Search - Giuseppe Verdi, Kurt Adler, Licia Albanese :: Giuseppe Verdi: La Traviata [New York -- January 24, 1959: Licia Albanese, Cesare Valletti, Mario Sereni, Kurt Adler]

On Walhall WLCD0306; 2 CD's; Albanese, Valletti, and Sereni are in fine form in this live performance. Paul Jackson wrote that "[Albanese] is in particularly good voice, the tone remarkably full and steady, with a full complement of timbre warmth through the entire range. Her magical legato is intact and the turns in the Brindisi and the coloratura embroideries of 'Un dì felice' are deft enough. The great scene with Germont remains potent both in expression and vocal loveliness....Her cry of 'Ah, taci!' seems wrenched from her soul, and a firmly voiced 'Alfredo, di questo core' compounds that feeling,....her vocalism mirroring the pellucid tone and gentle flow of her best years.[Valletti] endows the lover with greater vitality than most Alfredos represent, his phrases decked with ardent accents and his tone consistently attractive."