Customer Reviews

Verdi - Aida / Freni · Carreras · Baltsa · Cappuccilli · Raimondi · van Dam · Ricciarelli · Moser · Wiener Phil. · Karajan

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I think this recording is magnificent. First of all, Karajan is electric in this music. His big moments are huge and his intimate moments are ravishing in beauty and pianissimo. There is a swagger and thrust in the triumphant scene, coupled with stellar singing from the principals and chorus alike that makes me jump up and cheer. I LOVE to singe along with this recording!!!
Despite all that is said of Freni and Carreras in these "big" roles, I think they come off very well. Carreras is not forcing as much as he usually does and sings some wonderful pianissimos along with heroic strength as in the scene with Amneris. Celeste Aida is beautiful, long breathed and slow!
Mirella Freni is my favorite diva with a voice that grew in size and volume as she aged, gradually adding more dramatic roles, as her voice was ready. I saw her in DC in Fedora opposite Domingo and it was one of the biggest voices I have heard! It's a shame that the EMI engineers did not capture her voice as richly and with as much body as some of her other recordings at the time: Faust (also on EMI) Mefistofele, Pagliacci, William Tell. She is creamy toned but the recording captures her in smaller voice than was the case. I find so many special moments in her interpretation that I return to time after time. The high C in the ensemble right before Ritorna Vincitor is flung up with such abandon that it drives me wild. A friend also loves this moment very much and said "surely Verdi would be thrilled with this, as it's SO exciting!" Ritorna Vincitor would later become even more dramatic and ferocious though the tenderness at the close is breathtaking. She handles the ensembles of the triumphal scene masterly and her beautiful lyric/dramatic singing in the final acts are perfect.
Baltsa is hair raising as Amneris, totally on fire with jealousy and love for Radames. Sample her supremely dramatic singing as she pleads for the life of Radames in the second to last scene of the opera. She and Karajan bring white-hot intensity that will perhaps never be matched! This is not an Amneris that I would mess around with!!!
Cappuccilli is magnificently strong as Amonasro singing with beautiful half tones in the triumphal scene contrasted against fortissimo passion in the third act duet with Aida. This is a beautiful voice that can do nearly everything in Verdi's difficult baritone writing.
Buy this opera! You will not be disappointed. Sing along, bask in it, and love it!

This Aida is Karajan's second achieve, and is by all means, far better than his first recording on Decca from 1958 containing much of Decca's `dull-house'-cast. Tebaldi is certainly not a great Aida, and all though Simionato and Bergonzi does some good work it just never gets to you. Here in 1979 Karajan is fitted with a far better cast, including two of Karajan favourites Freni and Carreras. Both singing their part for the first time, and were warned about singing these relative large and demanding roles as Aida and Radames. However neither of them lets Karajan down. Freni is as always ardently beautiful singing, but both Caballé (Muti/74) and Leontyne Price (Solti/62 NOT Leinsdorf/70) are slightly better impression of the part of Aida. José Carreras has always followed the title of his own book `Singing with the sole', and here is not any different. Carreras' ability to sing as he means it, and not just as I my self feels with Pavarotti, sings as one would the shower, is always intact. Carreras stretches his voice to the limit, but never over the limit. That is for me quite important, and is probably one of the reasons I worship Carreras as singer. Pavarotti rarely moves me with his singing. It doesn't matter if he sings Cavaradossi or Radames. He sounds the same, and uses the same few `tricks' trying to sound as he means it, but it just isn't enough. I just needed to get that out of the system, since Carreras always is accused of being to small or gets a `nice try' on the way. The fact is, in my opinion that Carreras and Domingo are far superior compared to Pavarotti! Cappucilli sing Amonasro for the second time within 5 years, and it's hard to differ between the scores. Anyhow we have Cappucilli at he's absolute best and along with the American Baryton Robert Merrill (Solti/62) we have the best Amonasro as one can get. Agnes Baltsa is Amneris, and `wow', she just does it for me. She sang in Don Carlos as Eboli little less than a year before, and that was her first major part in an opera. She is dedicated and sings probably the best Amneris on record. Only Zajick on DG's video production with Levine as conductor is slightly better. The flaw in this set is most definitely Ruggero Raimondi. He just doesn't have the authority to make a convincing High Priest. Listen to Ghiaurov in Muti's (EMI/74) instead. That is far more powerful. It should also be mentioned that Katia Ricciarelli sings the very small part of a priestess. Not that it matter a great deal, if any, but if one is Ricciarelli fan, she does a good job. Karajan provides a far richer toned orchestra sound than Muti does it. What is right and what is wrong? That depends in your own taste. They are both very good. I my self prefer Karajan's more `fat' sound and gives the listener a chance to hear a full-blooded sound along with the fine recording sound. The reason that it gets 4 stars is mainly Raimondi's fault. One can also find better singers in almost every role. Not much but anyway is enough. If I have to choose one recording of Aida it would probably be Muti's '74 version on EMI, but they are so close, and if you like Verdi's Aida I can't see any problem in having them both.

As any opera fan will tell you, "spinto" literally means "pushed", so from there it's just a point of personal preference who would you like to hear singing Verdi. We will never know what kind of voices Verdi himself would have chosen out of the very rich vocal crop in the 1970's. But I doubt it very much that he would choose ALL of his singers to have the same "pushed" quality in their voices. I would also like to object to mixing up the German voice classification (called fach) with Italian one. The systems differ in many aspects and it would indeed be unwise to just choose the suitable terms from both without truly understanding the context.
The set at hand provides many moments of listening pleasure. The gorgeous lyric voices of Freni and Carreras (caught in their prime) lend themselves easily to recording. Fans of tenor power, kindly listen to the sequence of G's in the Radames's surrender scene. It's quite electrifying. Freni executes such beautiful pianissimos that even Caballe would certainly appreciate.
The only person I truly missed in this recording is Ghiaurov as Ramfis. Cappuccilli's Amonastro is, as always, gorgeously and powerfully done. I would encourage the amateur critics to develop some solid basis for their claims and to refrain from rather offensive choice of words and punctuation.

It cannot be denied that Freni lacks the raw power evident in Price's or possibly Callas' or even Tebaldi's portrayal of the heroine, but to say that Freni is in any way miscast is a gross overstatement (to say that she is "overparted" is to use a word that doesn't exist). Her sweet but full and exceptionally well-balanced lyric is by no means too 'weak' for the role, and she brings a level of controlled exquisiteness that is not present in either Price's or Callas' interpretations of Aida.

I would direct those who say that Caballe's soprano is a spinto to her recordings of Norma or Elvira or Violetta, and remind them that 'spinto' means 'pushed' (it is very rare to hear real spintos of any voice type today, because the effects of pushing the voice are well-understood and one of the aims of good vocal training is [or should be] to avoid the inclination to push the voice. Singers who push the voice regularly rarely sing long enough [or well-enough] to be recorded). To those who persist in labelling her soprano a 'spinto', I would say that they might like to ask Mme. Caballe if, in her authoritative opinion, she pushed her voice.

To those who would say that Karajan made bad casting choices, I would say that Karajan made very wise casting choices in choosing 3 principal singers who, whilst being of less naturally large voices, create a stellar ensemble that is of even-sized voices, each exhibiting greater control than usually found from singers of these roles.

To those who compare the ability of a singer to portray a role in the recording studio to their supposed ability to portray the role on stage, I would say that this is a studio recording, not a live operatic performance, and should be judged as one.

And to those who say that the two main roles in this opera are sung by lyrics voices who have no business singing this opera, I would say that those people who don't understand voices and the various systems used to classify them have no business commenting on voices or voice classifications, let alone opera.

A very fine recording, with some of the most ravishing (e.g. Freni's Aida) and fire-eating (e.g. Baltsa's Amneris) portrayals of the characters of this opera to date. Perhaps not the most universally satisfying to all people, but most certainly worth having.

There are quite a few recordings of Verdi's masterpiece, but this one surely is in a class of its own. Mirella Freni's powerful yet ever so feminine interpretation of the heroine is remarkable. In "Ritorna Vincitor!" particularly, she displays a full range of Aida's contrasting feelings with splendor. Carreras's romantic and heroic Radames is no less impressive. His velvety tone and fire-striking high notes fit the part as though it was written for him. A true master of Verdian line, Carreras never succumbs to cheap effects and maintains a very real representation of Radames's struggle between love and honor. The whole cast, including supporting characters is first class. Cappuccilli's impressive reading of Amonastro compares favorably to that of Milnes or Bastianini. His prior recording under Muti's conducting was good too, yet this one has a crispier, clearer quality. And Agnes Baltsa's treatment of Amneris makes the king's daughter irresistable. Finally, this cast has Herbert von Karajan, a conductor with a style that appears perfectly suited for this "larger-than-life" opera. The tempos are never sluggish, yet the tension is always evident. In summary, this recording has it all, and it is a must for anyone captivated by the power of opera.

Karajan leads the Vienna Philharmonic in a triumphant and lush recording of this grandiose work. Carreras' voice is rich and strong, but not lacking in sensitivity. Freni's undeniably gorgeous tone and heartbreaking sweetness leaves the listener with complete satisfaction. Carreras and Freni coupled together create a warm and extremely powerful, yet sensual, collaberation. The chorus is above average, and Karajan handles soloists and ensembles with his usual finesse. A great price for a great recording.

I think this a a really interesting recording. Aida so often gets recorded by big sopranos (early Callas, Price, Milanov, Tebaldi) and big heavyweight tenors (del Monaco, Baum, Vickers) and these wonderful artists bring something special to their respective parts no doubt. Yet, I don't think Aida will every really be defined as an opera that requires massive voices. It does require some balance, insight and, I think lyricism otherwise it just sounds a bit loud and one-dimensional. Now, all the singers I listed above are guilty of this of course, and even then they often brought some moments of high drama and excitement to compensate, but we do need a bit of balance and light relief. So here Freni, Carreras and Baltsa offer us something different. Carreras will be critised I guess for being a light-voiced tenor struggling to fill the shoes of a role built for bigger singers. Maybe. But he adds a wonderful emotional, lyric and thoughtful dimension to the role with what was still a beautiful (and powerful) voice. He is thoughful throughtout and let's face it, for such a dim-witted character as Radames, a bit of character development is a welcome relief. As for Mirella Freni, well I am a big fan. She brings along her beautiful voice coupled with that desire she always has to be completely emotionally involved. I guess she never quite had the top notes or the vocal heft to really impress the masses, but her instrument was wonderful in its own right and it's not a small voice. I think she handles the role admirably and anyway, did we need another massive Aida? Perhaps the ideal Aida is a beautifully voiced, powerful singer in the vein of Price, Tebaldi or Caballe but I think the lighter voiced Freni provides a little more contrast to the darker, heavier voice of Amneris. Ok, so Amneris, well I am also a fan of Baltsa. I think she gives a fine performance here full of rage and fury and so on but also involved in the duets and ensembles. After that you have the fabulous Cappuccilli and Raimondi and Karajan knitting it all together.
We are lucky to have so many great recordings of Aida, ultimately it all comes down to personal preference with respect to soprano, tenor, mezzo and/or conductor.
For me, this is the performance that leave me most moved but there are so many others - Milanov-Bjoerling, Callas in Mexico (just for the top E flat!), Domingo-Arroyo (great involved live performance) not to mention Price, Caballe and so on. Take your pick, but don't dismiss this one and after all it is a little different with two of the greatest singers of the last 30 years.

I have live-recordings of Carreras&Freni doing AIDA and they sound glorious. Carreras, very wisely, dropped Radames very soon after this. But his Radames is much more subtle, tasteful and ardent than most others. And Freni has the Italianita that hasn't been heard in this role since Tebaldi dropped it in the sixties. A ravishing recording, but very unusual.

This is an outstanding Aida, I think, even though it doesn`t have the most dramatic singers in the mainroles, but they give their very best here and it`s heartbreaking. Karajans conducting is marvellous! What a tight rhytmic and incredible dynamic he gets out of the orchestra, and what a sound! I`m thrilled by his reading of the score.
But what I also think is so special about this recording, is the communicating that has its presence between the singers and the orchestra. There is so much music and drama comming out of it! And that`s why I think this is one of the finest recordings of Aida. The general impression is glorious, so you`ll ignore Carreras B-flat at the ending of "Celeste Aida which is a little bit out of pitch.
Go for it!

This is quite possibly the definitive recording of the opera. The cast is top notch, and the horns are the best I have heard on a recording. Carreras is at his best strong where he needs to be, and soft and lilting everywhere else. Mirella Freni is a standout as usual. Karajan conducts masterfully as always. A must have for your collection.