Customer Reviews

Verdi: La Traviata / Scotto, G. Raimondi, Bastianini, Votto

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What's so outstanding about this recording? And why people should even listen to Renata Scotto's Violetta when Maria Callas was on stage and probably Violetta was Callas's one of the best roles? This recording shows why. I prefer Renata Scotto's Violetta, because her voice is clearer than anybody's else, however it is not dramatic enough. But I think that her voice is dramatic enough for Violetta. And I can tell you, I've never heard anybody having so fantastic, brilliant and full of light top register as Renatta Scotto has. Listen to the top E-flat at the end of the firt act. Isn't it outstanding? It makes you cry. But the best performer on the CD is not Renatta Scotto. THE BEST AMONG THE BEST is Ettore Bastianini. His dramatic voice siuts Germont's role to perfection. Listening to the singing of Bastianini, can you imagine that the performer is only about 40 years old. He's voice makes the impression of him being at least 60-65. Oh, how I love his voice, his singing. He is unbelievable. Especcialy his high notes in "Di Provenza" are marvelous. I think Rigoletto, Germont and Amonasro, Figaro siuts Bastianini's voice to perfection. These are his roles. Nobody can even chalange him. Unfortunately I haven't heard him singing Tonio in "Pagliacci". I can guess how great he would be in this role. And finally what a gentle tenor: Gianni Raimondi. His voice is really perfect for Alfredo. He is great on this CD. I really love this recording. Maybe this is the best ever studio recording of Traviata.

This recording of La Traviata is easy to pass by, but please don't. It's an unbelievably moving experience. Renata Scotto in her absolute prime sings like a choir of angels, her Violetta is a real person, so touching, so finely drawn that it's impossible to fault, singing like this comes only once every hundred years.

This all-Italian La Traviata is the most satisfying and moving recording of this great opera inspite of the usual theatre cuts. Of course Renata Scotto is peerless in the title role. Since this recording was made, no other Violetta can touch her, she is in a class of her own. Gianni Raimondi is a good, unexceptional Alfredo and Ettore Bastianini reminds us what a unique voice he had. This excellent team works very well together. The sound is very good.

Renata Scotto is one of the greatest sopranos of the century. Even if her voice was not as large as some of the roles she sang demanded, her exquisite musicianship and sheer understanding of what opera is all about made up for lack of volume. This was not a problem in La Traviata though. Her Violetta is a living experience, not a prefabricated one. Every word rings true, and it is unforgettable.

I'm surprised so few people know this set, since undoubtly is the best studio recording of La Traviata. Renata Scotto is the greatest Violetta post-Callas, and was caught here in finest voice. She can really communicate what this opera is all about, and presents a heroic Violetta not a pathetic one. Raimondi and Bastianini are very good, Votto just good routine. But La Traviata stands or falls in the title role, and in this recording you get the genuine article. All other Violettas after her, Sutherland, Caballe, Sills, Studer and Gheorgiuh are just drafts, if not cartoons in a great opera.

There are a plethora of Traviata recordings. But pretty much none, IMO, convince from beginning to end in quite the way, say, that classic sets like the Cellini or Serafin Rigolettos or the Cellini or Salzburg Trovatores do.

Recent re-listening, FWIW, to a range of "traviate";-) has left me pondering the field with somewhat less frustration (though only marginally so) than I had a while ago. It may be useful to understand the pitfalls involved in some detail before understanding my (highly subjective?) reasons for making the recommendations I do.

If one wants (and, yes, I do!) a set with a thoroughly committed heroine, colleagues who are at least within hailing distance of her wavelength and her vocalism, a conductor who, at a minimum, is a viable enough storyteller with neither a tendency to thump, to rush nor to snooze, and sound quality that (even when monaural) at least gives a reasonably undistorted picture of what the artists are trying to do, then one has a long search in store.

The pleasant surprise here is how much I am now drawn in to the earlier Scotto Traviata on DG (under Antonino Votto) and the Virginia Zeani recording on Vox (under Jean Bobescu). Neither of these are any less uncut than most of the others, but they successfully hold my interest in ways that the others don't. Committed heroines, simpatico colleagues, responsive and sensible (if not necessarily inspired) conducting, reasonably clear sound -- all these assets seem more present than absent in both these sets.

Slightly surer conducting and a stronger rapport in the crucial meeting of Germont pere and Violetta may give the Zeani set, as a whole, a slight edge. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts -- that sums up the virtues of this set.

But both the DG Scotto and the Zeani are fine performances, and John Steane, in his classic book, The Grand Tradition, points out correctly, in my view, that the young Scotto's mastery of all the demands, expressive and vocal, of the tricky Act I scena puts her in a class by herself. La Scala's more seasoned forces are also an asset here.

No, neither set has an absolutely ideal cast, neither set is uncut, neither set plumbs all the expressive potential in the score -- but there is relatively little to distract one from listening to a compelling drama told clearly through inspired vocal (and orchestral) writing -- more than one can say (IMO) of any of the others. These two give me a feeling that I'm hearing a generally accomplished and "lived-in" reading where the experience is not being "filtered" through stopgaps for this or that or through the vicissitudes of amateurish recording quality or through the necessity for applying due appreciation for high artistic intent compromised by uneven result. Instead, one is set up with certain expectations that are, by and large, fulfilled.

Unfortunately, so far as I know, neither set provides a libretto/text of the opera as part of its packaging, let alone an English translation! So one would have to look elsewhere for a separate libretto, I'm afraid.

And this comes from somebody who doesn't place opera at the top of his preferences. Scotto's singing is wonderful supported by an excellent cast and orchestra.

Renata Scotto is one of the XXth Century greatest sopranos, and one who invariably gave all of herself. Her Violetta is so touching, so deeply felt, that it is truly one of the greatest of all recorded operatic portrayals.

I spent a long time listening to sample clips of different recordings of La Traviata before selecting this one. After listening to it in its entirety (over and over!) I couldn't be happier with my choice.

The artists sing with colour, emotion, and the right balance of vocal power and a light, flowing tempo. This recording has many moments which literally take your breath away.

Many people will say the classic recordings of Callas, etc. are superior, but try listening to some of the clips - the background fuzz of the older recordings is completely distracting to me, and prevents me from being able to lose myself in the music and really enjoy it. This recording is crystal clear even when played very loud.

Scotto's voice is clean and elegant, and Bastianini is enjoyable all around. I thoroughly recommend this recording.

It's also a good value - but don't assume it's low quality because of the low price.

I have heard this recording many times, but recently listened to it with new ears. This Traviata, from 1962, released in 1963, is certainly the best commercially recorded performance to date. Scotto is marvelous. Her Violetta really portrays the three different sopranos needed for this opera; spinto, light lyric and full lyric soprano. Her interpretation is spot-on. She caresses the words with her voice to give their true meaning. Her legato is simply gorgeous. Her only fault in this recording is that her sustained notes above high C are a bit disconnected and a little shrill, but given that this role has a span of two and one half octaves, one can overlook this little peccadillo. Gianni Raimondi, unfortunately, poorly represented in the recording arena, is really good. He has a slow start in act 1, mostly centering on the pitch. But gets his stride in the following 2 acts. Like Scotto, you can hear his pain and joy in his voice. Ettore Bastianini, a stentorian baritone with a cutting edge sound, is very father-like in his quality and heft. Here, he sounds a little labored in his opening duet but Di provenza is a tour de force and the transposed ending has a full Ab. As a vocal teacher, I can hear something in his middle voice to indicate either swollen tonsils or something else. Well, it was just after this recording that he learned of the illness which would eventually take his life 5 years later in 1967 - throat cancer.

Alot has been poo-pooed about Antonino Votto. I have performed over 100 different roles including Giorgio Germont and Votto is an ideal singer's conductor. He instinctively knows that the orchestra is the accompaniment and shines when it is appropriate. His tempi are refreshing and very true to the score. He was one of Callas' favorite conductors. A wonderful recording.