Customer Reviews

Il Trovatore

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Il Trovatore, with its ridiculous and convoluted plot about stolen babies and burned witches, needs four superb singers to make it work. This recording has four such singers, among the top American singers of the late 50s and early 60s.

Massachusetts native Rosalind Elias brings her warm mezzo to the role of Azucena, although at only 30 years old she sounds a little young to be anyone's mother. Giorgio Tozzi, who despite his Italian name hailed from Chicago, sings Ferrando with a rich and noble bass. The great baritone Leonard Warren, with his wide and pliable voice, excellent top notes and great breath control, sings a wonderful Count di Luna. And Richard Tucker as Manrico, who is normally not my favorite singer, being a little too overly dramatic and hambone for my taste, sings one of his most direct and unaffected performances, with very few gasps and other disquieting vocal mannerisms meant to show great emotion. He actually has a very nice voice when he's not over-acting.

The heroine of the recording is, of course, the 32-year old Leontyne Price, just two years after her debut at the Met in the vary same role. With her clear and brilliant top register, she brings a lightness and freshness to the role that to my way of thinking fits the part perfectly. Arturo Basile conducts the Rome Opera Orchestra and Chorus competantly and they perform adequately if not brilliantly. The stereo sound is excellent as half-century old stereo recordings go. It was recorded at the Rome Opera in July, 1959. I give it only 4 stars because good as it is, this recording just doesn't catch fire. It's good, but not great. That said, it is a must for any fan of Leontyne Price or Leonard Warren.

It is interestin to compare this recording to Ms. Price's Trovatore of 10 years later, with Placido Domingo, Sherill Milnes, and Fiorenza Cossuto. Although Price's voice is more mature and heavier in the later recording, she brings more depth to the role, and her fellow cast members are equally as strong.

The most exciting Price Trovatore is the 1962 live recording from the Salzburg Festival, with Franco Corelli as Manrico, Giulietta Simionato as Azucena, the great (and often underrated) Italian baritone Ettore Bastianini as the Count di Luna, and Nicola Zaccaria as Ferrando. With the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by von Karajan, the entire performance simply crackles with energy and drama, without sounding forced or stagey. Why they couldn't do stereo recording at Salzburg (when they were doing it at Bayreuth by 1955) I can't imagine. Remastered and released on Deutsche Grammaphon, the recording is in adequate mono, which is all right, but when you think of what it could be...well, it's still the mist exciting Price Trovatore and one of the most exciting versions of the opera recorded.

So back to this recording--definitely recommended, but not my first choice. But if, like me, you are a fan of Leontyne Price, then it is a "must have".

This recording was my first full-length opera purchase many years ago, and I feared that my review would be tinged with nostalgia. However, I returned to it recently and was absolutely astounded at the high level of artistry that the principal singers displayed. It stands the test of time when one compares it with the other commercial and private label recordings of Il Trovatore on which Price takes possession of the role of Leonora and with those on which other sopranos have placed their imprint. Simply put, there is no soprano who has surpassed Miss Price; her sense of line and phrasing as well as the sheer beauty of the instrument provides the listener with countless moments of insurmountable pleasure. Tucker is dutifully passionate, displaying his penchant for verismo singing, and Warren memorializes his impeccable Count Luna -- a role which he was performing at the time of his untimely death on the stage of the old Met. It is indeed difficult for some opera-lovers to admit that Miss Price excelled in this rare art form, and we understand why. Get over it!

This 1959 RCA "Trovatore" was received quite positively upon it's original release. Today, however, it has long been surpassed by other versions on various labels. The recording remains valid because it marked the first "Trovatore" recorded by Leontyne Price. The other cast members were notable, but none of them are particularly memorable in their respective roles.Richard Tucker, a great tenor to be sure, was simply not a Manrico. His singing is sure, solid and reliable, but his Manrico has a stodgy and staid quality to it that I find all wrong (this is a role for a Corelli in full cry, a Domingo, or, from a lyrical standpoint, a Bjoerling). The di Luna of Leonard Warren is fine ---- until you compare it to his RCA 1952 recording with Zinka Milanov and Jussi Bjoerling, and you can hear the difference seven years made in his vocal health.Rosiland Elias was a fine lyric mezzo, but she was miles away from the crazed gypsy crone Azucena, which calls for a much darker and powerful voice.Arturo Basile's conducting was adequate. And what about the Leonora of Leontyne Price?In the springtime of her great career, her voice is ravishing in sound, so much so that it spoils you for others in this role. But as good as she is here, she actually got even better in the years to come, and can be heard to even better advantage on RCA's 1969 "Trovatore" opposite Placido Domingo, and conducted by Zubin Mehta. Moreover, Price can be heard in a mono-only peformance from the 1962 Salzburg Festival alongside Franco Corell's torrid Manrico, and Gulietta Simionato's deranged Azucena ----- and conducted by Herbert von Karajan. Now HERE is a "Trovatore" on fire! I would recommend this recording as a reference point in the growth of Leontyne Price from an incredibly vocally gifted soprano (which she certainly is here) to one of the great artists of the twentieth century.

Leontyne Price's wonderful youthful bloom is the major reason for acquiring this set. Yes, her later recording with Mehta is beautifully vocalized with the added bonus of a more mature characterization, but the special quality of her vibrant, colorful voice in its prime is not to be missed. The other principals are on a lower level. Tucker's Manrico is well sung, but as others have commented, lacks the heroic heft of the best on disc - not to mention the lyricism of the 1952 Bjoerling. Elias' Azucena is a good piece of singing that shows off her beautiful mezzo to good effect, but she's no Barbieri or Simionato. To me, she just sounds too youthful to be an old crone. For an example of what she could do with a more suitable role, listen to her magnificent Laura Adorno in the roughly contemporary Milanov Gioconda. As for Warren, the high register is still thrillling but the slow, sustained singing is unsteady. The "Il balen" is nothing special. Tozzi is his noble self in a well sung Ferrando. Basile's conducting is just routine. The sound is not up to the standards RCA and Decca were achieving elsewhere at the time. The CD re-issue has a fair amount of hiss and tends to distort at climaxes. Ensemble/choral climaxes sound harsh and congested. To reiterate, the young Price makes it worthwhile.

Well, this release is pretty rare. I think RCA should re-issue it, as it's not bad at all.
Soound quality is in mid range. Of course it's stereo, but things tend to smear up when the orchestra plays at full.
The voices are quite variable: price is one of the queens of Trovatore, and performs well in this release. Warren is simply the best: "il balen del suo sorriso" is sung like nobody can do, simply, and sound quality is better than the older RCA edition (with Bjoerling). The problem in this release is certantly Tucker: although he has a soft voice (somebody compare him to Bergonzi) we need a more powerful tenore to sing Il Trovatore. The "pira" is sung a tone lower and some high notes are left behind.
I would recommend this release, but take also a Corelli or Del Monaco release to hear how an eroic tenore should sing.

I have purchased or heard every "Trovatore" recording between 1952 and 1987. The two most recent I have not heard. I have heard Ms. Price in "live" performance many times, and this recording comes the closest to the "live" sound I came to know. Though the 1969 recording is definitely one of the best studio recordings of this opera, the current recording captures the beauty of the Price voice like no other recording I have heard. The brilliant shimmer of her top notes and the smoothness between the registers here shows why she was one of the greats. Interpretively, I prefer her version here to that of the 1969 recording. I recommend this for any fan of Ms. Price.

Many have criticized Tucker's performance here, and I must disagree. Some of the issue with his voice here is the mixing. I have heard him "live" as well and can attest that this recording somehow dulls the well known clarion sound. The weakest moment is in the first act trio. After that, Tucker acquits himself very well with just enough thrust to carry the role. His "Ah si ben mio" is ravishing as is the "Miserere". The conductor's reading of the score does not help, though Ms. Price copes better that does Mr. Tucker

Rosalind Elias is a strong Azucena. I have not heard her in the theater, but she is able to hold her own for the most part. The weakest link is Leonard Warren. The big voice is worn and tired. His legendary high notes are there, but barely. He is under pitch at several key points and sounds labored. His recording of 6 years earlier is a world apart form this one. Georgio Tozzi has a fine voice, but his intonation is all over the map in the first scene. He improves in later scenes.

As I suggested before, the conductor is not one of the best, nor is his reading of the score on par with Schippers, Metha or van Karajan. The thrill of this recording, for me is Price and the joy is Tucker. This is not the best, but it is enjoyable.

To speak plainly, Tucker does an adequate job as Manrico, but Leontyne Price, while acclaimed by most, fails to impress me here. There are better options than this...