VERDI, Giuseppe (1813-1901)

     Aida - Opera (1871)

        Maazel, La Scala                        (LD) Pioneer 88-210
         Chiara, Dimitrova, Pavarotti, Others  3 CDs  London 417439
                                          (excerpts)  London 433162

        The  most  refined  of Verdi Operas  received  first  class
digital  recording  from  Decca,  a  video  from  Pioneer,   secure
conducting  from  Maazel  and a good cast  including  the  powerful
Pavarotti.

     Overtures and Preludes (Forza, Vespri, Nabucco,
                             Traviata Preludes to Acts 1 and 3)

        Dorati, London Sym.                          Mercury 434345

        The only exciting stereo recording  of these overtures  was
made  in  1957.  Mercury  engineer  Robert Fine  captured  precious
details like the harp notes in La Forza del Destino, and the  cello
part in I Vespri Siciliani to perfection. La Forza shows distortion
in  the  fortissimos, but this is a small price to pay for  such  a
great event. It is the opposite of the hazy sound from Sinopoli  on
Philips  411469,  or the so distant to the point  of  madness  from
Chailly  on London LP 71095. Some conductors probably never  listen
to  what  they record or to any good recording in their  lives,  to
allow such disasters go public.

     Rigoletto - Opera (1851)

        Kubelik, La Scala                         3 (LP) DG 2709014
          Fischer-Dieskau, Bergonzi, Scotto, Oth. (exc.)  DG 136280

        The  most famous aria ever written  -  La donna e mobile  -
became  hackneyed by excessive number of vile performances. Only  a
tenor like Bergonzi could bring back all the sarcasm and beauty  of
this aria and also of  Questa o quella. It was never released on CD
but it is worth waiting.

     La traviata - Opera (1853)

        Maazel, Berlin Opera                    2 CDs London 443000
          Lorengar, Aragall, Fischer-Dieskau, others

        A  marvel  like  this Opera  should  have  a  lot  of  good
recordings  available, but unfortunately is  not  easy  to  find  a
really good one. The first problem comes from the brutal demands on
Violetta, that must sing incredible highs and have also a  pleasant
sound  in the mid range. Other is the need for a good hall to allow
the  off-stage  effect of Alfredo voice in the duet  Sempre libera.
Another  comes  from careless or just plain stupid  conductors  who
forget  that Verdi wrote an orchestral part to support  the  drama,
like  the  drum  roll  that should be played  together  with  Amami
Alfredo.  And,  of course, the need for competent engineering.  All
this reduced my list to a single recording.

        VIVALDI, Antonio (1678-1741)

     Four Seasons, Op. 8 Nos. 1-4

        Schwalbe, Karajan, Berlin Phil. + Albinoni:Adagio DG 415301

        Schwalbe's  sweet violin sound  well recorded  by  DG,  The
Berlin Philharmonic and Karajan conducting is enough for  this very
popular piece.

© Copyright 2000 Amilcar Schiappe Pereira          End of section V