15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Heart wrenching!, July 5, 2002
This review is from: Puccini: Turandot (Highlights) / Karajan, Domingo (Audio CD)
I purchased this recording to get another perspective on some of the famous arias from Turandot. I had already owned the famous highlights recording with Sutherland, Pavarotti and Caballe, and had become thoroughly enamored with the opera through that recording.
In particular, I look to the end of the first act, beginning with "Non piangere, Liu", and also "Nessun Dorma", as my primary highlights by which to make comparisons. This recording with Domingo compares very favorably to the Pavarotti disc. In fact, I prefer Domingo's Nessun Dorma over Pavarotti's. Domingo's voice has more color and more expressiveness. Pavarotti holds that last high B for a thrillingly long time, and that is his primary advantage, but Domingo pulls at my heart in a way that Pavarotti does not.
Regarding the end of the first act, the tempo on this disc is slower than on the Sutherland, Pavarotti, etc. disc. Here Karajan is responsible for providing the increased dramatic tension. When the famous three gongs sound indicating that Calaf will take on Turandont's challenge, I crumple. I will sometimes listen to this disc and compare it to the other Turandot highlight disc. I find both of them to be emotionally compelling and yet they are significantly different. I am glad to own both of them.
This highlights disc has the advantage of having all three riddles, while the other highlights disc only has the last riddle. Yet it doesn't have a libretto with translation. For that reason, I would want to own the other highlights disc (or a complete opera with full libretto) before buying this disc.
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