Verdi - Aida / L. Price · Vickers · Merrill · Gorr · Opera di Roma · Solti

Giuseppe Verdi (Artist), Sir Georg Solti (Artist), Leontyne Price (Artist), Jon Vickers (Artist), Orchestra e Coro del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma (Artist), Robert Merrill (Artist), Franco Ricciardi (Artist), Rita Gorr (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 3
• Label: Decca
• ASIN: B0000041RW
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #112,835 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #24 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Divas > Price, Leontyne

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Aida, opera: Preludio

2. Aida, opera: Act 1, scene 1: 'Sě: corre voce che l'Etiope ardisca'

3. Aida, opera: Act 1, scene 1: 'Se quel guerrier io fossi!'

4. Aida, opera: Act 1, scene 1: 'Quale insolita gioia'

5. Aida, opera: Act 1, scene 1: 'Alta cagion v'aduna'

6. Aida, opera: Act 1, scene 1: 'Ritorna vincitor!'

See all 8 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Aida, opera: Act 2, scene 1: 'Chi mai fra gl'inni e i plausi'

2. Aida, opera: Act 2, scene 1: 'Fu la sorte dell'armi a' tuoi funesta'

3. Aida, opera: Act 2, scene 1: 'Su! del Nilo al sacro lido'

4. Aida, opera: Act 2, scene 2: 'Gloria all'Egitto, ad Iside'

5. Aida, opera: Act 2, scene 2: Marcia

6. Aida, opera: Act 2, scene 2: 'Vieni, o guerriero vindice'

See all 11 tracks on this disc

Disc: 3

1. Aida, opera: Act 3: 'O tu che sei d'Osiride'

2. Aida, opera: Act 3: 'Qui Radamčs verrŕ!... Che vorrŕ dirmi?'

3. Aida, opera: Act 3: 'Ciel! mio padre!'

4. Aida, opera: Act 3: 'Pur ti riveggo, mia dolce Aida...'

5. Aida, opera: Act 3: 'Fuggiam gli ardori inospiti'

6. Aida, opera: Act 3: 'Tu... Amonasro!... tu!... Il Re?'

See all 13 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Look for the cheaper, 2-CD Import Version, March 23, 2004

By 

Vincent G. Marino (Staten Island, New York USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Verdi - Aida / L. Price · Vickers · Merrill · Gorr · Opera di Roma · Solti (Audio CD)

The same exact recording, remastered, and on 2-CDs instead of 3 is available as a UK import for half the price of this set, which sounds lousy. Look for the import!!

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE BEST 'AIDA' IN STEREO, June 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Verdi - Aida / L. Price · Vickers · Merrill · Gorr · Opera di Roma · Solti (Audio CD)

This is my personal favorite stereo recording of "Aida". True, Solti may conduct "Aida" as though it were Wagner's "Tannhauser" (the brass and percussion are incredibly prominent on this recordin), but this approach has rewards and pays dividends that one would not encounter in a more traditional reading of the score. This recording enshrines the first recorded Aida of Leontyne Price, and that alone is reason enough to own this wonderful recording. Price, like Zinka Milanov immediately before her, had the perfect voice for this role. At the time of this recording, the voice was long, silken, and had that smokey sound that later gave way to the hoarse quality that became evident on her more recent recordings (such as her second recorded Aida ten years after this one). Dramatically, Price delivers a deeply felt and compelling performance. Her Aida genuinely convinces one of her plight. The more I listen to Rita Gorr on this recording, the more convinced I become that she may well have had the greatest mezzo soprano voice of the post World War period. Her Amneris, to my ear, is the absolute best of the bunch (no faint praise, since that bunch would include Simionato, Barbieri, Bumbry, and Cossotto---- all great mezzos who excelled as Amneris). She has all of the qualities: venom, anger, and finally, anguish and heartbreak, and her voice is so large and massive that she easily soars over Solti's very strong orchestra. Jon Vickers is not a typical Rhadames. The voice is large and very dramatic in a Teutonic sort of way, but he knows how to scale his sound down when he needs to, and his Nile Duet with Price is beautifully done. Robert Merrill does a solid job as Amonasro, meeting Price on her own ground in the pivotal father-daughter duet. The bottom line: a stunning job by all the principals, under a conductor who dares to be different.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ONE OF THE GREAT "AIDA" RECORDINGS, December 29, 1999

By 

"lesismore26" (Chicago, Illinois USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Verdi - Aida / L. Price · Vickers · Merrill · Gorr · Opera di Roma · Solti (Audio CD)

This is a great performance of "Aida", easily surpassing both von Karajan versions, as well as most others. Plainly, one could make a case for this "Aida" as being the greatest version yet recorded. Georg Solti creates an "Aida" that rises to Wagnerian proportions --- brass and percussion have never sounded so immediate and sonically compelling as they do here. Of course, one would encounter little of this in a more traditional reading, but the the rewards are many. Leontyne Price is heard here in her first recorded assumption of the role of Aida, and she is just about as perfect as one will ever hear. The voice was at its zenith, and the characterization never more convincing. I prefer her work here to that on the much later RCA version conducted by Leinsdorf. But great as Price is, this is no one woman show. Jon Vickers was a great artist, and if his Rhademes rings with a mixture of Wagner's Tannhauser and Tristan, the results are thrilling -------- this Rhademes was no wimp! The Amneris of Rita Gorr might just be the greatest of them all (all due respect to Simionato, Barbieri, Cossotto, Bumbry, etc.) ---- her huge bronzed mezzo was held by many to have been the greatest of the post-war period ---- and her work here goes a long way towards justifying that opinion. In the more intimate moments, her voice has a silken quality ---- but when she explodes in Act IV, the voice takes on a godzilla-like power and fury. Her performance alone makes this recording worth owning. Robert Merrill had come a long way as an artist by the time he came to record the role of Amonasro, Aida's father. Dramatically correct, and vocally outstanding, Merrill aptly demonstrates why he was the Met's reigning baritone in the 1960's. Choral work is exemplary, and the stereo sonics are spectacular. I can view this recording as "the" recording of "Aida". However, I still wouldn't let go of Milanov and Bjoerling on the mono RCA version. Nor would I give up Caballe and Domingo on EMI.Only one recording of "Aida"? Too difficult to choose. All three of these "Aida" recordings are outstanding.