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UN BALLO IN MASCHERA
By Giuseppe Verdi
VIDEO: Luciano Pavarotti, Katia Ricciarelli, Bianca
Berini, Judith Blegen, Louis Quilico; Patane conducting [English
subtitles]; Metropolitan Opera, 1980; PAR 2362
AUDIO: A) MELODRAM 26039: Giuseppe Di Stefano, Maria
Callas, Ettore Bastianini, Gavazzeni conducting ("live," La Scala,
1957); Gavazzeni's baton gives us the most exciting performance
available; "one of the most inspired Verdi performances preserved in
sound," Henry Wisneski; NOT to be confused with EMI's Di
Stefano/Callas studio set under Maestro Votto, 1956--a tentative
recording compared with this "live" 1957 performance; this
spectacular broadcast has been preserved in fairly good mono
[G.R.]
B) METROPOLITAN OPERA GUILD (for a King's ransom(!)) or THE
FOURTIES (a specialty label): Jussi Bjoerling, Zinka Milanov,
Alexander Sved, Panizza conducting ("live," at the Met, 1940); even
more opulent voices without quite so much drama--though there is
still more of that here than on any commercially available studio
product; only fair sound, mono [G.R.]
C) RCA: Carlo Bergonzi, Leontyne Price, Robert Merrill,
Leinsdorf conducting; this may not have so much drama as A or
B but there is superbly beautiful singing here in wonderfully
spacious sound; Bergonzi was the Gustavo/Riccardo of his
generation and Leontyne Price may be just about the most sumptuous
voice ever heard on discs as Amelia; stereo [G.R.]
For Further Reading:
The
Operas of Verdi : From Il Trovatore to La Forza Del Destino (Vol. 2,
Revised), by Julian Budden
A
Masked Ball/Un Ballo in Maschera (Opera Guide, No. 40), by
Giuseppe Verdi
Encounters
with Verdi, by Marcello Conati, Richard Stokes, Julian Budden
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