Customer Reviews

Verdi: La Traviata

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In the 60's and 70's, this "Traviata" was widely considered one of the great opera recordings of all time. Anna Moffo, its main protagonist, was the most celebrated interpreter of the title role.

In 1960, when this recording was made, Anna Moffo was a beautiful young woman (she was in her mid-20's) who had a gorgeous, and flawless, lyric-coloratura soprano voice that extended spectacularly to high E flat. Moreover, she was gifted with a delicate dramatic art that infused her characterizations with heartbreaking joy and pathos without ever going over the top. No one who witnessed the occasion of her Met debut in 1959 as Violetta Valery in "La Traviata" could have ever forgotten it! Moffo looked and sounded exactly like the young and beautiful, but vulnerable, heroine she portrayed on stage. Fortunately for posterity, Moffo's luminous singing qualities are captured in this exceptional studio recording.

In the competing sets in the catalogue, other great divas are either musically outstanding (Sutherland on London, Caballe on RCA), or dramatically effective (Callas, Scotto, both on EMI, Cotrubas on DGG, Gheorghiu on London, and Stratas in the Zeffirelli film). Generally speaking, fine singing actresses seem unable to deliver unscathed the coloratura of the "E strano" and "Sempre libera" arias that conclude act one. Sills on EMI is especially disappointing here. In spite of her incredible lyric coloratura vocal instrument and brilliant dramatic ability, this was not her opera. To my ears she sounds like the ghost of a castle whose sole purpose is to frighten the living. This may be due, in no small measure, to the agonizingly slow pace of conductor Ceccato and the excessive resonance of the recording venue. Only Moffo succeeds in giving a performance that combines the musical and dramatic elements in perfect balance. Her coloratura is effortless, with every high note reaching the stratosphere on target but caressed by deeply moving dramatic inflections.

It is somewhat unfortunate that Moffo was often paired with Richard Tucker. The latter was a leading dramatic tenor who was much older than Moffo and whose voice was not right for the role of Violetta's lover Alfredo. I can only fathom what the glorious results might have been had Moffo been paired with the equally young, elegant and ravishing lyric voice of tenor Carlo Bergonzi. Nevertheless, Tucker does modulate his enormous voice to sing as lyrically and with as much youthful ardour as can be expected from him. In the exchanges between the lovers, whether in their rapturous discovery of love in act one, in Alfredo's misguided tirade against Violetta in act two, or in their heartbreaking reunion in act three, the voices of the two principals harmonize to extraordinary effect.

While every member of the supporting cast is fine, Robert Merrill stands out in the role of Alfredo's father Giorgio Germont. He is both musically resplendent and dramatically superb. Few baritones in operatic history could have sung the role with a combination of such sheer vocal splendor (seemingly limitless resources) and convincingly warm characterization. The fatherly quality comes through with aplomb in the exchanges with Violetta in act two. One can understand why she would be convinced to respond agreeably to the distressed father's pleas rather than telling him where to go. Fernando Previtalli leads the Rome Opera Orchestra and Chorus in a performance that is at once lilting and emotionally charged. The pacing is perfect. It is neither too fast, as in the Kleiber set with Cotrubas on DGG, nor too slow, as in the Ceccato set with Sills on EMI.

The digitally remastered "Living Stereo" sound of 1960 is astonishing for the breadth and clarity of its soundstage, as well as its musicality. It is superior to the muffled sounding, digital recording of 1995 with Gheorghiu on London. Listening to the CD's through an NAD T-550 DVD/CD player, an NAD 317 integrated amplifier and a pair of Paradigm Monitor 7 speakers, an exciting aural panorama was created in my listening room. There was only a hint of hardness in very loud passages and virtually inaudible master tape hiss. Both of these minor flaws would likely be mitigated by a new remastering using the latest technology.

Anna Moffo is a "Traviata" to treasure! After more than four decades her performance remains the greatest one on records. It belongs in every serious operatic collection.

I can only add something to the other reviews: My friend, who is an educated singer, prefers the Traviata with Sutherland, Bergonzi and Merrill under Pritchard's direction; not only because of Sutherland, but also because of Bergonzi. However, he has a lot of Traviata-recordings, and one evening we listened to many of them. To my surprise, as a novice to Verdi, the one with Sutherland didn't make me happy. Perhaps I am more sensitive to direction, pacing, phrasing of the music than to singing. The difference was obvious the moment he put on this one with Moffo, Tucker and Merrill under Previtali. I stepped up and started to dance! I will not claim that Pritchard's Traviata lacks drama, but when Verdi wrote some passages in waltz-rhythms, he surely had some intention with that, and this intention Previtali fortunately takes into consideration. I've tried to dance to the Pritchard recording, but sorry folks, it is impossible as far I am concerned.
I think that the present Traviata by Previtali has a lot of go, and if I should have only one, this would be my choice. This is not only party; it is drama too.
One more thing: to the reviewer below who complains about the sound quality; I have no such objections, this is more than good enough for me.
Returning to my friend, the singer; he says that the weak point here is Tucker; Moffo is great her own way and Merrill is featured on both recordings. I am at the present too new to La Traviata to be able to jugde about this in detail. Personally I think Sutherland is spectacular, but Moffo sounds more human.
This is the Traviata that makes me happy, that's in fact all I have to say!

This recording of La Traviata shows the great vocal and artistic gifts of Anna Moffo, perhaps the greatest Violetta Valery of all. She had, in my opinion, the most suitable voice for the demands of this famous role. Moffo's lyric soprano, with a warm sound, has a remarkable coloratura technique. Her Sempre Libera is perhaps the best on records. It is a pleasure to hear her facility in doing perfect scales and tops the aria with a firm high E flat. In the second and third acts the soprano gives both lyric and dramatics overtones to her interpretation. A beautiful and moving performance. Moffo is backed by to other magnificent singers. Richard Tucker brings his golden tone to Alfredo, even when he sounds a little mature to my taste. Robert Merrill is perfect as Giogio Germont. His beautiful baritone voice works wonders in the Violetta-Germont duet in Act II, one of the strong points of this recording. This is, in my opinion, one of the best recordings of La Traviata, even when the sound quality is not perfect.

ABOUT THE ALBUM: Verdi (La Traviata) Original 2 LP set Released In 1960 By RCA Victor Living Stereo; remastered as CD 1993 and 1997 with high resolution/stereo-orthophonic UV22 20 bit resolution. CAST: Anna Moffo, soprano (Violetta), Richard Tucker, tenor (Alfredo), Robert Merrill, baritone (Giorgio Germont), Anna Reynolds, mezzo-soprano (Flora), Franco Calabrese, baritone (Baron Duphol) Piero De Palma, baritone (Gastone), Vito Susca, bariton (Marquis D'Obigny) Liliana Poli, mezzo-soprano (Annina, Violeta's maid) Franco Ventriglia, baritone (Grenvil, Violetta's doctor)....Conductor Fernando Previtali, Rome Opera Orchestra and Chorus....

The Background On This Recording:

This 1960 La Traviata recording is well-known and beloved by operaphiles world wide, a classic, as the many glowing reviews say for themselves. When it was released, opera was first gaining marketable status in the recording industry and many now famed opera recordings were being made at the start of the 1960's. RCA and Decca were the lead companies and singers whose debuts at the Metropolitan Opera were recent like Anna Moffo, Leontyne Price, Franco Corelli and Birgit Nilsson owed much to these companies for the launching of successful recordings made to promote their artistry as opera singers. Recording in the States became expensive and many singers resorted to traveling to Europe to record their albums (The Sofiensaal in Vienna, Austria or the Abby Road Studios in London, England). In the case of this La Traviata, Anna Moffo, whose familiy roots were in Italy, transported her original Traviatas with New York's Metropolitan Opera to Rome, Italy. The conductor, Fernando Previtali, is not a big name (and I didn't recognize the name and he is lost to the great names at this time like Carlo Maria Giulini, Karl Bohm, Georg Solti, Erich Leinsdorf and Herbert Von Karajan). But his work with the Rome Opera Orchestra produced a wonderful rendition of Traviata suffusing the score with Italian color (a lot like Carlo Maria Giulini another Italian conductor), with a lot of nuance, pathos, beauty, very powerful drama and the sense of being performed as live theater. This is a very old-fashioned production of Traviata and if you have been listening or watching newer Traviatas (with Renee Fleming, Angela Gheorghiu, Anna Netrebko) each who have recordings, you'll find that this one is terribly melodramatic, particularily in Anna Moffo's performance as the consumptive courtesan. But remember it was 1960 and the Traviata at the Met at this time was strictly of the period perfect kind. Never before have I heard a more beautiful Traviata, not only with singing of the highest calibre but with passionate drama. If applause and "live" sounds were mixed in, one would quickly assume this was a performance captured live at the Met in 1960, at the time Anna Moffo debuted as Violetta. There is a clarity, vitality and a real sense of theatre in this album. There is never a bad moment, the pacing is perfect, not too slow, not too fast. There is also no true embellishment in the score, neither from the orchestra or the singers. This is a very straight-forward and dramatic Traviata without pretending to be something grander. There are only four American singers - Anna Moffo(American-born to Italian parents), Richard Tucker, Robert Merrill and Anna Reynolds. The rest are quality Italian singers trained at the Rome Opera.

ANNA MOFFO IS VIOLETTA

Anna Moffo coughs, cries, loves, lives and dies throughout the recording. Some may find her coughing excessive and melodramatic but again, she is acting in the style that was very common at the time in opera productions or perhaps this was her own way of acting and living out the part of Violetta. Other sopranos who have played her make her very strong and a fighter despite her illness (Maria Callas' Violetta is very strong as is Renata Scotto, Montserrat Caballe, Carol Vaness and Angela Gheorghiu). But the real way to interpret Violetta is at least a combination of fragile beauty and dynamic woman. Many sopranos today don't cough and just sing the part with a full lyric voice but don't add any reality to their performance and the reality is that Violetta has tubercolosis. This is the only tragic aspect of the opera, for if she didn't have consumption, the ending would have been a happy one, even at the close call she gets when Alfredo's father Germont puts an end to their romance simply because he feels she is shaming the family name with her association with Alfredo. He later changed his heart, after all, upon realizing that Violetta is a good woman. Anna Moffo's tears and coughs may seem affected and over-the-top but it was in fact a thing which Verdi had written into the score for Violetta's scenes, even in the first Act, where not only does she feel faint, is pale but is also supposed to be coughing between lines. Anna Moffo's debut at the Met was as Violetta and it was the role she sang with most frequency. At the time of her debut, no other soprano could hold a candle next to her Violetta. She looked part - beautiful, Italian looking, charming, frail and her singing was as good as the most skilled of Italian sopranos before her. Her Italian heritage is to her credit, for she has a deep understanding of the language's nuance, color, expression and drama. She spins out beautiful phrases, darkens her voice and uses a lot of the middle part of her voice, has a gleaming high register and a very generous chest register which she employs for various moments (such as her confrontation with Germont in which she refuses to give up Alfredo). Many sopranos don't use the chest register to sing Violetta which calls for lyric coloratura capabilities and for the voice to remain "youthful" or "light" as well as sounding fragile and passionate. Moffo has the abilities to sing with passion and with fragility but she is also very strong in the dramatic departments. She has such a strong, and BIG voice for what some see as being a small voice. She is somehow able to produce a larger-than-life appearance and makes Violetta very heroic. Her voice sounds dark and sultry and at times I swear I was hearing not Anna Moffo but Leontyne Price. The comparisons aren't exact but at times she sings the lyrico spinto parts Verdi wrote with the same regial and noble bearing as Leontyne. Her coloratura is not perfect and other singers (like Beverly Sills and Joan Sutherland) seem to place emphasis on the elaborate coloratura such as with "Sempre Libera". What Moffo has is fioritura, and this is what Verdi wanted in Violetta. She sings with a breathy, fluttery voice to depict her consumption, her "social butterfly" appearance and her fragility. The Maria Callas fanatics who adored her interpretation of Violetta (much more hardcore but clinical) don't seem to like Anna Moffo. The truth is at this time, Callas' reign in opera was ending and Anna Moffo, a younger rival, was taking over and doing a fantastic Violetta which at one time had been one of Callas' successes. Anna Moffo is a glorious soprano who died only recently (2005)and this Traviata is a perfect tribute to her unique artistry as one of the few American singers who were at the top of the opera world at the time. She was the first "glamorous" and super model like singer (along with Callas after she lost weight). She was overshadowed by singers like Leontyne Price, Birgit Nilsson, Renata Scotto, Joan Sutherland and Montserrat Caballe because Moffo seems to have made a career out of the same type of roles - Violetta, Mimi in La Boheme, Lucia, and rarely ventured into the more dramatic reperotire like other contemporaries did and never sang anything more challenging than Madame Butterfly. She is however very well-documented on recordings of La Boheme, Madame Butterfly, Rigoletto, Lucia and Le Nozze Di Figaro. She married a film director who made her a star in his "opera films" of Traviata and Lucia.

Richard Tucker's Alfredo

American tenor Richard Tucker's voice was not at its prime in this recording. He had sung Alfredo often times before with great aplomb and he did in fact sing opposite Moffo in Traviata at the Met. What we hear in this recording is an older, mature, more experienced voice with heroic characterization. This is the loudest and brassiest Alfredo you'll ever find. It is also sung in a very dark vein, almost as if slipping into baritone. It's not an ardent young lover we hear but a middle-aged man who has fallen in love with a younger woman. But while Tucker's vocal interpretation is neither elegant or youthful, it's passionate. It's just too bad they didn't cast a better tenor to match Moffo perfectly. He was able to sing well even in his older age. At this time he sang B.F. Pinkerton in Madame Butterfly opposite Leontyne Price in an RCA recording. He sings magnificently. But this Traviata seems to find him in somewhat of a bad shape, though he sure gives it a hell of a good try. It's a pity they didn't cast Franco Corelli or Carlo Bergonzi to match Moffo's elegance. It was also too bad that Placido Domingo and Nicolai Gedda were not yet ready to sing Alfredo at the Met or anywhere else at this early time in their careers.

Robert Merril's Germont

Merrill, another American, was too was singing past his prime but his baritone power still did wonders and he sings a very touching Germont with fatherly and strong warmth. At times, I must admit he is boring and very technical in his interpretation, singing without any real sense of reality and drama. The role of Germont is actually very pivotal, and in fact he has more characterization than even Alfredo, who Verdi unfortunatelly wrote to be very flat, merely the love interest, only once exploding with jealous rage (something which Violetta herself never does). Germont changes along with Violetta throughout the opera. Violetta from devil-may-care free spirit to seriously in love and self-sacrificing and Germont from prejudiced and discriminate to human, compassionate and finally guilty. If a baritone sings the role flatly, we won't be able to pick up the exact moment when he changes his heart about Violetta and begins to see her as not a Parisian whore but as a woman with a heart of gold (this moment comes at the end of Act 2 at Flora's party). For all of Merrill's skills, and he is a very accomplished baritone by all accounts, he does not seem to understand the part of Germont and is singing it without the dynamics he sang other roles at the Met. His voice is perfect for Verdi and bel canto and he fared better in other baritone roles such as Forza Del Destino, Ballo In Maschera, Aida, Trovatore and Rigoletto. But he is very bland as Germont. Still, if you wish to have an idea as to how Merrill sang, this recording is but one of his many examples.

This is a magnificent example of three American singers coming together for the sake of drama and not for themselves. They must have taken their trip to Rome very seriously when they made this Traviata. Own this recording and you'll be in Heaven listening to Traviata as it ought to be performed and as a document of a time when opera was becoming exciting and Americans were engaged. This is one of the most beloved and most popular operas of all time.

This performance of Traviata was recorded in 1960, shortly after Anna Moffo's Metropolitan Opera debut in the role of Violetta. Fitting perfectly Dumas' description of the real consumptive on whom this opera was based, Marie Duplessis, Moffo made the role her own and remained the premiere exponent of it throughout the 1960's. Not only did she look the part, she had the vocal means to carry off everything the composer requires in this demon of a role. Her warm, lyric voice had the capability to deftly handle the fioriture of the first act as well as fill the second and third acts' more expansive, legato phrases with full, vibrant tone.

My one gripe with Moffo is that she holds herself back from plumbing that last measure of emotional depth. This Violetta is irresistably attractive and flirtatious in the first act, projects plenty of disbelief and wrenching despair and humiliation in the second, and emotes plenty of sadness in the third. However, this Violetta spends too much time feeling sorry for herself. True self-sacrifice never wallows in self-pity. It's also hard to believe this Violetta is really sick. Moffo sounds too healthy, too alive. In the first act, this vivacity is a boon, but in the last it's a bane. In short, while musically and vocally Moffo nails this part dead on, dramatically she just misses the mark. In Moffo's defence, however, Violetta is as hard as Bellini's Norma to fully realize either in the theatre or on record. My dream Violetta would be a combination of Callas, Scotto, Moffo, and Sutherland. You really need to hear all four to understand what can be achieved with this character.

The other roles in this recording are also admirably cast with Robert Merrill surprisingly intuitive and engaging as Georgio Germont. He's thoughtful, uncertain, stern, sympathetic, and selfish at all the right times, and he sings like a god to boot! Not always known for his dramatic subtlety, I'm finding more and more that on record, Merrill could be a deeply involving vocal actor. As for Richard Tucker, his timbre sounds a little too mature, almost as if he should be Violetta's father instead of her lover, but once past that, he also gives an intelligent reading of a part that too often is dismissed and breezed-through as if it was of little consequence. The supporting roles are all well sung and well acted. The Rome Opera Orchestra and Chorus perform well here under the able, and greatly underrated, baton of Fernando Previtali. The sound is warm, clear and full, and is better in this issuing than in other so far. The staging is logically done with some sound effects thrown in to help the listener at home stay with the action. The price is right, and for nostalgia buffs, as part of RCA's Living Stereo series, the original cover art and linear notes are included. I must provide one word of warning. The stage cuts generally in use at that time are made here, so the score isn't given complete, hence the four-star rating. However, all things considered, this is essential listening for anyone interested in this opera and its history during the twentieth century.

I've been seeking the ideal "Traviata" for years; of course, it doesn't exist - the different voices required for each act ensure that no singer can completely encompass the demands made by the role of Violetta - but it's fun searching. So far, I have discarded several (Scotto too hard and glassy of tone, Bastianini patrician of voice but unmoving; Domingo too burly of tone in a fairly generalised performance; del los Angeles scratchy up top - it's all a question of taste, I suppose) and hung on to the other RCA recording with Caballe, Bergonzi and Milnes (who sing beautifully despite some choppy conducting from Pretre) in combination with the indispensable 1958 Covent Garden performance (see my review) conducted by Rescigno which is in by far the best sound of all the live Callas recordings. The 1959 live Lisbon performance, sensitively conducted by Ghione also enshrines Callas at her best - no-one is anywhere near as moving - and her co-singers, Kraus and Sereni, are almost as good, but the sound is hopelessly crumbly. Callas' 1953 Cetra recording allows us to hear her in good vocal condition but her Alfredo and Germont are inadequate and Callas is not yet the artist she became in this role (it was the contractual obligation not to re-record Violetta for three years after this that deprived us of a studio EMI set with Callas). I also love Beverly Sills and Panerai in the EMI recording conducted by Ceccato, but I'm afraid Gedda is far from ideal as Alfredo (see my review).

Now I have finally (!) discovered this 1960 recording, which seems to me the best studio version I have heard. Moffo is fleet, agile and silvery - Caballe, by comparison, as is often the case in early Verdi roles, sounds too mature, despite some lovely coloratura - and acts wonderfully with her voice, whispering the letter scene - even if she cannot rival Callas here. Merrill is much more interesting than Milnes, who simply sings nicely. (Apparently Merrill began to inject some emotion into his performances after being fixed by Toscanini's gimlet eye and being asked, "Have you ever been a father?" On being told, "No, Maestro", he harrumphed, "It sounds like it"; thereafter Merrill tried harder, and it shows in this performance.) I can understand why some prefer Bergonzi's elegance in this part to Tucker's rather stentorian manner - so do I - but Tucker's is nonetheless a skilful, finely judged assumption of the role; Tucker fines down his tone when required and he is such a good musician. True, Moffo scoops a bit too much for my taste but otherwise I love her voice; she comes as close as anyone to mastering all the notes and staying wholly in character. The "Living Stereo" sound is wonderful, the documentation full and interesting, the singing superb; this will be the one I listen to most often, always remembering to take down the Callas recording occasionally just to hear "Ah, dite alla giovine" sung to perfection.

P.S. Since writing this review, I have discovered the lovely Freni/Bonisolli set conducted by Gardelli and recorded for German TV in 1973 (see my review) and I urge you to consider that as a first choice, as much as this version is attractive. It really depends on your taste in voices; both are delightful.

P.P.S. and now we finally have a very affordable issue of this legendary live 1958 Covent Garden performance with Callas and Valletti:
La Traviata
This is now certainly my preferred Callas "Traviata". Avoid this one - poor sound:
Maria Callas - Verdi: La Traviata - The Legendary Covent Garden Performance (1958)

SOURCE: Studio performance recorded at the Rome Opera House, June 16-25, 1960.

SOUND: This recording has always offered superb sound. It sounded great on Lp in the 1960s. It sounded great on CD in the 1990s. (A later re-mastering with hybrid SACD bells and whistles sounds great, too.)

CAST: Violetta Valery - Anna Moffo (soprano); Flora - Anna Reynolds (mezzo-soprano); Annina - Liliana Poli (soprano); Alfredo Germont - Richard Tucker (tenor); Giorgio Germont - Robert Merrill (baritone); Gastone - Piero de Palma (tenor); Doctor Grenvil - Franco Ventriglia (bass); Baron Douphol - Franco Calabrese (baritone); Marquis d'Obigny - Vito Susca (bass); Giuseppe - Adelio Zogonara (tenor).

CONDUCTOR: Fernando Previtali with the Rome Opera Orchestra and Chorus.

DOCUMENTATION: Printed libretto in Italian with English translation. Esaay on the history of the opera. Brief biographical sketches on principal performers. Track list with timings.

TEXT: This performance follows that standard performing text that was in use for over a century until the rise of what might be called the "completist" movement, two or three decades ago. The omissions, even including a florid passage for the tenor, are neither particularly extensive or particularly important.

COMMENTARY: Perfect recordings of Verdi's "La Traviata" are about as plentiful as unicorns. This recording, and the performance of Anna Moffo, in particular, has tended to split opera lovers into two camps. Those who love this performance seem to love it intensely. Most of the reviews here on Amazon are very much on the positive side of the divide, using such terms as, "a`Traviata' to treasure!" "beautiful and moving performance," and "everything that little girls dream that a soprano should be."

On the other side are those who are much less taken with the cast. Some question the intrinsic suitability of Richard Tucker for the role of Alfredo Germont. More importantly, there are those who are not impressed by Anna Moffo's Violetta. Here is a rather prominent doubter: In 1964 Maria Callas was to do a revival of "Norma" under the stage direction of Franco Zefferelli. Zefferelli asked her to avoid unreasonable vocal challenges. "I can't, Franco," he recalled her saying. "I won't do what Anna Moffo does in Traviata. I won't skim through my music. I have to take chances even if it means disaster and the end of my career." (With Callas holding that attitude, I imagine that the atmosphere in the studio during the recording of "La Boheme" when Callas did Mimi and Moffo, Musetta, must have been a bit strained.)

As for myself, I think this is a good recording. It is certainly a safe bet for anyone who simply wants to hear the opera and not get involved with the minutia of operatic fandom and rivalries. For those primarily concerned with sound reproduction, despite its narly five decades, this may still be the best recorded "Traviata."

By 1960, RCA had cut the costs of recording opera in expensive New York by shifting to Italy to make use of an Italian orchestra, chorus and supporting singers. Nevertheless, "La Traviata" is essentially a three-singer opera and the three singers in this production, all Americans, were gleaming stars of the New York-based Silver Age of the Metropolitan Opera.

Anna Moffo (1932-2006) made her debut in Italy in 1956. Her first appearance at the Met was in 1959, when she appeared as Violetta. She was renowned for her looks as much as for her singing, once being voted one of the ten most beautiful women in Italy. This recording was RCA's obvious attempt to capitalize on the appearance of the bright new American star.

Richard Tucker (1913-1975), born Rubin Ticker, was trained as a cantor and became a famous exemplar of that art. He made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in "La Gioconda" in 1945. Tucker was not quite 47 when this opera was made. Always a bit to my surprise, he managed to reduce his big voice and personality to fit happily (more or less) into the narrow shoulders of that callow, shallow schoolboy, Alfredo Germont, playing well against his much younger co-star.

Robert Merrill (1917-2004), born Moishe Miller, possessed an extraordinarily fine-sounding baritone voice. Like Tucker's, his debut at the Met also came in 1945 in--of course!--the role of Giorgio Germont. He and Leonard Warren were an amazing pair of house baritones at the Met until the premature death of Warren during a performance. Warren was generally considered the better of the two at dramatic roles and Merrill the go-to man for comedy and lyric parts. Whatever his dramatic failings, Merrill might have been born to play Papa Germont.

The conductor for this recording was Fernando Previtali (1907-1985). He had studied composition under the composer Franco Alfano ("Turandot," "Cyrano.") From 1936 to 1953 he was resident conductor of the Symphonic Orchestra of Radio Rome. He was also resident conductor at the Academy of St Cecila and at La Scala. He became principal conductor at Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires in 1960, the year of this recording, and remained there until 1967. In 1970 he was appointed music director at Teatro Regio in Turin. In opera, he was not a flashy conductor. He was content to allow composers to have their say. He appears on recordings as the conductor in a handful of Italian operas, all of them well-led and quietly effective.

Fans of this diva or of that may carp and quibble, but across the board, this is a very good to excellent recording.

Five stars.

This coveted album remains one of the highlights of my extensive music collection. In addition to the -very helpful- reviews below, I would add that the sound quality is truly amazing for a recording dating back to 1960 (!). Sound staging is superb and the tone is crisp and never raspy. On a decent stereo set you can experience an uncanny feeling of 'being there'. How many opera's have you listened lately that also possess such a magnificent attribute?

The reason for this is intelligent remastering of the state-of-the-art master tapes, in an attempt to get as much out of the compact disc-medium as possible. RCA has re-released a lot of old treasures from there archive under the lable 'Living Stereo'. All were given the 'Living Stereo' remastering treatment. Do your ears a favor, and check them out! The artists, as will illustrate this magnificent 'Traviata' set, were no mean players as well...

Way back in the 1960s, this was the first opera recording that I purchased (because I was a poor college student, I brought the "greatest hits" version rather than the full opera). It immediately became one of my favorite LPs (back in the days of vinyl recordings), and my dull needles on the record player (I could not afford to buy new needles so regularly) over time destroyed any recording quality. Even at that, I continued to enjoy this album for decades, even as the sound quality became degraded.

The cast here, in the end, is terrific. As others have noted, Richard Tucker's stentorian vocal qualities almost overwhelm Alfredo. On the other hand, Tucker's voice is a wonder of the 20th century, and I enjoyed listening to those vocal qualities even in roles for which he was not ideal. Robert Merrill did his usual splendid job, as Alfredo's father, Giorgio. Tucker and Merrill appeared together in a number of operas, and their voices, I think anyhow, work well together.

The young Anna Moffo is wonderful in this role. In the 1960s, she was one of my favorite sopranos. Her voice fits this part nicely. She was able to sing roles such as this as well as some coloratura roles. As many note, a lovely lyric-coloratura voice. She also portrays a character on this album. That is, one does not just get lush, pretty singing; one gets a characterization. Indeed, during her peak years, she was known as much for her acting as for her singing. In that, she combined the presentation of characters like a Maria Callas (whose vocal technique was not necessarily wonderful) with a voice that works well on the music, as a Joan Sutherland might (Sutherland, on the other hand, was hardly a quintessential operatic actress).

This recording is well done for the era. The conductor, Fernando Previtali, does a nice job of creating tension with the music, moving the action along smartly without a listener feeling that matters are rushed.

There are a number of fine renderings of Verdi's "La Traviata." From having listened to a number of these, I would say that this CD--with Moffo in her prime, Merrill providing his reliably excellent work, Tucker restraining his voice enough not to overwhelm the role, and the fine conducting of Previtalli--is one of the must buy sets of this classic opera. Well worth attending to!

So many sopranos have recorded La Traviata that to choose the "perfect" one is next to impossible and at any rate it always comes down to personal taste. To my ears Anna Moffo comes very close indeed to perfection. She just sounds so right for the part - seductive, passionate, vulnerable - and has the vocal ressources to do the part full justice whether in the dizzying coloratura of "Sempre libera" or the meltingly beautiful "Dite alla giovane" and "Addio del passato". A superb and moving performance. At her side two stalwarts of the Metropolitan Opera of the era - Richard Tucker (a bit mature for Alfredo but singing very well and working hard at lightening his voice in more intimate moments) and Robert Merrill (a bronze-like sounding Germont). Very well conducted and recorded - a classic I return to often.