Il Trovatore

Giuseppe Verdi (Composer), Herbert von Karajan (Conductor), Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra), Ettore Bastianini (Performer), Franco Corelli (Performer), Giulietta Simionato (Performer), Kurt Equiluz (Performer), Laurence Dutoit (Performer), Leontyne Price (Performer), Nicola Zaccaria (Performer), Rudolf Zummer (Performer), Siegfried Rudolf Frese (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Ettore Bastianini, Franco Corelli, Giulietta Simionato, Kurt Equiluz, Laurence Dutoit, et al.
• Orchestra: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
• Conductor: Herbert von Karajan
• Composer: Giuseppe Verdi
• Audio CD (November 28, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Opera D'oro
• ASIN: B0000516SV
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #157,909 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply the best, August 2, 2001

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Il Trovatore (Audio CD)

This version of Il Trovatore has done some astounding things! It features 4 astounding singers as the 4 lead roles. Corelli was the greatest Manrico ever, no doubt. Just listen to his voice, it's like it came from heaven. His, "Ah, si, ben mio" is so beautiful, and his "Deserto sulla terra" is so perfect, and his, "Mal reggendo" is so amazing. I could go on forever telling you about it, to tell you the truth. Price is, with Callas, the greatest Leonora ever, and she is probably one of the few people able to keep up with Corelli. Simionato as Azucena is great, however she lacked the fire that Barbieri or Cossotto had. Still, she gave a good performance. Bastianini as the Count di Luna was wonderful. His deep, angry voice (he was originally a bass) is perfect for the twisted, menacing kind of character that di Luna is. Karajan's tempi are perfect, so all in all, this is a great performance. My only problems were that the audience was a bit loud, especially at the opening, "All'erta! All'erta!" and that, "Di quella pira" was transposed down a half step and the repeat was cut out. I don't know why Karajan would choose to transpose with CORELLI, of all people. Also, "Tu vedrai che amore in terra" was cut out, too. However, the performance was too good for me to give it only 4 stars. 5 for Price, 5 for Bastianini, 5 for Simionato, 1,000,000,000,000 for Corelli!

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It's a complete shame!, November 30, 2001

By 

JC (Somewhere) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Il Trovatore (Audio CD)

Well, this is a beautiful performance, it is a shame the sound qualiy is SOOOOOOOO BADDDD!!!!!! . I Have a old recording of Maria Callas in "Lucia...", which is supposed to be recorded in a somewhat similar way than this, and it sounds SPARKLING clear when compared to this recording. unfortunately, it sounds VERY blurry. Reminds me a lot of old tape.to-tape-to-tape recordings.. If you don't mind, it is a beautiful performance, and its CHEAP. But if you mind sound, well.........

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars This one is for Price and Corelli completists, January 18, 2004

By 

L. E. Cantrell (Vancouver, British Columbia Canada) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Il Trovatore (Audio CD)

In the opera house this would have been a performance to treasure. On disc, this "Trovatore" is pretty well done-in by the sound.

By no means should this be anyone's first or only "Trovatore," but for the collectors of any of the top principals or even of Herr Doktor von K, it's worth a try.