Customer Reviews

Verdi: La Traviata

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The revolutionary impact of Toscanini's "purism" and exactism on the world of opera was even greater than his influence in symphonic concerts. Here we have a reminiscence of what Toscanini must have done at the Met, La Scala, or other great houses: no dragging or self-indulgence by the singers, no interpolated vocal improvisations, no lachrymose sentimentalizing. In 1910 this would have caused a near-riot; in 1946, when the two NBC broadcasts comprising this production, were given, the world was now adjusted to a 20th century view of Verdi. Igor Stravinsky, whom one does not think of as a particular admirer of the composer, was so anxious to have a copy of this broadcast that he obtained a set of acetate transcription disks of the concert (during the sixties, these were dubbed and issued to the "Toscanini underground".) Here, BMG engineers use similar high-fidelity lacquer disk transcriptions and painstakingly remove any trace of noise, while preserving the crispness of high frequencies and the accuracy of the Studio 8H acoustic. Some will find this too "clinical"; others who are used to the falsified old Victor Red Seal LP edition, will rejoice in the palpable realism and clarity.

Neither Peerce nor Albenese were at the peak of form, and sometimes the chorus and minor roles are dispatched rather efficiently, with less than the highest degree of subtlety; however, the orchestra (and Toscanini) are the true stars of this "restoration" of the score, executed with the chiseled precision of a scholar.

This 1946 "Traviata" recording (actually a radio broadcast) was all the rage for several years after its release on RCA, and it has held its place in the catalogue, in spite of so many subsequent recorded versions. The performance stands today as a reference point ---- it preserves Toscanini's approach to the score, and it enshrines Albanese's unique and moving Violetta, certainly one of the major operatic interpretations of the time. Toscanini's "Traviata" is like no other. His interpretation is passionate, intense, and at times very moving. It is also very fast (owing to the possible time constraints of a radio broadcast?), at times so fast that one is amazed that the singers can keep up (a good example is the celebrated "Sempre Libera" in Act I, where Albanese, amazingly enough, doesn't skip a beat). This is an approach that pulls the opera together into a compact, yet emotionally overwhelming experience. Licia Albanese was an intense and moving Violetta. Her particular vocal color adds great poignancy to the music as well as to the character ----- like Maria Callas several years later, this is a Violetta who sounds sick when she makes her first appearance in Act I! Jan Peerce, with a full-throated and solid tenor, albeit a little too mature sounding for this role, sings a respectable Alfredo. The elder Germont probably would have profited from a more mature-sounding baritone than Robert Merrill had at this time (he was at the very beginning of his long career), but the role is sung beautifully, and both he and Albanese outdo themselves in the Act II duet. This is very much "the Toscanini" recording it has always been. I do not recommend this as the only recording of "Traviata" to own because there are so many other good ones available. Still, as a point of reference, and as a very unique and special interpretation of this opera, I find this set highly valuable. Digital remastering has improved the original sonics of this recording to the point where it is perfectly listenable. Should this be your sole "Traviata" recording? Probably not, but it definitely deserves to be heard. Others may well prefer a more expansive account of the opera, with more moderate tempi, but alongside one of these versions, this version can stand proudly as an alternative version.

This performance is easily the most touching and heart-rending of this popular work, mainly due to the interpretation of Licia Albanese. Her identification with the role is complete, so much so that we are not hearing Violetta being interpreted but rather we are actually hearing Violetta live, love and die in the here and now, right before us. From first note to last we are presented with a real woman who actually expresses herself through music. Everything is genuinely felt, nothing applied or "worked-out". Listen to the asides after the Brindisi as Violetta looks at herself in the mirror and then the colloquy with Alfredo that follows. The colors she puts into such phrases as "oh qual pallor" "Ha forse alcuno cura di me?", which other sopranos just throw away, are vividly enacted and integrated into the scene. Her Act II builds from strength to strength. Examples are too numerous, but the near hysteria of "Non sapete?" the lightning-bolt of "Gran Dio!" when Germont points out that it is Alfredo who may eventually tire of her, the resignation of "cosi alla misera" the heart-break of her "Dite alla giovine" which, fascinatingly and uniquely has a slight hint of anger/sarcasm at the 'so pure daughter' that is robbing her of love and life, and most of all the farewell to Alfredo where one can actually hear the tears, the feigned smile, the mounting hysteria of a woamn who'se entire world is collapsing must be mentioned. The last act is an object lesson in the lost art of accento and parlando. The death scene overwhelming. No-one dies like Licia Albanese. Callas, though riveting and extraordinary in her many accounts, studio and live, lacks spontaniety and heart in comparison. Her interpretation is a little too "thought-out." Valid, essential listening, but still just missing that tug at the heart one feels here.
Peerece and Merrill are fine co-stars. All the standard cuts are observed. Which leads to Arturo Toscanini. He is the putative star of the proceedings, but I found his work of less interest than I had hoped. His is a tense, highly dramatic reading, right in line with his heroine's views. This unsentimental view is welcome. But the dry acoustics of the NBC studio make further evaluation difficult.
Of special note...The dress rehersal of this performance has been released and is a revelation. Toscanini and the cast are just that much more relaxed, especially in Act I, to make it sound like a completely different performance. The remaining acts are relatively similar with pros and cons in both performances. An ideal Traviata would be Act I from the dress rehersal and the rest from the broadcast. If you find this recording anywhere, get it!!

This is not the "best of the best" recording of this opera. It isn't even complete. To fit the time constraints of exactly 2 hours (all the radio broadcast time would allow) Toscanini had to not only increase tempi from time to time, but actually make rather drastic cuts, not only by not repeating verses in various arias, but actually cutting a number of measure from the great Violetta/Germond duet. I find that Albanese and Peerce do fine jobs singing their roles (though both are too old for them) and unlike some complain, Albanese's coloratura work is not that bad. The Sempre Libera is quick (though as remarked by others, no quicker than many singers of today sing it) and one can tell it is hard for her. That is no surprise, considering we are hearing a very great Butterfly singing Violetta. Her voice had become less agile with age, and with the more dramatic roles she was then singing. However, don't for a moment consider that she is a failure in this role, for she is not. One will not hear the high E flat at the end of this aria, and it really doesn't matter, for it was not always a staple of the aria as we are accustomed to hearing it. Melba didn't sing it (and she could have), Patti didn't sing it (she ended with a trill, as most singers of her day did), Tetrazzini sometimes did, but not often. Personally, I feel no loss because that note is not there.

Toscanini is an interesting conductor, at least when conducting Verdi operas (and his Requiem) for he not only conducted these works after long consultations with the composer, he also played in the orchestra when many of the master's works were premiered. However, this opera was written 15 years before he was born, so he was not playing at the premier. Still, it is interesting to note how he interpreted the score. He had conducted many of the greatest Violettas, including Verdi's personal famorite -- Gemma Bellincioni (who, by the way, played so much with the tempo of the piece it isn't funny, and her use of robatto is legendary). If one follows with a score, I find at least, that Toscanini is not the musical tyrant everyone thinks he is. There is great variety in the tempo. In the Aria "Addio del passato" he allows so many little changes in the tempo at each and every measure to give Albanese a chance to really communicate the meaning of the piece. These subtle variations are all over the score. The start the drinking song (Brindisi) in a very relaxed slower tempo and it gradually increases.

He is the only conductor who recorded this work (and many by Verdi and Puccini) who actually knew the composers, and knew what they wanted. The constraints of time made it so he couldn't be as expansive as he many have normally been, however, we are not listening to a very boring or uninventive reading of the score, nor does the opera just move along without any excitement. (Apparently, the dress rehearsal of this presentation, it was a live Radio Broadcast, is available; I have not heard it, but it is said to have take a bit longer than the actual performance, and there are many more subtle changes in tempi for the singers so they could "really expand" with the roles; some say the performance is more "relaxed" but it is most likely that is is more flowing and not so pushed for time; I have not heard it, so I cannot varify these comments)

The sound quality is good, for the type of recording it is, but like many have said, I wouldn't make this the only copy of the opera in my collection. I still wonder how much of Verdi is in this recording (other than the obvious, the written score), and how much Toscanini learned through the years when working with the composer. Granted, this Traviata is not his first, it is Toscanini's last conducting attempt at this work. I am sure much he may have learned from the composer may have slipped away by then, but still, it is an interesting question.

I would buy this recording so I could have it to enjoy it from a very different interpretive view point to what we normally get. However, for those already in love with whatever recording they have, don't bother buying this one; you will only find things to not like about it, as it won't be your first choice.

The problem with this "Traviata" is not that it is "too fast"--Maazel's recording of the mid-60s and Carlos Kleiber's of the late-70s were just as fast or faster--but simply that neither Albanese nor the NBC Symphony has the technique to negotiate these passages flawlessly. Thus, we have a Violetta who huffs and puffs through a PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE tempo for "Sempre libera" (Moffo, Olivero, Sutherland and Cotrubas had no such problems in their recordings of the aria, at similar speeds), and an orchestra that sounds rough and steely at every turn, even in the lyrical passages.

This, along with the "Fidelio," the 1941 studio recording of the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto, the Nutcracker and Carmen Suites, the Schubert 8th and anything by Shostakovich or Sibelius, are the NBC recordings one should avoid. Toscanini made many beautiful recordings--some of them are still unsurpassed after more than a half-century--but this isn't one of them and never will be.