Customer Reviews

Bellini : La Sonnambula

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

SOURCE:
Live performance from La Scala in Milan, March 5, 1955.

SOUND:
Weak, inadequate, antiquated, muffled, limited and frustrating. I am reminded of the output of the first generation of pocket-sized transistor radios that were such a craze when I was in junior high school--the ones that made the Bakelite-cased, table model AM radios at home sound so resonantly mellifluous. Audiophiles who suffer the vapors on hearing digital recordings made with last week's equipment, walk away right now. This is not for you. The only reason for listening to this recording is the performance. Live with its technical inadequacies.

CAST:
Amina - Maria Callas (soprano)
Elvino - Cesare Valletti (tenor)
Teresa - Gabriella Carurani (mezzo-soprano)
Il Conte Rodolfo - Giuseppe Modesti (bass)
Lisa - Eugenia Ratti (soprano)
Alessio - Pierluigi Latinucci (bass)
Un Notario - Giuseppe Nessi (tenor)

CONDUCTOR:
Leonard Bernstein with the Orchestra and Chorus of Teatro alla Scala, Milano.

TEXT:
The standard cuts that were traditional for a century or more are observed.

DOCUMENTATION:
No libretto. Brief history of the opera and a short summary of the plot. Nothing on the cast or the circumstances of the recording. Track list identifies main singers but omits timings.

COMMENTARY:
In 1955 La Scala presented "Sonnambula" in an expensive new production overseen by Luchino Visconti, who served as producer, director and all-around prop for Maria Callas. It marked the second occasion in which Callas and Leonard Bernstein worked together in an opera house. Callas was still at her peak, but not long before, a bobbled high note during a performance of "Andrea Chenier" had occasioned an outburst of boos and whistles, something that Maria Callas would remember far more clearly than the cheers she had also earned that night. Callas believed that the sharks were beginning to circle--and she was probably right. Not long after that, Callas, being Callas, had managed to get into an unseemly tussle with Boris Christoff over bows in a "Medea." And the feud with Renata Tebaldi had come to a nice, sour boil.

By the time Callas arrived in Milan, she was in a state. Her doctor ordered complete rest. The opening of "La Sonnambula" was postponed for two weeks. Bernstein was not entirely unhappy at the delay, for it allowed him to get in an almost unprecedented eighteen orchestral rehearsals for an opera that La Scala habitually performed after only a single run-through.

At the time, Callas seems to have been going through an infatuation with Visconti. When she finally turned up at rehearsals, she was unusually pliant before his direction. However, so the story goes, one Visconti-ism proved too much for her. Although the opera is set in a humble Tyrolean village, the director insisted that Callas wear her best personal jewelry during all rehearsals. "But Luchino," she is supposed to have said, "I'm only a village girl." "No," Visconti replied, "you are MARIA CALLAS playing a village girl, and don't you forget it!"

Callas sings extremely well here, lightening her voice to portray the simple village girl, Amina (pace Luchino), but nevertheless in full La Divina mode with wonderful high notes and breathtaking vocal decorations. For Callas fans, that fully justifies a five-star rating for this set.

This is one of the relatively few Callas live recordings that can also boast of a first-class tenor and conductor. Cesare Valletti was a true, indeed a classic tenore di grazia. He was Tito Schipa's student and in some ways he surpassed that charming old musical con man. Because of him, the glorious Amina-Elvino duets are first-rate. (Such was not the case in Callas' studio recording and her second live recording, both made with the utterly useless Nicola Monti.)

Bernstein was at his most Bernsteinly. He put his well-rehearsed orchestra through their paces and injected drama, fire and electricity into the music. (Perhaps more drama, fire and electricity than sweetly melodious Bellini ever intended--but that's another subject.)

The rest of the cast is pretty good, also unusual for a live Callas recording. Eugenia Ratti is a little too hard-edged for my taste but she is effective as the hard-edged Lisa. Giuseppe Modesti is fine as Count Rodolfo. The only fault I can find with him is that he is not Cesare Siepi.

Callas at her best, a good supporting cast and a top conductor, all of these demand and deserve five stars.

BUT--
This is not at all the best performance of "La Sonnambula" available. In 1952 CETRA issued a recording with Lina Pagliughi and Ferruccio Tagliavini which is currently available in various editions. Pagliughi was good, even though she was never the vocal technician that Callas was. Nevertheless, she was a better Amina, singing in the old melodic way. Excellent as Valletti was, Tagliavini was even better. Overall, I think the Pagliughi-Tagliavini performance is the one Bellini would have said most closely matched his intentions.

Bernstein La Sonnambula Review:

All of Callas' preserved recordings of La Sonnambula date from 1957 and are conducted by Antonino Votto except for this 1955 performance which is under Leonard Bernstein and is totally dissimilar from her later performances regarding tempi, cuts, embellishments, etc. Bernstein's performing edition is much more complete and as such it is distinctive. I know of no other performance of a Bel Canto opera dating from this period that is performed with most of the cabaletta repeats intact and so few internal cuts. Still, in spite of his many cuts, Votto actually paces the opera in a more sympathetic manner and in a more Bel Canto fashion than does Bernstein who tends to drive the music too forcefully at times... However, Bernstein is never dull and Votto can sound "sleepy"... but since it is indeed an opera about sleep his gentle and more poetic approach is really not out of place.

Regarding his performing edition, Bernstein includes the small aria for the secondary soprano plus the beautiful ensemble prior to the final sleepwalking scene. This ensemble does not include Callas, but it contains such a gorgeous melody that I can't imagine why it would be cut. Also, the presence of Cesare Valetti in the tenor role is an asset... as he was one of the most aristocratic of performers and in spite of not possessing the high C necessary to sing the role as in the traditional printed score. (Bellini's autograph has the tenor's arias in even higher keys!) Regarding Callas' participation, while she refined her interpretation and adjusted her embellishments... and mostly for the better for the 1957 revival under Votto... I wish she had continued to perform the more complete and more interestingly embellished version of her opening cabaletta as with Bernstein. Furthermore, the extra staccato flourishes that she employs in the last act cabaletta under Bernstein are quite exciting and electrify in an almost Sutherland-like manner and this in spite of not extending her cadenza just prior to the second verse up to the high E-flat as in the 1957 performances. Plus, Callas seems to be pulling out all the stops here to bring the opera to a rousing conclusion... in her later efforts she substituted a bit of under-statement for the flash... both approaches work... but ultimately she opted for elegance verses mere fireworks and given the gentle nature of the title character as interpreted by Callas they seem considerably more appropriate.

In any event, this performance was a milestone for Callas and Bel Canto revival in general and as such is not to be missed. I would recommend it as a perfect supplement to the versions of the opera conducted by Votto.

Compared to the EMI version of this performance the sound is a bit dull, but still quite listenable and certainly worth the price.

Mr Cantrell has already done his usual sterling job reviewing this set and I agree almost completely with his verdict - except I cannot give it five stars when there are two other excellent studio recordings to go for. I discuss these fairly extensively in my review of the 1957 EMI set conducted by Votto; the other is the splendid 1952 version with Tagliavini and Pagliughi, conducted by Capuana.

As the sound was always dodgy and Opera d'Oro have often done a better job than EMI in their transfers of the live Callas discography, I see little point in buying the official EMI re-mastering when it is available on the Opera d'Oro label via Amazon Marketplace for less than half the price - unless you want the booklet and libretto, as, of course, Opera d'Oro provide their usual minimal documentation (i.e. nothing beyond a cast list, a few cues and another of Bill Parker's skilfully condensed plot synopses). The sound was always grim and this is primarily for Callas aficionados. Bernstein gives her the latitude which Votto's more pedestrian conducting denies her and there is a palpable sense of a great occasion to be perceived through the murky sonics. He had many more weeks than normal to rehearse the piece and it shows; there is a lot of lovingly played detail and a sense of unity between the diva and her maestro. It is also true that Valletti is superior to Monti but not necessarily to Tagliavini; neither Zaccaria nor Giuseppe Modesti, good as they both are, is superior to the peerless Cesare Siepi in the old Cetra set. I still want this in my collection as a souvenir of Callas in one of her best rôles on a special night at La Scala but her studio recording is almost as good and makes easier listening - and ultimately the Cetra is the best all-round choice.