Customer Reviews

Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana / Leoncavallo: Pagliacci

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

 

 

The main attraction on this recording, I guess, would be Placido Domingo as Turridu and Canio, and boy does he deliver here! Of The recordings of Cav/Pag recordings by the individual Three Tenors (Domingo, Pavarotti, and Carreras) I think that this one is by far superior. First of all, Domingo's voice is the most suited for the role of Canio (Pagliacco) of the three. Domingo's high notes also ring true and clear on these two operas (which are actually soundtracks for two Franco Zeffirelli films). Domingo is a very vibrant sounding Turridu and an extremely compelling Canio. Teresa Stratas turns in a very lovely sounding Nedda. Of special merit, and worthy of particular praise is the Tonio of Juan Pons. Pons possesses a very rich Baritone voice with extremely free sounding and well placed high notes. Renato Bruson sings a very good and virile Alfio and Elena Obraztsova is exceptional as Santuzza, in the Cavelleria recording. The conducting is very masterfully done by Georges Prêtre. The price of this recording is a steal! There is no libretto in this package, only synopsis notes, so you might want this as a secondary recording, but if the libretto doesn't matter to you, I could highly recommend this as a primary recording. Nonetheless, I highly recommend this recording for everyone's CD collection of two of Opera's all time timeless masterpieces

The main attraction on this recording, I guess, would be Placido Domingo as Turridu and Canio, and boy does he deliver here!! Of The recordings of Cav/Pag recordings by the individual Three Tenors (Domingo, Pavarotti, and Carreras) I think that this one is by far superior. First of all, Domingo's voice is the most suited for the role of Canio (Pagliacco) of the three. Domingo's high notes also ring true and clear on these two operas (which are actually soundtracks for two Franco Zeffirelli films). Domingo is a very vibrant sounding Turridu and an extremely compelling Canio. Teresa Stratas turns in a very lovely sounding Nedda. Of special merit, and worthy of particular praise is the Tonio of Juan Pons. Pons possesses a very rich Baritone voice with extremely free sounding and well placed high notes. Renato Bruson sings a very good and virile Alfio and Elena Obraztsova is exceptional as Santuzza, in the Cavelleria recording. The conducting is very masterfully done by Georges Prêtre. The price of this recording is a steal! There is no libretto in this package, only synopsis notes, so you might want this as a secondary recording, but if the libretto doesn't matter to you, I could highly recommend this as a primary recording. Nonetheless, I highly recommend this recording for everyone's CD collection of two of Opera's all time timeless masterpieces.

There are no other recordings of cavalleria rusticana or pagliacci like this one. The way Georges Pretre conducts is how these operas should always be conducted. Too bad about Gavazeni, Levine, Karajan(maybe not him), Santini, Sinopoli, and Cellini. Their Cavalleria Rusticanas and Pagliaccis sound totally the same even the singers, but not on this recording. This kind of conducting is what most conductors of these 2 operas don't seem to realise. Some other conductor should study with Georges Pretre.

If you think that verismo opera is all about drama and nothing about good singing then this might be the 'Cav & Pag' for you. But if you along with the drama also want beautiful singing, there are far better alternatives. The 'Cavalleria Rusticana' on this record is quite good, but the 'Pagliacci' is actually really bad.

Talking about both the performances, the best thing with them is the conducting of George Prêtre, there's lots of nerve and excitement here. Concerning the singers there's (unfortunately) much to be said. Domingo is generally in good shape, but he sometimes makes cheap misses, such as inserting short unwritten pauses (which he doesn't use for breathing). In the 'Pag' I think he is too histrionic at times, even when there's no 'drama on stage' in the performance, for example listen to him crying (not just sobbing) ALL his way through "Recitar...vesti la giubba" - not nice to hear. In the 'Cav' he's far better of, although he's a little histrionic here too. He is in the 'Cav' also supported by decent singers, although Obraztsova's vibrato (Santuzza) is a little too wide, which makes that a quite good recording.

The cast in 'Pagliacci' is in between weak and ugly. The most horrifing performance comes from the Nedda of Teresa Stratas, who almost straight through the score sounds like a pig being brought to the slaughter. Watch your ears in the second scene - this is not dramatic opera, it's uncontrolled screaming. There are many other sopranos who's managed to keep the drama alive without sounding that horrible (Callas, Carlyle, Amara etc). Juan Pons as Tonio is much better concerning his technicality in singing when power is called for, but he unfortunately sounds as if his mouth and throat was filled with wool during the recording.

Of the pairings of 'Cav & pag' that I've heard, often one of the performances is much better than the other, just as with this set. The best over all concept, I think, is Bergonzi, Cossotto & Carlyle under Karajan (DG), or Carreras, Caballe & Scotto under Muti (EMI). Mostly concerning the 'Cav', I think an alternative to those above is Callas & di Stefano (EMI). If you instead want to buy these operas unpaired, Bjorling for RCA and Corelli for EMI (featuring Tito Gobbi in his prime) makes splendid Canios, not to be forgotten.