Customer Reviews

Verdi: La Traviata (historic recording: Torino, 1953)

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

 

 

A reviewer in the reliable Penguin Guide to Compact Discs, 2005/6 Edition, said of this Naxos issue, in part:

"Few singers on disc can match Eleanor Steber as Violetta in the historic live recording of La Traviata made at the Met ... on New Year's Day, 1949 ... The beauty and precision as well as the power of Steber's singing are phenomenal ...". Equally high praise is given to Di Stefano and Merrill and to the conductor Antonicelli.

Welcome bonuse tracks of Steber, in rather poorer sound quality than for the opera, include a duet version of 'Will you remember' with Bjoerling.

Listeners will immediately become aware that these are not high fidelity recordings - but, what magnificent singing.

This is Callas' only studio recording of LA TRAVIATA. She gives a stunning performance of one of the great operatic roles. She is in fine voice and "lives the part". Her colleagues are not on the same level, but are all professional and it adds up to a performance in the genuine Italian style. The sound on this Warner reissue is infinitely superior to any previous incarnation. A must for Callas fans.

PLEASE NOTE: MOST OF THE REVIEWS POSTED FOR THIS ITEM ARE ACTUALLY OF OTHER PERFORMANCES. THE ITEM LISTED HERE IS MARIA CALLAS' ONLY STUDIO RECORDING OF LA TRAVIATA RECENTLY REMASTERED BY WARNER.

Highly recommended. This is easily one of Callas' best recordings and one of the half dozen or so best recordings of the opera as well. Her voice was still in prime condition (1953) and all her legendary dramatic instincts firmly in place and functioning at full power. For me at least, it is a rare event when an Italian based recording of an Italian opera contains so much musical merit. Though it does contain many of the standard and unfortunate cuts which plague most recordings, Santini chooses excellent tempos and conducts with true depth, instrumental solos are beautifully executed and projected, Verdi's dynamic (loud-soft) indications visible in the score are, for a change, audibly present, and the chorus actually sounds involved with the proceedings for a change. The rest of the singers are all excellent and committed and the recording as a whole has a high level of polish and overall musical quality that most other recordings lack. The final soprano-tenor duet and the remainder of the work is performed with a rare beauty, insight and level of perfection that is unparalleled in my experience with not only this opera but, unfortunately, most Verdi. It is generally agreed and I certainly am of the opinion that Wagner is without question the greater and more profound composer of the two but being rated second to Wagner is no insult. His "solution" to the creativity problem facing the opera composers of that generation may not be as intellectually potent, far reaching, visionary or multi-facited as Wagner's but it certainly a valid one and possesses far more musical substance, harmonic interest and novelty...etc. than is generally recognized. For instance, in one of his symphonies, I forget which, Mahler weaves in an extended quote from the final act of Aida so seamlessly it normally goes completely unnoticed, whereas his Wagner quotes normally hit you in the face. (The line "Der Lenz ist da" in the fifth song of Das Lied von der Erde is a direct quote from the last act of Parsifal.)

The recorded sound is surprisingly fresh and clean.

There is no quibbling with the excellence of this cast. The Metropolitan assembled the greatest singers in the prime of their careers. Pavarotti, Sutherland, and Milnes are the golden trio and sing gloriously throughout. Von Stade has a very small part; but for someone who loves her voice (as I do), this should have been a notch in my belt in my attempts to collect her entire discography. However, the consumptive Violetta must have been in the audience if the amount of coughing caught on the tape is any indication. It is a shame to have to listen to all of these hackers as the cast spins their magic vocally. It absolutely ruins the recording, surely someone's best effort at pirating. Even the magic of the vocalists couldn't overcome this annoying audience.