Lauri-Volpi sings Verdi

Gino Bechi (Performer), Giuseppe de Luca (Performer), Marco Basiola (Performer), Giuseppe Verdi (Composer), Carlo Sabajno (Conductor), Franco Ghione (Conductor), Fritz Zweig (Conductor), Gino Marinuzzi (Conductor), Renato Arduini (Conductor), Rosario Bourdon (Conductor), Irene Cattaneo-Minghini (Performer), Berlin State Opera Orchestra (Orchestra), Elisabeth Rethberg (Performer), Maria Caniglia (Performer), Giacomo Lauri-Volpi (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Gino Bechi, Giuseppe de Luca, Marco Basiola, Irene Cattaneo-Minghini, Elisabeth Rethberg, et al.
• Orchestra: Berlin State Opera Orchestra
• Conductor: Carlo Sabajno, Franco Ghione, Fritz Zweig, Gino Marinuzzi, Renato Arduini, et al.
• Composer: Giuseppe Verdi
• Audio CD (December 2, 1992)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Nimbus Records
• ASIN: B0000037KB
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #228,118 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Luisa Miller, opera

2. Rigoletto, opera

3. La forza del destino, opera: Solenne in quest' ora

4. La forza del destino, opera: Invano Alvaro...Le minaccie, i fieri accenti

5. Aida, opera: Act Three: The Nile scene, complete

6. Aida, opera: Act Three: The Nile scene, complete

7. Aida, opera: Qui Radames verra!... O patria mia

8. Aida, opera: Qui Radames verra!... O patria mia

9. Aida, opera: Ciel! mio padre...Rivedrai le foreste imbalsamate

10. Aida, opera: Ciel! mio padre...Rivedrai le foreste imbalsamate

11. Aida, opera: Pur ti riveggo, mia dolce Aida...Nel fiero anelito di nuova guerra

12. Aida, opera: Pur ti riveggo, mia dolce Aida...Nel fiero anelito di nuova guerra

13. Aida, opera: Fuggiam gli ardori inospiti...La tra foreste vergini

14. Aida, opera: Ma dimmi, per qual via

15. Otello, opera: Esultate!

16. Otello, opera: Gia nella notte...Ed io vedea

17. Otello, opera: Ora e per sempre

18. Otello, opera: Si, pel ciel marmoreo giuro!

19. Otello, opera: Dio mi potevi

20. Otello, opera: Niun mi tema

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A LEGENDARY TENOR IN GREAT VERDIAN ROLES, May 7, 2001

By 

"jfmaniaci" (Broadbeach, Queensland, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lauri-Volpi sings Verdi (Audio CD)

This stupendous CD provides 78 minutes of glorious singing by Giacomo Lauri-Volpi in formidable company. His partners, Elisabeth Rethberg, Giuseppe De Luca, Maria Caniglia , Gino Bechi and Mario Basiola (his old buddy at the Santa Cecilia academy in Rome) are legendary operatic stars on their own.

The CD operatic excerpts include demanding tenor roles such as Alvaro (Forza), Radames (Aida) and Otello (Otello). Giacomo Lauri-Volpi comes out with sublime artistry and heroism.

For me, he is the greatest Italian tenor to grace the operatic stage. This is a tall statement. He emitted exquisite and unequalled "mezza voce" notes. He used his magnificent lirico-spinto armour to sing verismo operas. In Verdi, he resorted to bel canto, lyric passion and a powerful upper register. Coupled to sublime artistry and "full grasp of the composer's musical intentions", they define eternal greatness.

The CD is an admirable record of his voice extraordinary range. In !"Quando le sere al placido" (Luisa Miller) and "Ella mi fu rapita" (Rigoletto) I revelled the solidly anchored bel canto technique and, at full throttle, the fioriture are all there. I am not a fan of "Forza" but, hearing the splendid duet of Lauri-Volpi and Bechi in " Solenne in quest'ora" and "Invano Alvaro...", I discovered new dramatic values in the score.

The great Nile scene from Aida is presented in its entirety. The arias were recorded at different times between 1927 and 1930. Yet, the masterful transfer by Nimbus was so coherent that the whole act is beautifully balanced. Rethberg , Lauri-Volpi and De Luca are transcendental in their singing. In "Io sono disonorato" and the final phrase of the act "O sacerdote, io resto a te", Lauri-Volpi sustains a top note which has unique timbre and resonance. In comparison, Martinelli, Pertile, more recently Pavarotti, Corelli and Del Monaco top note is simply volume.

The six excerpts from Otello recorded in 1941 are! the icing on the sumptuous cake. Lauri-Volpi shows his sublime artistry, dramatic phrasing and superb clarity (I should know, being my mother-tongue) in all the arias. It is no wonder that he has been hailed his generation's finest Otello. I particularly liked his thrilling "Si, pel ciel marmoreo giuro!", the oath-taking duet with Iago. This is the crown of the stupendous CD and a memorable treat to all "Otello" fans.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There will be noone like him again, September 22, 2008

By 

Erik Aleksander Moe "riddion" (Oslo, Norway) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lauri-Volpi sings Verdi (Audio CD)

I must admit that I bought this CD mainly to get the complete 3rd act of Aida with Rethberg. What I discovered was a Giacomo Lauri-Volpi so great and wonderful that I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I had only heard him before on the live Trovatore from Naples with Callas and Serafin conducting. He wasn't good there at all, but on these recordings from the late 20's and early 30's he was as great as any of the greatest of the time, like Martinelli, Merli and Pertile. I just wish there were more live recordings of him from the 30's or even the 40's.
The Aida recordings (the various scenes in act 3 were done separately between '28 and '30) were really excellent. They were as exciting as anything I have ever heard of the opera. Rethberg was as good as her reputation has described her (as the greatest Aida before WW2). Giuseppe de Luca's Amfortas was also really good, perhaps a little bit undramatic, but Rethberg compensated with a really great dramatic reading. The duet between Rethberg and Lauri-Volpi is as great any of the very best ever recorded, including the great recordings with Ponselle/Martinelli, Price/Vickers, Callas/del Monaco (from the 51 Mexico recording), Tebaldi/Bergonzi.
The other recordings on the CD are also really excellent. There are a couple excerpts from Otello where he is joined with Maria Caniglia and Marco Basiola, two duets from La Forza del Destino with Gino Bechi, the 2nd act aria from Rigoletto and an aria from Luisa Miller. All are really great. The Forza del Destino could be a little more dramatic, but still they are really great.
I would recommend this recording wholeheartedly for anyone interested in great dramatic Italian singing from the golden age.