Customer Reviews

Norma

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

 

 

This was my first introduction to Leyla Gencer and it took me a little time to get used to her-she is a cross between Callas and Scotto - wonderful high notes held aloft for ages - full dramatic dedication with equally wonderful low notes - she really interprets the `part. Cossotto also too is at her peak. The only draw back and it is a big one is that the prompter also too plays a very big part in this recording!

This is a wonderful recording. It is the best and worst of Italian opera on pirate recordings.

The best is the individual singing of Gencer and Cossotto. There is a frisson about their duets which makes me wonder if it wasn't just a little bit of a contest maybe, like seeing who can out last the other?

Gencer's overall interpretation is affective and affecting. I almost prefer it to another FAMOUS INTERPRETATION. Almost.

The worst part is that someone close to the tape machine is singing along with it at times. Either when the recording was made or when the transfers to cd were made, and this is a major distraction.

Gencer makes a wonderful Norma--from throaty and guttural to sublime in pianissimos. Cossotto is solid, and the duets with her and Gencer are wonderful musicianship. The major drawback to the ensemble is Limarilli, whose voice is sometimes thin and reedy--a hard change from the Corelli/DiStefano recordings.