Rigoletto

Verdi (Artist), Gedda (Artist), Macneil (Artist), Grist (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 19, 1993)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Classics for Pleasur
• ASIN: B000003X6V
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #574,705 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Prld - Orch And Chor Of The Opr House, Rome/Gianni Lazzari

2. Intro: Della mia bella incognita borghese - Nicolai Gedda/Franco Ricciardi

3. Questa o quella per me pari sono - Nicolai Gedda

4. Partite? Crudele - Cornell MacNeil/Franco Ricciardi/Nicolai Gedda/Mirella Fiorentini

5. Gran nuova - Benito Di Bella/Franco Ricciardi/Nicolai Gedda/Cornell MacNeil/Alfredo Giacomotti

6. Ch'io gli parli - Ruggero Raimondi/Nicolai Gedda/Franco Ricciardi/Cornell MacNeil/Benito Di Bella/Alfredo Giacomotti

7. Quel vecchio maledivami - Cornell MacNeil/Agostino Ferrin

8. Pari siamo - Cornell MacNeil

9. Figlia! Mio padre - Cornell MacNeil/Reri Grist/Limbania Leoni

10. Ah! Veglia, o donna, questo fiore - Cornell MacNeil/Reri Grist/Limbania Leoni/Nicolai Gedda

See all 16 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Ella mi fu rapita! - Nicolai Gedda

2. Parmi veder le lagrime - Nicolai Gedda

3. Duca, Duca! - Franco Ricciardi/Benito Di Bella/Alfredo Giacomotti/Nicolai Gedda

4. Possente amor mi chiama - Nicolai Gedda/Franco Ricciardi/Benito Di Bella/Alfredo Giacomotti

5. Povero Rigoletto! - Benito Di Bella/Cornell MacNeil/Franco Ricciardi/Alfredo Giacomotti/Limbania Leoni

6. Cortigiani, vill razza dannata - Cornell MacNeil

7. Mio Padre - Reri Grist/Cornell Macneil/Franco Ricciardi/Benito Di Bella/Alfredo Giacomotti/

8. Parla, siam soli - Cornell MacNeil/Reri Grist

9. Piangi, fanciulla, piangi - Cornell MacNeil/Reri Grist

10. Compiuto pur quanto a fare mi resta - Cornell MacNeil/Reri Grist/Ruggero Raimondi

See all 22 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A pleasing second-string "Rigoletto", May 30, 2000

By 

Joseph A. Newsome (Burlington, NC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rigoletto (Audio CD)

Verdi's "Rigoletto" has received some of the most accomplished recordings in the operatic discography. This set, recorded for EMI in 1967, is interestingly cast. As Rigoletto, American baritone Cornell MacNeil sings with his customary intensity, but the voice is a shade past its best condition. The moments of tenderness do not come easily for MacNeil, and the moments of raging passion (such as the "Si, vendetta" cabaletta to "Tutte le feste") emerge as tightly-muscled and only half-interpreted. MacNeil was in decidedly better voice on his first recording of "Rigoletto" (on Decca), but this performance is competent and certainly not embarrassing. Ferrin and di Stasio as Sparafucile and Maddalena are acceptable, but they do not create the viciously dangerous sibling murders that they should. One small glory of this recording is a cameo by the young Ruggero Raimondi as Monterone. Raimondi gives the all-important curse an appropriate shading of violence and foreboding. As the Duke of Mantua, Nicolai Gedda provides his usual technical security although the voice itself, as recorded here, is not altogether pleasing. Still, it must be admitted that he sings his role quite well. African-American soprano Reri Grist creates a fragile Gilda, cold and naive. The coloratura is finely wrought, and she contributes a charmingly pert "Caro nome." In the latter acts, she fails to develop Gilda's character in a way that gives her final sacrifice for her love of the Duke real creditability. Again, on purely vocal terms, she sings the role of Gilda well. This recording faces severe opposition (the Callas recording on EMI, the Scotto/Bergonzi/Fischer-Dieskau recording on DG, the Sutherland/Pavarotti/Milnes recording on Decca), and it can overcome few of its rivals on disc. Nonetheless, this performance is well-sung and a good, inexpensive purchase with which to test the waters of Verdi. Not the best "Rigoletto," then, but one which does not leave the listener dissatisfied and demanding a refund.