Customer Reviews

Puccini: Tosca

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2 star:		(1)
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I have listened to just about every tosca recording out there by price, olivero, te kanawa, tebaldi, freni, and YES La Divina Callas. But I can never quite find the magic that is undisputedly captured in this phenomenal electrifying performance. Madame Nilsson has never been better. Her voice in this recording is so beautifully round, italianate, and full of stentorian high notes. Her voice even gets God's attention in this role when she sings Oh Scarpia we shall meet before God!!! Franco Corelli is THE MAN and is perfect as Cavaradossi. He posseses this achingly beautiful voice that just hits you right in the heart not to mention ringing dizzying high notes. As much as I am overjoyed with Nilson and Corelli's performances, the main reason for this review is to defend and praise the fabulous portrayal of Fischer-Dieskau as Scarpia. I say pooh on the opinion that Scarpia ruins this set. I don't care what anyone else says, the man is brilliant in the way he interprets this sadistic beast. For the first time, we have a baritone who sings with such finesse and musicality. His religiosity in his seduction of Tosca in church in Act one made my jaws drop!!!!! He approaches each line with the sensitivity of a lieder singer. In this respect, his interpretation is far more lethal like a cup of sugar full of hidden razor blades. He is the most slimy seductive Scarpia I have ever heard and ranks in my opinion as one of the greatest interpreters of Scarpia on disc, and on the same level of Tito Gobbi. Lorin Maazel and the Santa Cecilia Orchestra are utterly fabulous and passionate. This is a flat out perfect performance PERIOD!!!!

About The Opera: Tosca one of those operas that all opera-lovers come across and remember fondly for its intense and emotional power. It's essentially the dramatic life of a dramatic diva. Her full name is Floria Tosca. The setting is Rome, Italy, the early years of the 19th century when Napoleon Bonaparte was conquering Europe and making enemies left and right. The artist Mario Cavaradossi paints for the Church while his true love Tosca seems to sing for the Church. The two are an unbreakable couple, despite Tosca's innate jealousy and dominant spirit. But there is a rival for the fair lady's hand. The evil chief of Police Scarpia lusts after Tosca and will do anything to have her. Jealous of the lovers, he plots to get rid of Mario and keep Tosca for himself. Mario, a secret revolutionary, is hiding a political enemy. Scarpia is on to him and threatens to kill him. He tortures Mario in front of Tosca and makes a proposition. To save her lover, she must consent to be his mistress and to give up her body to him. Tosca agrees out of love for Mario. The deal is that Mario is to be "mock executed". Tosca gets the upper hand when she stabs him to death, in one of the most powerful scenes in all opera. She is now convinced she is free to be with Mario since he is not really going to be killed in that mock execution. But it turns out that he is indeed executed and that Scarpia had planned that all along, not intending to keep his end of the deal. Having nowhere else to turn, Tosca leaps to her death from the Castle San Angelo which is still a landmark in the city of Rome.

ABOUT THIS ALBUM: There is no libretto, only a helpful but brief synopsis and background of the opera. The cast includes Birgit Nilsson as Tosca, Franco Corelli as Cavaradossi, Dietrich Fischer Dieskau as Scarpia, Piero Di Palma as Spoletta and Alfredo Mariotti as Sacristan. Lorin Maazel conducts the Orchestra of The Academy of Saint Cecilia in Rome. The perfection of this album for me is in the collaboration with Maazel's excellent conducting musicianship, the authentic Roman orchestra conducting what is really Roman/Italian music of the highest opera calibre. Birgit Nilsson is incredible as Tosca. She has the right voice- high, heavy, dramatic, and she acts the role with bravura and effective theatrical prowess. Note how she has the high C's or whatever high notes are called for, and not just that, she gets into the character with dramatic integrity. She literally SCREAMS, not just an operatic version of a scream, a real scream when she discovers in the last act that Cavaradossi has been really executed. The Torture Scene, which involves herself, Cavaradossi and Scarpia is among the most intense I've heard on record.

And Nilsson is up to paar with the likes of Maria Callas in the scene where she kills Scarpia. "Questo Il Becio Di Tosca!" "This is Tosca's kiss!" she cries with murder in her voice, even more so than Callas who can say the line with a little bit of fear and more vulnerability. This is probably due to the fact Callas was a specialist in bel canto while Birgit Nilsson was the reigning goddess of Wagner operas (Isolde, Brunhilde) and did justice to the heavier roles of Strauss' Salome, Elektra and Puccini's Turandot. Nilsson holds her own as Tosca, with a power that electrifies. This album was recored in 1967 at a busy time for Miss Nilson. Franco Corelli, too, was quite busy and working in many operas with her. They had worked together in Puccini's Turandot around the same time and there is also a recording of it. Franco Corelli is by far the most dramatically convincing Cavaradossi. He is less of the "romantic artist idealist" that Placido Domingo portrays, and is more of the hot-blooded Italian rebel/activist with a talent for art and a love for the beautiful Tosca. Corelli is doing a terrific jobe here and he is perhaps at his best. While other comments bash baritone Dieskau as Scarpia (they claim this role never suited him and he has no real energy into portraying opera's nastiest villain) I disagree. His portrayal is more earthy, more seductive, dark, sinister, Don Giovanni like in fashion. We must take in mind that Scarpia is not just an ugly, lusty monster. He is a powerful and attractive man. He's an alpha male but he happens to be a jerk. Dieskau brings out the seductive, sexiness to his voice more so than the EVIL. Scarpias that are truly evil on record have included Samuel Ramey, Titto Gobbi, Cornell McNeill and Ruggero Raimondi. This is one album you must own even if you have other Toscas. Other excellent Toscas you must add to your "Tosca" albums include Placido Doming/Leontine Price/Sherill Milnes ...Robert Alagna/Angela Gheorgiu/Ruggero Raimondi...Mirella Freni/Domingo/Samuel Ramey..Renata Tebaldi's performances as Tosca on record and the one album everyone always refers to as the best one of them all..Maria Callas, Di Stefano and Gobbi.

Ok, I know this is heresy but FORGET CALLAS. To my mind this is one of the best Toscas on record. Althought what is referred to as her "cold" sound is in evidence, this is a Tosca with power and dramatic force, whose top notes gleam. She is well matched by Corelli in one of his best performances. Some may object to Fisher-Dieskau's Scarpia, but it is exciting to hear. Maazel whips up plenty of excitement and the Santa Cecilia plays with much passion and fine sound. An excellent performance for not much money

In the late 60's, audiences were treated to a tenor and soprano pair that were sensational- Franco Corelli and Birgit Nilsson. We are fortunate enough to have recordings of their performances: Aida under the baton of Zubin Mehta, this Tosca and Puccini's Turandot. Corelli and Nilsson had the passionate, big voices necessary for the passionate and intense romances of the operatic stage and on recording they sound brilliant together. This late 60's recording, conducted by Lorin Maazel, is one of the most masterful renditions of Tosca as far as characterization, namely the Mario Cavaradossi of Franco Corelli and the Baron Scarpia of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. Birgit Nilsson makes a grand Tosca, but she lacks the je ne sais quai and Italian fire and lyricism of such Toscas as Leontyne Price, Renata Tebaldi and Montserrat Caballe not to mention Katia Ricciarelli, Mirella Freni or Carol Vanness. Instead, Birgit Nilsson's Tosca is closer to the likes of Hildegard Behrens. She makes Tosca sound like a Wagnerian heroine. Nilsson is not the perfect Tosca and should not be your ultimate option for Tosca. Nilsson, despite the flaws in the vocal displays, has the highest soaring C's I've ever heard for Tosca (for example note how she hurtles those high notes in the tense scene in which Scarpia pressures her to reveal Angelotti's hiding place and she shouts "Ah! Piu non Posso! A que horrore! Ah!" - she is hitting the same high notes Brunhilde in Die Walkure uses. She is impressive in the scene in which she stabs Scarpia, though it's not perfect either. Her final cries at the end of the opera "O Scarpia Avanti A Dio" is glorious. She is a fine Tosca, just not the absolute best. You have to be a serious, loyal fan of Birgit Nilsson to collect this recording to add to your other Birgit Nilsson records.

Franco Corelli as Mario Cavaradossi is in excellent shape. He truly understood the role and his rich, heroic, sexy voice and sexy physicality made the role entirely his own at a time when Giuseppe Di Stefano's reign was over. Franco Corelli has the most passionate Italian diction of any tenor I've heard. He is brilliant in this recording (check out "Vittoria! Vittoria!" in the second disk, his voice is like, one critic said, "blood and thunder". He is just as good in the less dramatic outburts and in the more elegant phrasing and romantic lines, such as the very lyric "Dammi Colori...Ricondito Armonia" and the signature tenor love song "E Lucevan La Stelle" which Corelli sings to perfection. He is the best interpretor of Mario Cavaradossi. The only other tenors that did justice to the role were Placido Domingo and Jose Carrerras. Corelli did an excellent job here and deserves more recognition.

Finally, this recording is made better for the involvement of baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau's supreme Scarpia. He is appropriately nasty, sadistic, powerful and even seductive. He is the best Scarpia I have ever heard, despite all the bashing I've heard. His voice is wholly suitable for the role. This recording is absolutely great and any fan of the principal singers- Corelli, Nilsson and Dieskau should own it.

Benjamin Britten once called Puccini's melodrama "a shabby little shocker" (apparently, the great Englishman had never heard his own "Peter Grimes"). Many recordings underline the qualities which brought Britten to his conclusion--unconditional bombast, melodramatic superfluity, unrealistic effect. Although this recording uses two of the most bombastic voices of the mid-century, this recording is commendable in that it finds much of the lyricism of the score which other recordings miss. Lorin Maazel conducts with an appropriate brio and sense of theatricality, but he is also careful to pay attention to Puccini's score and preserve the composer's markings. Skepticism about Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau's Scarpia arise virtually with his first note. Certainly, few baritones derive as much nuance from the text, but one cannot overlook the basic fact that his voice does not embody the role. Scarpia requires a large, perhaps more darkly-hued voice (George London on the Decca set with Renata Tebaldi provides an ideal example). For all of his musical intelligence, Fischer-Dieskau approaches Scarpia as a lieder singer rather than as a dramatic baritone. Franco Corelli's Cavaradossi is incomparable. Domingo captures more of the painter's idyllic dreaminess and Carreras provides more passion, but neither of these great tenors can match Corelli's vocal opulence and committment to making Cavaradossi the passionate political firebrand that he should be. After all, why would Cavaradossi aid political fugitives if he were the head-in-the-clouds, art for art's sake painter that so many tenors portray? This is one of Corelli's best performances in his limited discography. While Birgit Nilsson cannot match Callas, Scotto, or Tebaldi for warmth of tone or idiomatic Italian, she more than compensates for these short-comings with a tone that never sacrifices attractiveness for dramatic thrust. Nilsson employs her formidable vocal arsenal with glorious effect. The tone is even in production from the bottom to the top of the range, and (as can always be expected) and top notes are thrilling--the high C in the "O dolci mani" duet is breath-taking. As usual, Nilsson and Corelli tap their energy and sparks fly in their scenes together. Despite a less-than-adequate Scarpia, this "Tosca" is extraordinary and deserving of a place on every Puccini-lover's shelf. Stupendous!

Benjamin Britten once called Puccini's melodrama "a shabby little shocker" (apparently, the great Englishman had never heard his own "Peter Grimes"). Many recordings underline the qualities which brought Britten to his conclusion--unconditional bombast, melodramatic superfluity, unrealistic effect. Although this recording uses two of the most bombastic voices of the mid-century, this recording is commendable in that it finds much of the lyricism of the score which other recordings miss. Lorin Maazel conducts with an appropriate brio and sense of theatricality, but he is also careful to pay attention to Puccini's score and preserve the composer's markings. Skepticism about Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau's Scarpia arise virtually with his first note. Certainly, few baritones derive as much nuance from the text, but one cannot overlook the basic fact that his voice does not embody the role. Scarpia requires a large, perhaps more darkly-hued voice (George London on the Decca set with Renata Tebaldi provides an ideal example). For all of his musical intelligence, Fischer-Dieskau approaches Scarpia as a lieder singer rather than as a dramatic baritone. Franco Corelli's Cavaradossi is incomparable. Domingo captures more of the painter's idyllic dreaminess and Carreras provides more passion, but neither of these great tenors can match Corelli's vocal opulence and committment to making Cavaradossi the passionate political firebrand that he should be. After all, why would Cavaradossi aid political fugitives if he were the head-in-the-clouds, art for art's sake painter that so many tenors portray? This is one of Corelli's best performances in his limited discography. While Birgit Nilsson cannot match Callas, Scotto, or Tebaldi for warmth of tone or idiomatic Italian, she more than compensates for these short-comings with a tone that never sacrifices attractiveness for dramatic thrust. Nilsson employs her formidable vocal arsenal with glorious effect. The tone is even in production from the bottom to the top of the range, and (as can always be expected) the top notes are thrilling--the high C in the "O dolci mani" duet is breath-taking. As usual, Nilsson and Corelli tap their collective energy and sparks fly in their scenes together. Despite a less-than-adequate Scarpia, this "Tosca" is extraordinary and deserving of a place on every Puccini-lover's shelf. Stupendous!

As much as I love all these artists but this recording is overblown and not idiomatic at all. I love Nilsson as Turandot, Isolde, Brünnhilde and in several Strauss-operas but I don't like her Tosca which is not idiomatic, too loud and too Brünnhilde-like. It's not bad, mind you, but it's far from ideal. Listen to the prayer where gentleness is demanded... There she sounds like Isolde too... And Fischer Dieskau is completely miscast as Scarpia. Wrong sound, wrong style and bad Italian... Go for his Lieder-Recordings to see why he was great. Corelli is on fire as Cavaradossi but I prefer to hear him with Tebaldi and Callas. (Both live from the Met) So, not a bad recording, but not essential. Go for the de Sabata recording with Callas or de Karajan recording with Price instead.

This long-dismissed recording of Tosca has found a host of fans here at Amazon. I can't see why it deserves them. Maazel is so fussy with his phrasing that he can't bear to let a single aria flow naturally; every note must be shaped and molded within an inch of its life. The principals are all super-famous, and I agree with those who think Nilsoon was underrated in her Italian roles. She is fearless here, with dead-on accuracy and thrilling high notes. She's not at all Italiante, but she does very well at trying to sound vulnerable -- or at least not impregnable. Corelli is Corelli -- brazen, devoid of subtlety, but charismatic. I find his too crude by half, but he has legions of fans.

What really sink the proceedings is the decision to have Fischer-Dieskau fill the role of Scarpia. He had a career in Italian opera in Germany, and thanks to his fame the recording companies gave him license to attempt roles for which he was temperamentally unsuited. There's no natural menace and villainy to his Scarpia; every note bespeaks a gifted singer artfully trying to overcome obstacles. To some listeners the result may be successful, but I kept hearing, not Scarpia but F-D practicing his usual tricks. Nor is his high-ish baritone well suited to a role that requires a bass extension that he sorely lacks.

Outside the fan club at Amazon, critics have been severe toward this luxury Tosca, and on the whole I think they're right.

Though this recording will never topple the immortal Callas/Di Stefano/Gobbi recording, it is a very much in the running for second place. Nilsson and Corelli are in great form, Maazel provides a gread deal of excitement and for once Fischer-Dieskau doesn't totally ruin the show though he is no Tito Gobbi and in the opera house Nilsson and Corelli would have sonically crushed him like a bug. This may be one of his best ACTING performances on disc in the Italian rep. Nilsson IS the diva, Corelli IS the lover though he does apply the sonic sledgehammer a bit too much to "Recondita Armonia". But he gets things back under control for the rest of the performance and sounds great doing it. I rank this along with Tebaldi/Del Monaco/London and the Caballe/Carreras/Davis as a fitting second choice if you need one in stereo.

Two nuclear bombs exploding simultaneously. What more could you want from Tosca??