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Discography of Verdi Operas
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~Don Carlos
1 - Mirella Freni (Elisabetta), Elena Obrtaztsova (Eboli), José
Carreras (Carlo), Piero Cappuccilli (Rodrigo), Nicolai Ghiaurov (Filippo),
Evgeny Nesterenko (The Inquisitore), La Scala, Abbado
2 - Margaret Price (Elisabetta), Elena Obraztsova (Eboli), Plácido
Domingo (Carlo), Renato Bruson (Rodrigo), Evgeny Nesterenko (Filippo),
Luigi Roni (The Inquisitore), La Scala, Claudio Abbado
3 - Katia Ricciarelli (Elisabeth), Lucia Valentini-Terrani (Eboli),
Plácido Domingo (Carlos), Leo Nucci (Rodrigue), Ruggero Raimondi
(Philippe), Nicolai Ghiaurov (L’Inquisiteur), La Scala, Claudio
Abbado
4 - Eleanor Steber (Elisabetta), Blanche Thebom (Eboli), Richard Tucker
(Carlo), Ettore Bastianini (Rodrigo), Jerome Hines (Filippo), The Metropolitan
Opera, Kurt Adler
5 - Gré Brouwenstijn (Elisabetta), Fedora Barbieri (Eboli),
Jon Vickers (Carlo), Tito Gobbi (Rodrigo), Boris Christoff (Filippo),
Covent Garden, Carlo Maria Giulini
6 - Montserrat Caballé (Elisabetta), Shirley Verrett (Eboli),
Plácido Domingo (Carlos), Sherrill Milnes (Rodrigo), Ruggero
Raimondi (Filippo), Giovanni Foiani (L’Inquisitore), Covent Garden,
Carlo Maria Giulini
7 - Galina Gorchakova (Elisabetta), Olga Borodina (Eboli), Richard
Margison (Carlo), Dmitri Hvorostovsky (Rodrigo), Roberto Scandiuzzi
(Filippo), Robert Lloyd (L’Inquisitore), Covent Garden, Bernard
Haitink
8 - Sena Jurinac (Elisabetta), Giulietta Simionato (Eboli), Eugenio
Fernandi (Carlo), Ettore Bastianini (Rodrigo), Cesare Siepi (Filippo),
Wiener Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan
9 - Mirella Freni (Elisabetta), Agnes Baltsa (Eboli), José Carreras
(Carlo), Piero Cappuccilli (Rodrigo), Nicolai Ghiaurov (Filippo), Ruggero
Raimondi (L’Inquisitore), Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von
Karajan
10 - Fiamma Izzo d’Amico (Elisabetta), Agnes Baltsa (Eboli), José
Carreras (Carlo), Piero Cappuccilli (Rodrigo), Ferruccio Furlanetto
(Filippo), Matti Salminen (L’Inquisitore), Wiener Philharmoniker,
Herbert von Karajan
11-Mirella Freni (Elisabetta), Grace Bumbry (Eboli), Plácido
Domingo (Carlo), Louis Quilico (Rodrigo), Nicolai Ghiaurov (Filippo),
Samuel Ramey (L’Inquisitore), Metropolitan Opera, James Levine
12 - Aprile Millo (Elisabetta), Dolora Zajick (Eboli), Michael Sylvester
(Carlo), Vladimir Chernov (Rodrigo), Ferruccio Furlanetto (Filippo),
Samuel Ramey (L’Inquisitore), Metropolitan Opera, James Levine
13 - Daniela Dessì (Elisabetta), Luciana d’Intino (Eboli),
Luciano Pavarotti (Carlo), Paolo Coni (Rodrigo), Samuel Ramey (Filippo),
Alexander Anisimov (L’Inquisitore), La Scala, Riccardo Muti
14 - Karita Mattila (Elisabeth), Waltraud Meier (Eboli), Roberto Alagna
(Carlos), Thomas Hampson (Rodrigue), José van Dam (Philippe),
Eric Halfvarson (L’Inquisiteur), Orchestre de Paris, Antonio Pappano
15 - Antonietta Stella (Elisabetta), Elena Nicolai (Eboli), Maio Filipeschi
(Carlo), Tito Gobbi (Rodrigo), Boris Christoff (Filippo), Giulio Neri
(L’Inquisitore), Opera di Roma, Gabriele Santini
16 - Antonietta Stella (Elisabetta), Fiorenza Cossotto (Eboli), Flaviano
Labò (Carlo), Ettore Bastianini (Rodrigo), Boris Christoff (Filippo),
Ivo Vinco (L’Inquisitore), La Scala, Gabriele Santini
17 - Renata Tebaldi (Elisabetta), Grace Bumbry (Eboli), Carlo Bergonzi
(Carlo), Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (Rodrigo), Nicolai Ghiaurov (Filippo),
Martti Talvela (L’Inquisitore), Covent Garden, Georg Solti
18 - Gundula Janowitz (Elisabetta), Shirley Verrett (Eboli), Franco
Corelli (Carlo), Eberhard Wächter (Rodrigo), Nicolai Ghiaurov (Filippo),
Martti Talvela (L’Inquisitore), Wiener Staatsoper, Horst Stein
19 - Delia Rigal (Elisabetta), Fedora Barbieri (Eboli), Jussi Björling
(Carlo), Robert Merrill (Rodrigo), Cesare Siepi (Filippo), The Metropolitan
Opera, Fritz Stiedry
|
Composed for the Paris Opera in 1867, Don Carlos probably is
in many ways the most complex opera by the Maestro from Bussetto.
As a first hint, it is interesting to notice that 270 rehearsals
were necessary before the first performance in Paris! First, no
other Verdi opera offers such deep psychological portrayal of
six distinct human beings, each with distinct purposes, backgrounds
and values. Far from the classic system described by Bernard Shaw
as "A tenor and soprano want to make love, but are prevented from
doing so by the baritone", Don Carlos involves six main characters
: should one element of the cast fail, the opera would loose its
supreme dramatic strength. We will prove this theory many times
on discussing this discography.
All those six characters need first-rate voices and mastery of
style as well: Carlos has to deal with lyrical, almost Donizettian
trills and legato during the first act, must offer a sophisticated
psychological portrait in the three duets with Elisabetta and
has to shift to a true heroic tenor when third act begins – it
is curious to learn, though, that Verdi simplified his concept
about the role of Carlos because of the weakness of the role creator,
Morère. Filippo’s bass must be charismatic and noble, and
the Inquisitore even more charismatic (and displaying real acting
skills in order to give life to this central character in more
or less ten minutes). Eboli must be belcantist when singing the
veil song, then truly spinto (including a high c flat) in her
final aria, but always with exceptional seduction and sensuality.
Elisabetta is a role for the French vocal category called "Falcon",
involving elegance, a highly developed low register and power
in the top. Finally, Posa requires an exceptional personality
paired with perfect elegance and the ease of a belcantist’s
upper register, due to the exceptional vocal and stylistic material
of the role creator, the great Jean-Philippe Faure. Other difficulty
introduced by this opera is clearly the noble, deep and sophisticated
orchestral score which does not refer either to the 1850s or to
the already modern view of the final great Verdian trilogy beginning
with Aida. Don Carlos has its own unique atmosphere - both Spanish
in spirit and French in the style - which is utterly moving in
fact.
Other complex point is that this opera belongs entirely to the
classical French "grand opéra " style, following the lineage
of Halévy and, in a most noticeable way, of the composer
who used to be considered by both Wagner and Verdi as their main
rival : Meyerbeer. The opera was originally composed in French,
5-act-long and with a ballet, but, for mysterious reasons, audiences
even today have never accepted to spend the more or less 4 hours
taken by the complete performance of the opera - even if this
issue has never been raised in the case of Wagner operas.
The inital 1867 version was first performed already with some
cuts. This problem led Verdi, angry to see his opera more and
more transformed without his autorization at each new performance
in Europe, to cut it himself and to create a revised version in
4 acts in 1884 for La Scala. It consists of the suppression of
the first act (called "the Fontainebleau scene"), of
the scene where Elisabetta and Eboli exchange their costumes in
act III (which explains why Carlos mistakes Eboli for the queen
at the garden), of the extraordinary duet between Carlos and Filippo
after Rodrigo’s death (reused later in the Manzoni Requiem) and
of the Paris ballet, of course. In this edition, Carlo’s aria
is re-introduced in the first San Giusto scene. Also, many scenes
feature quite new music, especially for the role of Posa, which
suffered deep changing. Verdi also allowed a version reintroducing
the Fontainebleau act in the Milan version. This is now the classical
version Giulini, Solti, Levine and Haitink have recorded. As a
result, we are going through the discography commenting each of
this three versions (they are, in fact, revisions, but let’s
make it simple in order to make things easier for the readers)
and we are also commenting the interesting Italian version Abbado
introduced in Milan in the 1977-78 season.
1867 Paris french version
The EMI set conducted by Pappano is the only one to offer the
French original version, recorded live at the Théâtre
du Châtelet in Paris in 1996 (I was at the première
of the production and the performance stays in my memory as one
of the most marvelous moment of my life as an opera-goer). For
the first time on recordings, this is a true performance of the
French version, including many previously cut moments and the
original version of many scenes, deeply changed by Verdi for the
more familiar1884 version. As in the 1867 première, Pappano
has suppressed the long introduction to the first act (Elisabetta
and the peasants), but also cut the ballet and the original ending
of the opera (inclunding a long developed concertato with chorus,
Filippo and the Inquisitore). The rest of the score is absolutely
identical to Verdi’s wishes and sung in French. These two reasons
alone are enough to make this set an essential one. But there
is also many reasons for musical interest here. There is Roberto
Alagna’s first Carlos. Although he had hesitated before undertaking
the role, the result is absolutely exceptional. The voice is beautiful,
his French his ideal (and not only because he is French), the
stylistic understanding of the role is amazing and the characterization
is deeply moving. José van Dam also reached such high standards.
His Philippe is exceptionally noble and moving and Van Dam owns
a complete mastery of French style. Of course, he doesn’t
have the powerful low register of Slavonic voices, but, for purely
voice fans, it is important to understand that a French noble
bass role has nothing in common with Boris Godunov or Hagen. It
is indeed a great performance for those more interested in stylistic
propriety than in athletic voices. Thomas Hampson was the ideal
choice to recreate Jean-Philippe Faure’s first performance in
the role. It is interesting to notice that Hamspon also made a
wonderful revival of Ambroise Thomas’ Hamlet, first created –
by and for – the same Jean-Philippe Faure. Hampson is ideal regarding
vocal standards to match the elegance and difficulties of the
role. Although his French could be better and the character more
charismatic, this is a very good performance indeed. Women are
on lower standards, especially Waltraud Meier, who is unable to
manage both the ornaments of the veil song and French language.
Nevertheless, her special energy and charisma succeed by themselves
to keep interest going. Karitta Mattila has also some trouble
with French articulation and the voice is a bit clear and underpowered
for the dramatic moments, but she manages to sing the role well
as always. Second roles are all nicely taken. Halfvarson’s Inquisiteur
is deep and efficient but not unforgettable, the choir is first-rate
and Pappano’s orchestra is full of true elegance and conviction.
This is a set everybody should own.
On the other hand, the Abbado DG version should be avoided by
everyone. First, this version is a nonsense, as it mixes the French
language version with the classic Italian one (!), with the revised
1884 version of the role of Posa, presenting the 1867 scenes only
on a complementary CD. From a musicologic point of view, it is
really stupid. There is also no interest in recording a version
sung in French with singers so brutal with French language: having
to endure the accents and approximations of all singers here –
except for Raimondi – is a torture for anyone, and, of course,
especially for native French speakers like me. Regarding vocal
performances, Nucci is awful, Raimondi sings Boris Godunov, Domingo
was younger with Giulini (and of course more confortable with
Italian language), Ricciarelli already below her best form, but
Valentini-Terrani is a sensitive Eboli and Ghiaurov an interesting
Inquisiteur (albeit too late in his career). Abbado would be nice,
if only the sound engineer had not transformed the La Scala orchestra
in a heavy unbearable military noisy orchestra. As a matter of
fact, an useless and really ugly version.
1884 Milan Italian version
Don Carlo began its revival mainly in Germany and in the USA.
The first live recordings of course were also recorded there.
I will ignore the Ferenc Fricsay 1947 Berlin version, only interesting
for the 20 years-old Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau as Posa ; this is
just a document for the great german baritone fans. However, I
would like to focus on the 1950 Stiedry and 1955 Adler Met performances,
which really provide interesting material. The more famous of
the two sets, the Björling performance, is not the more interesting.
Jussi Björling is of course ideal in the pure beauty of his
tone and legato and shines with elegance and lyricism. On the
other hand, everybody around him is prosaic: Merril is good but
unimaginative, Siepi had not yet reached his best in 1950, and
Rigal and Barbieri are just plainly awful. To sum it up, without
Björling this live performance would have never gained its
reputation. The less known 1955 is far more interesting. Eleanor
Steber is ideal as Elisabetta, Richard Tucker has the perfect
voice for the role and is as sincere and involved as usual (and
actually sings very well), Ettore Bastianini gives weight and
vocal splendor to Posa, Hines is a noble Filippo and Thebom an
interesting Eboli. Anyone interested in broadcast providing a
lot of vocal splendor should find a good value in this exciting
recording. In both performances, there are lots of cuts everywhere,
alas.
The first studio recording is also famous. Mainly because of
the poetic and charismatic Posa of Tito Gobbi and the fascinating
Filippo of Boris Christoff, with incredible vocal splendor Giulio
Neri is also a fantastic Inquisitore and Stella is the good Verdian
soprano we all know (beautiful material but lack of imagination),
but the horrid Carlo of Fillipeschi and the Eboli of Nicolai prevent
this version from being really interesting, especially as it is
severely cut too. Santini’s orchestra and interpretation are quite
weak too. Gobbi and Christoff admirers should anyway own this
set. In spite of all its schortcomings and weaknesses, this set
offers early in the discography the definitive Posa and Filippo.
Santini has also recorded a studio stereophonic Don Carlo later,
with an old, less interesting Christoff, Stella again, a better
tenor (Flaviano Labò), Bastianini’s Posa and Cossoto’s
Eboli. In spite of the 5 acts chosen version, there ares still
lots of cuts and, although the cast seems to be excellent, the
result is just nice.
The 1958 Karajan Salzburg performance is certainly the most frustrating
experience of the discography. First, our ideal Elisabetta and
Eboli are found here : Sena Jurinac, utterly noble, and Giuletta
Simionato absolutely outstanding. This performance also offers
the most beautiful and humane Filippo, Cesare Siepi, here at his
best. If Fernandi has many difficulties, he is nevertheless a
really moving Carlo (and what a beautiful voice). Bastianini deals
with the role without neither problems nor a lot of imagination.
Karajan’s majestic reading and the playing of the Wiener Philarmoniker
reach here standards so high that we will never find them again
in the discography. But, there are so many cuts everywhere! It
seems that they had the red pencil ready for each moment... The
choises made by Karajan regarding editing are indeed horrible,
although the disguisement scene is reintroduced. In a nutshell,
you’ll find here about half the opera, but such an oustandingly
sung and conducted half that my ears will always be ready to listen
to it again.
Franco Corelli is one of the most problematic topic between the
two authors of this site. I have to admit I am just fond of this
incredible voice, not always subtle in phrasing, but with incredible
refinement in dynamics and an easy ringing upper register. Corelli’s
Carlo has heroic dimension, but also unbelievable piani and diminuendi
everywhere in the score, and this singer’s extreme sensitivity
helps a lot here, since it is the very truth of the role. Many
could have said that Gundula Janowitz should not have sung this
role, so remote from her style and voice. However, such as in
Sieglinde or Leonore, she made it a great triumph - she is fantastic
and joins Jurinac and Steber in the top of the list of the best
interpreters of this role. A really moving performance. Both Corelli/Janowitz
duets are pure exciting delight (although the final one is, alas,
slightly cut). Ghiaurov and Talvela are also at the top of the
discorgaphy here, and their duet is anthological - both of them
much more dramatic and involved than in the classic Decca Solti
version (you will have to hear Talvela’s performance here to believe
it; such terrifying Inquisitore cannot be guessed). As Horst Stein’s
conducting of the Wiener Staatsoper orchestra is first-rate and
as Shirley Verret is an impressive Eboli, this live recording
from Vienna in 1970 (excellent sound) is the definitive recording
for this 4 acts version of opera. Ebherard Wächter’s heavy
Posa is the only weak link of a fantastic set I recommend to everyone.
This version also featurees a specific tradition of German theatres:
Carlo commits suicide instead of being rescued by Carlo V, in
order to be faifhful to the original Schiller's work.
Karajan chose to record the 4 acts version in the mid-70s, after
the performances in Salzburg. If Carreras is a beautiful Carlo
and Baltsa a young, fresh and sensuous Eboli, the rest of the
cast is not really outstanding. Cappuccilli sings well but never
fascinates as much as Posa should do, Ghiaurov seems tired or
indifferent and Freni is rather beautiful but without the spirit
of a queen. Raimondi’s Inquisitore is a mistake (it sounds too
much like Scarpia) and Van Dam’s monk is a delight. Neverthless
this cast could actually be very nice if Karajan allowed us to
hear them. The orchestra is schizophrenic, switching between pianissimo
and fortissimo every second, with Brucknerian tempi and colors.
One could rightfully think it is not Verdi’s work. As in the Karajan
Aida with the same cast, it is a megalomaniac recording I have
no fondness for. The composer and the sense of what this opera
is are both seriously betrayed here for the nonsense of decadent
pure beauty of orchestral sound. An evidence to be entered into
the file of the prossecution in the musical trial of late Karajan.
Riccardo Muti was not be successful with this opera either. First,
he conducts the orchestra thinking of Rigoletto, whereas Le Prophète
or la Juive are the models for Don Carlo, a work that has nothing
to do with Risorgimento. Muti’s fast tempi does not allow
him to render a bit of the colors and special atmosphere of the
opera. His cast is also quite weak. Luciana d’Intino, Daniella
Dessi and Paolo Coni are good voices, but without 10% of what
is needed as personality and charisma for such roles. Luciano
Pavarotti was poorly welcome by La Scala audiences at this time
and we can guess the record was made at the end of the run of
performances. Even if he developed from the first performances,
Pavarotti does not understand the psychologic subtleties of the
role and the way he sings would be much more fit to Radames than
to Carlo. Only Samuel Ramey offers satisfaction here, even if
the live recorded sound in the EMI set is quite poory defined.
Classic 5 acts version
The 1958 Covent Garden performances are legandary. We can feel
the excitement of the audience at that time, since they were to
listen to a 5-act version performance, conducted by Giulini, staged
by Luchino Visconti and with a cast including three Italian stars
– Gobbi, Barbieri and, by adoption, Christoff -, the rising star
among tenors, Jon Vickers, and a first rate soprano, Gre Brouwenstijn.
This legendary recording is still exciting, but not as exceptionnal
as its reputation. First, Giulini’s EMI performance is far superior
to this (very interesting) piece of legacy here. Also, Gobbi and
Christoff were better with Santini and, as truth must be said,
despite their reputations, Brouwenstijn is uninteresting and Barbieri
awful. The only interest here is Jon Vickers, deeply moving, impressive,
always fascinating and certainly the most interesting Carlo of
the discography. With Giulini’s orchestra, Gobbi, Christoff,
Vickers of course and a 5 acts versions (with some cuts, especially
in the first act), this live recording is still captivating, but
clearly will not play the role of a reference. If we have to find
a reference in the whole discography, the classic Solti recording
certainly is it. Bergonzi is sensitive and his singing is just
perfect : a delightful performance. Ghiaurov is outstanding as
Filippo, as well as Talvela is as the Grande Inquisitore. Bumbry
is a fascinating Eboli, both sensual and aggressive. Perhaps,
with Simionato, the best in the discography. Tebaldi was quite
old at this time and some of her accents are more plebeian than
royal, but the voice remains the one ‘of an angel’ - she sings
quite well and has both the authority and the sensitivity needed
by the role. Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau is the only one with Gobbi
to offer the needed highly charismatic Rodrigo di Posa and his
lighter voice is perfect to render all the vocal subteleties of
the role : a fascinating incarnation, as well as a wonderful piece
of singing. Fischer-Dieskau is my own reference for Posa. As Solti
is nervous, both somptuous and dramatic, and as the sound is outstanding,
this set should be the introduction to Don Carlo for everyone.
A magnificent set.
Solti’s excellent recording was soon to be challenged by the
1970 EMI Giulini recording. For some people this Giulini set is
even superior to Solti’s version. The heroes of this version clearly
are Domingo and Caballé. They are somptuous. Domingo is
young, warm, full of passion, but not always as stylist as Bergonzi
or Alagna, whereas Caballé’s Elisabetta will be the last
of our great incarnations of this character (with Steber, Jurinac
and Janowitz). There is so much refinement, splendor, and commitment
- it is perhaps her best role on recordings. Shirley Verret’s
Eboli is also excellent, even impressive sometimes. Even if Sherill
Milnes sings well, he is without real interest as Posa and Raimondi
and Foiani are quite weak. The failure of the male cast changes
the view of the opera: politics are not really interesting here,
the opera becomes more about love, which is fascinating, but not
the truth about it. Neverthless, this set will always be a classic,
as the orchestra of Giulini, slow, warm, with wonderful phrasing
and legato, majestic and noble, is pure splendor. Despite of all
the weakness of the male voices, for Domingo, Caballé,
Verret and Giulini, this version is highly recommended.
After those two successes, twice in the digital era, conductors
will fail in providing us interesting versions. Levine is a heavy
and noisy conductor who does not understand the French style needed
here. A more sensitive musician, Haitink, however, also fails.
After so many outstanding tenor performances, who sincerely cares
about Margison and Sylvester singing Carlo, although they are
quite good? And after Siepi, Christoff , Ghiaurov, Van Dam and
Ramey, Furlanetto and Scandiuzzi seem quite second rate. Of course,
Hvorostovsky’s Posa is quite well sung, but he has no personality
at all; Chernov is unimaginative and without interest. Of course,
Zajick and Borodina are good singers, but they cannot hope anything
like comparison with Simionato, Bumbry, Verret or even Baltsa.
Finally, if Millo is quite acceptable as Elisabetta, I wonder
sometimes how Haitink could accept to conduct such a horror like
Galina Gorchakova.
As a personal comment, I would add that crisis of opera recording
market can be easily understood with such casts, whereas artists
like Neil Shicoff or Giacomo Aragall as Carlo, Thomas Allen or
Alain Fondary as Posa, Carol Vaness or Margaret Price as Elisabetta
are totally forgotten by major studios. A pity for everybody.
Abbado’s revised version, Scala 1977-78
In th opening of La Scala’s season in 1977, with Don Carlo,
Abbado introduced a quite interesting, although not really authentic
version of the opera. The idea was to keep all the scenes of 1867
(including the largely developed beginning and final) except for
the ballet, translating them in Italian language and replacing
the score passages from 1867 for the 1884 revisions as much as
possible. In other words, it is the classic 5-act version as Giulini
and Solti recorded them in studio, with 4 complements : the choir,
Tebaldo and Elisabetta scene (1st act), the change-of-clothes
scene (3rd act), the duet between Filippo and Carlo after Posa’s
death (4th act) and the long and complex final with Filippo, the
Inquisitore and the choir (5th act). This will be the only occasion
in the discography to hear the opening and final scenes as Verdi
wanted, since Pappano chose not to perform them in his 1996 recording.
Two different performances of the same production with two different
casts are now available on CD. The 7th December cast is well known,
as it is Karajan’s cast : Carreras, Freni, Cappuccilli, Ghiaurov,
but Obratzova instead of Baltsa. All are quite inferior to their
performance with Karajan and, to be honnest, less exciting and
interesting than those of the night of the 7th January. This night
is vocally outstanding. Placido Domingo, more dramatic and consistent
than with Giulini, offers his best performance in the role. Margaret
Price, if she does not equal the best Elisabettas, is sensitive,
vocally impressive, somehow fascinating by the strength of her
portrayal - the voice is of course splendorous. Evgeny Nesterenko
is not the most subtle Filippo, but he has authority and weight,
whereas Obratzova is a burning Eboli, perhaps too close to a contralto
in this role verging on soprano, but impressive of tone and personality.
Finaly, this night is the only occasion to hear Renato Bruson
as Posa. If Renato Bruson does not develop the complex character
of Gobbi or Fischer-Dieskau, he has the belcantist elegance to
phrase his romance to Elisabetta or his death without equal in
the whole discography. He also has enough projection to create
a real insolent and authoritative Posa in his scene with Filippo.
If Abbado’s orchestra does not reach the high standards of many
others like Solti or Giulini, it is quite professional and satisfying,
and rather superior to his heavy performance for DG. For all those
reasons, for the edition, as well as for the impressive cast and
the unique presences of Price and Bruson, this recording is a
must-have, despite a far from perfect sound for a 1978 live performance
(but quite acceptable). A gem.
|
There are also the performances of Don Carlo on video. The Metropolitan
Opera broadcasted two evenings - one with Renata Scotto, Tatiana Troyanos
and Vasili Moldoveanu (unfortunately unavailable) and the one now available
on DVD with Mirella Freni and Plácido Domingo. This performance
includes the Fontainebleau scenes, with all the peasants et al. Levine
is his usual emphatic and energetic self and the recorded sound is quite
natural. The production is traditional, not really creative or convincing,
but quite functional. Mirella Freni is in better shape than for Karajan.
Her voice is heavier here and it is easier for her to display authority.
She is in very good vocal shape - although Olivier wouldn’t find
her very imaginative. Grace Bumbry is a shadow of her former self for
Solti. All that singing as a soprano taxed her and most of the glamour
in the voice is gone. What remains here is still quite efficient, though.
Plácido Domingo is in healthy voice too and is animated by singing
live. Louis Quilico lacks resources to produce a believable Rodrigo
and Ghiaurov is past his best as Filippo. Samuel Ramey is an interesting
Inquisitore, but you won’t recognize him under all that make-up.
The video from Salzburg is a failed attempt to portray a grandiose
production - too grand for the camera angles. Nevertheless, it is a
beautiful, impressive and convincing staging. Karajan goes for the 4-act
version and, finally helped by excellent recording by Sony, offers a
massive performance, slower in tempo and very intense in richest orchestral
sounds. He also has an interesting casting. First of all, Fiamma Izzo
d’Amico’s Elisabetta is a true find! Her lyric soprano has
enough body and is incredibly homogeneous in the whole range. It also
has a breathtaking floated quality which enables her to produces exquisite
pianissimi throughout. I find her performance quite beguiling, but she
has been accused of overusing her mezza voce and I wonder whether Olivier
would find much depth in what she does here. She also looks gorgeous
and the sad expression in her eyes scores lots of dramatic points. She
does look like a queen. Time has not been so generous with Agnes Baltsa’s
voice since the EMI recording. Although the main structure is there,
the details are not so well connected. Her coloratura is a bit blurred
in the veil song and the voice makes some weird noises in O Don Fatale.
However, her dramatic commitment is impressive and one cannot help applauding
what she does here despite the shortcomings. José Carreras was
in good voice here and offers many examples of sensitive singing. He
also interacts beautifully with his Elisabetta and plays convincingly
in a rather generalized way the torments of the young prince. Piero
Cappuccilli lost much of the velvet of his voice and looks too old for
his part - but he is reliable as always. Although I don’t know
the Levine CDs and can’t argue with Olivier therefore, I think
that here Ferruccio Furlanetto offers a sensational Filippo. He is in
strongest voice and goes for a completely unusual view of the King.
Instead of a powerful and arrogant man, he depicts a disillusioned world-weary
man consumed by solitude and and lack of personal beliefs. It is a great
feat for a man who was quite young then. Matti Salminen’s Inquisitore
is defeated by poor acquaintance with Italian language and style.
Finally, some words about Luc Bondy’s production for the Pappano
performances. Although there is a beautiful usage of colours and of
expressive choir members and actors, there is something unconvincing
about the settings. They look really poor sometimes! King Philip’s
appartments look as if he had been sent to jail! If the idea was to
offer something stylized, then they should have avoided the sense of
depicting anything historic. For examples, the women are incredibly
uncovered, with their exposed shoulders, while everybody knows that
no court was as austere as the Spanish one. The level of acting in the
video, however, is excellent - Alagna, Hampson and Halfvarson outstanding,
but none better than Waltraud Meier. Mattila is too much the generalized
operatic acting performance and she looks one or two sizes incompatible
with her Carlo. I have lots of problems with José Van Dam as
Philippe too. I think he is too small-scaled and unimpressive for the
role. I disagree with Olivier about his voice - I think he is in grey
voice throughout. Finally, Bondy’s actors’ direction has some
endearing details, such as Elisabeth and Carlos being able to listen
to the voice from Heaven. It was a very sensitive idea.
top
~La Forza del Destino
1 - Martina Arroyo (Leonora), Bianca Maria Casoni (Preziosilla), Carlo
Bergonzi (Alvaro), Piero Cappuccilli (Carlo), Geraint Evans (Melitone),
Ruggero Raimondi (Guardiano), Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Lamberto
Gardelli
2 - Galina Gorchakova (Leonora), Olga Borodina (Preziosilla), Gegam
Gregorian (Alvaro), Nikolai Putilin (Carlo), Georgy Zastavny (Melitone),
Mikhail Kit (Guardiano), Kirov Theatre, Valery Gergiev
3 - Galina Gorchakova (Leonora), Mariana Tarasova (Preziosilla), Gegam
Gregorian (Alvaro), Nikolai Putilin (Carlo), Georgy Zastavny (Melitone),
Sergei Alexashkin (Guardiano), Kirov Theatre, Valery Gergiev
4 - Leontyne Price (Leonora), Fiorenza Cossotto (Preziosilla), Plácido
Domingo (Alvaro), Sherill Milnes (Carlo), Gabriel Bacquier (Melitone),
Bonaldo Giaiotti (Guardiano), London Symphony, James Levine
5 - Leontyne Price (Leonora), Isola Jones (Preziosilla), Giuseppe Giacomini
(Alvaro), Leo Nucci (Carlo), Enrico Fissore (Melitone), Bonaldo Giaiotti
(Guardiano), Metropolitan Opera, James Levine
6 - Maria Caniglia (Leonora), Ebe Stignani (Preziosilla), Galliano
Masini (Alvaro), Carlo Tagliabue (Carlo), Saturno Meletti (Melitone),
Tancredi Pasero (Guardiano), EIAR, Gino Marinuzzi
7 - Renata Tebaldi (Leonora), Fedora Barbieri (Preziosilla), Mario
del Monaco (Alvaro), Aldo Protti (Carlo), Renato Capecchi (Melitone),
Cesare Siepi (Guardiano), Teatro Communale di Firenze, Dimitri Mitropoulos
8 - Renata Tebaldi (Leonora), Giulietta Simionato (Preziosilla), Mario
del Monaco (Alvaro), Ettore Bastianini (Carlo), Fernando Corena (Melitone),
Cesare Siepi (Guardiano), Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Francesco Mollinari-Pradelli
9 - Renata Tebaldi (Leonora), Oralia Dominguez (Preziosilla), Franco
Corelli (Alvaro), Ettore Bastianini (Carlo), Renato Capecchi (Melitone),
Boris Christoff (Guardiano), Teatro San Carlo, Francesco Mollinari-Pradelli
10 - Mirella Freni (Leonora), Dolora Zajick (Preziosilla), Plácido
Domingo (Alvaro), Giorgio Zancanaro (Carlo), Geraint Evans (Melitone),
Paul Plishka (Guardiano), La Scala, Riccardo Muti
11 - Zinka Milanov (Leonora), Rosalind Elias (Preziosilla), Giuseppe
di Stefano (Alvaro), Leonard Warren (Carlo), Dino Mantovani (Melitone),
Giorgio Tozzi (Guardiano), Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Fernando Previtali
12 - Leontyne Price (Leonora), Shirley Verrett (Preziosilla), Richard
Tucker (Alvaro), Robert Merrill (Carlo), Ezio Flagello (Melitone), Giorgio
Tozzi (Guardiano), RCA Italiana, Thomas Schippers
13 - Maria Callas (Leonora), Elena Nicolai (Preziosilla), Richard Tucker
(Alvaro), Carlo Tagliabue (Carlo), Renato Capecchi (Melitone), Nicola
Rossi-Lemeni (Guardiano), La Scala, Tulio Serafin
14 - Rosalind Plowright (Leonora), Agnes Baltsa (Preziosilla), José
Carreras (Alvaro), Renato Bruson (Carlo), Juan Pons (Melitone), Paata
Burchuladze (Melitone), Philharmonia, Giuseppe Sinopoli
| La Forza del Destino is one of the most fascinating among Verdi
operas. First, there are of course the superstitious legends around
the work, and we can easily understand that, something wrong or
tragic happening each time the work is performed, the idea of the
power of fate acquires a true importance in people’s minds.
There are many stories about the troubles of staging this opera,
the most famous being Leonard Warren’s death on stage just before
Carlo’s 3rd act cabaletta. Nevertheless, in my opinion, the most
fascinating point of this opera is its unique gathering of great
different atmospheres, like the 2nd act monastery scene or the 3rd
act long battlefield scene. As in Trovatore, the other "Spanish"
work by Verdi, there is also a mix of moonlit armosphere and war
feeling giving this opera all its romantic quality. In spite of
its dramatic credibility problems, one may easily consider this
work as the most orginal one by the Italian composer, because of
the variety of the scenes : buffo, tragic, religious, nostalgic
and so on.
Recorded in 1941, Marinuzzi’s was the first studio recording
of the opera and can be considered even today as a reference.
First, Gino Marinuzzi is an excellent conductor with great sense
of phrasing, who offers both excitement and a rich musical treatment
of the score. But there are also here two definitive performances:
Tancredi Pasero, as Guardiano, a magnificent deep noble voice,
is a model for new singers, as well as Carlo Tagliabue’s Carlo,
incisive, with a fiery vocal projection and upper register, and
the best musical – and dramatic – style for Verdi. Those two performances
are simply without equal. As all second roles, such as the young
Stignani’s Preziosilla or the excellent Meletti’s Melitone, are
outstanding and Maria Caniglia is more stylish than usual, one
could rightly feel in musical paradise. Alas, although Galliano
Masini has an excellent spinto tenor voice, it is not very seductive
and his performance suffers of lack of personality, which is a
fatal shortcoming when one is singing Alvaro. The duo ‘Sleale’
is cut, as usual on Italian theatres during the first half of
XXth century.
If Carlo Tagliabue was the hero of the Marinuzzi’s recording,
he is the main drawback of Serafin’s 1954 HMV recording. Here
he is too old, and the voice gone for good. Serafin is once again
an excellent classic conductor, quite impressive and offering
real sense of tragedy. But this recording is of course mainly
Callas’ recording. Not in her best vocal shape, she is a unique
tragic Leonora : no other soprano offers such psychological depth
right from the beginning of her first aria. And her second act
is of course magic with emotion. Neverthless, I am not sure Leonora
needs so much, and this impares dramatic balance, since Richard
Tucker, in the role of the depressive Alvaro, seems fresher, gayer
and more natural than Callas’ Leonora. By the way, Tucker will
be much more mature and interesting (and better recorded) with
Schippers. As Rossi-Lemeni is quite good but not unforgettable
and the whole scene of Renato Capecchi’s excellent Melitone is
cut, I would recommend leaving this opera to the fans of Maria
Callas.
Callas’ main rival, Renata Tebaldi, was probably better
suited to the role… in her best days. The legendary live recording
of 1953 Maggio Fiorentino is certainly one of these evenings when
Tebaldi was unequalled in the role. On listening to the 2nd act
finale alone, one can understand why she Toscanini said that hers
was "the voice of an angel". Mario del Monaco, always
subtler and more musical on stage than in studio, is also in magnificent
voice, more stylish than usual - probably one of his best performances
on records. Even if Aldo Protti’s Carlo is good, but not excellent,
it is Cesare Siepi and Renato Capecchi to offer outstanding performances
as Guardiano and Melitone, and the young Fedora Barbieri provides
charisma to her Preziosilla. However, the hero of the evening
is probably Dimitri Mitropoulos, who offers a highly intelligent
hmusical vision of the score, transforming the opera into an outstanding
dramatic work. Highly recommended, in spite of the ‘Sleale’ cut.
Half the Florence May Festival performance’s main singers
would record the work under the baton of Francesco Molinari-Pradelli
5 years later. To sum it up, Tebaldi, Del Monaco and Siepi are
all very good, but rather inferior to their outstanding performances
in Florence. If Simionato is better than Barbieri (of course!),
Corena is less interesting than Capecchi as Melitone, but Ettore
Bastianini, replacing Aldo Protti, is excellent. In spite of the
lack of imagination of the conductor, this first truly complete
stereophonic studio recording can be recommended to all admirers
of any of the stars gathered here or to anyone looking for specific
vocal performances in good recorded sound.
Molinari-Pradelli is also the conductor of an exciting live performance
in Naples in 1958, also gathering Tebaldi at her top, a superlative
Bastianini and two new singers in our discography: Franco Corelli
as Alvaro and Boris Christoff as Guardiano. Franco Corelli is
probably the ideal Alvaro: rich in nuance, outstandingly musical,
he also displays an amazing upper register with impressive projection
and refinement (listen to ‘Solenne in quest’ora’!). Boris Christoff
is of course ideal in vocal weight and color, an impressive performance,
although the noble Pasero is somewhat more ideal because he manages
to make a wiser character. As this glamourous and exciting team
of singers is ideally completed by the beautiful-voiced young
Oralia Dominguez as Preziosilla and the ideal Capecchi as Melitone,
this live recording is probably the most vocally fascinating of
the discography. A great evening! One can even easily overlook
the professional but unimaginative conducting and the problematic
recorded sound.
Thomas Schippers’ recording is a classic. Leontyne Price in her
prime is beautiful, but the tone is not the one I would associate
to Leonora, especially in act II. Richard Tucker sings very well
– albeit with unnecessary extra tears in the voice – and is deeply
moving. Robert Merril has an excellent voice but poor imagination,
whereas Tozzi is noble but with lacking color compared to voices
like Pasero’s, Siepi’s or Christoff’s. Flagello is acceptable
and Verret has enough sex-appeal for the role. Schippers is exciting,
colorful, but a bit superficial. A classic set and a actually
a good homogeneous version, but without any outstanding feature.
An outstanding performance can be found in Gardelli’s set : the
perfect Alvaro of Carlo Bergonzi. The role has never been sun
better, and Bergonzi is a model of legato and of elegance. Of
course, the voice has not the projection of Corelli’s, but
Bergonzi’s refinement is unequalled. Bergonzi is quite magic here.
Alas, rest of the recording can be forgotten. The conducting is
barely decent, lacking imagination throughout, and if we notice
the introduction to act III, it is only because Jack Brymer plays
the clarinet in the Philarmonia. Arroyo has a beautiful voice
but does not seem to understand she sings an opera including feelings
and dramatic expression. Cappuccilli is in superlative voice,
but always sings fortissimo: a really boring and tiring performance.
Raimondi is miscast as Guardiano and Gerait Evans as Melitone
is a horrible example of bad taste. It is a pity - for Bergonzi.
If one is interested in listening to Bergonzi with better partners,
I have noticed Myto released a live performance conducted by Solti,
but I have not listen to it yet. Another set has been previously
published, with Leyla Gencer as his partner, but the recorded
sound was not good.
James Levine used to be an excellent verdian conductor in the
70s (the Otello and Vespri Siciliani recorded by RCA confirm this
incredible spontaneity he would loose later in 80s). Let’s say
he probably is the best conductor of discography. If Mitropoulos,
and later, Muti and Sinopoli have offered exciting but very personal
performances, James Levine is the only conductor to offer a classic
reading of such a level, with lyricism, energy, passion and real
beauty. An outstanding orchestral performance indeed. Levine conducts
here a triomphal cast. Placido Domingo’s first Alvaro is ideally
youthful, musical, beautiful-toned and is superior to all his
rivals in dramatic expression. Sherril Milnes is perhaps light
of tone for the role, but the singer is stylish and the upper
register shines. Bonaldo Giaiotti has not a charismatic personnality,
but he has the best Italian bass voice since Siepi. He offers
all the natural wisdom of Guardiano. With the exceptionnal Melitone
of Bacquier, the exciting Preziosilla of Cossotto and second roles
wonderfully cast, such as Michel Senechal’s Trabucco or Kurt Moll’s
Calatrava, this set is a delight. Leontyne Price at the end of
her career is still acceptable as Leonora, but is not unforgettable.
It is generally well sung and without the troubles one can hear
in her later Trovatore Leonoras recorded with Mehta and Karajan.
Globally, this is the best recording of the opera.
In contrast to Levine, Muti’s performances of Verdi have become
more and more impressive in the mid-80s. Riccardo Muti recorded
Forza del Destino when he joined La Scala in 1986, and this is
probably the first recording of Muti’s maturity. The orchestra
is impressive, and the dramatic tension is outstanding, revealed
in persuasive rythmic strength and an extraordinary cohesion of
the whole orchestra. Neverthless, if all the dramatic moments
are unforgettable, it seems Muti misses the meditative scenes.
Each time the tempo should slow down, all naturality is lost.
In spite of this flaw, this is an impressive orchestral performance
any Verdi lover should listen to. Placido Domingo’s second Alvaro
has lost some ease in upper register, but legato and musicality
is even better. The wonderful. Mirella Freni offers spontaneity
and beauty to a lighter than usual Leonora, but deeply moving.
Giorgio Zancanaro has probably recorded his best performance here.
His Carlo is outstanding in sense of style, articulation and offers
an easy and colorful tone - the best Carlo since the 1941 Tagliabue’s
performance. Dolora Zajick is quite good as Prezisollia and Sesto
Bruscantini is excellent as Melitone. Alas, Paul Plishka’s voice
is too small and his interpretation is rather unimaginative. Neverthless,
in spite of Plishka’s Guardiano, in spite of the troubles Muti
finds in some scenes and of a strange studio recording (La Scala
without audience), this set is close to miracle, and a close second
best to Levine’s reference recording.
Giuseppe Sinopoli released his own Forza at the same time. Offering
quite a different view of the score, his orchestra is more colorful
and exudes more naturally than Muti’s. While Muti plays with rhythms,
Sinopoli plays with colors. The result is quite impressive, imaginative
and musical, but the general impression is a level below what Muti
achieves. The colors of the orchestra find an echo in the color
of the voices in the cast, since the team of singers here displays
some magnificent tones. Nevertheless, they don’t display exciting
performances. Carreras is impulsive, beautiful-toned, moving, full
of life and sex-appeal, but the voice was very tired at this time,
and Alvaro is too heavy a role for him. However, with so much conviction
and seduction, we can overlook many minor problems. On the other
hand, we cannot forgive neither the strange Italian of Rosalind
Plowright nor her difficulties and lack of imagination, and we cannot
understand why Julia Varady was not invited for the studio recording,
once she had been the star of Sinopoli’s Munich performances of
this opera. Renato Bruson was in quite bad shape here too. The voice
seems worn both in lower and upper registers and strangely gray.
Paata Burchuladze is of course not an idiomatic Guardiano and is
quite weak in dramatic expression (by the way, has he ever tried
to express something?). Baltsa abounds in seduction but doesn’t
have the voice for the role. Finally, only Juan Pons is excellent
as Melitone. I don’t know how to rate this recording: it is quite
fascinating, but somewhat to eccentric to be really easily recommended.
Valery Gergiev has recorded the original version of Forza del Destino,
including the slightly different act III (with a cabaletta for Alvaro),
as well as the original end of the opera (Alvaro commiting suicide
after Leonora’s death) and many differences in orchestration. The
only interest of the set is the possibility of hearing this initial
version of the work. Except for the nice Alvaro of Grigoriam and
Borodina’s Preziosilla, singers like Nikolai Putilin or Mikhail
Kit, excellent in the Russian repertoire, have nothing to do with
Verdi’s universe. Gorchakova (Leonora) is really painful in Verdi,
and Gergiev conducts the opera with talent but without genius. |
Among the audio recordings of Forza, one cannot forget Previtali’s
studio recording on Decca. Its interest is awakened by the casting of
Zinka Milanov in one of her most famous roles. However, this was made
when she was reaching the end of her career and routine had already
prevailed on expression. On her favour, her famous pianissimi which
give a special touch to moments such as La vergine degli angeli. Rosalind
Elias’ voice and manners have little to do with Preziosilla. Although
Giuseppe di Stefano is in a role hopelessly heavy for his voice, he
is very expressive and has a youthful tone. Leonard Warren shares some
of the criticism reserved for Milanov, but the voice is in far better
condition. Tozzi and Mantovani are decent Guardiano and Melitone. The
workaday conducting of Previtali doesn’t help a lot.
Now, the video performances. When Levine’s performances at the
Met were recorded, not only he was no longer the promising young conductor
of his CD recordings. The energy is still here, but not always the imagination.
Also, there is some rough-edged orchestral playing here. The production
is very ugly and acting is worse than conventional. Leontyne Price was
quite past her best days here. Her mannerisms have developed too much
by then - she abuses chest voice, slides up and down and has unclear
diction. However, she still keeps the warmest tone, ease with mezza
voce, no matter how high it is, and her joie de chant (as she used to
call it herself). Even with those drawbacks, her Pace, pace was still
the most exciting around. Isola Jones is dealing exclusively with sexy
looks, since her voice is simply too modest for Preziosilla. Giuseppe
Giacomini, on the other hand, is in splendid shape as Alvaro. It is
a dark dramatic voice, used with good taste and energy and his use of
mezza voce in Solene in quest’ora is exemplary. Leo Nucci is also
in strongest voice. Another surviver here is Bonaldo Giaiotti - left
to work with the wreck of what has never been really impressive. Enrico
Fissore is a too eupeptic Melitone.
The video of the San Petersburg original version from the Mariinsky
Theatre benefits from a charming stage which, however, looks more like
Germany than Spain. The cast is basically the same of the CDs, with
different Guardiano and Preziosilla. Although Gorchakova has powerful
voice and amazing low notes, she cannot scale down to save her life
and has a poor idea of Verdian style. In the other hand, Mariana Tarasova’s
rich mezzo works beautifully for Preziosilla. She’s probably the
best in the cast. Gegam Grigorian has the annoying habitudes of imitating
Corelli’s bad features but none of the good ones and he goes rough
in act III. There is a weird editing going on by the end of it that
suggests that they had to use material from other performance. Nikolai
Putilin also gets rough too soon, but his looks when he appears with
the swords to defy Alvaro for the last time are really demonic. Both
basses dismiss the idea that the Russian basses have extra low notes.
top
~Otello
1 - Gwyneth Jones (Desdemona), James McCracken (Otello), Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
(Iago), New Philharmonia, John Barbirolli
2 - Cesy Broggini, Carlo Ghichandut, Giuseppe Taddei, Orchestra della
RAI, Franco Capuana
3 - Cheryl Studer (Desdemona), Plácido Domingo (Otello), Sergei
Leiferkus (Iago), Opéra Bastille, Myung Whun Chung
4 - Victoria de los Angeles (Desdemona), Mario del Monaco (Otello),
Leonard Warren (Iago), Metropolitan Opera, Fausto Cleva
5 - Renata Tebaldi (Desdemona), Mario del Monaco (Otello), Aldo Protti
(Iago), Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Alberto Erede
6 - Dragica Martinis (Desdemona), Ramon Vinay (Otello), Paul Schöffler
(Iago), Wiener Philharmoniker, Wilhelm Furtwängler
7 - Renata Tebaldi (Desdemona), Mario del Monaco (Otello), Aldo Protti
(Iago), Wiener Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan
8 - Mirella Freni (Desdemona), Jon Vickers (Otello), Peter Glossop
(Iago), Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan
9 - Mirella Freni (Desdemona), Jon Vickers (Otello), Peter Glossop
(Iago), Wiener Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan
10 - Mirella Freni (Desdemona), Plácido Domingo (Otello), Piero
Cappuccilli (Iago), La Scala, Carlos Kleiber
11 - Renata Scotto (Desdemona), Plácido Domingo (Otello), Sherrill
Milnes (Iago), National Philharmonic, James Levine
12 - Margaret Price (Desdemona), Giuseppe Giacomini (Otello), Matteo
Manuguerra (Iago), Orchestre Nationale de Bordeaux Aquitaine, Alain
Lombard
13 - Katia Ricciarelli (Desdemona), Plácido Domingo (Otello),
Justino Diaz (Iago), La Scala, Lorin Maazel
14 - Barbara Frittoli (Desdemona), Plácido Domingo (Otello),
Leo Nucci (Iago), La Scala, Riccardo Muti
15 - Elisabeth Rethberg (Desdemona), Giovanni Martinelli (Otello),
Lawrence Tibett (Iago), Metropolitan Opera, Ettore Panizza
16 - Stella Roman (Desdemona), Giovanni Martinelli (Otello), Lawrence
Tibbett (Iago), Metropolitan Opera, Ettore Panizza
17 - Kiri Te Kanawa (Desdemona), Vladimir Atlantov (Otello), Piero
Cappuccilli (Iago), Arena di Verona, Zoltan Pesko
18 - Miriam Gauci (Desdemona), Nicola Martinucci (Otello), Edouard
Tumagian (Otello), Orquestra Sinfonica de Barcelona, Alexander Rahbari
19 - Maria Carbone (Desdemona), Nicola Fusati (Otello), Apollo Granforte
(Iago), La Scala, Carlo Sabajno
20 - Leonie Rysanek (Desdemona), Jon Vickers (Otello), Tito Gobbi (Iago),
Opera di Roma, Tulio Serafin
21 - Margaret Price (Desdemona), Carlo Cossutta (Otello), Gabriel Bacquier
(Iago), Wiener Philharmoniker, Georg Solti
22 - Kiri Te Kanawa (Desdemona), Luciano Pavarotti (Otello), Leo Nucci
(Iago), Chicago SO, Georg Solti
23 - Kiri Te Kanawa (Desdemona), Plácido Domingo (Otello), Sergei
Leiferkus (Iago), Covent Garden, Georg Solti
24 - Herva Nelli (Desdemona), Ramón Vinay (Otello), Giuseppe
Valdengo (Iago), NBC Symphony, Arturo Toscanini
|
Otello is perhaps the most supreme achievement in the history
of Italian opera. Never before nor after that, a work would offer
such a rich score together with a highly developed vision of dramatic
expression and tragedy. Each note, each word has its importance
and Verdi achieves here what Wagner dream about, but with his
own inspiration and tools. Created in 1887, Otello was immediately
a triumph, since both Verdi and his librettist, Arrigo Boito,
had created such a masterpiece. It became immediately a classic.
If the popularity of such a beloved opera has always been huge,
problems encountered by interpreters have always been abundant
too. Actually, Otello needs a very powerful voice , but also a
first-rate actor, and not so many singers will match the criteria
needed to succeed. Otello must be powerful, with natural authority,
but also noble and intelligent, considering his high position
in the Venitian society. The casting of Iago is also of prime
importance, as he is the real mechanism of the opera, the one
who controls and makes everything run. Iago must appear before
everyone as a gentleman; otherwise the story cannot be realistic.
Although it is not told in Verdi’s opera, one has to remember
that Shakespeare’s Desdemona betrays her own father to marry Otello
in secret, on her own initiative. This young girl from the best
society chose by herself to marry an officer, a Moor of low extraction,
because she was attracted by his suffering nature and strength
- all that disqualifies her for the angelic view of the role.
Desdemona is a strong woman and in no way the naive virgin a certain
tradition tries to impose. Finally, the opera needs excellent
second roles, especially a very beautiful lyric tenor for Cassio.
Of course, the orchestra is of prime importance, as Verdi reached
here the peak of his mastery in orchestral expression and the
orchestra is an actor by itself.
Tenors of the past
The first studio recording of Otello was made in 1932 with La
Scala forces. Nicola Fusati is a powerful tenor but also ugly
in emission and quite unimaginative and Maria Carbone is a tame
Desdemona. The real interest of this version for the modern listener
is Apollo Granforte’s Iago, who will be remembered as the
definitive vocal reference for the role. Subtle, stylish, with
a homogeneous and easy emission, he is a miracle. Sabajno offers
an excellent reading of the orchestral score.
More interesting are the live recordings of Giovanni Martinelli
at the Metropolitain Opera between 1938 and 1941. Martinelli is
the clear model for Otello : a beautiful voice, with an easy and
ringing upper register, lots of intelligence and style. He is
simply outstanding and far more modern in expression than Del
Monaco or McCracken. It is a pity he began to sing the role almost
55 years-old, as the voice was quite deteriorated at this time.
But it is better late than never. Martinelli’s Iago, Lawrence
Tibbett is also a reference, almost as perfect as Granforte regarding
voice, but also a much better actor and very modern of expression
too. I have noticed two versions released on CD : one with Stella
Roman as Desdemona (1941) and another with Elisabeth Rethberg
(1938). Of course. the choice is easy, as in 1938 Martinelli is
3 years younger and with the wonderful Rethberg, both lyrical
and dramatic, a master in vocal expression and also very modern.
As the sound is quite acceptable for a 1938 live recording and
as the conductor Ettore Panizza is one of the best inthe discography,
the live recording with Martinelli/Rethberg/Tibbet is a must-have
for those not too focused on perfect sound.
The Cetra recording nicely conducted by Franco Capuana may be
interesting for due to another excellent Iago both vocally and
dramatically, Giuseppe Taddei. Carlos Guichandut and Cesy Broggini
can be forgotten without much ado - they are good, but far from
outstanding.
The Ramón Vinay/Toscanini recording is a classic and I
have always found fascinating that Arturo Toscanini played the
cello during the creation of the piece in 1887. His orchestra
captivates from the first note to the last one, with mesmerizing
rhythmic precision and an incredible energy. An absolute reference
for the orchestra. Toscanini made some strange choices when it
came to his cast for most operas he recorded. It was by chance
he accepted to work with one of the major Otellos of the century
: Ramón Vinay. Dark-voiced, powerful but also noble, without
any overacting, Vinay is perhaps the most overall satisfying Otello
of the discography. If Herva Nelli is unimaginative, she is at
least competent and Giuseppe Valdengo’s light and persuasive
Iago offers a magnificent unusual contrast to a dark Otello. It
is a classic and only the dry sound should prevent anyone to get
in touch with the opera with this version.
At the opposite direction of Toscanini, Furtwängler offers
a tragic, very slow Otello live in Salzburg in 1951, also starring
Ramón Vinay as Otello. If Vinay is also excellent here,
the rest of the cast is quite exotic and artists like Paul Schoffler,
Anton Dermota, Josef Greindl, all excellent in their own repertoire,
have nothing to do with the verdian world. They are, to be honest,
quite weak, especially Schoffler, horrid as Iago, but not as much
as Dragica Martinis as Desdemona (definitively one of the most
horrible interpretations I have ever heard in my life of recording
collector). As Vinay can be heard in better sound with Toscanini,
the only interest of this recording is the reading of Furtwängler.
As in his Don Giovanni, it is passionate, highly tragic and intelligent
and the musical architecture and power are fascinating, but does
it really respect the spirit of the work and the composer? As
a Furtwängler fan, I am always interested in this recording,
but could hardly recommend it to anybody else. I know two quite
interesting performances of Otello with Ramon Vinay also exist,
one with Fritz Busch (and Leonard Warren as Iago) and the other
conducted by Thomas Beecham, whom I imagine to be quite magic
in this opera. But, alas, I have never been able to find this
1958 Beecham live recording from Buenos Aires, strongly cast with
Antonietta Stella and Giuseppe Taddei. Let us hope a re-edition,
in a good sound, though, sincethe LP seemed to have been hard
to listen to.
Mario del Monaco
For many, Mario del Monaco is the ideal Otello. I do not share
this opinion. Although the power and the beauty of the voice are
fascinating and the energy and involvement unique, there is a
permanent overacting in his interpretations which transforms his
Otello too frequently into a barbarian. But, of course, his performances
are also fascinating because of the real identification existing
between the role and this tenor, for the eyes of the public as
well as for Del Monaco himself. He recorded the opera twice in
studio, with the same partners - the excellent Renata Tebaldi
and the correct Aldo Protti. All sing much better in 1955 under
the baton of Alberto Erede, but the orchestra and the conductor
are the worst of the discography, whereas the 1961 recording is
conducted by Herbert von Karajan with the Wiener Philarmoniker.
By the way, Karajan offers here a magnetic reading of the score,
with a lot of strength but also a lot of beauty and sensuality
and this is the true interest of the set. Regarding Mario Del
Monaco, I highly recommend the 1958 Metropolitan Opera live recording
under the good baton of Fausto Cleva, where Del Monaco is much
more concentrated and musical than in studio. It is very surprising
to notice he is much more refined live than in studioand he delivers
here a musical and nuanced performance unmatched by his studio
versions. We can imagine the role his partners played on influencing
him in purely musical terms. Victoria de Los Angeles is one of
the greatest Desdemona possible, with a lot of seduction and also
of imaginative dramatic feeling, whereas Leonard Warren is a magnificient
Iago, without caricature and showing perfect sense of style and
a glorious upper register. A great night, in a very good sound.
Jon Vickers
Jon Vickers has always been a charismatic tenor and is, in my
opinion, the best tenor who has recorded the role in the XXth
century. Powerful, subtle, musicianly - everything is magnificiently
phrased and he perfectly knows how to render anger without any
vocal or stylistic fault. If he was more at ease in the upper
register and lighter in voice, he would simply be ideal. You cannot
imagine a better actor or a more intelligent reading of the role.
Fascinating. His first recording has been made in his prime under
the baton of Tullio Serafin in 1960. Leonie Rysanek is a fascinating,
highly dramatic and almost erotic Desdemona, whereas Tito Gobbi
is an excellent actor but recorded a bit late in his career. Second
roles are excellent, especially Florindo Andreolli as Cassio and
Ferrucio Mazzoli as Lodovico. Serafin’s orchestra is far from
being excellent, but the reading of the old conductor is outstanding.
Majestic and very musical, it is the noblest reading of the score
ever recorded, providing a lot of excitement and a great atmosphere.
As Jon Vickers is at the peak of the mastery of his voice, this
recording is another reference and the one I would recommend for
someone to discover the opera.
The second Vickers recording has been made a bit late in his
career (1974) and the voice had lost a lot in the upper register.
But the actor is always unmatched. His partners are also less
interesting, as Freni is the kind of angelic Desdemona I talked
about in my introduction and Peter Glossop is awful as Cassio.
Karajan offers a demonic reading of the work, but the permanent
use of extreme dynamics like fortissimo or pianissimo makes the
recording very difficult to listen to without having serious troubles
with your neighbours. This permanent shifting from pianissimo
to fortissimo may become very tiring.
As the live performance from Salzburg can now be found, I would
rather recommend this one. Karajan’s orchestra is still impressive,
Vickers is still great and you can hear this amaizing performance
without being bored by the permanent manipulation of the sound
in the EMI set.
Plácido Domingo
The tenor most identified with the role nowadays is without any
doubt Plácido Domingo. Quite lyrical, he offered a new
vision of the role when in his prime and it is a delight to hear
the opera with so much beauty of tone. Alas, the first live recording
with him, the famous 1976 La Scala recording conducted by Carlos
Kleiber is far from satisfying. In fact Domingo, probably anxious
to sing the role for the first time at La Scala (he sang the role
for the first time the year before in Hamburg), overacts a lot,
with a clear imitation of Mario Del Monaco. As neither Freni nor
Cappuccilli are very interesting, this recording shines mainly
because of the wonderful direction of the highly inspired Carlos
Kleiber.
Plácido Domingo would be much better in the RCA studio
recording under the baton of Jimmy Levine. The voice is magnificent,
although there is unecessary verismo phrasing here and there.
The use of legato and the beauty of tone is a delight. This is
also his most natural performance and, therefore, in my opinion,
his best one. But the glory of this recording is certainly the
highly tragic Desdemona of Renata Scotto, probably the most moving
in the discography, in spite of a voice already slightly deteriorated.
Sherill Milnes is unimaginative and second roles are just correct,
but Levine makes wonders with his orchestra and offers here the
modern reference regarding orchestral reading. To sum it up, a
wonderful set, a major Desdemona, one of the best recording of
the discography and probably Domingo’s best performance.
The EMI Maazel recording is awful, mostly because of the cast.
Katia Ricciarelli’s voice has lost all possible control at this
time and Justino Diaz is perhaps an intelligent Iago, but one
with a very limited voice without tonal beauty. Finally, it is
hard for the Domingo fan I am to write that Placido delivered
here the worst recording of his career. Influenced by Zeffirelli
(the recording was used for his movie), he chose to change his
voice, and colored it with artificial dark colors. Let us say
the result is more ridiculous than impressive…
Fortunately, Domingo did not continue to sing it in such a stupid
way and recorded the role for the third time for DG, this time
with his natural voice. At this time, the voice has become stronger
and darker and Domingo has acquired a real mastery of the role.
Neverthless, the beauty of the voice has decreased and the emission
is not as beautiful and lyrical as in 1978. In a certain way,
the RCA recording offers more vocal qualities, whereas the DG
recording offers more dramatic qualities. As such a beautiful
voice is rare in the discography and as there are at least two
other tragédiens recorded (Vinay and Vickers), I would
prefer the RCA. Neverthless, as a whole, I think the Chung recording
is more recommended. The cast is first-rate with the excellent
but quite indifferent Studer as Desdemona, Leiferkus’ excellent
Iago (despite the strange color of the voice) and excellent second
roles, such as the wonderful Vargas as Cassio and D’Arcangello
as Lodovico. Chung conducts the opera with a quite modern view
and the results are often quite impressive. The recorded sound
is excellent. Highly recommended.
Other tenors
James McCracken used to be considered a great Otello. Vulgarity,
overacting, lack of beauty in the voice make me wonder how it
has been possible. This Otello is clearly horrid. And this is
a pity he had to replace Franco Corelli, who cancelled his participation
in the Barbirolli recording. As a matter of fact, except for McCracken,
the EMI 1969 Barbirolli set is a gem. First, Barbirolli’s orchestra
is quite impressive. Gwyneth Jones is the most sensuous Desdemona
ever and perhaps my favorite. Fischer-Dieskau is quite particular
as Iago, but his portrayal is fascinating and the singer is perfect.
Added to Piero di Palma’s excellent Cassio, I can imagine that,
with Corelli instead of McCracken, this set should have been owned
by anyone. With McCracken, it has alas to be quickly forgotten.
Carlo Cossutta’s tenor is under much better control, in
spite of the lack of seduction in his voice. To be honnest, he
is quite unexciting compared to most tenors in the discography.
As Margaret Price is quite indifferent (but vocally excellent,
of course) in Desdemona and as Peter Dvorsky’s Cassio and Kurt
Moll’s Lodovico sound quite exotic, the real interest of the set
is the excellent Iago of Gabriel Bacquier, a wonderful actor and
voice, but recorded, alas, a bit too late. Since Solti is technically
perfect but without much imagination but for than his usual ‘spectacular
performance’ style, this recording may be forgotten too, although
it is globally quite good.
Pavarotti’s Otello was an extraordinary event when it was released.
Of course the voice is magnificent, but he seems to be very anxious
during the whole performance and just sings the role without really
acting, just like his partner Kiri Te Kanawa. Leo Nucci is a second-rate
Iago, but Anthony Rolfe-Johnson’s Cassio is very well sung. If
Solti is better in his second recording with Chicago than in his
previous recording with Vienna, the results leave the listener
quite indifferent. A recording clearly lacking in involvement,
acting and passion.
Finally, the newest set conducted by Alain Lombard is quite marginal.
Of course Giuseppe Giacomini can sing globally well the role.
But he cannot be compared in any case to any of the great Otellos
already discussed. Matteo Manuguerra was 73 years-old when he
recorded this Iago and Margaret Price does not show here more
concern than in the Solti recording. Alain Lombard and his beautiful
orchestra are good but too many others are excellent for us to
really take this set into account
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Otello has had good luck on video. First there is Franco Enriquez’s
wonderfully "German Expressionism-like" film, with wonderful
camera perspective and wonderful lighting. Also, the Desdemona and the
Otello look wonderful and act convincingly. The musical performance,
made on the RAI studios, under the conducting of Tullio Serafin is exemplary
and the recorded mono sound is quite clear. Rosanna Carteri is a lovely
Desdemona - a bit on Olivier’s "angelic" cathegory and
Mario del Monaco was still in good shape in 1958, although subtlety,
as always, is not his strongest quality. A good surprise is Renato Capecchi’s
incisive Iago, although he was made to look a bit silly.
Then there is the Karajan film which uses the EMI performance as a
soundtrack. The results on screen are incredibly kitsch with some pinky/baby
blue/pale green colouring and 70’s make-up. The main victim of
those aesthetics is Jon Vickers, painted in black with a funny wig and
poorly clothed, he looks like Ortrud in a pre-war performance. Mirella
Freni is in full blond, looking rather Michèle Mercier and I
take the liberty of disagreeing with Olivier about her performance.
Not only she displays a vocal health and elegance that could be used
as a model to any soprano in any repertoire, but depicts a Desdemona
above all noble - her insouciance rather connected to a sense of her
own importance. This woman doesn’t allow her husband to have an
opinion about her, since he is lower in extraction than her and clearly
realizes that the Venetian society was right about her marrying him.
When she is humiliated in front of Ludovico, she is more appalled with
what people think of her than because she actually feels humiliated.
All that depicted in her subtle acting and nobility of tone and calculated
coolness. I consider it to be a very special performance.
The Arena di Verona also offers a version of Otello, but a rather coarse
one. Kiri Te Kanawa tells that one of the performances was interrupted
because the Italian team has won a game in the World Cup. So, you can
imagine the rest. Due to the venue, Te Kanawa offers a richly sung Desdemona,
more concerned about vocal production than on anything else, Vladimir
Atlantov has a good instrument for Otello, but he gets tired too soon
and has nothing interesting to show about his character and Cappuccilli
was past his prime as Iago. I haven’t found the production quite
illuminating nor the conductor something to be remembered.
In the other hand, the video from Covent Garden is the true product
of the country of Shakespeare. The staging is very simple and effective
and the level of commitment of the performers is amazing. Kiri Te Kanawa
looks stunning as Desdemona and offers a highly emotional and affecting
portrayal, even if her tone and style are not everything the role asks
for. Plácido Domingo, in the other hand, is a perfect Otello
and goes to the heart of his character and touches the heart of the
audiences in this magnificent performance. I read somewhere that Laurence
Olivier himself admired his acting in this role and we can see here
why. In the end of the evening, when Kiri and Domingo appear to receive
their more than deserved applauses, we can see their emotional exhaustion.
Also, Leiferkus, despite the weirdest placement of his voice, is a machiavellic
Iago, full of subtle inflections. The secondary roles, though, are poorly
taken. Solti leads a very energetic performance, but he had learnt to
relax more by then. The Covent Garden responds to all that accordingly,
although it is not a really refined orchestra.
Last but not least, there is the La Scala DVD, conducted by Muti. First
of all, all praises must go to Riccardo Muti’s supreme mastery
of this score. His control of poliphony, rhythms and orchestral sounds
is simply amazing. The first scene is the most musically sophisticated
every, with telling revelations about woodwind and more considerate
tempi than usual. Quite telling is also the Credo, shown here in such
harmonic richness that one could rightly think of Klytämnestra’s
nightmare scene. The recorded sound is excellent too. This was Domingo’s
farewell to the role and his tone is amazingly clear and youthful. He
sings with utmost good taste, but now he has to approach the role’s
most exposed moment with care and skill. Barbara Frittoli’s tone
lacks purity, but she is throroughly musicianly and sing the role with
lots of energy. Leo Nucci was in strongest voice when he recorded it
and his flexibility is quite telling in passages such as the toast in
act I, but, even if his diction is something to marvell, he is too unsubtle
as Iago. The production is rather dark, but elegant - and singers are
given space to develop their stage performances. The Paris 1894 revision
of act III concertato is adopted here.
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