Customer Reviews

Puccini: Turandot

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Though this recording is generally highly rated, the ease and arrogance with which a few reviewers have dismissed this historic performance leave one perplexed and saddened, wondering if perhaps Amazon's customer rating system is such a great thing after all.

Granted, the technology behind this early stereo recording is often less than exemplary, and the various LP pressings and CD issues have varied in quality. The current reissue seems as good as we are likely to get any time soon.

Despite these shortcoming, I really do wonder if some of the less than enthusiastic reviewers really understand what they are hearing when they hear these voices.

Certainly we have a wealth of great voices today, but there is no denying that with our global community, voices are beginning to sound more and more the same. This recording documents a different era, when regions and nations produced a unique sound.

This recording is a living testament to a time when Scandanavian voices (Nilsson and Bjoerling) rang free and open-throated with a particular brilliance in the upper register; when Italian sopranos (Tebaldi)sang with an exciting blend of Italianate bite and Mediterranean warmth and hue; when sopranos often produced pianissimos not by a mere reduction in volume, but by producing an uncanny, disembodied tone that floated. Listen to the confrontation between Turandot and Liu near the end of the opera to hear Tebaldi and Nilsson both produce this striking sound. The soft, warm tones seem suspended in space. Milanov could produce this sound; so could Caballe.

For this performance I can only feel gratitude. No one can objectively say that these roles have been performed better by other singers. We are the beneficiaries of these great artists who, during the hot Roman summer of 1959, not only left behind an unsurpassed performance of this great work, but who also preserved on disc one of the greatest tributes to a great era of singing--an era that can only accrue in legend with each passing year.

Turandot is such a standard repertory piece nowadays that it is difficult to believe that there was a time when it had to fight for that position. This recording from the late 50s was preceded by at least four other versions: a 78rpm recording starring Gina Cigna who also recorded Norma and a very young Magda Olivero, a low-budget and still interesting recording on the Remington label starring Gertrud Grob-Prandl who sang the role quite a bit, the first Decca-London recording with Inge Borkh, Renata Tebaldi and Mario del Monaco, and the legendary La Scala recording with Maria Callas and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf.

In many ways, this Turandot was the one that really grabbed the public's attention and began bringing the opera to public notice. The role was a natural for Birgit Nilsson who already had a big following for her interpretations of Isolde and Brünnhilde. And here she is captured at the very top of her prime, her voice gleaming its way through "In questa reggia." Nilsson was to go on to record the role again a few years later with Scotto and Corelli; of the two recordings I prefer this one because she has the advantage of being a bit younger. Renata Tebaldi is certainly to be counted among the very best interpreters of the role of Liù. In her case, she had already recorded the role not too long before. While she is a bit older here, I find her in slightly more attractive voice and presenting a more polished interpretation. For many folks the chief attraction of this set is Jussi Bjoerling's Calaf. I'm not sure whether he ever sang the role on stage although he had recorded a still-memorable "Nessun dorma" back in the early 1940s. In fact, I recall reading before that when Nilsson listened to this recording she would interrupt the LP to put on Bjoerling's 78 of the aria. Giorgio Tozzi is in beautiful voice as Timur and he is very touching in his scene after Liù's death.

The rest of the cast is also good, with Alessio de Paolis a standout as the Emperor. Conductor Erich Leinsdorf is at his best here, bringing out all the color of the music. I'm sure this recording was considered to be a sonic spectacular at the time it came out; it's only stereo competition at the time was the Decca/London recording which was in very early stereo (the Callas recording, made after the Decca/London, *could* have been in stereo, but EMI was wary of leaping into this new technology too soon)

Turandot is no longer in the shadows of the other Puccini operas and it has received many recordings since this one came out, most notably the stupdendous Sutherland recording. Still, this recording, the first note-complete rendition, remains near the top of the Turandot sweepstakes and is well worth getting to know.

When you have superb sound, a superb piece of work, and THREE superb singers, in their prime, the results have to be fantastic. The sound is especially fantastic, since they built the original "Living Stereo" recorders again, THEN transfered to digital. Inspired, and the results are incredible. Tebaldi is incredible as Liu, and in my opinion, the most effective ever! Why couldn't she have done this on stage? Nilsson holds her own, giving tremendous stamina and force in her interpretation, only to grow with time. And, Bjorling, true perfection. The man doesn't scoop up and whoop down from a note, it's always ringing clear. "Nessun Dorma" is unsurpassed, his voice cutting through the orchestra like butter. Nilsson and Bjoring in Act 2, probably set the recorders on fire, when they were singing. What glorious sounds. The orchestra is especially good, with chorus good as well. A favorite opera of mine, the one to have on CD. Only too bad there is not a video of these artists performing this role. I can dream, can't I?

This is a digital remastering of the classic recording of Turandot made in 1959, starring Birgit Nilsson, Renata Tebaldi, Giorgio Tozzi and Jussi Bjorling with the Rome Opera orchestra and chorus conducted by Erich Leinsdorf.There are many other recordings of Turandot, but none even comes close to this performance in the sheer power and magnificence of the sound or in the persuasiveness of the musical and dramatic interpretation. Nilsson and Tebaldi are at the top of their form, even Bjorling was having a good day or however long it took to make the recording. Listen to all recordings, if you will, but I predict you will buy this one in the end!

Surprisingly enough this is the first recording of Turandot that I have heard. I also recently viewed the DVD of Levine and the MET performing the Opera. I listened to the parts of the Mehta recording that are available at the Amazon site.

I am not into comparisons especially between truly magnificent performances. I think that all of the soloists are fantastic and touching. The sound is as I expect it to be -- this is not a digital 2000+ recording however on my system the sound is clean and strong and the noise is not close to the level that would interfere with my listening to the music (the signal in this case).

I must say that I was taken in by this performance and I truly enjoyed it to the point of not being able to get out of the car if I had to stop the disc. The soloists each gave a perfect performance. Leinsdorf does a magnificent job getting the feeling across. He creates a tense yet not rushed atmosphere. From the first bars of the introduction I understood that this was one of those performances that can not be ignored. I was not disappointed when I got to the end of the performance either. I simply put the first disc in again, and listened to the Opera again.

I am not into giving grades to the singers. There are other reviewers who claimed that some of the singers are past their prime, before their prime etc. I don't know how to deal with this kind of comment. I do know that I enjoyed all of the soloists. Perhaps at one time some of them were even better, but I don't see the relevance here. Either the performance is good or not. In this recording, the soloists simply sound outstanding. End of topic!

I give this 5 stars because it simply is a wonderful performance.

Sure, I would love to hear the Mehta in its entirety as well but I am not into knit picking and comparing on purpose just to make a point.

I recommend listening to this performance. I heard it on CD under the RCA Red Seal label, and not under the current RCA "Living Stereo" label. I have other "Living Stereo" recordings and RCA did an outstanding job in terms of the final sound quality. So, I would assume that the same holds for this album as well.

Please listen to this recording, but try to listen to it as if you are in a court room giving testimony to other recordings. Listen to it and enjoy it for its own worth.

This recording review should be considered under the caveat or "disclaimer" that Bjoerling is my favorite tenor of all time - and this recording of Turandot is one of his last, and I believe his crowning achievement in the recording studio. (Mind you - I love Di Stefano's, Pavarotti's, Gedda's, Wunderlich's voices as well as those of many other singers . . . but in my estimation, none equal Bjoerling for his mixture of musicianship coupled with vocal power and splendor. His vocal placement and tone produced either the ringing brilliance or ravishing lyrical tenderness that the music needed. This, along with the variety of repertoire and overall sense of musical line are in a word unrivalled in my experience. Truly Bjoerling's was the voice of the century! (And Tebaldi and Milanov will probably always remain my favorite operatic sopranos for much the same reasons listed pertaining to Bjoerling.)

Puccini being my favorite opera composer and Turandot being my favorite opera are probably the inevitable results of my having in my youth heard Bjoerling, Tebaldi, Milanov, and Tozzi wrap their magnificent God-given voices around the beautiful musical lines that Puccini penned within that score. (Bjoerling's Butterly, Boheme, and Tosca remain close seconds for me.)

Though many may find the story within this opera to be hoakey, I find Turandot telling the age old story of how great love can melt even the coldest of hearts.

These things having been said - I must try to highlight some of the additional reasons that this Turandot recording has always been altogether amazing to me. When first listening to it as a teenager on LP, I was struck by the intensity of the music rendered by both the voices and the orchestra. (Leinsdorf seemed to have been a highly under-rated opera conductor.) Over the years I've procured two different recordings of it on CD (wanting the "Living Stereo" recording of it because of the wonderful sonics that they've always provided).

Nilsson's voice carries an icey-cold grandeur to it. (And isn't that exactly what is called for in the role of the princess Turandot - after all, how can someone having anything other than a heart of ice sit or stand by watching the execution of those who have failed to solve your riddles?)

In Tebaldi's portrayal of Liu, her voice reflects the great care that was taken by this un-presumptuous and meek servant character to not openly declare her deep love for Calaf. It is a wonderful thing indeed to actually be able to FEEL all that expressed in the singing.

Calaf's father Timur played by Tozzi (though only having few moments of vocal expression) is timeless in his evidencing a deep concern for his son's well-being, and his sense of what is in Liu's heart.

Ping, Pang, and Pong are excellent in their chiding vocal parlay with each other and Calaf.

And Calaf himself as rendered by Bjoerling cannot even be imagined as vocally more perfect. He is the epitomy of one who is stricken and ardently in love with one who cannot reciprocate because of all that personally inhibits and binds them emotionally from expressing like passion in return.

If there were a capacity of giving 25 stars in this review - I would do so unhesitatingly. I emphatically consider this recording as essential for all who truly love great singing!

This is the perfect Turandot. All three major singers are very well suited for their roles. Bjoerling is absolutely the greatest Calaf, at least for the recording studios, of all time. Bjoerling does not revert to the customary screaming that you hear from so many other tenors in this role. Although Bjoerling could not have performed this role on an opera stage, his performance here has never been surpassed or even equaled in the recording studio. Even though this recording was made toward the end of Bjoerling's illustrious career (although by listening to him on this recording,you could never tell), Bjoerling has never sounded more vibrant or exciting. The ringing High B at the end of Nessun Dorma has never been sung this good by anyone, including the great Pavarotti. Both Birgit Nilsson and Renata Tebaldi are in their absolute, glorious prime. Leinsdorf's conducting is absolutely amazing and the sonics (especially for a recording made back in 1959) are breathtaking. This is THE Turandot to own.

There is no better Calaf than Bjorling (though there are admittedly a few equals), and he is magnificently complimented by a lyrically beautiful performance by Tebaldi as Liu and Nilsson as a commanding Turandot in this definitive recording. His "Nessum Dorma" is particularly memorable, and the vocal duel he has with Nilsson as he solves the riddles of Turandot will make your hair stand on end. Few performances have the power to completely engage the listener as these do, and it's almost impossible not to play this CD over and over again. Opera is about passion, and this CD has it in great abundance. If you love Turandot, your collection is not complete without this outstanding version.

I balked at buying this CD set because my experience with older recordings has not been good. Even if they have been digitally restored, to my ear the quality is just not up to modern standards. This recording is an exception, and it is exceptional. This is a marvelous rendering of Turandot, and I was simply amazed by the technical quality of the recording. RCA deserves high praise for this achievement. If you are leery of older recordings, don't worry about this one; you will never know that it wasn't done last week at the Met. And if you have ever wondered why Jussi Bjoerling is considered one of the great tenors of the last century, just listen to this outstanding recording.

This recording of Puccini's glorious opera "Turandot" is magnificent. It features three of the world's greatest opera singers and a world-class conductor. The three singers are the Swedish Wagnerian soprano Birgit Nilsson, the Swedish lyric tenor Jussi Björling, and the Italian spinto soprano Renata Tebaldi. All three are glorious in their respective roles of Turandot, Calaf, and Liù. Nilsson is unsurpassed as Turandot. She is extremely powerful in the title role. Her voice cuts through the orchestral din like a hot knife cuts through butter. She is cold as ice, but there is still some humanity to her portrayal of the ice princess. She sounds annoyed and condescending after Calaf answers the first riddle. Sutherland, on the other hand, just sounds plain mad. Nilsson truly melts in the last duet. She is partnered with Björling. The Swedish tenor sings with glorious tone and is totally committed dramatically. His "Nessun dorma" rivals Pavarotti's. In my opinion, both versions are equally great. Björling sings with the famous "tear" in his voice and instantly endears himself to our hearts. Tebaldi is good as Liù, but I prefer Caballé in the role. The conductor is Erich Leinsdorf. He leads a great performance. Mehta is better, but Leinsdorf does not disappoint.

This is an excellent recording of "Turandot". Highly recommended.