Hi EJ, I must have missed this Tosca. I have Sinopoli doing a superb Puccini Manon Lescaut, so I must investigate this! Thanks for your post.
Verdi: Aida
Toscanini started his conducting career at age 19 with Aida and ended it after 67 years later with Aida. This is a 1949 recording with NBC orchestra.Soprano [Aida] - Herva Nelli
Mezzo-Soprano [Amneris] - Eva Gustavson
Soprano [Priestess] - Teresa Stich-Randall
Tenor [Messaggero] - Virginio Assandri
Tenor [Radamès] - Richard Tucker
Baritone [Amonasro] - Giuseppe Valdengo
Bass [King Of Egypt] - Dennis Harbor
Bass [Ramphis] - Norman Scott
Chorus - Robert Shaw Chorale
Chorus Master - Robert Shaw
What a drama! All the Toscanini touches are everywhere without upstaging the soloists. His pacing and phrasing are impeccable Not one note dull.
Usual a dry balance of Studio 8H but vocals are well done preserving a clarity of Nelli/Tucker.
Nelli as a drama singer is excellent but her voice gets flattened and lose transparency at low register. Tucker seems a bit wooden against Toscanini’s backdrop but generally appreciate his articulation and delivery. Wishing maybe Valdengo might have been a better Radames.
Love Samuel Ramey!
He’s my favourite Mefistofele!
Me too! ( back in the 90s ) Does anyone know who was the VO in this spot?
Took me a while to tracking it down. I have a Joan Sutherland vinyl. Mean to explore more of Delibes’ work but haven’t one it yet.
1 Like
Hi Kuma. Valdengo had good top notes but as a true baritone Radames would surely be out of his range. By the way, you should see Gustavson in the telecast - old school acting!
Cheers
EJ
I loved the tone of Valdengo’s voice. I thought he was tenor also. You are right he might struggle with Celeste Aida.
Which one is your favourite Aida?
Where to start, it’s my favorite opera… I have a soft spot for Abbado / Domingo / Ricciarelli (well basically love everything with Katia Ricciarelli), but I also wouldn’t want to be without Maazel / Pav / Chiara and Pappano / Kaufmann / Harteros. Or the vintage Perlea with Bjoerling and Milanov.
Cheers
EJ
1 Like
Thanks EJ.
I love Ricciarelli. I have her Verdi albulm I cherish. I will get vinyl set for this.
I have the Maazel/Pav/Chiara set but I haven’t listened to it yet. ( maybe tonight )
I recall you were raving about Pappano/Kaufmann set a few years ago. I’m hoping for a recent Netrebko’s Aida/MET maybe on a record.
[https://youtu.be/NaQ0YK_lEDo]
Kuma, compare this to Netrebko’s telecast of the same aria!
Cheers
EJ
Katia Ricciarelli in her early years, a uniquely beautiful voice. She is captured well on this disc, while the orchestra at times literally sounds as if recorded in lowres mp3 format. Still - recommended!
Cheers
EJ
Freshly reissued on bluray-audio and as hires download (in what appears to be the originals-remastering), Fricsay’s Don Giovanni sounds better than ever. There’s still a bit of congestion and the occasional boxiness, and DG’s early stereo was no match to what Decca and EMI produced at the time. The singing is by and large spectacular, incl Maria Stader as a swooping, grand Elvira, and Ernst Haefliger as one of the most endearing Don Ottavios on record. Fischer-Dieskau as Don Giovanni is, I feel, undercharacterised in this group, which is a shame as at this stage of this career he had the voice.
Cheers
EJ
1 Like
Monteverdi’s third (partially) surviving opera, Ulysses’ return, is somewhat tougher to chew than the other two, at times more oratorio than opera, but Gardiner’s version is quite the experience, brimming with theatricality and excellently recorded.
Cheers
EJ
1 Like
It suits my limited language abilities when it’s in English. The cast is outstanding. Lillian Watson is a bright fresh vixen and Thomas Allen brings drama to the role of Forester. Other contributions are strongly individual, especially Robert Tear (Schoolmaster & Gnat) and Gwynne Howell (Badger & Priest).
2 Likes
Wow. She’s rather good, isn’t she?
That’s really good Aida!
Looks like i need to get that CD.
I saw a bit clip of Nerebko’s. Was not too keen on it.
Katia is my fave! My dealer sent me one of her record a few years back.
What at first may not sound very interesting, a live opera recording on a label not known for its operas, is actually pretty exciting - a chance to hear today’s best Boris, Alexander Tsymbalyuk, in Mussorgsky’s early, short but dark and gloomy edition of Boris Godunov, taped during concert performances that garnered excellent reviews, with a superb chorus, and under a conductor thoroughly familiar with the work. Tsymbalyuk is charismatic and in beautiful voice, and his monologues in the Kremlin and death scenes are the moving high points they should be.
Sound quality is very good, atmospheric, with hardly a trace of close mike congestion and deep bass, and no audience interference. The bells in the coronation scene were performed from an adjacent room, so they sound mystical rather than in your face imposing, but Nagano compensates with a tight, imposing, orchestra and chorus.
Ultimately I do have a soft spot for Rimsky’s extensively edited / recomposed version (Cluytens with Christoff on Warner/EMI is a unique document if only because Christoff chose to sing all bass roles) but Mussorgsky’s original as recorded here, a series of tableaux chronicling the rise, guilt, mental breakdown and death of Boris, is the tighter story and musically more daring.
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this recording - highly recommended.
2 Likes
Only recently did I discover there was a 2000 digitally remastered version of this. I downloaded it and, on my Nova, it sounds very much better than my original ripped CDs.
Stephen
1 Like
As a newcomer to Opera, who was looking for a ‘gentle’ introduction, I recently bought this for just £2.99. Might be sacrilege to the aficionados but I enjoy it.
1 Like
Try Giulio Cesare at Glyndebourne
2 Likes
Thanks, I will.