IL TROVATORE

By Giuseppe Verdi

VIDEO: Mario del Monaco, Fedora Barbieri, Leyla Gencer, Ettore Bastianini, Previtali conducts; RAI Italiana, 1957; no subtitles, B & W; BCS [Bel Canto Society] 005

AUDIO: A) RCA: Jussi Bjoerling, Fedora Barbieri, Zinka Milanov, Leonard Warren, Cellini conducting; Robert Shaw Chorale; 1952; Gold Seal 60191-2-RG; a consistently authoritative cast, and all at their vocal best; some traditional cuts, unfortunately, but energetic leadership from Cellini and superb work by the Robert Shaw Chorale top a very special recording; a TROVATORE whose virtues across the board impress more and more after repeated exposure to the inadequacies, whether negligible or acute, in so many other sets; in good mono [G.R.]

B) GALA (rumor has it that a state-of-the-art DG pressing of this is being made available in the U.S.A; will believe it when I see it; meanwhile this GALA pressing is really quite good--and reasonably priced): Franco Corelli, Giulietta Simionato, Leontyne Price, Ettore Bastianini, von Karajan conducting ("live," Salzburg, July '62); in sheer vocal daring, flamboyance, energy and power, the most striking set yet; Price as Leonora and Simionato as Azucena are as special in their way as Milanov and Barbieri in A; maybe, von Karajan's conducting brings out too many of Corelli's exclamatory tendencies, jeopardizing some of the broader phrasing and softer dynamics heard from Corelli's Manrico elsewhere (see E); but von Karajan presides over an exciting show overall, the "live" ambience making all the difference compared with the more stately theatre and more scrupulous musicianship in AUDIO A; a few cuts [G.R.]

C) EMI: Giuseppe di Stefano, Fedora Barbieri, Maria Callas, Rolando Panerai, von Karajan conducting (1956); though not literally complete, most of the traditional cuts are opened up here, and this recording features the most satisfactory cast to be heard in such a full edition; while di Stefano does not have the full vocal power for Manrico (granted, neither does Bjoerling in A, though Bjoerling, with his superior technique, copes better than most with Verdi's appalling demands), di Stefano is, at the same time, uniquely warm and engaging; Callas does not match what she achieves in F-1 below, but she passes muster and sounds easier and more plausible than in her disappointing studio Ballo in Maschera from this same year; Barbieri remains as potent an interpreter as in A; mono [G.R.]

D) DG: Carlo Bergonzi, Fiorenza Cossotto, Antonietta Stella, Ettore Bastianini, Serafin conducting (1962); a master of the tradition, the superb Serafin presides over almost as complete an account as Item C; features Bergonzi's peerless Manrico setting the standard in this role, encompassing the suppleness of Bjoerling with somewhat greater power, the sweeping legato of Corelli, much of the warmth of di Stefano, and musicianship that is second to none (who else combines all this in "Di quella pira," to take just one obvious example?);  his colleagues come off as accomplished, though they don't dominate their roles; in excellent stereo[G.R.]

E) MELODRAM: Franco Corelli, Fiorenza Cossotto, Antonietta Stella, Ettore Bastianini, Gavazzeni conducting ("live," La Scala, Opening Night, Dec. 7, 1962); neither Stella nor Cossotto, good as they are here, efface impressions of Milanov(A)/Price(B) or of Barbieri(A)/Simionato(B), but Bastianini and Corelli (the latter with broader and more nuanced phrasing than in B) bring great verve to their roles, and Gavazzeni, while not so strong in contrasts or in ensemble cohesion as von Karajan, imparts, as always, a natural flow to the music that sometimes eludes von Karajan--Gavazzeni practically owned Opening Night at La Scala during this period, and, listening, one can understand why; a few cuts [G.R.]

F-1) MELODRAM: Kurt Baum, Giulietta Simionato, Maria Callas, Leonard Warren, Picco conducting ("live," Mexico City, 1950); striking memento of Callas's Leonora at its best; a younger Simionato's Azucena is already highly individual; the Callas/Warren confrontation in Act IV is almost worth the whole performance; in so-so mono [G.R.]

F-2) RCA: Placido Domingo, Fiorenza Cossotto, Leontyne Price, Sherrill Milnes, Mehta conducting (c. 1970); featuring a musically accomplished, technically alert, if slightly overparted lirico spinto (Domingo) as the drammatico Manrico, this recording is notable chiefly for including every note of Verdi’s score with a cast that, at the very least, sustains certain basic standards, the fine Azucena/Leonora pairing of Cossotto and Price accomplishing much more than just that; for one thing, though others may interpret Azucena with greater imagination, Cossotto’s Azucena is at her vocal peak here, becoming, for the first time, the only one that encompasses successfully all the heroic strength needed for the declamatory passages in the middle and low, all the bel canto flexibility needed for Azucena’s florid passagework, and all the ease needed on top (yes, including the high C in “Perigliarti ognor languente”!); Stereo  [G.R.]

The Operas of Verdi : From Il Trovatore to La Forza Del Destino (Vol. 2, Revised), by Julian Budden

Encounters with Verdi, by Marcello Conati, Richard Stokes, Julian Budden