Commented
Discography of Verdi Operas
In this page there are comments either by RML or by Olivier (to be
found on the salmon-coloured table).
re:opera
Aida
| Alzira | Aroldo
| Attila | Un Ballo
in Maschera | La Battaglia di Legnano
Il Corsaro Don
Carlo I Due Foscari Ernani
Falstaff La Forza
del Destino
Un Giorno di Regno | I
Lombardi | Luisa Miller | Macbeth
| I Masnadieri | Nabucco
Oberto | Otello
| Rigoletto | Simon
Boccanegra | Stiffelio | La
Traviata | Il Trovatore
I Vespri Siciliani ~AIDA 1
- Katia Ricciarelli (Aida), Elena Obraztsovva (Amneris), Plácido Domingo
(Radames), Leo Nucci (Amonasro), Nicolai Ghiaurov (Ramfis), La Scala, Claudio
Abbado 2
- Cheryl Studer (Aida), Luciana d’Intiino (Amneris), Dennis O’Neill (Radames),
Alexandru Agache (Amonasro), Robert Lloyd (Ramfis), Covent Garden, Edward Downes 3
- Renata Tebaldi (Aida), Ebe Stignani (Amneeris), Mario del Monaco (Radames), Aldo
Protti (Amonasro), Dario Caselli (Ramfis), Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Alberto
Erede 4
- Margaret Price (Aida), Stefania Toczyska (Amneris), Luciano Pavarotti (Radames),
Simon Estes (Amonasro), Kurt Rydl (Ramfis), San Francisco Op., Garcia Navarro 5
- Maria Chiara (Aida), Fiorenza Cossotto (AAmneris), Niccola Martinucci (Radames),
Giuseppe Scandola (Amonasro), Carlo Zardo (Ramfis), Arena di Verona, Anton Guadagno 6
- Cristina Gallardo-Domas (Aida), Olga Boroodina (Amneris), Vincenzo La Scola (Radames),
Thomas Hamspson (Ramfis), Laszlo Polgar (Ramfis), Wiener Philharmoniker, Nikolaus
Harnoncourt 7
- Renata Tebaldi (Aida), Giulietta Simionatto (Amneris), Carlo Bergonzi (Radames),
Cornell MacNeil (Amonasro), Arnold Van Mill (Ramfis), Wiener Philharmoniker, Herbert
von Karajan 8
- Mirella Freni (Aida), Agnes Baltsa (Amnerris), José Carreras (Radames),
Piero Cappuccilli (Amonasro), Ruggero Raimondi (Ramfis), Berliner Philharmoniker,
Herbert von Karajan 9
- Leontyne Price (Aida), Grace Bumbry (Amneeris), Plácido Domingo (Radames),
Sherrill Milnes (Amonasro), Ruggero Raimondi (Ramfis), London Symphony, Erich
Leinsdorf 10
- Aprile Millo (Aida), Dolora Zajick (Amnerris), Plácido Domingo (Radames),
James Morris (Amonasro), Samuel Ramey (Ramfis), Metropolitan Opera, James Levine 11
- Maria Chiara (Aida), Ghena Dmitrova (Amneeris), Luciano Pavarotti (Radames),
Leo Nucci (Amonasro), Nicolai Ghiaurov (Ramfis), La Scala, Lorin Maazel 12
- Birgit Nilsson (Aida), Grace Bumbry (Amneeris), Franco Corelli (Radames), Mario
Sereni (Amonasro), Bonaldo Giaiotti (Ramfis), Opera di Roma, Zubin Mehta 13
- Gwyneth Jones (Aida), Viorica Cortez (Amnneris), Plácido Domingo (Radames),
Eugene Holmes (Amonasro), Bonaldo Giaiotti (Ramfis), Wiener Staatsoper, Riccardo
Muti 14
- Montserrat Caballé (Aida), Fiorenzza Cossotto (Amneris), Plácido
Domingo (Radames), Piero Cappuccilli (Amonasro), Nicolai Ghiaurov (Ramfis), New
Philharmonia, Riccardo Muti 15
- Zinka Milanov (Aida), Fedora Barbieri (Ammneris), Jussi Bjoerling (Radames),
Leonard Warren (Amonasro), Boris Christoff (Ramfis), Opera di Roma, Jonel Perlea 16
- Maria Callas (Aida), Fedora Barbieri (Amnneris), Richard Tucker (Radames), Tito
Gobbi (Amonasro), Giuseppe Modesti (Ramfis), La Scala, Tulio Serafin 17
- Leontyne Price (Aida), Rita Gorr (Amneriss), Jon Vickers (Radames), Robert Merrill
(Amonasro), Giorgio Tozzi (Ramfis), Opera di Roma, Georg Solti 18
- Herva Nelli (Aida), Eva Gustafson (Amneriis), Richard Tucker (Radames), Giuseppe
Valdengo (Amonasro), Norman Scott (Ramfis), NBC Symphony, Arturo Toscanini Comissioned
by the Khedive of Egypt, Aida was intented to the opening of the opera house in
Cairo, but Verdi didn’t complete it in time and the première only
happened two years later. The plot was inspired on a short-story by the French
amateur archeologist Auguste Mariette, who suggested the idea of its adaptation
into an operatic libretto, a task accomplished by Antonio Ghislanzoni. As a result
of it, Aida is heavily influenced by French grand opéra and defies stage
producers with its big sceneries crowded of singers and actors and sometimes elephants!
The role of Aida was intended to the German soprano Teresa Stolz (a noted Elisabetta
and Forza’s Leonora), but it was not to be - a personal situation prevented
her from taking part of the première season, although she was scheduled
to sing Amneris latter at La Scala. The next idea was an Austrian soprano, Antonietta
Fricci (who had sung Eboli at the Covent Garden). In the end, Antonietta Pozzoni-Anastasi,
who had sung Violetta in Florence, was the chosen one. The mezzo Eleonora Grossi
sang Amneris, although Verdi thought that the role was to high for her, and Pietro
Mongini was the first Radamès. Verdi didn’t attend the performance
- he was not confident about the productionn, but it was a success. However, the
La Scala première was the coup de grâce on Verdi’s bad omens.
The title role of Aida is fearsomely difficult - although the singer
is required to produce floated high notes and to have a warm tonal quality - the
demands on tessitura, volume and carrying power actually require a soprano drammatico.
Curiously, very few of them sang the role. Amneris, as well, is difficult piece
of casting, requiring a dramatic mezzo soprano with splendid control of high notes.
The idea of casting the part with a soprano was eschewed by Verdi himself. The
role of Radamès is also complicate - although the idea is a tenore di forza,
the dynamic effects required by Verdi have led many conductors to cast it with
a lyric tenor with spinto potential. Aida also poses problems to conductors. Many
have had problems about shifting from the grandiose public scene to the intimate
atmosphere of the private drama, especially in act III. Abbado’s
Aida’s main quality is its elegance - whatever abruptness, whether in tempo
or dynamics, found in Verdi’s score is rounded with expertise by the Italian
conductor. On the other hand, clarity is not always there. That must have to do
with DG’s warm recording, which, although it makes for rich orchestral sound,
is unnatural and lacking space. Some may found the performance square too. Katia
Ricciarelli’s tone - so warm and luscious and vulnerable - would make a convincing
Aida, but she is clearly overparted and her legato is afflicted by forcing, shrillness
and sometimes her mezza voce sounds wiry. Elena Obraztsova is more than powerful
enough for Amneris, but the tone is unlovely and the whole method makes one think
that Azucena has appeared in the wrong opera. Plácido Domingo is in fresh
voice and singing with musicianship throughout. Unfortunately, Leo Nucci, despite
his vivid response to the text, forces too much his tone and sounds rough too
often. Nicolai Ghiaurov is also past his best.
The Covent Garden video, also available on DVD, features jugendlich
dramatisch Cheryl Studer in the title role. Controversial as this is,
It is a most imaginative performance with lovely phrasing throughout
and pianissimi abounding (including the top c in O patria mia). She
handles well the most outspoken moments, resorting to a naturally placed
chest voice when necessary. Of course, she is light voiced for the role,
but there will be only a few moments where this is going to be an obstacle
- Studer’s caressing line and fresh tone are compensation enough.
Luciana d’Intino also offers a warm mezzo soprano with an imposing
low register. She is also a musicianly singer and only her less than
exuberant top notes prevent her from being entirely successful. As for
Dennis O’ Neill, despite his beautiful mezza voce, the role of
Radames leads him to permanent stress - the tone tremulous in the more
exposed note and the style too lachrimose sometimes. Alexandru Agache
has a most powerful voice, but does not display any special insight
about his role nor beauty of tone. Edward Downes conducting tends to
be flat, turning the most exciting moments rather dull, but he gives
enough space for the more lyrical passages, in which the clear recording
is quite helpful.
The video
from San Francisco is not a grandiose production and all for the best. Garcia
Navarro’s conducting is what Germans would call kapellmeisterlich - it is
efficient, nothing more - although he is really attentive to his cast. The forces
at San Francisco are better than some could have imagined. The cast is unconventional,
but quite successful and it is the partnership between Margaret Price and Luciano
Pavarotti that dominates the performance - those two singers seem to respond intensely
to each other and awake the best of each other when singing together. Price’s
utterly musicianly sensitive phrasing, exquisite tone, floated notes and dramatic
commitment make a success of her Aida. Moreover, she is in beautiful voice and
the only (perverse) criticism one could raise is that, in her search of refinement,
one or two difficult moments chosen to be sung mezza voce result in singing below
true pitch. Stefania Toczyska is in splendid shape and gives it all in act IV
- a compelling performance. The role of Raddamès is not appropriate for
Pavarotti’s lyric voice, but he is in such animation (he even agreed to show
his legs in his Egyptian costume...) that he ends on convincing the audience,
especially when, encouraged by Price, he produces some mezza voce in the closing
scene. Unfortunately, Simon Estes is not in this standard - he is in throaty voice
throughout and has very poor Italian. Guadagno’s performance at the
Arena di Verona is a very nice performance. The last degree of polish is something
one cannot expect from this venue, but the results are quite exciting, especially
with the rather good engineering available here. Maria Chiara is a complete success
as Aida - she produces a warm stream of Italianate flexible sound throughout.
Nicola Martinucci’s powerful and robust tenor works wonderfully for Radames
as well. Fiorenza Cossotto is still in very good shape, although she definitely
doesn’t look her part here. The Amonasro has a huge voice, but it is incredibly
unartistic as a singer. The production is simple but effective. Harnoncourt’s
Aida is, as everyone could have expected, unpredicatble. The conductor’s
aim here was to stress Verdi’s musical riches in the score. So, tempi tend
to be slower, while clarity abounds. Some will find it woefully lacking in excitement,
but the Verdian prepared to discover one thing or two about Aida will have some
fun. The casting insists on light voices, but for the Amneris. The situations,
then, is problematic even for such a gifted singer as Olga Borodina, arguably
the best mezzo of her generation. She has probably two times the voice of the
rest of the cast together, but has to scale down to fit into the performance’s
conception. Those who saw her completely unleashed in the broadcast from the Met
will miss the whole exuberance of her voice and characterization here. Casting
a Violetta as Aida is no novelty - it happened in the première. Considering
the results, Gallardo-Domas, such a lovely singer, made wonders in adapting to
this dramatic role. Predictably, she makes the performance a "lyric"
one, relying on mezza voce and on the fine projection of her lighter tone. The
main victim of the casting policy, though, is Vincenzo la Scola, who is taken
to his limits by the role, although the tone itself is not ugly. Thomas Hampson
goes for refinement, as expected, but could be more natural with Italian language.
As expected from a performance involving the Karajan Decca days, this
one involves lots of orchestral sound. It basically is a remake of the
Erede, but in de luxe conditions. Its sonics and grandiose perspective
made of this recording a favourite and Karajan conducting explores all
the virtuosistic possibilits of the Vienna Philharmonic. It also involves
some slow tempi, which help to make things more difficult for the cast,
which is, as always with John Culshaw as a producer, drowned in orchestra
(one could say that, in the theatre, the voices are no closer - but
there the orchestra is IN THE PIT). Although Renata Tebaldi’s tone
is as always appropriate for Aida, she is under bad weather with top
notes here, especially in O patria mia, and uncomfortable about the
circumstances in a general way. Giulietta Simionato, however, seems
to be untroubled by all that and offers her highest standard powerful
Amneris. One could be genuinely worried for Bergonzi’s Radames,
since power was not his first quality. As usual with this most musical
of tenors, he does not sacrifice his beauty of tone and of line and
sings his elegant way throughout, undisturbed by the fact that the orchetra
would make him disappear once in a while. A wise decision, nevertheless.
Cornell MacNeil is in beautiful voice as well.
Karajan Salzburg Aida is even more problematic.
He seemed to have turned the orchestral button up and soloists’ vocal power
down. As a result, much of what is left sounds unnatural. The performances themselves
in Salzburg were complicate. Apparently, he explained his light-voiced soloists
that he would keep the orchestra down, but at the events, he unleashed it in full
powers. Marilyn Horne opted for protecting her voice and nobody could listen to
her Amneris, but Freni and Carreras seeemed to have paid all their sins oversinging
as if to save their lives. Fortunately, the orchestral playing itself is excellent
- the Vienna Philharmonic again in excellennt shape and the tempi now seem to be
more organic compared to the first try. Naturally, slow tempi would have killed
the cast... Well, the cast. Of course, Mirella Freni’s voice is powerful
enough to deal with whatever role, but the quality of the tone was light by that
time and as a result her Aida sounds quite unvaried and lacking room to operate.
Nevertheless, the voice is beautiful enough. In the recording, there is no Marilyn
Horne - Agnes Baltsa is Amneris here. Although, in her slim tone, she fails to
produce a real Amneris impact, this smartest and commited singer defends herself
by means of her bright and powerful top notes. On the other hand, Carreras deserves
a medal for his intelligently managed performance. He adapts the role to his own
resources and takes advantage of every un-exposed moment to score points with
his shapely phrasing and produces beautiful mezza voce when required and - of
course - his voice is exquisite. Cappuccilli must be a man who likes challenges
- he is more animated here than for Muti, aalthough there is less comfort in the
voice sometimes.
Maazel’s La Scala performance is surprisingly unexciting. Although
he leads the orchestra to produce some beautiful sounds and is very
attentive to his singers, it is so unexceptional as a whole that one
cannot help thinking of other performances. Since the Arena di Verona,
Maria Chiara’s voice had lost some power and volume and she has
to resource to some tricks she didn’t need before. It is still
lovely, but nothing unforgettable. Ghena Dimitrova as Amneris goes against
Verdi’s interdiction of a soprano in this part. As predictable,
it simply doesn’t work. She doesn’t have the most powerful
low notes and, maybe because the voice is made to sound "mezzo"
(although it does not work at all), the top notes are not exciting as
one could have expected. She lacks imagination as well. Without Margaret
Price and without his exposed legs (here he is covered as if he was
singing Bellini’s Norma in the role of Norma), Pavarotti is even
less comfortable with the role. However, Celeste Aida is still really
nice. Leo Nucci lacks weight as Amonasro. On video, the production seems
to have art comic book design, but results are artifficial - even if
most scenes really look nice.
Mehta’s Aida is quite a neglected business. Although the sound
lacks naturality, the performance itself is very exciting, with energectic
conducting from Mehta and adept playing and singing. Reviewers like
to say that Nilsson is too "Teutonic" for Aida. Apparently,
the fact of her being Teutonic did not prevent Verdi from intending
the title part for a German soprano. So, where the composer didn’t
see a problem, let the reviewers follow his example. Nilsson is in splendid
voice and has no problems with singing her part. She doesn’t abound
in Italianate portamento, but replaces it for accuracy of phrasing and
a youthful purity of tone, which is quite touching. Also, her Italian
is above average for Northern singers. Grace Bumbry is in wonderful
voice for Amneris and her rounded top notes and sexy quality are clear
assets. As always, Franco Corelli’s line is far from pure. Every
kind of noise interfere into his (lack of) legato, but he provides the
necessary thrill not only with his darkest powerful top notes but also
by his scrupulous following of the score’s indication "morendo"
in the last note of Celeste Aida. Mario Sereni is also a convincing
Amonasro.
Muti’s Aida is a famous performance. The Italian conductor
adopts his usual very rhythmic conducting to Aida with a fair degree of success,
especially because his "orchestral culture" finds a nicest team in the
Philharmonia orchestra. Some accuse the performance of lacking repose in the more
intimate scenes and grandeur in the public ones. They may have a point, but the
level of accomplishment on Muti’s control over his musicians is amazing enough.
On paper, Montserrat Caballé lacks power for Aida, but she transforms the
role into a lyric soprano one, generally resorting to her exquisite pianissimi
when things get difficult. Of course, when she is supposed to produce strong top
notes, there she is with roundest tone. She is also very committed and is in great
voice, but there are some mannerisms too - some glottal attack and a kind of weep-y
phrasing whenever Aida feels unhappy. However, when things are made to work, she
is uniquely satisfying, such as in O patria mia!, the act III duet with Radames
and the closing scene. Although Fiorenza Cossotto’s voice actually lacks
some space in the lower reaches, she is an exciting singer and very accurate too.
Her Amneris lacks a bit of seduction, she’s too formidable somehow. Plácido
Domingo offers a competent performance, graced by his beautiful tone, although
it is not particularly imaginative. His soft singing in the closing scene is quite
moving, though. Piero Cappuccilli is in healthy voice. Besides the EMI famous
performance, there is also Muti’s live from Vienna, where the conductor is
a bit more relaxed. The sound is quite good for a broadcast - rather spacious.
Gwyneth Jones has a very nice voice for Aida (in Rome, when replacing Leontyne
Price, in the beginning of her career, Roman newspapers wrote about her "nata
per cantare Aida") - it is powerful, warm enough, with natural low notes
and powerful top ones. I was eager to include her floating pianissimi in the list
of qualities, but here she makes too many adaptations to accomodate them, such
as chopping phrases in order to get extra breath and then sustain her mezza voce
in higher notes. However, it is a precious memento of Jones as a Verdian. Viorica
Cortez could be referred to as a posessor of a nice voice for Amneris, but she
has poor discipline. It is exciting in a general way, though. Domingo shows more
commitment live, as usual. The Solti recording is the classic recommendation
for this opera. They take very seriously the "grand" in "grand
opéra", but it is not languorous or something like that - Solti provides
the right degree of excitement, if not always in subtlety. Nevertheless, he has
a fine control over his orchestra. As in many older recordings, the brass can
be quite tiring after a while. For many, Leontyne Price IS Aida. Certainly, it
is the role that made her famous and the exotic smoky/dark quality of her voice
certainly sounds like the reason why Radames preferred not to be rich and important.
She sings richly throughout, although - again - subtlety is not her strongest
feature. Nevertheless, she is never unstylish. Her only real problem is the eternal
low register - or the absence of it. In its place, we get her famous husky sound.
On the other hand, Rita Gorr is a 100% accomplished Amneris - a regal performance
- especially helped by her finely knitted rregisters and weight of tone. The Radames
here, Jon Vickers, is also very powerful and has some extra resources, such as
his control of dynamics, but the voice is overbright in an un-Italianate way and
he and Dante are not the best friends. However, as it generally happen with this
artist, he has a way of his own to be convincing in whatever he does. Robert Merrill
is also a strong Amonasro. top ~Alzira
1 - Ileana Cotrubas (Alzira), Francisco Araiza (Zamoro), Renato
Bruson (Gusmano), Jan-Hendrik Rootering (Alvaro), Münchner Rundfunk, Lamberto
Gardelli 2 - Marina Mescheriakova (Alzira), Ramón Vargas (Zamoro),
Paolo Gavanelli (Gusmano), Orchestre de la Suisse Romando, Fabio Luisi top ~Aroldo 1
- Montserrat Caballé (Mina), Gianfraanco Cecchele (Aroldo), Egberto (Juan
Pons), Louis Lebherz (Briano), New York City Opera, Eve Queler 2 - Carol
Vaness (Mina), Neil Schicoff (Aroldo), Anthony Michaels-Moore (Egberto), Roberto
Scandiuzzi (Briano), Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Fabio Luisi top ~Attila 1
- Christina Deutekom (Odabella), Carlo Berggonzi (Foresto), Sherrill Milnes (Ezio),
Ruggero Raimondi (Attila), Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Lamberto Gardelli 2
- Sylvia Sass (Odabella), Janos Nagy (Foressto), Lajos Miller (Ezio), Evgeny Nesternko
(Attila), Hungarian State Orchestra, Lamberto Gardelli 3 - Cheryl Studer
(Odabella), Neil Schicoff (Foresto), Giorgio Zancanaro (Ezio), Samuel Ramey (Attila),
La Scala, Riccardo Muti top ~Un
Ballo in Maschera 1 - Katia Ricciarelli (Amelia), Edita Gruberová
(Oscar), Elena Obraztsova (Ulrica), Plácido Domingo (Riccardo), Renato
Bruson (Renato), La Scala, Claudio Abbado 2 - Renata Tebaldi (Amelia), Helen
Donath (Oscar), Regina Resnik (Ulrica), Luciano Pavarotti (Riccardo), Sherrill
Milnes (Renato, Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Bruno Bartoletti 3 - Montserrat
Caballé (Amelia), Sona Gazharian (Oscar), Patricia Payne (Ulrica), José
Carreras (Riccardo), Ingvar Wixell (Renato), Covent Garden, Colin Davis 4
- Josephine Barstow (Amelia), Sumi Jo (Oscaar), Florence Quivar (Ulrica), Plácido
Domingo (Riccardo), Leo Nucci (Renato), Wiener Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan 5
- Leontyne Price (Amelia), Reri Grist (Oscaar), Shirley Verrett (Ulrica), Carlo
Bergonzi (Riccardo), Robert Merrill (Renato), RCA Italiana, Erich Leinsdorf 6
- Aprile Millo (Amelia), Harolyn Blackwell (Oscar), Florence Quivar (Ulrica),
Luciano Pavarotti (Riccardo), Leo Nucci (Renato), Metropolitan Opera, James Levine 7
- Martina Arroyo (Amelia), Reri Grist (Oscaar), Fiorenza Cosssotto (Ulrica), Plácido
Domingo (Riccardo), Piero Cappucccilli (Renato), New Philharmonia, Riccardo Muti 8
- Katia Ricciarelli (Amelia), Judith Blegenn (Oscar), Bianca Berini (Ulrica), Luciano
Pavarotti (Riccardo), Louis Quilico (Renato), Metropolitan Opera, Giuseppe Patanè 9
- Michèle Crider (Amelia), Maria Bayyo (Oscar), Elena Zaremba (Ulrica),
Richard Leech (Riccardo), Vladimir Chernov (Renato), Welsh National Opera, Carlo
Rizzi 10 - Birgit Nilsson (Amelia), Sylvia Stahlmann (Oscar), Giulietta
Simionato (Ulrica), Carlo Bergonzi (Riccardo), Cornell MacNeil (Renato), Accademia
di Santa Cecilia, Georg Solti 11 - Margaret Price (Amelia), Kathleen Battle
(Oscar), Christa Ludwig (Ulrica), Luciano Pavarotti (Riccardo), Renato Bruson
(Renato), National Philharmonic, Georg Solti 12 - Herva Nelli (Amelia),
Virginia Haskins (Oscar), Claramae Turner (Ulrica), Jan Peerce (Riccardo), Robert
Merrill (Renato), NBC Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini 13 - Maria Callas (Amelia),
Eugenia Ratti (Oscar), Fedora Barbieri (Ulrica), Giuseppe di Stefano (Riccardo),
Tito Gobbi (Renato), La Scala, Antonino Votto The subject of Un Ballo in
Maschera was not new to opera when Verdi found it in 1857 - Auber and Mercadante
had already set it to music before. The librettist chosen to prepare Verdi’s
libretto was Antonio Somma, who asked to remain anonymous, though. Because of
censorship (a king, Gustav III of Sweden, is murdered on stage), the plot had
to be transfered to the United States. Due to that, the libretto became more famous
in its disguise. The only character who changed name was the tenor’s. In
Massachusetts, he’s called Riccardo. Although the opera is famous
for its broad romanticism, its most interesting feature is the superimposition
of different affetti - the contrasted musical characterization creating pathetic
effects, most notably in the "laughing" ensemble (by the way, the laughing
was not composed by Verdi) in act II, where each character expresses his or her
own different feelings. The première in the Teatro Apollo in Rome
was a complete success, although critics found that it had too much Geman influence.
One of Verdi’s favourite singers, tenor Gaetano Fraschini, took the part
of Riccardo. Leone Giraldoni (the first Simon Boccanegra) played Renato, Eugenia
Julienne-Dejean was Amelia, the contralto Zelina Sbriscia sang the role of Ulrica
and Pamela Scotti was Oscar. In spite of being considered an opera for the
tenor, the most difficult piece of casting is the prima donna role. Again, a dramatic
soprano is required, with splendid low notes and flexibility enough to deal with
trills, pianissimi and some passagework. Few sopranos excelled in this demanding
role. The travesti role of the boy Oscar is simpler - a light lyric coloratura
soprano works wonderfully in it. Ulrica is, technically, a contralto role - we
can’t forget that Marian Anderson sang it at the Metropolitan Opera - but
there really are some top notes to sing here. The tenor role is a favourite of
tenors, because of its attractive lyricism. On paper, it demands a spinto lyric
tenor, but some lyric tenors with fine projection have tried it. Finally, the
role of Renato demands a dictionary-definition Verdi baritone, with the necessary
weight and top notes. His big aria, Eri Tu, is probably the most famous in the
opera.
Predictably, Abbado leads a sophisticated performance. There are no
rough edges leght in his conducting and there is a refined understanding
of tempo heree, but his work is undermined by the recorded sound - dry,
aggressive and lacking space. Katia Ricciarelli, a most sensitive singer,
is a bit overparted her. Her generally attractive warm voice often sounds
stressed and she does not have enough operating space in the high dramatic
moments. On the other hand, Oscar poses no problems to Edita Gruberová.
Many accuse her of being too Viennese for the role - I find her delightful.
Elena Obraztsova’s vibrant metallic and superpowerful mezzo soprano
has the necessary exotic quality for Ulrica - but she remains an acquired
taste to more sensitive ears. Unfortunately, Plácido Domingo
was not in his best voice. He sounds heavy and is sometimes awkward
in this recording. Last but not least, Renato Bruson, in one of his
best recorded performances, is a splendid Renato, singing Eri Tu with
dark velvety tone and nobility of line.
The redeeming feature of Colin Davis’s recording
is the José Carreras’s tenor in mint condition for the role of Riccardo.
The performance is shallow as a whole and doesn’t convince for one moment
because of the conductor's lack of understanding of the style and ideas. Montserrat
Caballé was determined to prove that she was NOT one of the best singers
of her generation in this recording. She is doing all sort of wrong things here
- unconsistent registers, glottal attack, ssour top notes and her generous use
of pianissimi exactly when nobody asked for them. It is a regrettable performance.
However, not more regrettable than Patricia Payne’s Ulrica - whose equipment
is more compatible to the Sorceress in Dido and Aeneas. Ingvar Wixell is merely
acceptable as Renato, but Sona Ghazarian is a good Oscar. This was Karajan’s
last operatic recording and was connected to upcoming performances at the Salzburg
Festival, but the conductor died before the première of the production.
This is, above all, a German pespective of the opera. Some have said that Ballo
is Verdi’s Tristan. I don’t know if I agree with this statement, but
this recording is the one where this point has been taken. Tempi tend to be slow
and there is a special concern about vertical clarity with woodwind, for example,
receiving more attention from Karajan than usually. Although the insistence on
pianissimo and fortissimo contrasts (thank God, the effect is done naturally and
not with buttons as in his old EMI recordings) is bothersome, the elegance of
the transparent sounds of the Vienna Philharmonic and the care with which each
page of the score is dealt with make this a very special recording. This kind
of control kept by Karajan allows for incredible harmonic clarity as well - some
important features of this score are shown solely in this recording. Nevertheless,
this approach works betters in the lyrical moments than in more animated scenes.
The laughing quintett looses all its rhythmic propulsion and all its point, for
example, but act II is impressive, particularly the love duet, which - finally!
- sounds like a love duet. The cast, alas, is eccentric, even if they take a clear
second place under these circumstances. Josephine Barstow is no Verdi soprano
- more than that: her voice is a bit unfocuused and lacking weight - sometimes
the sound is tense and rather ugly. However, she is a resourceful artist. If you
overcome the inadequacy of her voice, it is a creative performance and she deals
with some problematic moments better than some famous and more beautiful-voiced
rivals. Sumi Jo is also light-voiced for Oscar, especially in her low register,
but she is musicianly and animated. Florence Quivar’s smoky contralto lacks
tone, especially in high notes. Plácido Domingo is in healthy voice and
more specific about his interpretative purposes than in his previous recordings.
Leo Nucci also lacks a bit of weight for Renato and could have better legato,
but his delivery of the text is particularly convincing and he sings Eri Tu sensitively.
Leinsdorf’s Ballo could have been interesting. Individuality is not
his strongest quality, but the performance has a good pace and and an elegant
atmosphere, especially in the ball scene. The recorded sound, however, is weird
- congested and unnatural. It woefully needds remastering. Leontyne Price, without
a strong conductor to keep her on track, indulges in all her mannerisms: scooping,
sliding, under-the-note attack - you name it, it’s here. No vocal line was
let unbothered and it makes repeated listenings quite difficult, unless you are
a fan of hers. In this case, you won’t mind her lost fight with low notes.
Reri Grist, however, is a wonderful Oscar, rhythmically accurate and boyish in
her animation. However, it is Shirley Verrett who deserves all the praises among
the ladies for her rock solid Ulrica, an impressive piece of singing. Carlo Bergonzi,
predictably, is the star of the show, with his aristocratic phrasing and utterly
beautiful velvety tone. Some reviewers accuse him of adopting Alessandro Bonci’s
risata in the È scherzo ensemble. He does it indeed, but it doesn’t
disturb me. As a matter of fact, probably only Domingo, Björling and Carreras
avoid it at all. Robert Merrill is in great shape as Renato.
Levine’s video from the Met is set in Sweden and the production
is accordingly glamourous. Levine, predictably, leads a strong, urgent
performance and the Metropolitan Orchestra Opera is in good shape, aided
by nicest recording. Aprile Millo is probably the most comfortable singer
ever to sing the role. It is almost irritating the ease with which she
deals with the awesome demands made on her. The problem is that she
is so undisturbed that even the music and the drama do not move her
to express anything - whatever... Her acting verges on funny too. Harolyn
Blackwell is rather ill-focused as Oscar, but her voice is sizable for
her role. She is overenthusiastic in her acting. Florence Quivar’s
tone also lacks focus, but she has some charisma. At that moment of
his career, Pavarotti, despite his glorious natural tone, was a bit
careless about his phrasing - and his vocal and stage acting relies
on formulae. Leo Nucci seemes to be overparted as Renato. The voice
sounds stressed most of the time.
Riccardo Muti’s performance
is accused of being inflexible by his detractors. I found it rather exciting and
his use of a string quartett for the ball is charming. The sense of excitement,
while clarity and articulation remain immaculate, is a treat for melomanes. Also,
he benefits from a major orchestra in the Philharmonia and the recorded sound
is very good. Martina Arroyo’s poise in such a difficult role is admiring,
but she is again phlegmatic as Amelia. However, different from Millo, she has
excellent musical taste and phrases with elegance throughout. If she was playing
the clarinette instead of singing, it would be a fabulous performance. Fiorenza
Cossotto is a characterful Ulrica, but the part is in the low side for her and
she abuses of chest voice. Reri Grist is again a superior Oscar and here Domingo
is in very good voice and expressive in a generalized way. Piero Cappuccilli is
an accomplished Renato. The Patanè video is also from the Metropolitan
Opera and is set in Sweden too, although the sceneries are poorer here. It looks
as if Ikea already existed by then. Patanè was not in his most inspired
and the orchestra lacks some energy, but the cast lends them the necessary conviction.
Here Ricciarelli is in strongest voice and, even if she doesn’t have all
the ease for subtleties, it is quite exciting and she was looking her most Kim
Novak too. Judith Blegen is an indifferent Oscar, but Bianca Berini, despite lacking
some weight, is a very characterful Ulrica. Pavarotti was in freshest voice and
sings with animation in a role fit for his personality. Louis Quilico, despite
an unexceptional voice, sings with conviction and intensity. Rizzi's performance
has some charm in its light approach and sprightly rhythms, but the result is
dramatically wrong. A newcomer might take it for a Rossini opera, since the symphonic
richness of Verdi's score is underplayed throughout. As it is, the role of Oscar
is the one who benefits from that, especially when the delightful María
Bayo sings the part in such lustrous tone. Michèle Crider's technique is
irregular and the vibrato is not under perfect control, but her musicianship is
noteworthy. More than that: her plush soprano has the right touch of brightness,
which gives real distinction to her phrasing. Elena Zaremba's overdark contralto
likes finish in the part of Ulrica. Richard Leech's basic tone is pleasing, but
it can take a glaring sound in his top notes and his attack has a hint of lachrymosity.
It must be said that he brings welcome youthfulness and spontaneity to his role.
Vladimir Chernov is an excellent Renato, filling his phrases with rich velvety
tone. Solti’s first Ballo is a complicated affair - yes, this is the
Björling case. The legendary Swedish tenor was invited to sing the part of
Renato, but never showed up in the recording sessions and when he finally did
it was in whimsical mood and ended on insulting the conductor. As a result of
it, they had to go on without a tenor, until Bergonzi took the role and, then,
some months later, everybody returned to complete the recording. Because of that
and of Solti’s early overenergetic self, the performance has a generalized
exciting feature. The fact that the Santa Cecilia is responding to the conductor
in an adept way ensures that this is an animated performance. Birgit Nilsson is
finally a true dramatic soprano in the title role, but her voice is on the hard
and inflexible side. It means that the role looses many of its natural qualities
in the exchange for thrilling dead-on-the-note powerful singing. It left me rather
cold. Also, Sylvia Stahlmann is a good Oscar and Giulietta Simionato is predictably
successful even in a role which is not exactly in the best part of her voice.
In this opera, however, it is hard for Bergonzi not to be the center of all attentions.
His singing as Riccardo is a delight for the ears - it is immaculate, musicianly
and sensitive. Cornell McNeil was also in splendid voice and sings the role of
Renato beautifully throughout. It is a pity that, when Solti decided to
re-record Ballo, he couldn’t find a good Tonmeister. The recorded sound is
artifficial in unacceptable levels, with singers in different sound perspectives
(particularly Pavarotti, who seems to have been recorded louder than the rest
of the cast) and without a sense of sound image. Solti’s conducting lacks
centre as well - effects accumulate themselves without any organic quality and,
in the end, it is difficult to say what one thinks about it. Its greatest feature
is the is the creative casting for the female roles. Although the role of Amelia
is heavy for her, Margaret Price brings so many musical and dramatic insight to
the role that, even if one longs for a more comfortable voice, once you are listening
to other singer, you miss all the uncountable subtleties displayed by this wonderful
Welsh soprano. It is also most welcome to have the delightful Kathleen Battle
as Oscar, singing affectingly. Her silvery tone blends exquisitely with Price’s
and, most of all, with Pavarotti’s. But the most glamourous piece of casting
is Christa Ludwig, probably the most important singer of her generation, to the
relatively small role of Ulrica. She brings not only 100% homogeneous tone for
her part, but developes a richest character, full of subtly bizarre effects. The
work of a major artist. Pavarotti is in his most debonair as Riccardo and, although
the tone sounds a bit Neapolitan sometimes, it is still a nice opportunity to
hear this Italian tenor in one of his best roles. Alas, things don’t run
so smoothly for Bruson. His voice lacks brightness and the top notes are rather
effortful. Nevertheless it is a noble performance. top ~La
Battaglia di Legnano 1 - Katia Ricciarelli (Lida), José Carreras
(Arrigo), Matteo Manuguerra (Rolando), Nikola Ghiuselev (Federico), Österreicher
Rundfunk, Lamberto Gardelli 2 - Leyla Gencer (Lida), Gastone Limarilli (Arrigo),
Giuseppe Taddei (Rolando), Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Vittorio Gui top ~Il
Corsaro 1 - Montserrat Caballé (Gulnara), Jessye Norman (Medora),
José Carreras (Medora), Gian-Piero Mastromei (Seid), New Philharmonia,
Lamberto Gardelli top ~Don
Carlo top ~I
Due Foscari 1 - Katia Ricciarelli (Lucrezia), José Carreras
(Jacopo Foscari), Piero Cappuccilli (Francesco Foscari), Samuel Ramey (Loredano),
Österreicher Rundfunk, Lamberto Gardelli top ~Ernani 1
- Joan Sutherland (Elvira), Luciano Pavarottti (Ernani), Leo Nucci (Carlo), Paata
Burchuladze (Silva), Welsh National Opera, Richard Bonynge 2 - Sylvia Sass
(Elvira), Giorgio Lamberti (Ernani), Kolos Kovats (Carlo), Lajos Miller (Silva),
Hungarian State Orchestra, Lamberto Gardelli 3 - Leona Mitchell (Elvira),
Luciano Pavarotti (Ernani), Sherrill Milnes (Carlo), Ruggero Raimondi (Silva),
Metropolitan Opera, James Levine 4 - Zinka Milanov (Elvira), Mario del Monaco
(Ernani), Leonard Warren (Carlo), Cesare Siepi (Silva), Metropolitan Opera, Dmitri
Mitropoulos 5 - Anita Cerquetti (Elvira), Mario del Monaco (Ernani), Ettore
Bastianini (Carlo), Boris Christoff (Silva), Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Dimitri
Mitropoulos 6 - Mirella Freni (Elvira), Plácido Domingo (Ernani),
Renato Bruson (Carlo), Nicolai Ghiaurov (Silva), La Scala, Riccardo Muti 7
- Leontyne Price (Elvira), Franco Corelli ((Ernani), Mario Sereni (Carlo), Cesare
Siepi (Silva), Metropolitan Opera, Thomas Schippers 8 - Leontyne Price (Elvira),
Carlo Bergonzi (Ernani), Mario Sereni (Carlo), Ezio Flagello (Silva), RCA Italiana,
Thomas Schippers
| Victor Hugo's Ernani may be considered the first major Romantic play
in the history of French literature, perhaps the greatest one in this style. Verdi's
search for good subjects could not ignore the epic, dramatic and psychological
aspects of this work. All those features were combined by the composer into one
his most personal (and outstanding) works. One would probably consider most astonishing
and noticeable that such an artistic accomplishment as Ernani was only the fifth
opera of the maestro from Busseto. The reason for the quality of Ernani can be
quite easily summarized : it reaches the highest level of the bel canto legacy
while keeping the energy, the Romanticism and the typical Verdian excitement.
As in the case of Il Trovatore, one could claim that Ernani may be the best Donizettian
opera by Verdi, not to mention the incredible sense of drama, which is the Verdi's
unique "image de marque". Regarding the musical treatment of the drama,
the two features described above (bel canto legacy and the typical Verdian dramatic
expression) have a great influence on the writing of the parts of Elvira and Ernani.
Ernani must be a real romantic Italian tenor, with great sense of legato and trills,
an easy passagio (a real difficulty in the role is the permanent use of the register
changes, while highest notes are quite rare), and both real elegance (he is noble
in birth and in spirit) and a truly exciting emission (he is also a rebel, an
adventurer and a rogue). It is significant that this role could not be cast for
a long time, and no ideal solution has appeared since Bergonzi and Corelli in
the 60s. Elvira is another case. Her entrance scene needs a real drammatico d'agilitŕ,
or at least a true belcantist with both youth and energy in the voice and total
respect for the difficult vocalization Verdi requires. Theoretically, Carlo V
is an easier role to cast : it requires an elegant belcantist baritone with authority
in the voice. The history of interpretation of this role in the XXth century,
alas, did not show many belcantist between Riccardo Stracciari in the 20s and
Renato Bruson in the 80s. It seems that "authority" has for quite a long time
been synonym of verismo. Finally, Silva is a more classic role for a noble bass,
and has never really been difficult to cast. It is important to notice that the
famous cabaletta Infin che un brando vindice is an apocryphal page. Verdi had
too much dramatic genius to allow the introduction of such a cabaletta with Silva
not leaving the stage (a cabaletta is mainly an "aria di sortita"). Dimitri
Mitropoulos was a conductor in his own class. His legacy of Verdian live recordings
is impressive: a mythic Forza del Destino, an incredible Simon Boccanegra and
two high level Ernanis. We will always regret that his Macbeth with Leonard Warren
and Maria Callas never happened because of his death. Mitropoulos is neither a
true Verdian or a bel canto conductor: but under his baton music becomes so intense
and so passionate that he is de facto a reference conductor for most of the work
he used to conduct. His two live recordings of Ernani are not an exception. As
soon as the prelude begins you can feel the epic Romantic work really alive, and
the intensity continues all the work long. His 1954 Maggio recording also has
an outstanding cast. Mario del Monaco has not the ideal voice for Ernani. Nevertheless,
he offers such excitement in his 'di forza ' singing that he becomes always interesting,
especially as Mitropoulos makes him produce subtleties and nuances he never uses
with other conductors (this is also true with his outstanding Alvaro at the Maggio
in 1953). The pure beauty of tone and emission in his prime ends on convincing
the listener of the pertinence of this Ernani, although one could argue it is
a total stylistic nonsense. Together with him, the rarely recorded Anita Cerquetti
is the most outstanding Elvira of the discography. Perfect in vocalization, both
true spinto and belcantist, she is the phenomenon needed for the role: a performance
of an incredible class, and probably one of the top of the whole Verdian discography.
Ettore Bastianini is also pure vocal excitement, full of authority and more stylish
than later in his career (Mitropoulos's influence, I guess), although we will
hear more elegant and noble Carlos in the discography. As the Silva of Boris Christoff
is a classic, this 1954 live recording is probably the most exciting and interesting
recording in this discography and a must for any Verdian. The 1957 Mitropoulos
live recording at the Met is also quite interesting, but one level below the Maggio
performance. Del Monaco is as good as in Florence but with less sense of style
(but much more than usually anyway), and Siepi is an excellent Silva, nobler but
less exciting than Christoff. Zinka Milanov, so late in her career, cannot compare
to Cerquetti (as her coloratura had become difficult), but Leonard Warren's Carlo
is the most noble and elegant in the discography, with both authority and style
in the voice. As the orchestra and choir are better in Florence and as the former
performance is more homogeneous in style, I recommend beginning with the earlier
one, except perhaps for Warren's fans. It is not a surprise to find Thomas
Schippers in the list of conductors interested in this rare opera during the 60s.
Schippers was an exciting conductor, his early death having prevented him to reach
a more mature sense of style and musical perfection many conductors gain in the
peak of their career. So you will not find under his baton neither the stylistic
perfection of Riccardo Muti, neither the outstanding musical reading and mastery
of Dimitri Mitropoulos. But Schippers shares with those two other conductors the
wish to create a Romantic sense of excitement. Of course, he does not match Mitropoulos
in sense of drama, but Schippers transforms anyway the opera in something so interesting
that one could rightly forget it is not exactly the truth of this work. His RCA
recording also shines because it offers the only perfect Ernani: Carlo Bergonzi.
He fulfills exactly all the requirements of the role, except perhaps for the fact
that his voice lacks freedom of emission and is small scaled when it has to be
heroic. Schippers' live Ernani offers an incredible Franco Corelli, probably the
most exciting of all our Ernanis. However, Corelli's Ernani is a paradox: he is
the singer who comes closer to the vocal qualities of an Italian Romantic tenor
with incredible ease of emission and vocal refinements (in nuances and phrasing),
but he suffers from his emotive need for tears in the voice and does not master
the Romantic singing school. Nevertheless, one could not ignore neither Corelli
nor Bergonzi. Someway, both need to be known, as the ideal Ernani is a mix of
those two great Italian tenors. Anyway, they are wonderful by themselves. Also
the cast around them in studio and live performances are far from satisfying,
with the exception of the already known Silva of Siepi replacing Ezio Flagello,
offering an honest piece of singing but without imagination and greatness. Even
if Mario Sereni has a beautiful voice and some sense of style, he cannot compare
to Warren, Bruson or Bastianini. He is nevertheless acceptable and sometimes pleasant
and interesting. Leontyne Price is another problem. This great Aida is clearly
miscast since both her emission is not the required one and her control of passagework
is very difficult and imprecise. Of course, she does not shine through her understanding
of bel canto, once she was clearly a spinto more focused in Tosca than in Italian
roles of the earlier half of XIXth century. Riccardo Muti's Ernani is the
recording of a season opening night at La Scala. The live performance was quite
controversial with the audience and critics at the time, but the recording is
quite good indeed. On the other hand, it is true that the performance is good
mainly because it is homogeneous and offers an outstanding orchestral reading
of the score. The cast is quite a problem. Plácido Domingo is not the required
Romantic tenor, and tries to recreate Mario del Monaco's kind of performance,
with more musicality and intelligence, but less vocal excitement, Ernani's entrance
scene is really painful for Domingo's voice, and the great Spanish tenor is really
handicapped by many technical problems in managing the passaggio notes. Mirella
Freni is probably one of the two most interesting Italian sopranos in the last
30 years (the other is Renata Scotto), but is miscast as Elvira . Like Domingo,
she suffers many troubles in her entrance scene : matter of style and fach. Freni
is not the belcantist Elvira with ample and easy dramatic vocalization. Renato
Bruson is a supreme master of both Verdian and bel canto styles. His performance
is outstanding and is reason enough to buy the set. Ghiaurov is a noble Silva
but the voice began to be worn at this time, and does not offer neither the greatness
of Christoff nor the elegance of Siepi. Neverthless, if the cast has many failures,
Muti provides an exciting performance, both as a stylist and as a master of musical
tension and interest. With such a great conductor, the cast becomes more acceptable,
and the whole recording can be recommended. Considering the poor quality of the
RCA and Decca studio sets, this can be considered as the best version in stereophonic
sound. The Sutherland-Pavarotti recording has been hidden by Decca for
many years. We can understand why. La Stupenda is really too old for the role,
and the voice is no longer fresh and under control. As she has not found in maturity
more dramatic impact than before, this performance is to be regretted, and in
my opinion, should not have been published : why does Decca have to show us such
a great artist in such a vocal shape, after so many great recordings ? Luciano
Pavarotti could have been the ideal Ernani : the voice fits exactly what is needed,
he knows, sometimes how to be an elegant singer, and he has the freedom and the
brightness Bergonzi did not have. Alas, Pavarotti does not take advantage of so
many gifts and offers a very prosaic Ernani, who could be Neapolitan instead of
being Hugo's French idea of what a Spanish noble is. Leo Nucci as the noble, royal
and elegant Carlo V was a self-defeating enterprise, as he has no idea of bel
canto. Paata Burchuladze has a magnificent voice, but strange Italian and sounds
more like a heavy old tired noble than like a frustrated violent old "grande di
Spagna'. Bonynge's orchestra is correct, but without interest after performances
of conductors such as Mitropoulos or Muti, or even Schippers. |
There is also the video from the Met, which is rather gloomy as a stage production,
but captures nicely the atmosphere of the work. Levine’s conducting is very
animated and forward moving. Although I am not a fan of Leona Mitchell, her singing
as Elvira is admirable - she has a big flexible voice with a slightly dusky tone
that fits perfectly the part. She has no trouble on fulfilling Verdi’s enormous
demands and displays clean and sensitive phrasing. As for Pavarotti, maybe Olivier
touched the right issue about Naples and Spain, since this city belonged to the
Spanish kingdom for at least 200 years... Anyway, although he was not in his freshest
voice, Pavarotti offers his usual spontaneity of tone, crispy diction and flexibility
in the title role. Sherrill Milnes is not in the level of his high voiced colleagues
- although the tone is rich enough, pitch iis not very precise and his acquaintance
with style is scarce. Ruggero Raimondi was not in his best voice also and, trying
to compensate, forces his tones and gets a bit emphatic. top ~Falstaff 1
- Adrianne Pieczonka (Alice), Dorothea R&ouuml;schmann (Nannetta), Stella Doufexis
(Meg), Larissa Diadkova (Quickly), Daniil Shtoda (Fenton), Thomas Hampson (Ford),
Bryn Terfel (Falstaff), Berliner Philharmoniker, Claudio Abbado 2 - Ilva
Ligabue (Alice), Graziella Sciutti (Nannetta), Hilde Rössl-Majdan (Meg),
Regina Resnik (Quickly), Juan Oncina (Fenton), Rolando Panerai (Ford), Dietrich
Fischer-Dieskau (Falstaff), Wiener Philharmoniker, Leonard Bernstein 3 -
Sharon Sweet (Alice), Julie Kaufmann (Nannetta), Marilyn Schmiege (Meg), Marilyn
Horne (Quickly), Frank Lopardo (Fenton), Alan Titus (Ford), Rolando Panerai (Falstaff),
Bayerische Rundfunk, Colin Davis 4 - Hillevi Martinpelto (Alice), Rebecca
Evans (Nannetta), Eirian James (Meg), Sara Mingardo (Quickly), Antonello Palombi
(Fenton), Anthony Michaels-Moore (Ford), Jean-Philippe Lafont (Falstaff), Orchestre
Révolutionnaire et Romantique, John Eliot Gardiner 5 - Katia Ricciarelli
(Alice), Barbara Hendricks (Nannetta), Brenda Boozer (Meg), Lucia Valentini-Terrani
(Quickly), Dalmácio Gonzales (Fenton), Leo Nucci (Ford), Renato Bruson
(Falstaff), Los Angeles Philharmonic, Carlo Maria Giulini 6 - Barbara Frittoli
(Alice), Desirée Rancatore (Nannetta), Diana Montague (Meg), Bernadette
Manca di Nissa (Quickly), Kenneth Tarver (Fenton), Roberto Frontali (Ford), Bryn
Terfel (Falstaff), Covent Garden, Bernard Haitink 7 - Julia Faulkner (Alice),
Dilber (Nannetta), Anna Bonitatibus (Meg), Anna Maria di Micco (Quickly), Maurizio
Comencini (Fenton), Roberto Servile (Ford), Domenico Trimarchi (Falstaff), Hungarian
State Orchestra, Will Humburg 8 - Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (Alice), Anna Moffo
(Nannetta), Nan Merriman (Meg), Fedora Barbieri (Quickly), Luigi Alva (Fenton),
Rolando Panerai (Ford), Tito Gobbi (Falstaff), Philharmonia, Herbert von Karajan 9
- Raina Kabaivanska (Alice), Janet Perry (NNannetta), Trudeliese Schmidt (Meg),
Christa Ludwig (Quickly), Francisco Araiza (Fenton), Rolando Panerai (Ford), Giuseppe
Taddei (Falstaff), Wiener Philharmoniker, Hebert von Karajan 10 - Mirella
Freni (Alice), Barbara Bonney (Nannetta), Susan Graham (Meg), Marilyn Horne (Quickly),
Frank Lopardo (Fenton), Bruno Pola (Ford), Paul Plishka (Falstaff), Metropolitan
Opera, James Levine 11 - Daniela Dessì (Alice), Maureen O’Flynn
(Nannetta), Delores Ziegler (Meg), Bernadette Manca di Nissa (Quickly), Ramón
Vargas (Fenton), Roberto Frontali (Ford), Juan Pons (Falstaff), La Scala, Riccardo
Muti 12 - Ilva Ligabue (Alice), Mirella Freni (Nannetta), Rosalind Elias
(Meg), Giulietta Simionato (Quickly), Alfredo Kraus (Fenton), Robert Merrill (Ford),
Geraint Evans (Falstaff), RCA Italiana, Georg Solti 13 - Karan Armstrong
(Alice), Jutta-Renate Ihloff (Nannetta), Sylvia Lindenstrand (Meg), Marta Szirmay
(Quickly), Max-René Cossotti (Fenton), Richard Stilwell (Ford), Gabriel
Bacquier (Falstaff), Wiener Philharmoniker, Georg Solti 14 - Luciana Serra
(Alice), Elisabeth Norberg-Schulz (Nannetta), Susan Graham (Meg), Marjana Lipovsek
(Quickly), Luca Canonici (Fenton), Paolo Coni (Ford), José van Dam (Falstaff),
Berliner Philharmoniker, Georg Solti 15 - Herva Nelli (Alice), Teresa Stich-Randall
(Nannetta), Nan Merriman (Meg), Cloe Elmo (Quickly), Antonio Madasi (Fenton),
Frank Guarrera (Ford), Giuseppe Valdengo (Falstaff), NBC Symphony, Arturo Toscanini
| Toscanini's Falstaff is a miracle and probably one of the most famous
and amazing recordings ever. The conductor is the right man to show the subtle
rhythmic structure of the score and make clear all the composer's intentions.
Although the broadcast sound is far from perfect (the orchestral colors seem grayish),
everything can be heard and the joyfulness of such an orchestral performance impresses
me every time I listen to it. Toscanini's casts have always been the drawback
of his recordings. However, for Falstaff (and Otello) the maestro found an ideal
cast, perfectly homogeneous and starring a great interpreter in the title role.
In due parole, Giuseppe Valdengo is certainly the best Falstaff ever recorded
: the voice is light but easy of emission, capable of nuances, and the singer
is subtle, elegant without any dramatic fault . He is the most natural of all
the Falstaffs regarding dramatic expression and declamation: his spontaneity is
fascinating. Cheerful, noble, elegant, funny without vulgarity, perfectly sung,
Valdengo is a wonder. Both Frank Guarrera's Ford and Cloe Elmo's Quickly offer
subtle dramatic performances perfectly sung, whereas Herva Nelli's Alice and Nan
Merriman's Meg are perhaps less individual, but quite well sung too. The very
young Stich -Randall is ideal in youth and sweetness, but her Fenton is far from
perfect, although he never is a problem. All comprimario roles are excellent.
A classic not to be missed. Karajan's first set has the reputation of
being the reference recording of the work. It is true that Karajan introduces
us to a fascinating reading where musical structure takes pride of place, a performance
with great richness of colors, of poetry and beauty. This is a luxurious, sensuous
view on the score, perfectly played by the newly born wonderful Philarmonia Orchestra
(just listen to the wonderful French horn playing by Dennis Brain in act III).
The cast is glorious, made of famous singers and important personalities : Gobbi
is the incredible actor we all know, Schwarzkopf is magic, Merriman ideal in such
a less-rewarding role, Barbieri cast from tradition, and Panerai is the best Ford
ever. Just add the Moffo-Alva couple, and you get one of the most glamorous cast
ever assembled in the history of recorded opera. Nevertheless, although this set
is a real musical pleasure, I will risk to say that I am not fully convinced :
this cast half from Vienna and half from Milan suffers from lack of homogeneity
and naturality, and too much sophistication kills a lot of the natural excitement
of the score. A great musical jewel, but not a fully Verdian one. Solti's
recorded performances of Aida and Don Carlo are famous and fascinating. Alas,
Solti's view of Falstaff is a total failure. He conducts the opera with lot of
noise and a lot of demonstrative fat sound : this is nonsense, and all the lightness
of the opera, its subtlety is lost, as well as the balance between orchestra and
singers due to the awful Wagnerian sound as recorded by RCA. This is a pity, because
the cast gathers some marvelous performances : Ilva Ligabue is a wonderful, almost
perfect Alice, Giuletta Simionato's well-behaved and stylish Quickly is fascinating,
and Mirella Freni and Alfredo Kraus are unmatched in vocal beauty as Nanetta and
Fenton. On the other hand, Geraint Evans is an awful Falstaff, poorly sung, without
neither the needed voice nor the Italian color, and with terrible taste. Also,
Robert Merril is closer to Amonasro or Rigoletto than to Ford. Except for Simionato,
Freni and Kraus, this recording can be easily forgotten. Leonard Bernstein
recorded the opera after giving triumphal performances at the Vienna State Opera
under the direction of Luchino Visconti. The result is a delirious exciting orchestral
performances where all details are displayed and with an obvious sense of joyfulness
in all moments. This orchestral performance is the most exciting of all, and with
the colors and technical finish of the Wiener Philarmoniker, it is a permanent
intense joy. Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau has the light easy voice which is ideally
fit for the role, and the actor is magnificent : never vulgar, his Falstaff is
Shakespearian, subtle, and the text is ideally played with hilarious moments.
We find again in this set two reference performances available in previous sets
: Ligabue's ideal Alice and Panerai's Ford. Regina Resnik is an excellent Quickly,
and Erich Kunz and Gerhard Stolze as Bardolfo and Cajus are fascinating although
a bit too much German in expression, but one cannot decline such glamorous voices
in such small roles. If Graziella Sciutti is a good Nanetta, Juan Oncina is only
decent as Fenton. As the sound is excellent, I would recommend this set to everyone
ready to bear a few German accents and to give an ear to Bernstein's exuberance.
An excellent and fascinating performance, but maybe too particular to be a reference
version. Karajan's second recordings of a work were always inferior to
his first reading. Falstaff is no exception. Of course, the beauty of the orchestra
is outstanding, but the vis comica is lost and everything sounds German, slow,
heavy, without excitement or fun. Giuseppe Taddei used to be a perfect fat knight,
but at this time, it is definitively too late, and the high register is in very
bad shape. It is also quite late for Panerai's third Ford. Raina Kabaivanska is
one of the most interesting sopranos of the XXth century, but left almost no official
recordings for majors labels: it is cruel to make her record a role where she
cannot shine whereas she had no rivals in the verismo repertoire. Perry, Araiza
and, of course, Christa Ludwig are good indeed, but they cannot save by themselves
such a set afflicted by so many weaknesses. Giulini's set is an official
live recording made after a run of performances in Vienna, London and Los Angeles,
where it was finally recorded. It was Giulini's come-back to opera performances
after more than ten years only dedicating to concerts. Giulini's view of the score
offers both an admirable poetic and lyric atmosphere and an excellent rhythmic
sense. Somehow, his Falstaff is serious (by the way, even a comedy is full of
sense for Shakespeare), but musical and light, with the Italian spontaneity Karajan
could not find in his two recordings. Giulini chose his cast according to his
will for beauty, poetry, and lyricism. Renato Bruson is a sumptuous knight, elegant,
italianate, neither vulgar nor ridiculous : this Falstaff does not forget he is
Sir John Falstaff. Katia Ricciarelli's sensuous and intelligent Alice is another
great source of pleasure in this set, as well as the elegant Quickly of Valentini-Terrani
and the excellent Ford of Nucci. If Barbara Hendricks is not italianate, she is
incredibly seductive and sings beautifully; we can easily understand why Cajus
and Fenton are so willing to marry her. The only disappointment of the set is
the weak Fenton of Dalmácio González, who would not prevent me anyway to admire
and love this wonderful set. This recording is certainly the modern reference
version, and as Giulini's and Toscanini's views are finally quite complementary,
I guess anyone should own both. Riccardo Muti is the conductor more sensitive
to Toscanini's example. His Falstaff was then obviously awaited. And this is a
success, as the orchestra is really outstandingly conducted with incredible finish
but also sorely lacking in spirit. This is also true of the cast, where only Juan
Pons' excellent Faltsaff shows true individuality
but not in the level of personalities
like Gobbi, Taddei, Fischer-Dieskau or Bruson. Dessě, Frontali, Ziegler, Manca
di Nissa and Vargas are all nowadays excellent singers and make an homogeneous
pleasant cast . However, I must acknowledge that the general lack of excitement
and vis comica is fatal for this opera. Nevertheless, this is a good version without
any blemish, but also without real interest compared to other versions.
The choice of John Eliot Gardiner to record Falstaff on period instruments is
arguably ridiculous for a work created almost the same year of operas such as
Tosca or Elektra. Nevertheless, Gardiner offers an interesting orchestral reading
with lots of refinement and musical beauty, but not exactly at the same level
than Giulini, Muti or Toscanini. Jean-Philippe Lafont is the perfect Falstaff
today. He has a well-rounded beautiful voice, huge vocal possibilities and identifies
himself without difficulties with a truculent Fat Knight, but never forgets elegance
in spite of his natural histrionic qualities. If I am pleased that Lafont at last
appears in studio for recording major roles, I cannot understand why he is systematically
forgotten for roles like Barak, Wozzeck or Telramund (as he sang in Bayreuth).
In German repertoire, Jean-Philippe Lafont has nowadays no rival. I would not
want to make the same comment I did about Kabaivanska when speaking of Lafont
in the future... I will not detail my comments on the cast for this recording
as all performances are all good but without real interest other than offering
support to Gardiner's reading. Abbado's recording of Falstaff has been
quite anxiously awaited, especially as it also offers Bryn Terfel's performance
in the title-role. As soon as the "honor monologue" begins (L'onore ? LaAAAadri
),
I could guess this performance would be difficult to accept. Bryn Terfel abuses
of effects of the worst outdated taste everywhere he can. No phrase is left unbothered,
and al that becomes very tiring long before the end of the opera. Of course, he
is a better singer for the role than the horrid Geraint Evans, but it is paradoxical
to notice that our British Falstaffs are the most distant from both Shakespeare's
spirit and Verdi requirements
It seems this forced bad taste is contagious, since
Thomas Hampson, who seemed ideal for Ford, offers the same kind of vocal effects
albeit with slightly more scrupulous taste. With his usual elegance, Hampson would
have been a perfect younger-than-usual Ford. After having heard Harnoucourt succeeding
in transforming Hampson in a credible Amonasro, such an average performance of
such a well-oved singer is a disappointment. Pieczonska is a beautiful Alice,
although not at the same level of Ricciarelli. Dorothea Röschmann's Nanetta is
a vocal delight, and her lover is excellent. On the other hand, Larissa Diadkova
( magnificent as Marfa or Marina) is too dark-voiced and formidable for Quickly
: too much can be not enough sometimes
Abbado's reading is finally the most satisfying
element here: as usual, his orchestra shows incredible refinement and beauty,
and also really musical phrasing, but also lack of incisive accents when needed.
Somehow, it is the peak of Abbado's style. The sound is very well defined, but
the scale between pianissimi and fortissimi is really annoying. |
Solti’s second audio recording is not exactly an
improvement on his first try. Made live in Berlin, the performance still insists
on fat sound and overemphatic conducting - however the Berlin Philharmonic provides
extra finish and details aptly come through, although the recorded sound lacks
intimacy. The cast counts exclusively with accidental performances, in the sense
that these singers are making acquaintances with their roles and don’t have
any special view to share with the audience, even if they generally sing very
well. As a result of all that, there is little sense of theatre or comedy. José
van Dam wasn’t given by nature a Falstaff voice and temper. The role lies
a bit high for him and he is too chic for the circumstances - his Lieder singer
verbal specificity to no avail. Paolo Coni’s incisive vocalization is the
opposite of lightness, while Luciana Serra’s Alice is all lightness. She
certainly is the one member of the cast able to create a congenial character,
but her voice lacks substance, especially in these surroundings. Susan Graham
is a bit sleepwalking and her voice should have more personality in a role prone
to pass unnoticed. Marjana Lipovsek, on the other hand, always knows her tricks,
but her voice is too German to produce the right effect. One could arguably say
that Christa Ludwig’s voice is not Italian either, but that’s a legendary
voice used by a legendary artist. Elisabeth Norberg-Schulz and Luca Canonici are
a good romantic couple and they seize their opportunities to make the right effects,
but they are not unforgettable. Colin Davis’ recording is a different
affair, although it fails roughly in the same way Solti does. It has a lovely
orchestra, the Bavarian Radio, whose transparent sounds should make wonders here
- but RCA empty hall reverberant acoustics makes it pointless. Colin Davis is
also of little help - his approach is too massive and ponderous. Even if he seems
to have more ideas and more specificity than Solti, his lack of lightness, rhythmic
sense and of timing are the antidote to comedy. The casting here is the opposite
of the euphonious and unconvincing one available in Berlin - almost everybody
is in character, but vocal problems appear here and there. After a lifetime singing
Ford, someone finally gave a chance to Panerai in the title role. Although he
is an example of vocal longevity, this never very smooth voice developed to a
rather hard toned and unvaried one. Because of that, this Falstaff ends on sounding
a bit blunt and matter-of-fact. Of course, his idiomatic Italian makes wonders,
but his vocal line is uninflected by any kind of nuance. As Ford, Alan Titus offers
a healthy if unidiomatic voice, but is completely uninvolved. Sharon Sweet, on
the other hand, has plenty of energy, but her voice is far from being the loveliest.
Marilyn Horne’s case is more serious - she sure has imagination enough for
Quickly, although she is not exactly natural, and the tone is really unpleasant.
Julie Kaufmann is a delicate Nannetta and Frank Lopardo sings strongly and capably
as Fenton. Before we deal with the videos, is important to remember that
one of the above-mentioned Giulini’s performances was recorded at the Covent
Garden. As expected, the overall approach is similar to what one finds on the
CDs, although the orchestra is better in Los Angeles. The production is traditional
and aesthetically indifferent. Also, singers seem to be free to do what they felt
more proper to do. As a result of it, I think only Bruson and Valentini-Terrani
ended on finding the right tone for their roles. It will sound weird that
the probably less idiomatic of all performances is the most endearing video commented
here. Götz Friedrich’s film is simply delightful - utterly creative
and so connected to Verdi’s score that I recommend it to every one willing
to get acquainted with Verdi’s masterpiece. It is visually delightful, directed
with imagination and has some nice actors. I must add that the Alice and the Meg
also are a feast to the eyes. Maybe because of the connection with the film (it
is not a stage performance and the soundtrack was recorded on studio), Solti really
found more sense in his conducting and the Vienna Philharmonic provides all the
lightness he lacked in his other recordings. Of course, it is no Toscanini or
Bernstein, but it has the necessary sense of comedy and is beautifully played.
Outstanding in the cast is Gabriel Bacquier’s sensational Falstaff. The French
baritone has every necessary element to produce a perfect performance in the title
role - more than that - he shows a richness of characterization that could only
have been formed with experience. His acting is exceptional - his Falstaff is
primarily concerned about his rank. However, the more dignified he shows himself,
the funnier he looks. No-one else in the cast is in this same level, but everybody
sings with contagious freshness. However, one should highlight Karan Armstrong’s
sensuous Alice - not vocally exceptional, but charming in a Schwarzkopf-like way
- and Richard Stilwell strong voiced and inntense Ford. The Met’s Falstaff
is hard to describe in detail, but it’s easy to give a short opinion about
it - it is really bad. The production gives the impression that the stage designer
couldn’t sleep before finding the most glamorous way to present the story.
The result of it is really overdone, with poorest stage direction and abounding
in artifficiality. Levine’s conducting is skilled enough to keep clarity
in ensembles, but it is so (understandably) concerned in making it work ok, that
it is completely blank in dramatic sense. It is orchestrally thick and the soloists
give him no help at all. First of all, there is the veteran Paul Plishka as Falstaff
- and somehow I have the feeling that this makes any further comment unnecessary.
Bruno Pola lacks focus as Ford and is unconvincing as an actor. Moreover, he looks
decades younger than his Alice, Mirella Freni, here too much the diva making some
concerned expressions here and there. Vocally, it is a bit frustrating too. At
that stage of her career, her still imposing voice lacks lightness completely.
Susan Graham again is pale as Meg, but Marilyn Horne’s Quickly has developed
into grotesque. Frank Lopardo had lost a bit of the freshness of the C. Davis
set and Barbara Bonney, despite singing exquisitely, is still Sophie from Der
Rosenkavalier. As usual with the Met, image and recorded sound are excellent. top ~La
Forza del Destino top ~Un
Giorno di Regno 1 - Jessye Norman (Giulietta), Fiorenza Cossotto
(Marchese del Poggio), José Carreras (Edoardo), Ingvar Wixell (Belfiore),
Wladimiro Ganzarolli (Il Barone), Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Lamberto Gardelli top
~I Lombardi 1 - Christina Deutekom
(Griselda), Plácido Domingo (Oronte), Ruggero Raimondi (Pagano), Royal
Philharmonic ORchestra, Lamberto Gardelli 2 - Sylvia Sass (Griselda), Giorgio
Lamberti (Oronte), Kolos Kovats (Pagano), Hungarian State Orchestra, Lamberto
Gardelli 3 - Ghena Dimitrova (Griselda), José Carreras (Oronte),
Silvano Caroli (Pagano), La Scala, Gianandrea Gavazzeni 4 - June Anderson
(Griselda), Luciano Pavarotti (Oronte), Samuel Ramey (Pagano), Metropolitan Opera,
James Levine top ~Luisa
Miller 1 - June Anderson (Luisa), Susanna Anselmi (Federica), Taro
Ichihara (Rodolfo), Edouard Tumagian (Walter), Paul Plishka (Walter), Romuald
Tesarowicz (Wurm), Opéra de Lyon, Maurizio Arena 2 - Anna Moffo (Luisa),
Shirley Verrett (Federica), Carlo Bergonzi (Rodolfo), Cornell MacNeil (Miller),
Giorgio Tozzi (Walter), Ezio Flagello (Wurm), RCA Italiana, Fausto Cleva 3
- Aprile Millo (Luisa), Florence Quivar (Feederica), Plácido Domingo (Rodolfo),
Vladimir Chernov (Miller), Jan-Hendrik Rootering (Walter), Paul Plishka (Wurm),
Metropolitan Opera, James Levine 4 - Montserrat Caballé (Luisa),
Anna Reynolds (Federica), Luciano Pavarotti (Rodolfo), Sherrill Milnes (Miller),
Bonaldo Giaiotti (Walter), Richard van Allan (Wurm), National Philharmonic, Peter
Maag 5 - Katia Ricciarelli (Luisa), Elena Obraztsova (Federica), Plácido
Domingo (Rodolfo), Renato Bruson (Miller), Gwynne Howell (Walter), Wladimiro Ganzarolli
(Wurm), Covent Garden, Lorin Maazel top ~Macbeth 1
- Shirley Verrett (Lady Macbeth), Pláe;cido Domingo (Macduff), Piero Cappuccilli
(Macbeth), Nicolai Ghiaurov (Banquo), La Scala, Abbado 2 - Christa Ludwig
(Lady Macbeth), Carlo Cossuta (Macduff), Sherrill Milnes (Macbeth), Karl Ridderbusch
(Banquo), Wiener Staatsoper, Karl Böhm 3 - Shirley Verrett (Lady Macbeth),
Veriano Luchetti (Macduff), Leo Nucci (Macbeth), Samuel Ramey (Banquo), Teatro
Communale di Bologna, Riccardo Chailly 4 - Elena Souliotis (Lady Macbeth),
Luciano Pavarotti (Macduff), Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (Macbeth), Nicolai Ghiaurov
(Banquo), London Philharmonic, Lamberto Gardelli 5 - Sylvia Sass (Lady Macbeth),
Peter Kelen (Macduff), Piero Cappuccilli (Macbeth), Kolo Kovats (Banquo), Hungarian
State Opera, Lamberto Gardelli 6 - Leonie Rysanek (Lady Macbeth), Carlo
Bergonzi (Macduff), Leonard Warren (Macbeth), Jerome Hines (Banquo), Metropolitan
Opera, Erich Leinsdorf 7 - Fiorenza Cossotto (Lady Macbeth), José
Carreras (Macduff), Sherrill Milnes (Macbeth), Ruggero Raimondi (Banquo), New
Philharmonia, Riccardo Muti 8 - Maria Callas (Lady Macbeth), Gino Penno
(Macduff), Enzo Mascherini (Macbeth), Italo Tajo (Banquo), La Scala, Victor de
Sabata 9 - Birgit Nilsson (Lady Macbeth), Bruno Prevedì (Macduff),
Giuseppe Taddei (Macbeth), Giovanni Foiani (Banquo), Accademia di Santa Cecilia,
Thomas Schippers 10 - Mara Zampieri (Lady Macbeth), Neil Shicoff (Macduff),
Renato Bruson (Macbeth), Robert Lloyd (Banquo), Deutsche Oper, Giuseppe Sinopoli 11
- Mara Zampieri (Lady Macbeth), Dennis OѺNeill (Macduff), Renato Bruson (Macbeth),
James Morris (Banquo), Deutsche Opera, Giuseppe Sinopoli
| Verdi was a real admirer of Shakespeare's works. He felt highly offended
when an unfair critic wrote after the first performance of Macbeth that "he did
not understand Shakespeare". I would say that that critic understand neither Shakespeare
nor Verdi. The first setting of the English author by Verdi, Macbeth already in
1847 featured all the Verdian genius and successfully recreated the strange, violent
and agitated atmosphere of the piece. The orchestra plays a more important role
in Macbeth than in the famous trilogy formed by the next operas (Rigoletto, Trovatore
and Traviata). It is descriptive, intense and colorful; all the mystery in the
witches scenes or the whispering of murderers are extremely well described. This
great study on atmosphere singles out Macbeth among all Verdi operas. The revision
of the opera in 1865 for the Paris Opera contributed to accentuate those qualities
when Verdi had already reached his full maturity (comparison between the two arias
'La luce langue' and its former version 'Trionfai' is significant enough). It
is important to notice that all the commented versions usually display a mix of
specific features of the 1847 version (Macbeth's death for example) and the 1865
version ('La luce langue', ballet, changes in the witches scenes). Casting
Macbeth needs first of all a rare soprano for Lady Macbeth : a drammatico d'agilitŕ
with real dramatic talent, especially in order to illustrate both the intense
erotic and malefic features of the role; it is important to notice Verdi wanted
"an ugly, intense, strange, fascinating voice" for the role. Macbeth is the noble
baritone par excellence with acting abilities and mastering both legato and almost
parlando styles. Macduff and Banquo are more conventional roles, but need a high
level of involvement in spite of the shortness of their parts; we will hear some
stars with magnificent voices ending on being unsatisfying out of lack of involvement
in those two roles. Macbeth also needs an exciting conductor with striking personality
in order to create the suggestive colors the opera requires. Macbeth's
revival started in Germany, just as it happened with other works such as Don Carlo,
I Vespri Siciliani or Giovanna d'Arco. Fritz Busch made the first real revival
in 1936 in Glyndebourne. Practically nothing had been recorded during the first
half of XXth century, except for the famous "La Paterna Mano" by Enrico Caruso
in 1904. Maria Callas will be the first step in the Italian revival. Her opening
night in La Scala in 1952 was a famous triumph. The great Greek soprano had both
ease with dramatic coloratura and the needed interpretative genius to perform
the malefic queen to perfection. This performance is unforgettable, and we will
hardly hear again so many frightening accents in an anthologic entrance scene
where the florid writing has real venom nor the childish madness in an hallucinating
sleepwalking scene. Enzo Mascherini had a beautiful voice and enough intuition
to be credible next to such a Lady, whereas Italo Tajo was a magnificent Banquo
and Gino Penno a very involved and brave Macduff. But if this night is a legendary
one, it is because Callas' own genius met Victor de Sabata's highly dramatic vision
of the work : the orchestra is infernal without being overemphatic, highly dramatic
and anomated, almost Toscaninian but with an incredible sense of depicting horror
and tragedy. The 1952 live sound is far from being perfect, with many distortions
and noises, but Callas is unique, and having her Lady conducted by de Sabata is
something not to be ignored. An outstanding night and perhaps the most frightening
version of the opera. Maria Callas should have sung the role in 1958 at
the Met, and then should have recorded it with Dimitri Mitropoulos. Alas, she
refused to sing the Lady between two Traviatas (with the famous explanation to
Rudolf Bing that "her voice was not an elevator"), and Mitropoulos died during
the rehearsals of Mahler's 3rd Symphony. Erich Leinsdorf replaced Mitropoulos
and Leonie Rysanek replaced Callas, both for live performances and the RCA studio
recording. Rysanek's Lady fits exactly into what Verdi expected from her Ladies.
Rysanek offers a mix of eroticism and violence and has something fascinating in
the voice which makes her Lady a great success. Leonard Warren's elegant and truly
royal Macbeth is wonderful. Carlo Bergonzi's Macduff is an unmatched reference
: the voice is both tender and heroic, and the style, the legato, the class of
the interpretation unrivalled. Jerome Hines is an excellent Banquo, much more
involved and believable in the role than many of his more famous rivals. If we
will always regret having lost Mitropoulos' view of this work, Erich Leinsdorf's
orchestra knows how to create a fascinating strange and mysterious atmosphere.
An excellent recording. Thomas Schippers was an exciting conductor, but
he was a bit superficial to master such a complicated work. Birgit Nilsson's usual
coldness is a serious disadvantage because it avoids her incarnation to express
all the subtle emotions of the Lady all the opera long; by the way, the voice
is not always at her best in the entrance scene and in the toast. Both Giovanni
Foiani and Bruno Prevedě have good voices but also a serious lack of personality,
Giuseppe Taddei's Macbeth is outstanding: it is marvelously sung, and the actor
is first-rate. Alas, the general quality of the performance and the cuts in the
score make this studio recording useless in spite of the quality of Taddei's Macbeth.
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau's elegant and subtle but not always really idiomatic
Macbeth is also the only interest of Gardelli's version. Of course Pavarotti and
Ghiaurov are superlative singers, but a Macbeth recording cannot exist without
a Lady and without an orchestra. Gardelli is decent, but who cares when De Sabata,
Muti, Abbado, Sinopoli or Chailly have also recorded the opera ? Even Schippers
and Leinsdorf have a true personality conducting this opera, but Gardelli has
nothing, no ideas, no excitement. Suliotis' Lady is painful : everything is poorly
done, poorly sung, dramatically false- it is terrible, as a matter of fact . In
spite of Fischer-Dieskau's highly developed character, it is another useless performance.
The 1970 live from Vienna is a surprising performance. Christa Ludwig's
Lady is somehow fascinating, although far from being idiomatic, and quite unconfortable
in coloratura (especially the entrance scene). Sherill Milnes is in superlative
voice, but he will be more stylish and more dramatically consistent with Muti.
Karl Ridderbusch is perhaps not really idiomatic in such an Italian role, but
his immense personality and the quality of his tone provide us one of the most
interesting Banquo of the discography. Carlo Cossuta is excellent as MacDuff but
has little individuality compared to other more moving Macduff. Karl Böhm is clearly
unidiomatic - the lack of italianitŕ is obvious - and his performance is quite
secondary compared to the great conductors present in the discography. The sound
is excellent for a live performance, but the prelude is missing in the Legato
Recordings edition. Macbeth reopened La Scala in 1975 for a set of wonderful
performances staged by Giorgio Strehler. Singers made huge benefits of working
with such a theater genius, and Piero Cappuccilli and Shirley Verret certainly
offer here their best recording, especially Cappuccilli. The Italian baritone
is probably the best actor of the discography and the voice had wonderfully ease
emission at that time. Shirley Verret is one of our best Ladies, both sensual
and demoniac, sung with violence and style. The royal couple here is clearly the
best in the discography. Ghiaurov and Domingo sing very well but do not reach
the same level of involvement, and Domingo's La Paterna mano is quite indifferent
(Domingo did not sing the performances at La Scala - it was Ferruccio Tagliavini).
Claudio Abbado conducts a magnificent La Scala orchestra: the score is performedwith
subtlety, great elegance and a true sense of phrases and colors (winds are outstanding).
The high refinement of the orchestra is nevertheless a kind of problem for this
opera full of blood, murder, sorcery and violence. We will find more exciting
versions, but no other so musically refined and with such a royal couple. For
most reviewers, this is a reference recording. Riccardo Muti's recording
is first of all a fiery orchestral performance, exciting but without the needed
mystery and strange atmospheric quality of the work. Milnes is a good Macbeth,
but does not sing as well as Taddei or Bruson, and has not the dramatic qualities
of Fischer-Dieskau or Cappuccilli (both being also superior to Milnes in singing
quality). Fiorenza Cossoto is also a good singer and makes a triumph of such a
difficult enterprise for her voice. Nevertheless, like Milnes, her lack of personality
is obvious in a role needs first of all a true tragédienne. Carreras is moving
and heroic, but without the class of Bergonzi or the deeply moving expression
of Shicoff later. Of course, this recording is quite good indeed and without disadvantages,
but has a lack of general personality and interest and is a bit weak on the dramatic
side. Sinopoli's understanding of the dramatic expression Macbeth needs
is outstanding. Under his baton the opera gains all the strange colors, violent
rhythms or aggressiveness needed to render the mysterious and fantastic features
of the opera. This orchestral performance is unforgettable, and, if not truly
Verdian, it is one of the most fascinating orchestral performances ever recorded.
Sinopoli found an incredible Lady to share his vision: Mara Zampieri is fascinating
by an angelic tone sung with an intense emission and an incredible freedom in
the scale and difficulties of the role. This performance fits very well with the
royal, elegant and noble Renato Bruson's Macbeth, the best in the discography
regarding the singing style and technical: never the manipulation of Macbeth by
his wife has been so obvious. As Neil Shicoff is the most moving Macduff in the
discography, and as Robert Lloyd is an excellent Banquo, this recording is clearly,
according to me, the most fascinating and interesting one of the discography.
If Sinopoli's treatment of the score can be contested, it is however one of the
strongest and most individual performance ever recorded. Highly recommended.
Riccardo Chailly recorded the opera for Claude d'Anna's film. But this performance
is quite interesting by itself. First, Riccardo Chailly offers almost the same
orchestral perfection as in Abbado, with less rich colors, but more dramatic incisiveness
and excitement: this is a superb orchestral reading of the work, in the Victor
de Sabata's lineage. Shirley Verret has lost some of the vocal ease she had with
Abbado, but also gained more dramatic qualities: her Lady has become a classic
by the way. Leo Nucci's Macbeth is quite well sung and is quite believable: this
is probably one of his best performances on records. Finally, Samuel Ramey and
Veriano Luchetti are both excellent singers. A very good stereophonic modern performance
indeed which can be a good choice for people scared by Sinopoli's personality
and longing for more dramatic excitement than Abbado could offer. |
I would add to Olivier’s comments that Sinopoli also
has a video of Macbeth, with roughly the same cast, except for the competent Macduff
of Dennis O’Neill and Banquo of James Morris. The staging is quite simple,
but very effective. Finally, considering that Olivier stressed the fact that Christa
Ludwig (in my opinion, a wonderfully sophisticated sensuous dark toned Lady Macbeth)
had some problems with passagework, I should mention that I think she is more
accurate in this particular than Rysanek, Nilsson and Souliotis, even offering
the trills none of these singers do. top
~I Masnadieri 1 - Joan Sutherland
(Amalia), Franco Bonisolli (Carlo), Matteo Manuguerra (Francesco), Samuel Ramey
(Massimiliano), Welsh National Opera, Richard Bonynge 2 - Montserrat Caballé
(Amalia), Carlo Bergonzi (Carlo), Piero Cappuccilli (Francesco), Ruggero Raimondi
(Massimiliano), New Philharmonia, Lamberto Gardelli top ~Nabucco 1
- Ghena Dimitrova (Abigaille), Bruna Bagliooni (Fenena), Ottavio Garaventa (Ismaele),
Renato Bruson (Nabucco), Dimiter Petkov (Zaccaria), Arena di Verona, Maurizio
Arena 2 - Lauren Flanigan (Abigaille), Monica Bacelli (Fenena), Maurizio
Frusoni (Ismaele), Renato Bruson (Nabucco), Carlo Colombara (Zaccaria), Teatro
San Carlo, Paolo Carignani 3 - Elena Suliotis (Abigaille), Dora Carral (Fenena),
Bruno Prevedì (Ismaele), Tito Gobbi (Nabucco), Carlo Cava (Zaccaria), Wiener
Philharmoniker, Lamberto Gardelli 4 - Renata Scotto (Abigaille), Elena Obraztsova
(Fenena), Veriano Luchetti (Ismaele), Matteo Manuguerra (Nabucco), Nicolai Ghiaurov
(Zaccaria), Philharmonia, Riccardo Muti 5 - Ghena Dimitrova (Abigaille),
Raquel Pierotti (Fenena), Bruno Beccaria (Ismaele), Renato Bruson (Nabucco), Paata
Burchuladze (Zaccaria), La Scala, Muti top ~Otello top ~Rigoletto 1
- Joan Sutherland (Gilda), Huguette Touranggeau (Maddalena), Luciano Pavarotti
(The Duke), Sherrill Milnes (Rigoletto), Martti Talvela (Sparafucile), London
Symphony, Richard Bonynge 2 - Luciana Serra (Gilda), Ambra Vespasiani (Maddalena),
Alfredo Kraus (The Duke), Leo Nucci (Rigoletto), Michele Pertusi (Sparafucile)
Orchestra Sinfonica dell’Emilia-Romagna, Angelo Campori 3 - Erna Berger
(Gilda), Nan Merriman (Maddalena), Jan Peerce (The Duke), Leonard Warren (Rigoletto),
Italo Tajo (Sparafucile), RCA Victor, Renato Cellini 4 - June Anderson (Gilda),
Shirley Verrett (Maddalena), Luciano Pavarotti (The Duke), Leo Nucci (Rigoletto),
Nicolai Ghiaurov (Sparafucile), Teatro Communale di Bologna, Riccardo Chailly
5 - Edita Gruberová (Gilda), Vitoria Vergara (Maddalena), Luciano
Pavarotti (The Duke), Ingvar Wixell (Rigoletto), Ferruccio Furlanetto
(Sparafucile), Wiener Philharmoniker, Riccardo Chailly
6 - Christine Schäfer (Gilda), Graciela Araya (Maddalena), Marcelo
Álvarez (The Duke), Paolo Gavanelli (Rigoletto), Eric Halfvarson
(Sparafucile), Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent
Garden, Edward Downes
7 - Hilde Güden (Gilda), Giulietta Simionato (Maddalena), Mario
del Monaco (The Duke), Aldo Protti (Rigoletto), Cesare Siepi (Sparafucile),
Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Alberto Erede
8 - Lucia Popp (Gilda), Tamara Takács (Maddalena), Giacomo Aragall
(The Duke), Bernd Weikl (Rigoletto), Jan-Hendrik Rootering (Sparafucile),
Müchner Rundfunk, Lamberto Gardelli
9 - Renata Scotto (Gilda), Fiorenza Cossotto (Maddalena), Alfredo Kraus
(The Duke), Ettore Bastianini (Rigoletto), Ivo Vinco (Sparafucile),
Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Gianandrea Gavazzeni
10 - Ileana Cotrubas (Gilda), Elena Obraztsova (Maddalena), Plácido
Domingo (The Duke), Piero Cappuccilli Rigoletto), Nicolai Ghiaurov (Sparafucile),
Wiener Philharmoniker, Carlo Maria Giulini
11 - Renata Scotto (Gilda), Fiorenza Cossotto (Maddalena), Carlo Bergonzi
(The Duke), Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (Rigoletto), Ivo Vinco (Sparafucile),
La Scala, Rafael Kubelik
12 - Cheryl Studer (Gilda), Denyce Graves (Maddalena), Luciano Pavarotti
(The Duke), Vladimir Chernov (Rigoletto), Roberto Scandiuzzi (Sparafucile),
Metropolitan Opera, James Levine
13 - Margherita Rinaldi (Gilda), Viorica Cortez (Maddalena), Franco
Bonisolli (The Duke), Rolando Panerai (Rigoletto), Bengt Rundgren (Sparafucile),
Staatskapelle Dresden, Francesco Mollinari-Pradelli
14 - Reri Grist (Gilda), Anna di Stasio (Maddalena), Nicolai Gedda
(The Duke), Cornell McNeil (Rigoletto), Agostino Ferrin (Sparafucile),
Opera di Roma, Francesco Mollinari-Pradelli
15 - Daniela Dessì (Gilda), Martha Senn (Maddalena), Vincenzo
La Scola (The Duke), Giorgio Zancanaro (Rigoletto), Paata Burchuladze
(Sparafucile), La Scala, Riccardo Muti
16 - Andrea Rost (Gilda), Mariana Pentcheva (Maddalena), Roberto Alagna
(The Duke), Renato Bruson (Rigoletto), Dmitri Kavrakos (Sparafucile),
La Scala, Riccardo Muti
17 - Roberta Peters (Gilda), Anna Maria Rota (Maddalena), Jussi Björling
(The Duke), Robert Merrill (Rigoletto), Giorgio Tozzi (Sparafucile),
Opera di Roma, Jonel Perlea
18 - Alida Ferrarini (Gilda), Ladislav Neshyba (Maddalena), Yordi Ramiro
(The Duke), Eduard Tumagian (Rigoletto), Jozef Spacek (Sparafucile),
Slovak Radio Symphony, Alexander Rahbari
19 - Leontina Vaduva (Gilda), Jennifer Larmore (Maddalena), Richard
Leech (The Duke), Alexandru Agache (Rigoletto), Samuel Ramey (Sparafucile),
Welsh National Opera, Carlo Rizzi
20 - Beverly Sills (Gilda), Mignon Dunn (Maddalena), Alfredo Kraus
(The Duke), Sherrill Milnes (Rigoletto), Samuel Ramey (Sparafucile),
Philharmonia, Julius Rudel
21 - Joan Sutherland (Gilda), Stefania Malagù (Maddalena), Renato
Cioni (The Duke), Cornell McNeil (Rigoletto), Cesare Siepi, Accademia
di Santa Cecilia, Nino Sanzogno
22 - Maria Callas (Gilda), Adriana Lazzarini (Maddalena), Giuseppe
di Stefano (The Duke), Tito Gobbi (Rigoletto), Nicola Zaccaria (Sparafucile),
La Scala, Tullio Serafin
23 - Edita Gruberová (Gilda), Brigitte Fassbaender (Maddalena),
Neil Schicoff (The Duke), Renato Bruson (Rigoletto), Robert Lloyd (Sparafucile),
Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Giuseppe Sinopoli
24 - Anna Moffo (Gilda), Rosalind Elias (Maddalena), Alfredo Kraus
(The Duke), Robert Merrill (Rigoletto), Ezio Flagello (Sparafucile),
RCA Italiana, Georg Solti
Premièred in 1851 at La Fenice, Rigoletto is Verdi’s most
famous work and one of the best known and loved operas in the repertoire.
Some say it is Verdi’s first "mature" work - but this
is controversial. What can be said is that Rigoletto is the work where
Verdi’s theatrical genius reached its optimal level. If one could
say which are the main features of this opera, I think those would be
- timing and characterization. Characters are described through music
and their styles are so individual that when all of them sing together
in the famous quartett in act III - even if you can’t catch all
the words, you know what they are singing about.
The libretto is inspired on Victor Hugo’s play Le Roi s’amuse.
Following Bernard Shaw famous idea that Victor Hugo’s importance
as a playwriter was to provide raw material to librettos for Verdi operas,
it must be said that the talents of both Verdi and Piave turned what
was essentially an awkward text (and I say this as someone who knows
it, since I had to translate it once) into a sharp proto-Freudian story.
We have the deformed father who has a kind of weird symbiosis with his
libertine boss and who keeps his beautiful daughter completely for him
alone and ignorant even about who she is. Instead of bringing the lovely
girl up aware of the "dangers" that surround her, he makes
her the perfect victim for his "other half", the Duke (he
even holds the ladder for the kidnappers of his daughter without being
conscious of it). The seduction of Gilda is made in a most rhetorical
way. She does not know the name of her own father - but she demands
the name of her wooer. He produces a fake on, but that doesn’t
matter. Her aria d’affetto is not Caro Viso or Care Mani or Cari
Occhi - it is Caro Nome. Kept as a kind of doll in her doll’s house,
she feels enchanted by the names and definitions provided by the Duke.
He provides her very fast education - he shows her who he really is,
he makes her a woman and finally leads her to discover who her father
is and, by consequence, who she herself is. This leads the poor Gilda
to cling to her new word even if this means having to die in order not
to loose it anymore. Let us not forget that, when she decides to die,
her father had made her dress male clothes. In the meanwhile, this father,
in order to keep his union with his daughter, decides to kill his other
half - but it doesn’t work. As much as Rigoletto is a freak, his
whole behaviour is freak-ish (a usual dramatic device in Hugo’s
days - hunchbacks are always bad guys in Balzac’s works, for instance)
- that is why he cannot win nature in the end of story.
Of
course, I hope no crazy stage director is going to stage Rigoletto as described
above. As every interpretation - Freudian, Jungian or whatever - this must never
take a first place, but set our vision into deeper perspective. And the true masterpieces
are definitely those who support to be set in more different perspectives - that
is why Rigoletto has been a success since its first performance.
The singers who sang at the première at La Fenice were Teresa
Brambilla as Gilda, Annetta Casaloni as Maddalena, Raffaelle Mirate
as the Duke, Felice Varesi as Rigoletto and Paolo Damini as Sparafucile.
Although many light lyric sopranos have been associated to the role
of Gilda, one could rightly claim that the part demands a somewhat bigger
voice. Although Brambilla was not the one to whom Verdi wrote the role,
she was a drammatico d’agilità and was a famous Abigaille.
Casaloni was a famous teacher, counting among her pupils Claudia Muzio.
As you probably have guessed from the discography, every tenor has sang
the part of the Duke (no joke - even Jon Vickers sang it) and this makes
some sense, for Raffaele Mirate had a wide repertoire singing stuff
ranging from Don Giovanni to Norma, including Ernani. Varesi was also
the first Macbeth and Giorgio Germont - roles which also require different
qualities from a singer.
Bonynge’s Rigoletto is probably his best recording starring his
wife. His tempi do make sense here and the orchestra is opulent enough.
The scene where Gilda is murdered is particularly effective. Bonynge
has always been a conductor who is together with his singers - and he
benefits from a creative cast, sensitive to the various dramatic situations.
The exception to this rule is Joan Sutherland, who sings in a generalized
manner and the tone is a bit mature for her role, although her technical
assurance guarantees an exceptional Caro nome. Luciano Pavarotti was
in his best imaginable shape - and this is a role that suits his personality
to perfection. His ventures above high c are also admirable. Best of
all are the low voices. Sherrill Milnes is not the dark voice expected
for the role - but he builds a believably neurotic character and finds
real tenderness in the scenes with Gilda. He closes the opera with an
optional high note that is quite chilling. Huguette Tourangeau and Martti
Talvela establish a fantastic competition - who has the lowest note
and who sounds more "evil"? Because of all that, the third
act is the strong point of this recording.
Ponnelle’s film offers rich sceneries and some extravagant scenes,
such as the orgy in the beginning of the opera. I have some problems
about it - and, maybe I am crazy, but Pavarotti is not one of them.
First of all, although Edita Gruberová is not a Gisele Bündchen
- far from that - she can look charming enough, as in Filippo Sanjust’s
Ariadne auf Naxos. Here she is made to look u-g-l-y - the wig is an
offense, the make up is destructive and she is always caught in the
wrong angles. The other main problem is the lighting - what are they
using there? Fluorescent lamps? It is soooooo artifficial! Now, Pavarotti
- yes, he is far from svelte (to use a light word) - but he looks as
if he thinks himself to be the handsomest man on the face of Earth and
I found that sensational. After all, he is also the ruler of the town
- who would say otherwise? OK - there are the usual jokes - that his
jumping into a horse is special effect etc. That does not bother me...
Well, the performance was recorded in studio with the Vienna Philharmonic.
If the orchestra was slightly more present, this would have been very
nice, for Chailly’s reading has enough drive and the Vienna Philharmonic
allows transparence enough. Gruberová’s singing as Gilda
is of the highest level - she sings like an angel, has all the time
of the world to concentrate on her text and has reserves of power to
the most demanding scenes. Vitoria Vergara’s light mezzo matches
her seductive ways. Pavarotti is in excellent voice as well - the role
is congenial for him - and he sings a very high note just to say he
still can do it. Ingvar Wixell doubles here as Rigoletto and Monterone.
His acting is really accomplished and, although the voice is not what
Verdi imagined for both roles - his vehemence and full commitment may
be a compensation for those who are flexible about Verdi baritones.
The video from Covent Garden has acquired notoriety for the graphic
pansexual orgy in the first scene. Exaggerations aside, McVicar's production
has an interesting dark approach to the drama and gives singers raw
material enough to act. This is especially positive in a theatre who
has such high level of acting in its comprimari and chorus, but that
often exposes that the main soloists offer a less naturalistic kind
of acting. That said, the stylized costumes are a bit weird, especially
the Álvarez's, who is made to look more like Rigoletto than Gavanelli.
They also seem to be amazingly heavy - and it is a bit distressing to
see the cast getting dangerously dehydrated during the performance.
Edward Downes' conducting is far less daring than the visual aspects
of this performance. He plays safe but displays imagination and good
taste. His orchestra has refinement but lacks weight, though. This could
be an advantage for the cast, but the fact is that the recorded sound
does not help them. It also seems someone has been playing too much
with buttons while recording it. Christine Schäfer's Mozartian
Gilda is a bit small-scale but extremely touching in her sincere and
shapely phrasing throughout. She is also a powerful actress and looks
convincingly girlish. Marcelo Álvarez's tenor is here in mint
condition. He is now and then a bit lachrymose, but know hows to scale
down to mezza voce when necessary. Paolo Gavanelli is a highly imaginative
and intelligent singer, but I have the impression that his is not exactly
the right voice for the role. Although he can pull out two or three
impressive top notes, he gives the impression of being saving his high
register too often. He resorts to a touch-and-leave approach to extreme
notes, gets away with piano in difficult passages and, when he really
has to sing out, there is a weird fluttering in his voice. The result
is sophisticated in the wrong way and doesn't always produce the tingle
factor associated with the role. Here the Sparafucile family is in the
hands of charismatic singers with impressive low register but irregular
technique.
The
problem about Erede’s Rigoletto is, to start with, Erede. He doesn’t
have his forces under complete control. On accumulating minor faults, the performance
ends on being unconvincing as a whole. And there is the cast. Hilde Güden
certainly had all the means to sing Gilda - but her style sounds too operetta-ish
now and then. Mario del Monaco as the Duke is one of the most eccentric pieces
of casting ever committed to recording. Basically, he was Decca’s default
tenor by then. The funniest thing is that he himself seems to be unfrightened
by what he has to sing. "A Radamès with some filigree here and there",
he must have thought - and that is how he sings it - he brasses his way through
it as a thunderstorm completely unconcerned of what is going on. Taking into consideration
that Aldo Protti, despite a powerful voice, is tentative most of the time, it
is easy to understand why Simionato and Siepi were so lazy here.
Gardelli’s Rigoletto is the exotic entry in this discography.
They could have recorded Martha, but - they already had - so why not
Rigoletto? In my opinion, the main problem here is the recorded sound,
which makes all the voices sound hard. As a result of it, a distinguished
cast sounds entirely in bad voice, which was not probably the case.
Also, the orchestra is a bit backwards, allowing for a clinical view
of the edge in the cast’s voices. Lucia Popp suffers a lot from
the close recording - her obvious good intentions are impared by an
exaggerated metallic quality in her sound. Also, her whole method is
foreign to this opera - she lacks morbidezza and attacks her notes in
too German a way. At her side, beside her fervour and good taste, her
warm middle register. Jaime Aragall, such a pleasant-toned tenor (he
recalls me Björling now and then) is not very animated and is a
bit careless. He ends on sounding uninteresting and not completely at
ease. On the other hand, I have some nice words for Bernd Weikl, even
if the voice is too young and bright for the role. I still find something
to cherish in his elegant phrasing and his ease with the tessitura -
some phrases which had never called my attention appeared under a new
light, due to his sensitive and musicianly approach. But it is still
unrelated to Verdian style and from the dramatic truth of the role.
Sparafucile and sister are decent, not more than that.
Many refer to Giulini’s as "Rigoletto, the oratorio".
I disagree entirely with this view. I think that his tempi are proportional
to his overall view and, whenever one could accuse him of slowness,
the Vienna Philharmonic will be providing sheer orchestral intensity
and illuminating details will come to the fore. Ileana Cotrubas is a
bit light voiced for her role and she is strained now and there - but
it is an intensely communicative performance. From her first note, we
are at her side no matter what, so alive and congenial and emotional
and spontaneous is her performance. Domingo is a bit thick-voiced for
his role, but he was in good shape and masterly adapts himself to most
of what is required from him. In the end, the character is not exactly
clear, but it is a beautiful performance. Cappuccilli’s is not
the most glamourous voice for Rigoletto - sometimes he should be smoother,
but he is giving his 100% here and, especially when interacting with
Cotrubas, he offfers genuine emotion. Ghiaurov and Obraztsova have appealing
voices, but don’t fit exactly in their roles - anyway, Giulini
makes sure that act III is going to work with or without them.
Kubelik’s Rigoletto is seeen as a classical recording and a rare
opportunity to see the famous conductor outside his usual surroundings
and repertoire. La Scala’s orchestra follows him all the way and
is nicely recorded as well - but it sounds tame too often. In his search
for refinement, Kubelik ended on smoothing some sharp ends that are
as a matter of fact part of the Rigoletto experience. Renata Scotto
is more acceptable to those who dislike her than what they would have
imagined. The voice has no basic seduction in it - it is rather sour,
to say the truth - but she does have all the resources plus the intelligence
to make them work. In the end, she is a most successful Gilda and very
convincing too. In the case of Bergonzi, things are quite the opposite.
His voice is lovely all the way and his manners elegant and musicianly,
but he never for one moments sound like the Duke. It is always the guy
with the beautiful voice and who sings so well. When it comes to Dietrich
Fischer-Dieskau, the question is - what is the difference from the Bernd
Weikl’s case? The first is that Weikl’s voice was, at the
time of his recording, more healthy and at ease than F-D’s. On
the other hand, he is in his most dramatically alert and is not trying
to sound like a true Verdi baritone. So, the result is that - although
the voice picture is not the one of the role, he is replacing it by
thought-through characterization. In the end, you may be convinced,
but not completely moved. Cossotto and Vinco are interesting bandits.
Mollinari-Pradelli’s film for the German TV is also, in its own
way, an exotic case. The film is kitsch beyond help, but proposes so
many interesting insights that one may end on liking it - I did. The
main reason was Rolando Panerai’s acting - it is so intense and
he is singing so much from the heart that he ends on being particularly
touching. Cortigiani... is heartbraking - he is so beyond himself in
despair and so unconcerned about being ridiculous! It is an excellent
performance and the roughness in the voice is an important part of it.
This Rigoletto has nothing pretty to say. Although some of her top notes
are a bit hard, Margherita Rinaldi, a bit plump for her role, has so
much naivete in her voice and provides a kind of dreamy quality to her
Gilda that she is ultimately quite moving - and her technique and lovely
tone are all to her advantage. Bonisolli has his rough patches, but
he knows exactly what kind of role he is playing. Moreover, he offers
such exciting top notes and articulates with skill. His scene with Viorica
Cortez’ Maddalena involves his hands and her breasts more clearly
than in some other videos... Mollinari-Pradelli’s conducting is
routine, but the Staatskapelle Dresden brings immediate distinction
to it. The recorded sound is full, although the voices could have more
space around them.
Muti’s Rigoletto from La Scala was accused by many reviewers -
too inflexible and insensitive. To my ears, it sounds really exciting.
In Cortigiani, those orchestral whirlwinds made with absolute accuracy
and power are enough to make one heart’s beat faster. Many said
that Muti prevented his cast from working properly in such an orchestral
straightjacket, but the orchestra itself is going here unleashed - and
I doubt any singer would be as exciting as it is. Nevertheless, I think
that he should have looked for a cast which could fit more his concept.
For example, Andrea Rost is healthy enough as Gilda and sings with unconstricted
tone even in the highest notes, but it is so unvaried and the voice
itself is not exactly beautiful - she compensates on video with her
looks. The sort of thing that make you forgive even a Florence Foster-Jenkins.
On the other hand, Roberto Alagna seems completely with Muti here. It
is my favourite performance by him. He is at his most golden, richest
and untiring. Also, he doesn’t have the time to go for tacky mannerisms
- his Duke is not charming, it is a bit brutal, but sung with good taste
throughout. The surroundings are not particularly favourable for Renato
Bruson at that stage of his career. It is basically too much for him
and we are obliged to deal with the dryness of his tone, the absence
of legato, some adaptations in his lines - he is an apt actor of course
and his being old makes it more moving, but I think Muti needed the
Panerai of the Mollinari-Pradelli here - a force of nature at 100% power.
The Sparafucile family is decent. The staging is quite conservative
and unsmiling, but suits Muti’s stern vision of the work.
For many collectors, Serafin’s is the irreplacable Rigoletto
in the discography. It is not an Apollinean performance - Serafin sees it as a
theatrical event and concentrates on his cast and makes the Scala the equivalent
of a Gerald Moore partnering a Lieder singer - it is there to enhance the drama
and allow it to happen. Maria Callas uses her customary sophisticated dramatic
weapons with economy and dramatic understanding. Only when things have to be really
pure-toned, some instability appears. With this observation, it is a reference
performance of a legendary artist in a role in keeping with her voice and technique.
Giuseppe di Stefano is wonderfully inside his character and is seductive enough
- only irregular technique creeps in now annd then, but he is congenial enough.
Tito Gobbi is in one of his most famous roles - rawness and mannerisms included.
The description of his performance is similar to Callas - their cohesion of purpose
particularly admirable. Considering Sinopoli’s reputation, his Rigoletto
is quite well behaved. Compared to Kubelik, it is a more vivid experience. Compared
to Muti, it sounds pretty conventional. The more immediate comparison is Giulini’s
- but Giulini has the Vienna Philharmonic aand a strong presiding purpose. Sinopoli’s
uses smaller brushstrokes and developes with repeated listenings. Although he
hasn’t allowed his cast optional notes, they lend all the necessary character
to this performance and are fully integrated with each other. Gilda and Rigoletto’s
duet are particularly praiseworthy for the conductor’s control of dynamics
in both the orchestra and his singers. Edita Gruberová’s Gilda is
slightly less spontaneous but it has acquired so many exquisite details that it
is even more fascinating. Her death scene has some of the most delicate pianissimi
ever commited to disc. Neil Shicoff lacks humour, flexibility and brightness as
the Duke - I don’t think it is a good role for him, but considering the odds,
it is a very decent performance. And he is always there to take part in Sinopoli’s
concept. The singer who sounds, curiously, less interesting here is Renato Bruson.
The voice is not at its most gleaming - and his performance is too discrete to
call particular attention. His best moments are the above mentioned duets with
Gruberová. Brigitte Fassbaender and Robert Lloyd bring characteristic voices
and sharp dramatic tempers to their roles. to
~Simon Boccanegra 1 - Mirella
Freni (Amelia), José Carreras (Adorno), Piero Cappuccilli (Simon), José
van Dam (Paolo), Nicolai Ghiaurov (Fiesco), La Scala, Claudio Abbado 2 -
Katia Ricciarelli (Amelia), Veriano Luchetti (Adorno), Renato Bruson (Simon),
Konstantin Sfiris (Paolo), Ruggero Raimondi (Fiesco), Wiener Staatsoper, Claudio
Abbado 3 - Karita Mattila (Amelia), Vicenzo La Scola (Adorno), Carlo Guelfi
(Simon), Julian Konstantinov (Fiesco), Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Abbado 4
- Elena Prokina (Amelia), David Rendall (Addorno), Giancarlo Pasquetto (Simon),
Peter Sidhorn (Paolo), Alastair Miles (Fiesco), London Philharmonic, Mark Elder 5
- Katia Ricciaelli (Amelia), Plácidoo Domingo (Adorno), Piero Cappuccilli
(Simon), Gianpiero Mastromei (Paolo), Ruggero Raimondi (Fiesco), RCA Orchestra,
Gianandrea Gavazzeni 6 - Anna Tomowa-Sintow (Amelia), Vasili Moldoveanu
(Adorno), Sherrill Milnes (Simon), Richard J. Clark (Paolo), Paul Plishka (Fiesco),
Metropolitan Opera, James Levine 7- Kiri Te Kanawa (Amelia), Plácido
Domingo (Adorno), Vladimir Chernov (Simon), Bruno Pola (Paolo), Robert Lloyd (Fiesco),
Metropolitan Opera, James Levine 8 - Elisabeth Rethberg (Amelia), Giovanni
Martinelli (Adorno), Lawrence Tibett (Simon), Leonard Warren (Paolo), Ezio Pinza
(Fiesco), Metropolitan Opera, Ettore Panizza 9 - Miriam Gauci (Amelia),
Giacomo Aragall (Adorno), Eduard Tumagian (Simon), Vicente Sardiniero (Paolo),
Peter Mikulas (Fiesco), Belgian RTN, Alexander Rahbari 10 - Victoria de
los Angeles (Amelia), Giuseppe Campora (Adorno), Tito Gobbi (Simon), Walter Monachesi
(Paolo), Boris Christoff (Fiesco), Opera di Roma, Gabriele Santini 11 -
Kiri Te Kanawa (Amelia), Giacomo Aragall (Adorno), Leo Nucci (Simon), Paolo Coni
(Paolo), Paata Burchuladze (Fiesco), La Scala, Georg Solti 12 - Kiri Te
Kanawa (Amelia), Michael Sylvester (Adorno), Alexandru Agache (Simon), Alan Opie
(Paolo), Roberto Scandiuzzi (Fiesco), Covent Garden, Georg Solti top ~Stiffelio 1
- Catherine Malfitano (Lina), José CCarreras (Stiffelio), Gregory Yurisic
(Stankar), Covent Garden, Edward Downes 2 - Sylvia Sass (Lina), José
Carreras (Stiffelio), Matteo Manuguerra (Stankar), Wiener Symphoniker, Lamberto
Gardelli 3 - Sharon Sweet (Lina), Plácido Domingo (Stiffelio), Valdimir
Chernov (Stankar), Metropolitan Opera, James Levine top ~La
Traviata 1 - Joan Sutherland (Violetta), Luciano Pavarotti (Alfredo),
Matteo Manuguerra (Germont), National Philharmonic, Richard Bonynge 2 -
Beverly Sills (Violetta), Nicolai Gedda (Alfredo), Rolando Panerai (Germont),
Royal Philharmonic, Aldo Ceccato 3 - Stefania Bonfadelli (Violetta), Scott
Piper (Alfredo), Renato Bruson (Germont), Orchestra della Fondazione Arturo Toscanini,
Plácido Domingo 4 - Mirella Freni (Violetta), Franco Bonisolli (Alfredo),
Sesto Bruscantini (Germont), Staatskapelle Berlin, Lamberto Gardelli 5 -
Maria Callas (Violetta), Alfredo Kraus (Alfredo), Mario Sereni (Germont), Teatro
São Carlos, Franco Ghione 6 - Maria Callas (Violetta), Giuseppe di
Stefano (Alfredo), Ettore Bastianini), La Scala, Carlo Maria Giulini 7 -
Ileana Cotrubas (Violetta), Plácido Domingo (Alfredo), Sherrill Milnes
(Germont), Bayerische Staatsoper, Carlos Kleiber 8 - Teresa Stratas (Violetta),
Plácido Domingo (Alfredo), Cornell MacNeil (Germont), Metropolitan Opera,
James Levine 9 - Cheryl Studer (Violetta), Luciano Pavarotti (Alfredo),
Juan Pons (Germont), Metropolitan Opera, James Levine
10 - Pilar Lorengar (Violetta), Giacomo Aragall (Alfredo), Dietrich
Fischer-Dieskau (Germont), Deutsche Oper, Lorin Maazel
11 - Patrizia Ciofi (Violetta), Roberto Saccà (Alfredo), Dmitri
Hvorosotovsky (Germont), Coro ed orchestra del Gran Teatro La Fenice,
Lorin Maazel
12 - Kiri Te Kanawa (Violetta), Alfredo Kraus (Alfredo), Dmitri Hvorostovsky
(Germont), Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Zubin Mehta
13 - Eteri Gvazava (Violetta), José Cura (Alfredo), Rolando
Panerai (Germont), Sinfonica della RAI, Zubin Mehta
14 - Teresa Stratas (Violetta), Fritz Wunderlich (Alfredo), Hermann
Prey (Germont), Bayerische Staatsoper, Giuseppe Patanè
15 - Renata Tebaldi (Violetta), Giani Poggi (Alfredo), Aldo Protti
(Germont), Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Francesco Mollinari-Pradelli
16 - Rosanna Carteri (Violetta), Cesare Valletti (Alfredo), Leonard
Warren (Germont), Opera di Roma, Pierre Monteux
17 - Renata Scotto (Violetta), Alfredo Kraus (Alfredo), Renato Bruson
(Germont), Philharmonia, Riccardo Muti
18 - Tiziana Fabbricini (Violetta), Roberto Alagna (Alfredo), Paolo
Coni (Germont), La Scala, Riccardo Muti
19 - Anna Moffo (Violetta), Richard Tucker (Alfredo), Robert Merrill
(Germont), Opera di Roma, Fernando Previtali
20 - Montserrat Caballé (Violetta), Carlo Bergonzi (Alfredo),
Sherrill Milnes (Germont), RCA Italiana, Georges Prêtre
21 - Joan Sutherland (Violetta), Carlo Bergonzi (Alfredo), Robert Merrill
(Germont), Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, John Pritchard
22 - Monika Krause (Violetta), Yordi Ramiro (Alfredo), Georg Tichy
(Germont), Slovak Radio Symphony, Alexander Rahbari
23 - Edita Gruberová (Violetta), Neil Schicoff (Alfredo), Giorgio
Zancanaro (Germont), London Symphony, Carlo Rizzi
24 - Anna Netrebko (Violetta), Rolando Villazon (Alfredo), Thomas Hampson
(Germont), Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsoper, Wiener Philharmoniker,
Carlo Rizzi
25 - Mireille Delunsch (Violetta), Matthew Polenzani (Alfredo), Zeljko
Lucic (Germont), Europa ChorAkademie, Orchestre de Paris, Yutaka Sado
26 - Maria Callas (Violetta), Francesco Albanese (Alfredo), Ugo Savarese
(Germont), Orchestra della RAI, Gabriele Santini
27 - Antonietta Stella (Violetta), Giuseppe di Stefano (Alfredo), Tito
Gobbi (Germont), La Scala, Tullio Serafin
28 - Victoria de los Angeles (Violetta), Carlo del Monte (Alfredo),
Mario Sereni (Germont), Opera di Roma, Tullio Serafin
29 - Angela Gheorghiu (Violetta), Frank Lopardo (Alfredo), Leo Nucci
(Germont), Covent Garden, Georg Solti
30 - Licia Albanese (Violetta), Jan Peerce (Alfredo), Robert Merrill
(Germont), NBC Symphony, Arturo Toscanini
31 - Renata Scotto (Violetta), Gianni Raimondi (Alfredo), Ettore Bastianini
(Germont), La Scala, Antonino Votto
There is something particular about Verdi’s
La Traviata. It is an opera about prejudice and it is also a victim of prejudice.
Although it is one of the most popular titles in the repertoire, it is the usual
target for snobs, who call it larmoyant, shallow and a vocal display. I think
THIS is a superficial view. La Traviata is one of Verdi’s most innovative
work, where his understanding of, to use a baroque music word, "affetti"
achieved its mature standard. In this work, each act depicts a completely different
musical atmosphere and the emotional development of the role of Violetta is made
through the vocal styles she is required to sing. That is why the greater demands
are made on her - she basically has to sing like three different singers during
the opera. The snobs should have noticed that this was new when this opera was
composed and repesented a turning point in the history of opera - the moment where
operatic characters finally set free from vocal categories, a revolution which
took its first big step with Mozart in his Da Ponte operas. Also, Verdi was quite
melodically inspired when he composed it and many numbers in the score are known
virtually by everyone in the planet. The work is inspired by a play by
Alexandre Dumas, fils, the famous and lachrimogenic La Dame aux Camélias,
a story based, on its turn, in the life of a French courtesan (in our days, something
like a call girl) Marie Duplessis, whose beauty, good taste and fragile health
turned into a perfect romantic heroine. The idea that tempted Verdi to compose
it was to set music to a story more or less contemporary to his days. Soon, the
opera got its new name, which means "The one who went astray" or "The
Fallen Woman" and the theme was a romantic favourite - redemption through
love, i.e., on knowing real love, a prostitute saves a family and her soul, while
singing some terribly difficult coloratura, of course. The première
at La Fenice in 1853 was a fiasco. According to Verdi, the plump soprano Fanny
Salvini Donatelli was to blame, because she didn’t look as if she had tuberculosis.
However, it seems that she sang well and was the most applauded in the cast. However,
one year later, the opera was to be presented again in Venice, now on the Teatro
San Benedetto, and it seems it was a success this time. Also, Verdi revised his
score before this performance. As a matter of fact, La Traviata poses some problems
for the conductor. The first of them is that the opera tends to stay on 3/4 and
bureaucratic conducting could make the whole thing a bit monotonous. Because of
that, many conductors cut the repeat of some numbers, such as Addio del passato,
when they don’t do away with some others, such as the cabaletta of Di Provenza
il mare. Also, although a firm grip for the big ensembles and chorus is required,
act II depends of rubato to survive. However, any Traviata depends on the soprano
taking the title role. If she is not good, no one cares for the rest - this is
the sad truth. The role asks everything of a singer. She has to be a soprano coloratura
in act I, a lyric soprano in act II, with some power for the ensemble at Flora’s
house and finally has to write a "spinto" after her lyric soprano for
the last act. As it is, the writing requires total control of mezza voce, some
declamatory qualities for the difficult letter scene (it tends to get exaggerated
and a sirupy violin can make things really worse) and also she must be a wonderful
actress and look charming. It is no wonder that the role is usually horribly sung
by aspirant sopranos. Those who already have a name run for their lives when they
are invited to sing Violetta in general. Also, the histrionic qualities required
generate tons of misconceptions, especially on act III. Many sopranos have a very
litteral imagination and take the fancy that they should sound voiceless, since
they are dying of consumption. However, modern Medicine has no doubt about something:
if one wants to be realistic in this scene, one should remain SILENT. So, my advice
for sopranos who haven’t taken Biology at school: forget about it and do
what Verdi asked for: that Violetta turn into an angel in the end of the opera.
His demand for mezza voce and high lying phrases and long melodies and the text
of "Se una pudica vergine" - all that asks for some exquisite singing
here. The role of Alfredo asks for a lyric tenor, with some flexibility
and easy top notes. Most tenors simply overlook the flexibility, doing what the
French call "savonner" when passagework is required and, when they are
unable to cope with all that, they cut act II’s O mio rimorso. The role of
Germont, père, doesn’t require an archetypal Verdi baritone. The writing
is not so dramatic and sensitive phrasing is far more important.
Since Maria Callas is considered by many the model for the role of
Violetta, let’s start with her two live performances. First of
all, it is important to say that, with her soprano drammatico d’agilità,
Callas is always bound to be at home in this opera, since her Fach allows
her to depict the vocal "images" of all three acts. This is
crucial to understand her success in the role, since this and her dramatic
imagination are her qualities in this role. Her excellent acting can
only be sampled by photos now. My problem about Callas’ Violetta
is lack of allure. The voice doesn’t suggest any sensuousness to
my ears and her top notes in both these recordings present different
kind of problems. Let us begin with the Giulini at La Scala. In this
performance, Callas’ voice is still in good shape, but truth be
said, it is incredibly metallic and her phrasing is a bit emphatic and
sometimes produced rather with a hammer than with a brush. That said,
she is very successful in creating three vocal identities for each act.
She is very light in act 1 and sings a gentle Ah, fors’è
lui and convincingly suggest lust for life in Sempre Libera, despite
some unsteady top notes. In act II, I wasn’t so pleased with her
portrayal. Although she sounds incredibly commited, it lacks subtleness
throughout and the result is quite homogeneously rough. Also, her "ah"
before Dite alla giovane is one of the weirdest sounds produced by human
throat - to be placed in the Vocal Horror Collection next to René
Kollo’s Gott! in Bernstein’s Fidelio. When it comes to act
III, then I think the performance to be incredibly unsatisfying. No
other singer shows such a litteral idea about depicting ill Violetta
- she sings with a bodiless sour tone consistently below pitch the whole
act and meows a very frustrating Se una pudica vergine. Giuseppe di
Stefano is similarly engaged as Alfredo. He doesn’t sing his cabaletta,
though - understandably: he is not very easy with top notes here. Finally,
Bastianini, in spite of an impressive voice, is amazingly unsensitive.
He does not shade the vocal colour and sings consistently forte. He
has very little flexibility too and his "Un dì quando le
venere" sounds as if he is laughing of Violetta’s suffering.
Giulini’s conducting tends to be slow and there is lots of awkward
ensemble here. Also, the choir is horrible and the orchestra has its
sloppy moments. There is some genius touches here and there, such as
the nicest staccati in Imponete! and a wonderfully articulate De miei
bollenti spirti. The recorded sound is awful, lacking space and thin
in the orchestra.
Alas, the recorded sound in Ghione’s
performance from Teatro São Carlos, in Lisbon, is also really bad - boxy
and thin too. And there is a prompter who is shouting for posterity from the place
where nobody should have noticed he was. Here, Callas’ approach to her role
developed immensely, although her voice deteriorated a lot in the upper reaches.
Just compare her both Ah, fors’è lui, now made with utmost refinement,
with perfect rhythmic sense and legato and a seductive floated mezza voce. Also,
Sempre Libera displays some wonderfully clear scales and trills and her low register
is really luscious. Of course, there are unstable shrill top notes all over the
place. Her second act also developed a lot - now sung with true legato and alternating
moments of despair and gentleness with mathematical precision. It is quite moving,
despite - again - some worn top notes and the fact that the voice is not intrinsically
beautiful. Although I still disagree with Callas’s view of act III, at least,
she forgets about her approach from Prendi, quest’è l’imagine
on and sings with floated tone. Alfredo Kraus is in freshest voice and sings sensitively
throughout. And I think reviewers have been unfair to Mario Sereni, he is in dulcet
voice here and is all tenderness in Pura si come un angello and phrases Un dì
quando le venere with belcantist poise. Ghione’s conducting is of the "let’s
do it slow not to make mistakes" genre and it ends on being less bothersome
than Giulini’s at La Scala. The women in the choir are scary - not only their
voices are gritty but they sing in a most tacky way as if they were all fans of
Amelita Galli-Curci or something like that. Joan Sutherland’s voice
is similar to Callas in Fach and her technique is superior in any sense. Nobody
sang the role with the ease she displays; one could rightly say that she seems
happier when things get more difficult. However, not only her personality is unfit
for the role, but she also doesn’t try to make anything of it. She sings
with a generalized affection and sounds rather like a British lady with the flue
instead of a prostitute with a lethal disease. Although her top notes and coloratura
are really impressive in 1979, the tone has grone unattractive. It is excessively
covered and somewhat uneven in the middle register. Furthermore, her phrasing
tends to be languid most of the time. It is sad to say that she is the only thing
between this set and complete sucess, for the remaining elements in this recording
are strongly cast. Luciano Pavarotti is in wonderful voice and his clear articulation
in his act II cabaletta is a lesson to every tenor. His clearest diction and spontaneous
inflection in the role make for a convincing portrait of the impulsive Alfredo.
The sadly underrated Matteo Manuguerra displays sophisticated artistry as Germont.
His performance is no big operatic singing, but carefully adapted to every dramatic
situation. Moreover, his voice is velvety and clear. Also, Richard Bonynge’s
conducting is incredibly successful. He has a good notion of rhythmic propulsion
for the more animated numbers and a good ear for balance in ensembles. In the
more lyric moments, he tends to make things to move in a slower pace, but I don’t
fault him for that, since he keeps us interested in what is going on in the orchestra
and, if he had a more expressive soprano, this would have been perfect. I also
admire the fact that he is not accompanying the singers, but offering an "orchestral"
approach to Traviata in a natural theatre perspective. In fact, Bonynge is my
reference for conducting in this work - he knows how to keep forward movement
without indulging in gracelessness - something rare in the discography. The recorded
sound is excellent and you can also sample Della Jones’s Flora and John Tomlinson’s
Obigny. Zeffirelli’s new Traviata on video was called the "flexiglas
Traviata" because of the extravagant sceneries and glamourous production.
As always with this great Italian director, the images are beautiful (despite
an uncreative country house in act II) and the stage action is conceived with
sensitivity, charm and a Swiss clockmaker’s precision. This concern with
detail is particularly welcome in the beautiful miniature opera house in Busseto.
The lovely looking Stefania Bonfadelli takes the title role and acts with utmost
conviction. Her Violetta looks ill from act I and, although she is charming, she
manages not to act "like a lady", what is praiseworthy. Her care with
the text, her idiomatic Italian and her clearest diction are in the core of a
performance which is built rather as a theatrical impersonation than as a singer’s
act. As a matter of fact, Bonfadelli’s soprano is on the ligh side for Violetta
and some of the manipulation made in order to make it fit is bothersome, since
it makes the voice to sound overmetallic and fluttery. This impares clear coloratura
as well, but not her ability to produce trills and piani (some of them instable).
Nevertheless, she abounds in musical imagination and suceeds in establishing the
right musical "personality" for each act. Alas, Scott Piper as Alfredo
is not in this level. His tenor is throaty, his top notes lack brightness and
his acting is affected and unspontaneous, as if he was primarily concerned with
looking grand for the cameras of Rai Uno. Although Renato Bruson’s baritone
is a bit rusty these days, his lifetime experience shows in every bar. The caressing
tone he finds for the end of act II is particularly expressive. It is a pity that
he seems to be the member in the cast less attuned to Plácido Domingo’s
Toscaninian conducting. Quite often one feels that singer and conductor are strugling
over the tempo. Considering the results, one feels inclined to take Domingo’s
side. Although his act I is miscalculated (one could believe to be listening to
a Rossini comic opera), from act II on Domingo’s a tempo approach is indeed
interesting, with special attention to detail, highlighting solo instruments and
displaying amazing harmonic clarity. This avoidance of sentimentality plus a good
ear for orchestral effects make act II a must listen to Verdians. If I had to
point out drawbacks, I would mention a prevailing lack of finish, especially in
transitions. The orchestra has a warm sound (despite a dry recording) and succeeds
in sounding like a chamber group in some key moments. The edition is complete.
Mirella Freni was in exceptional voice when she recorded the role of Violetta
for a German TV production. The film is incredibly tacky and outdated and their
idea of historical setting passes by lots of things which clearly belongs to the
70’s (I mean - 1970’s). The Staatskapelle Berlin is a distinguished
orchestra and the recorded sound is full, a bit bright and dry. It is a pity that
Gardelli decided to go for a kapellmeisterlich approach. It has not a sparkle
of imagination, but it is done in a musicianly way. More than that - with such
cast and orchestral richness, it does sound closer to Rosenkavalier than any other
recording. Freni’s approach to her role is exclusively musical. It is done
with such good taste, sophisticated phrasing and vocal glamour that one cannot
resist her, even if there is no character going on here. In act I, she’s
amazing - with her youthful voice, charm and native Italian. In the other acts,
things tend to be more generalized, but her idiomatic delivery, helped by the
kind of singing voice teachers show to their students in order to prove why they
are never going to reach that level, makes it a must have. There is also Franco
Bonisolli in his best behaviour. His voice is also in its freshest and his handling
of passagework (yes, there is such thing for Alfredo) is so impressive that, once
you listen to him, you have some trouble to accept other tenors. His mezza voce
is also lovely and his diction is the clearest possible, even if he has some verismo
bad habits- kept within the level of acceptability here. It was very cruel of
the producers to invite, next to these two singers, the veteran Sesto Bruscantini
for a role never quite proper to his voice. He is too modest to deal with his
big voiced colleagues and act II simply doesn’t work. This was a missed opportunity
to make a less compelling but musically rewarding recording, if we had a better
conductor and baritone. I still keep it for Freni and Bonisolli. Carlos
Kleiber’s recording is the best seller in the discography, although traditional
listeners might say that it is furiously fast. It is indeed quite fast, but in
the hands of a conductor such as Kleiber, this only serves to create a dramatic
experience. He also has an excellent orchestra and a clear recording, although
string sounds a bit "high" as they usedto be on DG early digital recordings.
Ileana Cotrubas is, on paper, light voiced for Violetta, but copes with it admirably
well. However, her quality in the role goes beyond purely vocal terms. It has
a vividness of dramatic impersonation so believable and spontaneous that you couldn’t
help thinking she IS Violetta. Her first act is lovely and she is coquettish and
flirtatious enough, having no problem about her coloratura in Kleiber’s faster
tempi for Sempre Libera. Her top e flat is a bit in the tip of her toes, but I
am happy she did it. In act II, her tonal beauty and affectionate ways guarantees
that she has the listeners on her side. Her singing of this act avoids melodramatic
show-off - her Violeta suffers quite as we do at our homes - that is why it is
so touching. Only in act III, her imagination is not so vivid and her absence
of mezza voce is also felt. Her dealing with the parlando effects is also very
elegant and sensitive. Plácido Domingo is unmistakably thick for Alfredo,
but he seems so happy to be singing for Kleiber that he is resolved to do anything
he has to impress the conductor. So, we have a high rate of piani and - unwisely
- he goes for the top note ending on O mio rimorso to embarassing effects. Sherrill
Milnes is a sensitive Germont and interacts strongly with Cotrubas in act II. In
his studio recording with the Metropolitan Opera forces, Levine displays absolute
mastery of Verdian style allied to a real understand of musical drama. This is
a theatrical recording featuring intelligent phrasing, consequent tempi and polished
orchestral playing. There is no hint of vulgarity or squareness in this performance.
On the contrary, it can be said this is a Traviata made from the perspective of
a conductor who knows late Verdi very well. As an almost complete text is used
here, this set is a strong candidate for safe buy in the discography. Cheryl Studer
might seem a surprising choice for the title role, although her light-toned but
forceful soprano is the kind of voice one would readily associate with the role
in the past. As it is, she offers a highly sensitive performance, crafted with
the skill of both a Lieder singer and a powerful singing actress - freshly conceived
and different from anyone else's. She shines in the lyrical passages where her
musicianship, tone colouring and loveliness work to great effect. In the two most
famous arias, however, she leaves something to be desired. Her Sempre Libera has
its share of awkward coloratura and some metallic top notes and her attempt of
portraying Violetta's decaying health in act III, imaginative and well-conceived
as it is, makes for some untidy moments in Addio del passato. Luciano Pavarotti
no longer offers the homogeneous tone and polish of his previous recording, but
still sounds surprisingly young and ardent. Moreover, this is a role entirely
fit to his voice and temper. Juan Pons also offers attractive tone and also phrases
with some elegance, but his interpretation is too generalized to create a lasting
impression.
The Maazel recording was based on productions at the Deutsche Oper,
in Berlin, and it features a very nice orchestra and an amazingly spacious
and clear recorded sound. Maazel looks at Traviata from a symphonic
point-of-view, the orchestra taking a clear first place. This allows
for absolute clarity and it reveals a lot about Traviata’s score.
However, his tempi are eccentric. They tend to be fast in the party
scenes, for beautiful results, and all too slow for the lyrical ones,
where things drag a bit. When you have two members in the cast who could
be in Mahler’s 8th, things tend to be eccentric. Pilar Lorengar
is a sensitive artist and, although her coloratura is not the best imaginable,
she does sing affectingly most of the time, but her weird scintillating
tone prevent spontaneity and the performance is a blend of the predictable
with the well-behaved. Giacomo Aragall displays a beautiful voice as
Alfredo, although he is not in his best shape. He is a bit generalized
and his O mio rimorso (as the other da capo arias here) has only one
stanza and there is a cut in the end of it leading straight to a rather
squeezed top note. Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau was not in bad voice, but
he is a bit bumpy and not comfortable with the extreme ranges of his
voice. I found his characterization rather affected too and he doesn’t
sound sincere most part of the opera.
Recorded at the reopening of La Fenice in 2004, the performance from
Venice features Patrizia Ciofi in the leading role. Having made reputation
singing light lyric roles, the Italian soprano has decided to graduate
to heavier roles. Although this imaginative artist can bring illuminating
musicianship to some often poorly sung passages (such as the act I duet),
the violence to her lyric voice can be felt everywhere - in the abuse
of the passaggio, in the flapping and tear in the top register and the
instability of placement. It is true that there is a tradition of treating
the role of Violetta Valéry with gutsy flawed singing, but this
has never been anything but an excuse for ambitious sopranos. As for
Roberto Saccà, although the voice has a quite disturbing metallic
fluttery quality, it is solid enough for Alfredo. It also displays some
hardness, but a lifetime in Mozart does help him to have a clean line.
Dmitri Hvorostovsky only exposes the lightness of his colleagues, but
there is still his Slavic flavoured Italian and a basic absence of characterization
going on there - he often sounds aggressive in his phrasing, even when
he should be caressing. The edition shows Verdi's original ideas as
performed in the première. It is a bit disturbing to hear some
well known and loved passages often replaced by less solutions interesting
than the definitive ideas (the act II duet sounded less intimate and
expressive than we're used to know). All these years still haven't helped
Maazel to find his own voice in this score - there is a lack of naturalness
overall, some fussing with tempo and he could be a bit more helpful
to his singers. The production is shown in contemporary days, with leather
jackets and lots of money thrown all over the place (apparently the
director thinks nobody has so far understood that money plays an important
part in the plot). Considering this is Italy, I was surprised to see
on stage more than a splash of bad taste. Some will take profit to check
Ciofi's acting qualities, but close ups only show that she is using
an amazing quantity of energy to produce a Violetta sound.
Zubin Mehta seems a bit indifferent to Violetta
Valéry's predicament in his Philips studio recording. His tempi tend to
sag throughout and the overall impression is routine. Kiri Te Kanawa's velvety
voice brings an aura of sophistication and her poised phrasing (even during her
accomplished rendition of Sempre Libera) exhudes sophistication, what really serves
the idea of the role's appeal and seduction. However, her approach is too detached
to this opera and, exquisite as some moments are, there is some want of Verdian
style, something highlighted by her lazy enunciation of the text. Alfredo Kraus
is also accomplished, but the voice sounded overmetallic then (he was above 60
when he recorded it) and youthfulness is not the word that defines his performance.
Dmitri Hvorostovsky's imposing baritone is used in a rather insensitive manner. Riccardo
Muti is probably the most "interventionist" conductor in La Traviata’s
discography. He keeps total control of the performance and approaches every number
in a refreshing way, although I think that the orchestra should be a bit more
forward for this approach to make complete sense. His pace tends to be fast, especially
in the party scenes, where his attitude towards tempo seems to be rather insensitive
to some reviewers. I think that, when this level of precision (the Ambrosian choir
and the Philharmonia outstanding) is reached, the results are quite exciting.
In the intimate scenes, his flowing speed and telling highlighting of niceties
in the score, especially woodwind, are admirable. I particularly enjoy the lightness
and gayness in Sempre Libera, where Renata Scotto exhudes genuine joie de vivre.
Although most people prefer her performance for Votto, I think that her understanding
of the role of Violeta developed beyond recognition, even if her top notes had
acquired a metallic squillante quality which is rather disturbing. Anyway, all
the edges of the former performance are smoothed and, when she doesn’t have
to sing forte top notes, she has more allure, charm and lightness here. She is
also very successful in portraying the differences between the three acts. She
is surprisingly animated in act I, with adept coloratura and beautiful mezza voce.
In act II, she resists the temptation of sounding pretty and reaches some real
tragic colors for the duet with Germont. Act III has lots of sensitive singing
too. If you’re not disturbed by her sour and/or unstable top notes, it is
a fascinating performance. As for Kraus, he was in lightest voice (sometimes it’s
frankly thin) for Alfredo, but he articulates O mio rimorso beautifully and wisely
chooses avoiding the optional top note. Of course, he is elegant throughout, but
his performance next to Callas is the most interesting one. Bruson is in velvety
and rich voice throughout, but he is a bit impersonal. As his first recording
was accused of poor casting, Muti decided to remake his Traviata. Now, live at
La Scala. It is my opinion that it is the best video of this opera, since Cavani’s
production is exquisite and, although Paolo Coni looks young for his role, even
this is taken advantage of. In this production, the duet between Violeta and Germont
has a certain "seduction" involved and this only helped to make the
story more believable and interesting. Muti’s view has developed too, not
only for the best. I think that his even faster tempi make the party scenes to
sound a bit martial. On the other hand, the private scenes were completely drained
of sentimentality and, if you think that Traviata is shallow, this is probably
your performance. Act III is particularly successful and in "Prendi, quest’è
l’imagine", Muti has a stern view of Violeta’s death. The recorded
sound is excellent, with a prominent orchestra - a coherent decision considering
the conductor’s approach. Tiziana Fabbricini is a xerox copy of Callas, without
some of the best and worst features: she doesn’t have the Greek soprano’s
coloratura, but manages to produce the ill woman voice theory in a musically acceptable
way. She is not the best looking Violeta, although her milk-white skin and pitch
black hair look romantic enough. Probably, she would be considered a beauty in
Dumas’s day. She is a good actress, of course. Roberto Alagna is in his best
voice for Alfredo and sings with elegance and handsome tone throughout. Furthermore,
he has physique du rôle. Paolo Coni’s voice is a bit hard for Germont,
but he makes his best to soften the tone for act II. He is more comfortable in
Flora’s party. Patanè's Traviata was recorded live at the Bavarian
State Opera in 1965. Although the recorded sound recreates the atmosphere of the
theatre, it is rather variable, especially in what regards the placement of soloists
on stage. The beautiful orchestral sounds are not as favourably recorded as the
voice of the singers. Also, the choir has its undisciplined moments. The keyword
to this performance is - excitement. Although the conductor does nothing utterly
memorable about it, he knows how to keep the ebullience and to create operating
space to dramatic situations. However, the great interest of this recording certainly
is its legendary cast of singers not immediately associated to this repertoire.
This is exactly the point where my frustration lies. I usually expect from "German"
recordings of Verdi (be them in Italian or not) a certain purity of style, a certain
Mozartian straightforwardness and concentration on musicianship - and this recording
reveals an emphasis on what people associate to Verismo-like interpretation of
Verdi (which, in my opinion, is a violence of style), as if these artists wanted
to prove that they do belong in this repertoire. As a result, these singers really
do sound vulgar compared to... let's say Montserrat Caballé, Carlo Bergonzi
and Sherril Milnes in Prêtre's recording. However, they do sound far more
dramatically plugged than RCA's otherwise far more ingratiaging cast. Although
Teresa Stratas' voice is light for the role, she plunges into it with far more
energy than many a richer-voiced soprano. It is true that the tone is generally
strained and metallic and there is a hint of operetta in it (especially in act
I), but she knows how to manage her resources and to create a vivid character.
Fritz Wunderlich has this most likable of tenor voices and has the technical skill
to produce many memorable moments, but the overall effect is a lachrimosity, a
carelessness with rhythms and sloppiness generally associated to the worst tradition
of tenor singing. He also shares with Stratas the habit of changing some phrases.
Of course, he is involved in the drama and has some creative ideas (the original
reviews in 1965 point out the way he never sings repeats the same way), but if
you want a sophisticated and musicianly performance you really must turn to Bergonzi.
Hermann Prey is the singer closer to the right approach to this music, but his
voice is probably the most foreign to it. His baritone lacks depth and is too
grainy to start with. The result is a lack of legato and a certain choppiness.
Finally, Wunderlich fans (probably the target public to this recording) would
like to know that the cabaletta of his act II has been entirely cut from the score
in a rather awkward edition. Pritchard’s recording is grand in the
best and worst senses of it. First of all, Decca offers a very big recorded sound
and the conductor invites his orchestra to take a positive participation in it.
He only scales it down when his soloists have a hit melody. His tempi in the party
scenes generally are fast, with animated choral contribution and rich string sound,
although there some lack of precision in their phrasing. In the lyrical moments,
he is a bit at loss and his soloists don’t help him at all. In this recording,
Joan Sutherland is in her prime - her big flexible voice moving in astonishing
zipping speeds. She also offers perfect trills and floated pianissimi when needed,
but the role never had much to do with her personality. She sounds as if she was
singing Antonia in the Tales of Hoffmann most of the time. Moreover, she is recorded
very far from the microphone (I guess her top notes would have gone distorted
otherwise) and this creates a weird effect. Her middle register seems pale sometimes
because of that and sometimes it seems she is singing la voce del cielo or something
like that because of the halo around her voice. I found it really disturbing.
Bergonzi, as anyone could have guessed, is elegance itself as Alfredo and he even
attempts his cabaletta (here you have a complete edition, only some repeats in
the da capo numbers are avoided) with the final top note. However, he still sounds
too self-contained in this role. Robert Merrill was also short of ideas in this
recording. Although the voice is impoising, the characterization is very generalized.
He is also a quite stern Germont in act II. Previtali’s recording has
many trumps in the sleeves. First of all, the recorded sound is impressive, with
wonderfully velvety string sound. It is a pity that, when voices appear, such
lovely orchestral sound gets a bit recessed. But maybe it is that Previtali is
rather an accompanist. However, he has very good tempi and seems to be einverstanden
with his singers. Anna Moffo, previously a Susanna and Nanetta, offers some exquisite
singing as Violeta. Although the tone has nothing Italianate in it, it is quite
sexy in its dark covered way. She also has an unfailing good taste and phrases
as an oboist, with sophisticated articulation, beautiful mezza voce and accurate
and easy coloratura. It is a pleasure to the ears throughout, even if everything
above mezzo forte takes her to her limits. Anyway, those were her freshest days
and she goes to a top e flat in the end of Sempre Libera. Richard Tucker is also
in splendid voice and his phrasing is also very elegant, attacking dead on the
note and offering some true vocal shade here and there. However, his whole manner
is too grand for Alfredo. Finally, Robert Merrill is in very good voice and sings
with refinement too. What all of them lack is any sense of theatre. It sounds
as if they were singing Haydn’s Die Schöpfung.
The Rizzi recording is a performance quite hard to describe. It has
lots of minor problems, but only one big blemish, which is the conductor.
I think he is too inflexible and insensitive. The problem is less serious
on CD, where the London Symphony helps him a lot. On the video at La
Fenice, things are even more shallow. On Teldec, the recorded sound
is very nice, although a bit overspacious for the performance. Edita
Gruberová’s performance is full of refined details and her
easiest coloratura, brilliant top notes and appealing mezza voce are
strong assests, also her musicianly phrasing and clear diction. However,
all those qualities don’t bring Violeta to life. We could say that
Caballé, Freni and Moffo didn’t try to create a character
either and got more encouraging reviews in this text, but those three
offer the kind of vocal glamour that Gruberová cannot produce
in this role, because her voice is light for it (in the sense that she
lacks low notes for the role) and the whole approach is too Viennese.
As an admirer of Gruberová, I have defended many of her performances
of Italian opera, especially in Donizetti. However, the role of Violetta
is particularly ill-suited to the Viennese approach in every sense -
dramatic and musical. Maybe if she tried to make more difference between
the acts, it could have worked better. As it is, it has lots of refined
moments - her Addio del passato is particularly soaring - but it lacks
a backbone. Neil Schicoff’s voice is also ill suited for Alfredo.
It is thick and lacking in spontaneity and he is not in his most sensitive
mood here. At La Fenice, this is more pronounced. Zancanaro is an all-purpose,
but unproblematic Germont. The video is to be avoided. First of all,
the sceneries are so ugly that it is almost an insult. The pink floor
in Violeta’s house is a crime against good taste and beyond forgiveness.
Also, costumes and make-up artists deserve the guillotine. Gruberová
is made to look so ugly that I wonder which kind of talent she had to
possess in order to find her clients. Also, Schicoff’s Alfredo,
using spectacles, looks so much like a Nerd that you can’t give
much credit to him.
Maturity hasn't showed Rizzi the right touch to produce a memorable
Traviata. And this time he had all the necessary elements to do it -
a glamourous cast and one of the world's leading orchestras. His beat
is still quite square, he handles transitions awkwardly and producing
a more polished sound (especially in ensembles) would make a great difference.
Also, the recorded sound is too artifficial for comfort. The orchestra
lacks presence, the chorus is recorded with poor definition and soloists
have too much of an advantage over the pit - and we know that's hardly
the case in the Grosses Festspielhaus. That said, the Vienna Philharmonic
is still an advantage - Verdi's string filigree writing is neatly and
expressively handled. There is no doubt Anna Netrebko is an admirable
Violetta. She encompasses the long range with amazing ease, has good
taste and imagination - not to mention that her voice evokes youth,
beauty, seduction and sex appeal. However, with all those qualities,
act one is still a bit uneventful. She seems concentrated on producing
the notes while offering a generalized idea of allure. Sempre libera
has its nervous moments. Act two shows her in great shape, though. She
colours her tone with sensitivity, showing the various facts of Violetta
- vulnerability, fragile health, excitability and emotional "neediness"
- it is all there. Unfortunately, act three does not keep in this level.
It is musicianly and exquisitely done, but intensity and spontaneitylack
a bit. Nevertheless, I don't want to sound picky - she offers one of
the most beautifully sung accounts of this difficult role in the recent
discography. Rolando Villazon is an imaginative singer, but some of
his vocalization is on the raw sound and more compatible with verismo
than with Verdi. Still he has appealing mezza voce and sees to his divisions
in O mio rimorso. Finally, Thomas Hamkpson is miscast as Germont. All
his intelligence doesn't make for the juiceless unitalianate tone and
lack of ease in both extremes of his range. A DVD will follow the present
audio-only release. Then, Netrebko' s charm and great looks will add
some value to her performance, although the production - with its abstract
Italian-car TV-publicity aesthetics - looks a bit pasteurized to my
taste.
The DVD from Aix-en-Provence
is something really special. Conductor Yutaka Sado at first seems a bit clumsy
with transitions and sometimes square, but his perfomance developes beautifully.
It seems Mr. Sado has a more classical approach to the score, allowing woodwind
to blossom in the orchestral sound and building organic structures in a classical
way rather than highlighting moments in order to create atmosphere. These decisions
make sense if we consider that La Traviata is not late Verdi and deserves to be
set in context. The more intimate sound picture also makes sense to a more "indoors"
plot and the cast has understood this beautifully. With her blond floaty soprano,
entirely even, creamy and comfortable throughout its range, Gluckian diva Mireille
Delunsch does not jump to one's mind when one thinks of Verdi - and this is all
for the best. She made me re-listen to the entire part as if it were the first
time. I cannot connect her performance to anyone else's - not even to de los Angeles'
or Caballé's, which would be the names I would try to make some reference
to. Her purity of line, perfect technique and naturalness of emission even in
a role on paper heavy for her match her very feminine small-scaled view of a woman
who is touching because she is no heroine, she is just an ordinary girl with a
difficult life. This is probably the most classical performance ever offered of
the role of Violetta - and this is no mean achivement considered the acting demands
- masterly satisfied - made on her by the sstage director. Matthew Polenzani is
also a most elegant Alfredo, sung on a pleasant spontaneous tenor voice, flexible
and keen on legato. Finally, Zeljko Lucic's Bruson-like baritone is also a treat
to the ears. The recorded sound is excellent and Mr. Sado's concern with clarity
becomes illuminating therewith. The act II final ensemble has never sounded so
transparent to my ears. Regarding the concept of this production, it has as many
good ideas as it has some rather disturbing ones. It seems we see the whole action
as flash-back from the delirious dying Violetta - and the idea is beautiful, as
well as the white Marilyn Monroe-like dress and hair-style and the images projected
on a transparent screen covering the whole stage (particularly the raindrops -
I don't know why - it fits the music). However, the scenery depicting a road in
the middle of nowhere serves neither the room where Violetta is dying nor the
places where the action happens. Many of the lines become pointless and the time
of the action is impossible to guess. Votto’s recording, sold
two for one, is a good way to approach La Traviata. The recorded sound is very
clear and La Scala’s orchestra is good. Votto’s conducting is completely
indifferent. A metronome would have done the same, maybe a bit more animatedly,
but he has a good cast. First of all, nobody makes so much of the text as Renata
Scotto. Not only you can hear it with amazing clarity, but the whole thing does
make sense. She is also in flexible voice and produces some interesting effects,
such as the optional e flat in the end of Sempre Libera. However, her voice is
made to sound really shrill here and sometimes it is quite ugly. Gianni Raimondi
has a natural open tone which is quite pleasing, but he is a bit careless about
his phrasing and can get exaggerated when required to "act with the voice",
such as in act III. Bastianini is in strong voice here, but again is unvaried
throughout as Germont. top ~Il
Trovatore 1 - Leontyne Price (Leonora), Rosalind Elias (Azucena),
Richard Tucker (Manrico), Leonard Warren (di Luna), Opera di Roma, Arturo Basile 2
- Raina Kabaivanska (Leonora), Viorica Corttez (Azucena), Franco Bonisolli (Manrico),
Giorgio Zancanaro (di Luna), Staatskapelle Berlin, Bruno Bartoletti 3 -
Joan Sutherland (Leonora), Marilyn Horne (Azucena), Luciano Pavarotti (Manrico),
Ingvar Wixell (di Luna), National Philharmonic, Richard Bonynge 4 - Joan
Sutherland (Leonora), Laurie Elms (Azucena), Kenneth Collins (Manrico), Donald
Shanks (di Luna), Elizabethan Sydney Orchestra, Richard Bonynge 5 - Zinka
Milanov (Leonora), Fedora Barbieri (Azucena), Jussi Björling (Manrico), Leonard
Warren (di Luna), RCA Orchestra, Renato Cellini 6 - Katia Ricciarelli (Leonora),
Stefania Toczyska (Azucena), José Carreras (Manrico), Yuri Mazurok (di
Luna), Covent Garden, Colin Davis 7 - Renata Tebaldi (Leonora), Giulietta
Simionato (Azucena), Mario del Monaco (Manrico), Ugo Savarese (di Luna), Orchestre
du Grand Theâtre de Genève, Alberto Erede 8 - Rosalind Plowright
(Leonora), Fiorenza Cossotto (Azucena), Franco Bonisolli (Manrico), Giorgio Zancanaro
(di Luna), Arena di Verona, Reynald Giovanninetti 9 - Rosalind Plowright
(Leonora), Brigitte Fassbaender (Azucena), Plácido Domingo (Manrico), Giorgio
Zancanaro (di Luna), Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Carlo Maria Giulini 10
- Montserrat Caballé (Leonora), Irinna Arkhipova (Azucena), Carlo Cossutta
(Manrico), Sherrill Milnes (di Luna), Covent Garden, Anton Guadagno 11 -
Daniela Longhi (Leonora), Irina Tschistiakova (Azucena), Maurizio Frusoni (Manrico),
Roberto Servile (di Luna), Hungarian State Opera Orchestra, Will Humburg 12
- Maria Callas (Leonora), Fedora Barbieri ((Azucena), Giuseppe di Stefano (Manrico),
Rolando Panerai (di Luna), La Scala, Herbert von Karajan 13 - Leontyne Price
(Leonora), Giulietta Simionato (Azucena), Franco Corelli (Manrico), Ettore Bastianini
(di Luna), Wiener Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan 14 - Leontyne Price
(Leonora), Elena Obraztsova (Azucena), Franco Bonisolli (Manrico), Piero Cappuccilli
(di Luna), Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan 15 - Raina Kabaivanska
(Leonora), Fiorenza Cossotto (Azucena), Plácido Domingo (Manrico), Piero
Cappuccilli (di Luna), Wiener Staatsoper, Herbert von Karajan 16 - Eva Marton
(Leonora), Dolora Zajick (Azucena), Luciano Pavarotti (Domingo), Sherrill Milnes
(Di Luna), Metropolitan Opera, James Levine 17 - Aprile Millo (Leonora),
Dolora Zajick (Azucena), Plácido Domingo (Manrico), Valdimir Chernov (di
Luna), Metropolitan Opera, James Levine 18 - Leontyne Price (Leonora), Fiorenza
Cossotto (Azucena), Plácido Domingo (Manrico), Sherrill Milnes (di Luna),
New Philharmonia, Zubin Mehta 19 - Antonella Banaudi (Leonora), Shirley
Verrett (Azucena), Luciano Pavarotti (Manrico), Leo Nucci (di Luna), Maggio Musicale
Fiorentino, Zubin Mehta 20 - Verónica Villaroel (Leonora), Elena
Zaremba (Azucena), Andrea Bocelli (Manrico), Carlo Guelfi (di Luna), Orchestra
e Coro del Tratro Massimo Bellini di Catania, Steven Mercurio 21 - Barbara
Frittoli (Leonora), Violeta Urmana (Azucena), Salvatore Licitra (Manrico), Leo
Nucci (di Luna), La Scala, Riccardo Muti 22 - Leyla Gencer (Leonora), Fedora
Barbieri (Azucena), Mario del Monaco (Manrico), Ettore Bastianini (di Luna), RAI
di Milano, Fernando Previtali 23 - Verónica Villaroel (Leonora),
Yvonne Naef (Azucena), José Cura (Manrico), Dmitri Hvorostovsky (di Luna),
Covent Garden, Carlo Rizzi 24 - Gabriella Tucci (Leonora), Giulietta Simionato
(Azucena), Franco Corelli (Manrico), Robert Merrill (di Luna), Opera di Roma,
Thomas Schippers 25 - Antonietta Stella (Leonora), Fiorenza Cossotto (Azucena),
Carlo Bergonzi (Manrico), Ettore Bastianini (di Luna), La Scala, Tullio Serafin 26
- Julia Varady (Leonora), Stefania Tockyskaa (Azucena), Dennis O'Neal (Manrico),
Wolfgang Brendel (di Luna), Bayerische Staatsoper, Giuseppe Sinopoli
Premièred in 1853 at the Teatro Apollo in Rome, Il Trovatore
is one of Verdi’s most controversial works. Its detractors consider
it shallow music with easy melodies around an absurd plot - a vulgar
work. However, this has to be considered an uninformed point of view.
Verdi’s Trovatore is a work entirely in keeping with the aesthetics
of the time of its creation. Garcia Gutierrez’s play El Trovador
is a perfect example of Romantic theatre, where any hint of rationalism
should be avoided and an exaggerated state of emotionalism should be
reached in order to enlighten the audiences exclusively through the
heart. It was also part of the style the taste for the grotesque, the
variety of settings and the fact that the leading man rarely achieves
anything - the idea was that the female characters would sacrifice themselves
to redeem him. That’s exactly what Leonora tries to do - but the
role of Azucena is the pivotal element of the plot. A woman torn between
maternal and filial love, as Verdi would have said - the most extreme
of extreme situations. Although Romantic characters tend to soeem like
cardboard under pyschological analysis, Azucena reaches real mythical
status with her ambiguous attitude. She undergoes a serious shock on
witnessing her mother dying in the stake and is forced to commit to
a revenge she does not really want to perform. Therefore, "by accident",
instead of killing her mother’s enemy’s son, she puts her
own baby to die through the same element who killed her mother - fire.
Thus, she breaks the bonds that tied her to this chain of obligations
and duties. She is no longer in the position to identify with her mother
- since she technically ceases to be one - and, on raising someone else’s
child, more than that - a child she should kill by "legitimate"
revenge, she feels free of any obligation towards him. However, things
do not run so smoothly in her conscience and in her heart. Throughout
the whole opera, Azucena is alternatively saving and leading Manrico
to death. Finally, when she is in no position either to be helpful to
his "adoptive" son or faithful to her mother’s last wish,
Manrico is put to death by his own brother. Annihilated by her own uselessness,
she helplessly claims that her mother is finally avenged. In this sense,
there is a similiarity between Azucena and Hofmannsthal's Elektra, on
denying motherhood, she is incapable of accomplishing anything - even
the sole purpose of her life, her revenge.
In Verdi’s eyes, Azucena is the main character of the opera. And
so the score shows. Although Verdi was highly inspired melodically speaking,
providing unparalleled variety of melodical material for the different
characters and situations - it is the role of Azucena the one who makes
this opera the masterpiece it is. Her writing is no longer the usual
cavatina and cabaletta - she "speaks" authentic Musikdrama
language. It is indeed fascinating the way Verdi shows us the further
step Azucena takes. We hear her from the first time singing a conventional
canzone (albeit wonderfully evocative) "Stride la Vampa" only
to hear her disconstruct it a few moments later in "Condotta ell’era
in ciepi" - where the trills are left aside so that the orchestra
and hair raising declamation tell the true story behind the song. As
Verdi wrote Trovatore and Traviata almost at the same time, the role
of Leonora has a kind of development similar to the one experienced
by Violetta Valéry. The tessitura gets lower and the lyric writing
starts to make way to a more dramatic vocalisation. The tenor and baritone
roles are more conventional, although the baritone gets probably the
most beautiful aria in the whole work, "Il balen". We cannot
forget that it is not him who performs the misdeed who starts the plot
and it is hard to tell in the end if he is not a victim of it.
The first Leonora was Rosina Penco, who would eventually become a celebrated
singer. Her voice was soprano drammatico d’agilità, but
her technique was not exactly perfect. However, she was one of Verdi’s
favourite sopranos those days. On the other hand, the first Azucena,
Emilia Goggi, failed to please Verdi, although she was a well-loved
singer. Goggi started as a soprano - she did sing Casta Diva in one
recital, but later changed to mezzo soprano Fach. Among her roles, Adalgisa
and Rosina in Barbiere di Siviglia. She was said to have a most beautiful
voice and to be a refined vocalist. Nevertheless, one can understand
Verdi - she does not seem to have been the kind of dramatic mezzo soprano
he had in mind. The tenor who premièred the role of Manrico was
Carlo Baucardé, who started as a baritone (he even sang Carlo
in Ernani) and shifted to tenor. He came to sing the title role in Ernani,
but generally stayed within the limits of lighter repertoire in works
such as Rigoletto, Don Pasquale, Ernani, Luisa Miller. He was said to
have amazing mezza voce, but was also capable of real power in the upper
register. It is said that he invented the top c options in Di quella
pira, but some also say it was Enrico Tamberlinck the one to go for
the top c’s for the first time. The first di Luna was Giovanni
Guicciardi. Verdi was not satisfied with his performance either. He
said he would rather need a "high bass" for the role, probably
meaning that, although there is some high tessitura to deal with, the
voice should sound dark enough throughout.
Until 1969, there was no complete recording of Il Trovatore (with the
exception of the Karajan on EMI), since the duettino L’onde
de’ suoni mistici and the cabaletta Tu vedrai che amor
in terra used to be cut. Also, three other cabalette were shortened
- Di tale amor, Per me ora fatale and Di quella
pira. Some other small cuts in ensembles used to be made, notably
in the trio finale in act I.
Bartoletti’s recording was the soundtrack for a film for German
TV who could be described as utterly kitsch. The Italian conductor offers
a decent performance which does not lack animation and has a plausible
cast. Raina Kabaivanska has beautiful pianissimi and some flexibility
and she is musicianly, but the voice lacks some warmth and beauty for
this role. Viorica Cortez has most of what is required of an Azucena,
especially a wide range and more than enough temper, but she is not
always in complete control of her many resources. Franco Bonisolli was
in healthy voice and offers a Manrico rich in top notes and capable
of real articulation. His interpretation has its mannerisms, but one
cannot overlook his vocal adequacy to this role - this being his best
recorded performance in it. However, Giorgio Zancanaro is the most distinguished
member of the cast. He was in exceptional voice, offering a neverending
stream of velvety and dark sound throughout. I think he never sounded
better in recordings. The edition is not complete and the aria Tu
Vedrai is missing.
Bonynge’s recording was considered to be for a long time an interesting
alternative view of this opera, since it was supposedly presenting it
in a "Donizettian" way, including embellishments and other
niceties. Also, he incorporates in his editions some details of a version
made in 1857 for Paris. Bonynge has an elegant, rhythmic approach to
the score and the result is clear and pleasant to the ears, if not powerful
and dramatic. Joan Sutherland is not at her freshest-toned and interpretatively
too generalized to cause an impression. Marilyn Horne too is taxed by
Azucena and her tone is not firm enough and the top notes stress her.
Naturally, her accurate ornaments are worth while listerning. Ingvar
Wixell is not very comfortable either in a part unsuited to his voice.
Only Pavarotti offers some pleasure, but, instead of relying in his
voice as it is, he is trying to make it sound a couple of sizes bigger
and, as result of it, a performance that could have been excellent is
only good.
Erede’s is probably the worst version of this opera
in catalogue. His conducting lacks a backbone and is rhythmically flawed, although
he has a good orchestra. Renata Tebaldi is completely unsuited to the role, which
is high and too decorated for her voice. On the other hand, Giulietta Simionato
is the redeeming feature of the recording, offering a wonderful Azucena, settling
the standard with which all other performances should be judged. Mario del Monaco,
however, is completely miscast as Manrico. His voice is too big for the role and
he sounds awkward most of the time. However, Ugo Savarese’s Di Luna is the
most puzzling feature of the performance - he sounds like the best baritone in
a provincial opera house. The recorded sound is very good for its age.
If one is curious to sample Mario del Monaco’s Manrico under better
conditions, the black and white film from the RAI archives may be a
good idea. Here, he is in his best trumpeting shape and goes for some
very high notes and, if he is never subtle or musicianly, he never fails
to produce powerful golden tones. It is a pity, though, that in Di quella
pira (transposed down), the tenor lets all his lines over the choir
go unsung. His Leonora is Leyla Gencer, not in her best shape but warming
to a wonderful last act (her Miserere is indeed exemplary). As a matter
of fact, Gencer’s charming tone, floating pianissimi, long range
and flexibility makes for some akward register change and opaque top
notes - especially in a role usually poorly sung. On the other hand,
Fedora Barbieri is in excellent health and works on 100% dramatic power
as Azucena. Her performance is short of legato and some of her top notes
are below pitch, but her idiomatic delivery, dark low register and rhythmic
alertness are mesmerising. Ettore Bastianini sounds like the "high
bass" of Verdi’s dreams, but he is also short on legato and
imagination and aspirates his phrases too often. Although he is using
an extraordinarily rich toned orchestra (and the mono recording is quite
clear), Previtali is a bit square and, when he is not relying on fast
tempi (actually, Barbieri’s accuracy in the zippy Stride la vampa
is admirable), things seem a bit shallow and lacking in forwards movement,
such as in the first Azucena/Manrico duet. The film is short of embarassing,
with school pantomime sceneries, ugly costumes and the most artifficial
direction one could think of. Among the singers, only Barbieri does
something interesting. Even if one may found it over the top, it is
done with an Anna Magnani-like intensity which is hard to resist.
As
always, one cannot expect refinement from the Arena di Verona, and their Trovatore
just confirms that. Giovanninetti offers a routine performance - the sceneries
are rather sketchy too. Rosalind Plowright is the most interesting member of the
cast. I have never heard her in such good voice. Although it is impossible to
be really subtle in such venue, she offers a richly sung Leonora. Fiorenza Cossotto
was past her best and relies on her experience and charisma to save her in the
tricky passages. That cannot be said of Franco Bonisolli, whose tone has developed
into being really ugly. Only the top notes remain. As a matter of fact, he sings
Di quella pira twice. Giorgio Zancanaro offers an only decent performance. It
is not very ingratiating nor inspiring.
Giulini’s Trovatore is an important collector’s item. Its
edition is based on the composer’s manuscript and the conductor
seems to be making the point that Il Trovatore should be dealt with
musicianly all the way. Because of that, the number one quality of this
performance is its elegance. Due to the slower tempi and the conductor's
intent of showing all the niceties in the score, it is often acused
of being "Trovatore, the oratorio", but this is mean. Actually,
it seems to me that Giulini opted for performing Il Trovatore related
to late Verdi and in a very serious manner - for a change. His Leonora
is Rosalind Plowright, but, alas, she is not as satisfying as in Verona.
She does have a charming voice and copes with all the technical difficulties
of the role, but her top register is unvaried, a bit hard and uncapable
of floating. Her interpretation is a bit indifferent too. However, she
is musicianly and elegant in keeping with the conductor’s view.
It was a bold idea to cast Brigitte Fassbaender as Azucena, especially
in a recording made in Italy. Her voice is rather light for the role
and some of the exposed top notes tax her, but she brings her usual
inteligence, energy and imagination, creating a striking character.
Domingo’s voice had become heavier and his Manrico is less spontaneous
than it used to be. Also, Zancanaro’s voice is rougher than for
Bartoletti, but his interpretation is subtler in compensation here.
Karajan has a long story wth Il Trovatore and some of his recorded
performances have reached legendary status, especially the first, in
mono sound. Recorded in 1956 with La Scala forces, it is a highly dramatic
and exciting performance, coupling true Italianate rhythmic sense and
sensuousness with Karajan’s powerful orchestral sounds. Only the
recorded sound does not allow them to develop as they should have done
in the flesh. Anyway, the result is exhilarating and one has to sample
the "singing" violins in the act I finale to understand the
kind of magic Karajan did in this score. As Leonora, there is Maria
Callas and that is reason enough for her fans. Those who do not include
in this group do not need to worry. The Greek soprano was in strong
voice and brings her deep knowledge of bel canto style plus a voice
and technique entirely in keeping with the role’s apparently incompatible
demands. Fedora Barbieri is again a dark contralto-ish Azucena. She
does have an impressive low register and some real gift for declamation,
but the voice sometimes lacks tone in the middle register (notably in
Stride la vampa) and her ventures into high register can be aproximative.
It ends on being an elderlier vision of Azucena. The role of Manrico
is heavy for Giuseppe di Stefano and the tone tends to be tense and
open, but the charm of his voice and the fearlessness (he does take
the optional top notes) with which he deals with his difficult part
makes him congenial, even when the results are far from satisfying.
As for Panerai, the voice always has an eccentric sound for this kind
of role and he is not always stylish in this kind of repertoire, but
his commitment and strength help him to create a striking impression.
Six years later, in the Salzburg Festival, Karajan increased the level
of excitement offering one of the most imposing casts those days plus
the virtuosistic playing of the Vienna Philharmonic. The broadcast was
first available in pirate labels until DG released it in its Festival
series. As Leonora, there was Leontyne Price in top form and in her
best behaviour and the reliable Giulietta Simionatto, whose talents
were always taken profit of by Karajan. Next to these two distinguished
ladies, Corelli and Bastianini will hardly sound refined or imaginative.
What they offer are two super powerful voices and top notes you will
never forget. Karajan still had something to say about the work. In
his return to the Vienna State Opera in the 70’s, he performed
this opera with another cast of legendary status - L.Price, Christa
Ludwig, Pavarotti, Cappuccilli and Van Dam. In the following year, the
performance was broadcast for TV and finally released on CD by RCA and
on DVD by TDK. As taped, the production is a bit dark and gloomy, what
is ultimately better since the costumes and sceneries have something
of tacky about them. But let’s concentrate on the soundtrack. The
cast, unfortunately, is not the same of the previous year - with Kabaivanska
taking the part of Leonora, Cossotto the part of Azucena and Domingo
as a last minute replacement for Bonisolli (who had an argument with
the conductor during the dress rehearsal). As always, Karajan's "Wagnerian"
approach involves some illuminating moments, more so if one has in mind
that the Vienna State Opera Orchestra offers rich sounds throughout,
often highlighting hidden niceties in the score. However, the performance
lacks conviction as a whole and gets heavier during the evening. This
is particularly bothersome because the glamourous cast does not live
to its reputation. Raina Kaibavanska is not in good shape and often
produces sour tone and works really hard for refinement. Her acting
is extremely artificial too. Although she is having a bad time with
her high register, Fiorenza Cossotto is the only singer in the cast
who retains some interest until the end of the opera. Her bronze-toned
mezzo, idiomatic delivery and sheer charisma make for the flat top notes.
Plácido Domingo is in very strong voice and his ardent Ah, sě, ben mio
is admirable. However, nervousness results in an awkward Di quella
pira. Piero Cappuccilli is a solid di Luna, but rather unvaried
and phlegmatic. José van Dam is a light, but intelligent Ferrando.
Finally, Karajan offered around the time of the Vienna performances
a second studio performance. The problem of this recording started with
the recording itselt, which explored the short-lived quadraphonic technique.
As a result, the sound was problematic and a bit messy. However, after
EMI remastered it, the results are more acceptable, even if one still
has to deal with Karajan extreme (and artifficial) dynamics. The shining
feature of the performance is, of course, the Berlin Philharmonic in
its powerful best. Karajan here offers a different point-of-view of
Il Trovatore. His tempi are slower and Karajan concentrates on showing
hidden niceties in the score. Some moments are memorable, such as his
highlighting the trombones in Ha questa infame l’amor venduto.
The cast is exotic. Leontyne Price was past her best when she recorded
it. The voice thins at the top and the low notes are even more problematic.
However, in the lyric moments, she still holds her own and produces
heavenly pianissimi in velvety voice. Against all expectations, Elena
Obrastzova is a convincing Azucena. Of course, her voice has this weird
metallic vibrancy, but here not only is she amazingly powerful in the
whole range, but is able to scale down to quieter dynamics when necessary,
not to mention that her peculiar voice adds character to the role and
she is particularly sensitive to the text. A fine performance of a difficult
role. Although his performance is also quite adept and he is flexible
and has amazing top notes, Franco Bonisolli’s voice as recorded
here sounds ugly and strained (except in the top notes) most of the
time. When he’s free to sing mezza voce, he can be interesting,
as in Ah, sì, ben mio. On the other hand, Piero Cappuccilli is
consistently competent, but the voice is devoid of magic and the interpretation
is not particularly interesting. However, Ruggiero Raimondi’s Ferrando
is wonderfully flexible and characterful.
Levine’s studio recording deserves special attention because of
his classical approach, with flowing tempi, articulate phrasing, absolute
vertical clarity and spacious recording. Actually, it is astonishing
the sense of proportion and the structural feeling Levine displays here,
but - truth be said - it is sorely lacking in drama. Compare it with
Muti and you’ll see how his equally fast speeds have a theatrical
point and how La Scala’s orchestra plays it with an energy and
variety unavailable to the Metropolitan Orchestra. As a result, even
the most gripping moments of the score sound well behaved and uninflected.
There is a strong cast here. Aprile Millo’s voice is a fantastic
instrument for Verdi, counting on a very wide range, rounded spacious
tone and beautiful mezza voce. Unfortunately, runs are out of her many
possibilities, but she has a reasonable solution for the trills. Also,
she is not the most creative of singers and her "interpretative"
points may sound artifficial. Altough Levine accomodates a lot for her,
it is still a performance valid for the ease and fearlessness with which
a richly-gifted voice deals with a difficult part. On the other hand,
Dolora Zajick offers a sensational performance of Azucena. Not only
her big voice has more than enough resources to deal with her part,
but also she is in full control of it. Her Stride la vampa is a model
of accuracy and her interpretation has a freshness as if the role had
been written just for her. Rarely resorting to clichés, she builds
her performance from a wide palette of tone colours and has always a
new insight to share with the audience. At first, it seems that the
role of Manrico had become impossibly heavy for Domingo's voice. Not
only the top notes are (predictably) uncomfortable, but also the voice
seems a bit off-center and sometimes it seems as if he is sight-reading,
so detached is his vocal and interpretative approach. Suddenly, he comes
out with a handsomely sung Ah, sì, ben mio, followed by one of
his best Di quella pira - the top notes are still outside his powers,
but the articulation is clearer. Fortunately, he goes to the end of
the opera in this "livelier" mood. Vladimir Chernov is also
light-voiced for his role, but it is a beautiful voice used with extreme
good-taste and musicianship. James Morris is an engaged Ferrando, but
Levine makes his first aria really difficult for him because the tempi
is really fast and, on trying to cope with it, his voice sounds less
rich than usual.
Live at the Met, Levine's concept is less
focused and his orchestra and chorus do not help him. The sound image is often
shallow in lower dynamics and rather rough-edged in the louder moments. On DVD,
the production is a bit overglamourous, but quite beautiful and pleasing. Eva
Marton is loud and gusty Leonora, her good intentions defeated by lack of acquaintance
with the style and the fact that this is not really her Fach. A distinguished
Azucena, Dolora Zajick was not at her best voice that evening. She takes some
time to warm up and the tone is a bit curdled and her low notes surprisingly lack
space. Luciano Pavarotti is a bit careless as Manrico, her handsome tenor often
sounding overly open, not to mention that he cheats a bit too. However, his natural
high register and tonal quality are clear assets and he would probably be the
best Manrico on video if his looks and acting were compatible to the role of this
impassioned young man. Sherrill Milnes is really past his best, his pitch often
approximate and his tone lacking firmness. Zubin Mehta’s RCA recording
is considered by many the reference for this opera. If one takes cast over every
other aspects of a recording, yes, this is certainly the classic in the discography.
Here, Leontyne Price is in healthiest voice - a voice which suggests the Spanish
sensuousness of Gutierrez’s play in the first notes - but she would become
subtler later for Karajan. On the other hand, Fiorenza Cossotto offers here her
best Azucena, a fiery performance sung in brilliant tone throughout. This was
Domingo’s first complete opera recording and he is in his youthful best,
more lyric than in his other recordings and offering his best try at Di quella
pira, even if he doesn’t display the knowledge of style he would later display
for Giulini. Sherrill Milnes was also in wonderful voice. Mehta’s conducting
is kappelmeisterlich, but the main problem here is the recorded sound, which is
simply below standard and unacceptable for a studio recording. Probably because
of this, Mehta took it to studio again, now with the forces of the Maggio Musicale
Fiorentino. For Mehta's second recording, Decca offers spacious clear sound
and the orchestra of the Maggio Musicale is in great shape. The conductor has
a rather superficial approach, lacking forward movement and drama, but pleasant
enough. The cast is not perfect, but has the necessary charisma to make it worth
while listening. Antonella Banaudi's vibrant soprano displays charming if old-fashioned
style, including a rather metallic edge in the most outspoken moment, delicate
piani and a rather veiled middle register. On the interpretative side, she is
not very specific, but her idiomatic Italian, interesting use of portamento and
musicianship are more than welcome. On the other hand, even recorded a bit past
her best, Shirley Verrett is an impressive Azucena. Although her middle register
is a bit unsettled, she still has impressive top notes and her characteristic
forceful low notes. Compared to her native-speaker colleagues, she sounds a bit
foreign - and has her grey-voiced and unstable moments, but her heartfelt and
unexaggerated performance is particularly convincing. Pavarotti was already in
his open-toned days, has his rough moments and - amazing as it may sound - is
not very keen on legato. It is still a phonogenic voice, capable of giving some
flamboyance to the role of Manrico, though. Leo Nucci didn't seem to be in his
best voice either. He is often emphatic and rough and - even if the voice would
be less fresh - I prefer his more focused performance for Muti. Barbara Frittoli
is the best sounding Ines ever and Francesco Ellero d'Artegna is a capable Ferrando.
In order to be objective in my opinion of Steven Mercurio's performance,
I will have to overlook the matter of microphonic help to the performance's leading
tenor (as a sound perspective different from the rest of the cast seems to confirm).
As recorded, Andrea Bocelli's voice sounds a plausible instrument for the
role of Manrico. It certainly has a natural handsome sound and his native Italian
is always welcome. Helped by studio cosmetics or not, the main problem is his
lack of interpretative naturalness. His phrasing often betrays artistic imaturity.
There is a certain bluntness, carefulness and tentativeness that even a overparted
tenor recorded in less favourable surroundings, such as Giuseppe di Stefano for
Karajan, would never indulge in. It is true that he tries to insert some parlando,
glottal effects or heavy aspiration effects to make for a performance - but even
those undesirable features sound artifficial. As Leonora, Verónica Villaroel
is clearly in less fresh voice than in Rizzi's recording (a hint of instability
in exposed top notes being the main evidence of that) and she seems to be in careless
mood - a weird nasality in her middle and low register and clumsy breathing being
particularly bothersome. Elena Zaremba is an Azucena hardly to overlook - her
dark homogeneous contralto-ish mezzo deals adeptly with all the tricky passages
and has the right touch of exotic required by the role. Sometimes she distorts
her tone for dramatic effects, but her dramatic engagement tends to frame that.
Carlo Guelfi is also an imposing di Luna. His voice is not exactly beautiful,
but is spacious, powerful and dark, as the role requires. He also resorts to some
tonal distortion to boost expression, which, allied to his native pronunciation
of Italian, creates the necessary excitement. Only he could have mellowed a bit
more for Il balen. Carlo Colombara is a characterful pleasant Ferrando and interacts
beautifully with the overeupeptic chorus. Steven Mercurio is a reliable conductor,
who knows how to produce the right degree of animation without tampering with
clarity and structural coherence. The recorded sound could be more balanced between
singers and orchestra, but is clear enough. Muti’s performance has
strong sense of stylistic coherence while offering an exciting theatrical experience,
in which the orchestra plays an important role. This is not late Verdi and it
relates more easily to bel canto than to Otello. And this is what one finds here-
there is a Donizettian sense of rhythm, forward movement and excitement going
on here - that makes the performance uniquely satisfying. Some have pointed that
it lacks a "nocturnal" quality here - but one can find it in Karajan's, Giulini's,
everybody's performances - what is offered here one finds only here. And La Scala's
orchestra and choir are in top form. It also has a very good team of soloists.
When this Trovatore was performed at La Scala, some other opera houses in the
world were presenting the same work- and all of them had problems about casting.
I remember a reviewer who said that La Scala was ahead of them in this particular
point and now that the event is gone I could say that the cast is still very nice.
Although I used to prefer Barbara Frittoli in her Mozartian days, her singing
as Leonora is most accomplished - she deals with Muti's fast speeds with bel canto-ish
ease and has unusually strong low notes. She also scales down beautifully for
D'amor sull'ali rosee. Violeta Urmana is, in my opinion, the best mezzo around
since Christa Ludwig - that also means that she is not an Italianate mezzo, but
her good taste, beauty of tone and accuracy work very well for Azucena. It also
has a bel canto quality in it. Salvatore Licitra's voice is most attractive -
one could say he has the best of Pavarotti and Domingo. The tone is young, fresh,
ease and he is musicianly all the way. Muti denied him the top c in Di quella
pira - but I think it is all for the best. Judging from his Tosca at La Scala,
his extreme top notes are not the easiest imaginable. But he is in grand form
here. Leo Nucci's voice is not as heavy as some Verdian would like and he gets
rough now and then, but it is powerful and functional in a way few Verdi baritones
can boast to do today. And his flexibility is amazing. Carlo Rizzi’s
DVD from Covent Garden offers a Rossinian view of the score, with sprightly rhythms,
light orchestral sound with woodwinds highlighted and a rather inflexible sense
of forward movement. As a result, although the score sounds gracious enough, it
rarely sounds exciting enough. He is also attentive to his singers and knows where
a cantabile line in the orchestra should get a special boost, but in the most
meditative numbers the result is square. Maybe if the recording were a bit more
favourable to the orchestra, the blandness could be tamed. Verónica Villaroel’s
singing seems a model for voice lessons - the tone is warm and bright, the top
notes are full enough, the low ones focused enough and she deals with the difficulties
of a role not completely meant for her voice with indisturbable technical assurance.
For example, her trills, runs and pianissimi are not completely natural, but she
is always in command of her resources and, when she does not offer the real thing,
she has a musicianly and efficient replacement. Her phrasing is amazingly clean
and only noisy breathing disturbs the overall impression, especially in the beginning
of the opera. It must be pointed out, however, that Villaroel is not the kind
of artist who pours her soul in what she is doing - we rarely feel involved in
her singing, but we do admire her qualities as a singer. On the other hand, the
Swiss mezzo soprano Yvonne Naef is 100% inside her role and the most interesting
member of the cast. Her homogeneous, forward and extremely flexible voice is a
bit light for the role, but she compensates it through complete technical mastery.
Her perfect diction, tonal variety and sheer dramatic imagination bring freshness
to the role and revelatory insight to some passages made to sound routine in most
performances. José Cura shares with Naef the theatrical instincts, but
his voice is not reliable as hers. The top register is particularly problematic
(hence the resource to transposition), acquiring a squillante quality which impares
any possibility of legato. Also, he has all kind of mannerisms, including the
habit of furiously rolling the "r" and a strange way of stressing the
wrong syllables when not chopping everything altogether. When his voice is not
an obstacle to his imagination, things are really noteworthy, such as in his duet
with Azucena in the dungeon scene. Dmitri Hvorostovsky is in rich dark voice and,
although he is rarely suave, his warmest Il balen could be considered remarkable.
The secondary roles are not particularly well taken, especially the unstable Ferrando,
who slips through the passagework, ruining his big aria. Although it looks really
beautiful, Elijah Moshinky’s XIXth century production makes no sense at all.
Leonora saying farewell to secular life in a train station the most schyzophrenic
detail, but the homoerotic soldiers’ choir plus rape scene for poor Azucena
could be recorded as one of the most embarassing moments in history of staged
opera. From the musical point of view, the fencing scene during the Leonora/Manrico/di
Luna trio was particularly harmful, posing a problem for the microphones and for
the singers. It must be mentioned that Naef and Cura offer very good acting. Although
Naef is the subtler actress, Cura makes Manrico a believable guy for a change.
Instead of the usual blockhead, he successfully builds a rather naive character
whose overall dashing attitude makes even more sense. Schippers’ performance
has a frantic quality in it. Everything is taken to its limits - tempi, dynamics
and accents. It is undeniably exciting, but, without the help of an accurate orchestra,
a stylistic concept and a coherent cast, the conductor’s intents cannot work
properly. The recorded sound is a bit on the fragile sound too. Maybe a remastering
could solve that. As Leonora, Gabriella Tucci doesn’t offer the most sensational
voice in the face of earth and has her problematic moments, but she’s a capable
singer who handles coloratura, mezza voce and the role tessitura quite well and
is a commited performer. Simionato is again a most intelligent and sensitive Azucena,
but her voice is not as powerful or compact as in the Erede recording. Of course,
this is comparing her to herself - she is still the Azucena one should listen
to. If Corelli was not a musicianly and sensitive performer under Karajan, it
wouldn’t be Schippers who would make him to be so. As always, the interest
is the unusual power and depth of his tenor and - again - his Di quella pira is
the definition of raw excitement. Robert Merrill is a solid dependable di Luna. Serafin’s
performance is quite the opposite of Karajan’s. Here the score is presented
in its most naturally flowing and elegant - and La Scala orchestra and choir are
in top form too. Antonietta Stella offers a distinguished Leonora, but Fiorenza
Cossotto bright mezzo sounds quite more attractive as Azucena. And that’s
exactly the problem - she sounds too light and young in the role here. Carlo Bergonzi
is the most refined Manrico in the discography, singing Ah, sì, ben mio
with utmost grace. The problem is that not only the forte top c in the end of
Di quella pira doesn’t go with his voice, but also sounds disconnected to
the rest of the performance. Ettore Bastianini is in an universe apart from the
other singers here - he offers splendidly loud and dull singing throughout with
untiring health. Recorded live in the Bayerische Staatsoper in 1992, Sinopoli's
performance is an opportunity to hear the controversial Italian conductor in this
most traditional of operas. As usual, Sinopoli uses his archeological abilities
to dig out illuminating details in the score and reveal the richness behind this
most abused of Verdi's opera. Never did the woodwind in Ah, sě, ben mio sound
so lovely, or the orchestral effects in the closing scene so vivid. The sense
of elegance in the rhythmic numbers is also admirable. This is by far the best
structured finale secondo ever recorded, the staccato writing used to a sense
of surprise and amazement. Even Di quella pira gains a grace so far unknown to
me. The Bavarian orchestra is in great shape and offers beautiful string sounds
throughout and real sense of involvement in the dramatic situations, following
the adventurer conductor in his every imaginative turn. When it comes to casting,
unfortunately the four best singers in the world turned out not to be available.
As it is, Julia Varady stands out among her colleagues, offering bright appealing
sounds, flexibility, an impressively long range and freshness of interpretation.
She has a couple of shrill moments and forces her tone now and then, not to mention
a certain reticence about Italian language, but it is certainly one of the most
distinctive Verdian performances recorded these years. Stefania Toczyska has a
dependable dramatic mezzo soprano and stamina, offering some exciting top notes
when necessary, but the general impression is rather generalized. Wolfgang Brendel's
voice is velvety, rich and flexible. There are many moments when one feels he
is a bit in the limit of his resources, but the beauty of his voice makes for
any tension. When it comes to Dennis O'Neill, the situation is more delicate.
He has some sensitive ideas and never cheats, but he is helplessly overparted,
the top register particularly fragile, flapping a lot in the exposed high notes.
A Trovatore in which the troubadour himself is having a bad time is a puzzling
experience after all!
| Cellini's set was the first recording of this work to be found on
LP and has a legendary status by its own right. This reputation is mainly due
to the gathering of four great stars of those days. Zinka Milanov was definitely
past her prime here, but the voice was still superlative in color, class and seduction.
However, the bel canto style expected today from a Leonora is quite absent, although
there is some class in this interpretation. There is no class at all in the young
Barbieri's Azucena, but the voice is beautiful, and the character is clearer and
better sung than a few years later with Callas. To sum it up, there is some excitement
but little elegance. Björling's legendary portrayal of Manrico the swashbucler
irradiates youth, beauty and most refined legato. Nevertheless, Björling's
interpretation is far from perfect, but definitely extremely seductive. Warren's
di Luna is perhaps the most satisfying performance here, aristocratic, elegant,
perfectly sung with class and precision. One of the best in the discography indeed.
As Moscona is a first-rate Ferrando (probably one of the best in the discography,
together with Raimondi and Giaiotti), satisfaction could be complete. Alas, a
third-rate orchestra and a sad conductor were at work. Most important rhythmic
aspect of the score are lost, sometimes entailing total mess and inexactitude.
Speaking of orchestral coloration with such a weak conductor is a loss of time.
However, despite of the many cuts, the poor and frustrating orchestral reading
and the tame style of expression of some singers, there is a lot of charm in this
set. Definitely not a reference, but a classic anyway with exciting singers offering
energy, charisma and beauty. | top ~I
Vespri Siciliani 1 - Maria Callas (Elena), Giorgio Kokolios (Arrigo),
Enzo Mascherini (Monforte), Boris Christoff (Procida), Maggio Musicale Fiorentino,
Erich Kleiber 2 - Martina Arroyo (Elena), Plácido Domingo (Arrigo),
Sherrill Milnes (Monforte), Ruggero Raimondi (Procida), New Philharmonia, James
Levine 3 - Renata Scotto (Elena), Veriano Luchetti (Arrigo), Renato Bruson
(Monforte), Ruggero Raimondi (Procida), Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Riccardo Muti 4
- Cheryl Studer (Elena), Chris Merritt (Arrrigo), Giorgio Zancanaro (Monforte),
Ferruccio Furlanetto (Procida), La Scala, Riccardo Muti I Vespri Siciliani
is the first opera Verdi wrote after the three operas that had made him one of
the most respected composers of Italian opera in his days - Rigoletto, La Traviata
and Il Trovatore. This may sound surprising, since this opera could not be more
different from these works. To start with, the work is a commission from the Opéra
de Paris and thus had to follow the usual requirements for works staged at the
prestigious house: five acts, extensive ballet passages and at least one great
scene for all soloists and choir in which a public ceremony is interrupted. The
libretto (originally meant for Donizetti's Il Duca d'Alba) by Eugène Scribe
(assisted by Charles Duveyrier) tells the story of a Sicilian rebelion against
the French in 1282 during Easter Monday following the assassination of a French
officer who had raped a Sicilian woman. As one may imagine, the bloodshed of French
bad guys by the patriotic Italian crowd is a problematic subject to pull out in
front of French high society. Scribe applied so much adaptation in the whole story
that the result is that the massacre almost does not take place during the opera.
Litteraly, in the last minute, it more or less begins! As it is, the plot concentrates
on the conventional conspiracy plus "father-discovers-son" and "sweethearts-fight-after-misunderstanding".
However, Verdi's music redeems it all. Although the composer himself was not satisfied
with the libretto, his music-dramatic inspiration was at its peak, transforming
soap-opera into grand opéra. Of course, it is a long opera, with some bureaucratic
(but never graceless) music in order to fill five acts. The score shines in its
complex ensembles, although the most famous number is the act V siciliana (widely
known as "bolero"), an aria for the soprano. The Parisian première
in June 13th 1855 met with great success. Berlioz declared that "In Les Vêpres
the penetrating intensity of the melodic expressiveness, the sumptuous, wise variety
of the instrumentation, the vastness and poetic sonority of concertati, the
warm colour that shines throughout... confer to this work an imprint of grandeur,
a kind of sovereign majesty more distinguishable than in this composer's earlier
works". The première's cast had Sophie Cruvelli as Hélène,
Louis Gueymard as Henri, Marc Bonnehée as Monfort and Louis Henri Obin
(the first Philipe II in Don Carlos) as Procida. Translated into Italian
by Arnaldo Fusinato, the work was premièred in Italy in December 1855,
both in Parma and Turin (some sources inform that the Italian prima took place
at the Teatro alla Scala in 1856 with the translation by E. Caimi), under the
title Giovanna di Guzman (in Naples, it would be also called Batilde di Turenna).
Italian unification would be the pretext to give it the title of I Vespri Siciliani
when the Italian libretto was retouched in 1861. Levine's is the only studio
recording of the Italian version, including the complete act III ballet. Although
the recorded sound is highly artifficial (it has a large sound picture, but weird
close-up effects, especially noticeable when harps are concerned), Levine creates
an immediate sense of theatre and forward movement. Martina Arroyo's rich soprano
even throughout the whole tessitura is admirably dependable, but florid lines
may present some imprecision, especially in the bolero. In any case, indifferent
declamation and interpretative blankness put a full stop on her performance. Plácido
Domingo was in fresh voice and sings with ardour, but the role is really on the
high side for him. Sherrill Milnes is a highly sensitive Monforte and his baritone
was at its firmest and most velvety. On the other hand, Ruggero Raimondi is a
rather hooty Procida. Muti's performance has been made live at La Scala,
but the polish and exuberance of his orchestra and choir defeat any criticism.
It is only a pity that the recorded sound is so dry. The sense of structural unity
and the ability to produce the right effect of every little corner of this score
place this recording ahead of Levine's. Just compare a page such as Arrigo, ti
parla un core - a pretty passage in the RCA recording and here a breathtaking
moment of supreme tenderness. In this, he is partnered by his prima donna. The
role is a bit low for Cheryl Studer, but her bright soprano - here in mint condition
- deals with it superbly. She has one or twwo awkward moments in the bolero, but
displays flexibility and stamina whenever this is needed. Moreover, her heartfelt
performance is rich in intelligence, good taste and dramatic conviction - not
to mention that her floating mezza voce is rather touching. Chris Merrit's tone
is a bit nasal and pointed for a Verdian tenor, but his incisive, straightforward
and secure singing is quite refreshing. He also knows how to find the fragility
behind the boldness of his character, findind the right sound picture for the
various moods his character experiments through the plot. Giorgio Zancanaro offers
here one of his best recorded performances - he sings with such abandon and energy
that his Monforte is hard to resist. The fierceness of feelings of the military
chief and of the father are perfectly matched in this forceful performance. Ferruccio
Furlanetto employs his handsome bass, musicianship and dramatic imagination to
build a Procida far more congenial than one might think. On DVD, Pier Luigi Pizzi's
is effective and elegant, with the notable exception of the ball room in act III.
The ballet is rather conventional, but Carla Fracci brings a poetic note that
almost redeems it. The actors' direction is also unexceptional, but there are
inteligent ideas. top re:opera
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