1972? It was a good night to be at the Metropolitan Opera, where a gala was held in honor of Sir Rudolf Bing. Sir Rudolf, who had been general manager of the Met for 22 years, was retiring. And the stars were out to celebrate him, and poke a little fun at him. The gala was recorded, of course, and an LP released. Now that LP is available for the first time on CD (from Deutsche Grammophon).

The disc features 10 singers, some of whom have gone on, some of whom have retired and are active in other ways, and one of whom is still singing. (Can you guess who it is?) This really is a live recording, too. How can you tell? Well, for one thing, mistakes are left in — and you can hear the prompter, feeding the words to the singers.

Our concert begins with Martina Arroyo, the American soprano. (By the way, I spotted her at the Met the other night, in the audience.) She sings “Tacea la notte placida” from Verdi’s “Trovatore,” and does so with richness and drama. One high note’s not great, but, as I’ve said, that at least lets you know the recording is truly live.

Then comes a duet, sung by Montserrat Caballé and Plácido Domingo — yes, the ageless Plácido Domingo. He was about 30 when this gala was held, and he is still going, and going fairly strong. The duet is “Tu, tu, amore? Tu?” from Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut.” Mr. Domingo displays his bad habits in it, swooning around, refusing to address the notes cleanly. He would become a more disciplined singer. But he still sounds like a million bucks, and so does his partner, Montsi.

The conductor, incidentally, is James Levine, then pretty much a baby, hardly arrived at the Met. He does notably well. Other conductors in the gala include Karl Böhm and Francesco Molinari-Pradelli.

Speaking of Böhm, we have him conducting the Final Scene from Strauss’s “Salome,” or, as I’ve often called this scene, the mad Liebestod. He was a famous conductor of Strauss, and he has with him a famous Salome: the late Birgit Nilsson. Her voice could split Fort Knox, and the audience loves it.

After Birgit comes Leontyne, Leontyne Price, who sings one of the arias in which she most excelled: “Dove sono” from Mozart’s “Marriage of Figaro.” There are a thousand recordings of Ms. Price in this aria, and this is one of the best. She spins her sound so beautifully, so freely — and she sings so purely, so stylishly. Price-heads will go nuts.

The highlight of the CD, perhaps, is an appearance by Regina Resnik, the American mezzo (who began her career as a soprano). She sings a parody song, borrowing from Johann Strauss Jr.’s “Fledermaus.” That parody is “Chacun à Bing’s goût.” It is clever and amusing, and Ms. Resnik sings it smashingly. She is a smart, talented, and often funny and tart lady — it shows.

The essence of this song is, “He showed us how to do it. Chacun à Bing’s goût. And if you didn’t like to do it, he’d tell you what you could do.” The song makes reference to controversies long past: Robert Merrill’s desire to be a Hollywood actor; the number of Isoldes Bing was casting.

And then there’s this: “He even said to Callas, who liked to play the hellion, ‘I’m Rudolf Über Alles — I don’t allow rebellion.'”

The disc continues with a famous duo, Richard Tucker (tenor) and Bob Merrill (baritone), doing one of their most famous duets: “Invano Alvaro” from Verdi’s “Forza del Destino.” Both of them are smoking and glowing, really on.

And, to end the disc, the great love duet from another Verdi opera, “Otello.” (Bing was a Verdi man, all the way.) In the title role is Franco Corelli, one of the most acclaimed Otellos in history. And his Desdemona is the least known singer on this disc: Teresa Zylis-Gara, a Polish soprano. She owned a beautiful voice, and, of course, Corelli is commanding.

This is a fine souvenir of one of the great gala nights at the Met – a night in the category of October 22, 1983 (the Met’s centennial), and April 27, 1996 (the 25th anniversary of James Levine’s tenure). We are reminded of the continuity of the Met, a vital cultural institution. Current management styles itself the “New Met,” but, really, there’s only one, whose business is to present the best, in any era. Any general manager — Bing and all his predecessors and all his successors — has but temporary custody. A solemn trust, you might even say.