Search - Donizetti, Bastianini, Sanzogno: 1959 :: Lucia Di Lammermoor

Lucia Di Lammermoor
Donizetti, Bastianini, Sanzogno: 1959
Lucia Di Lammermoor
Genre: Classical
 
  •  Track Listings (12) - Disc #1
  •  Track Listings (21) - Disc #2

This is a nice find: a recording from La Scala in 1959 in very good sound. Almost all of the standard (for the time) cuts are observed, and Nino Sanzogno keeps the pace exciting and the tension great throughout. The three...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Donizetti, Bastianini, Sanzogno: 1959, Renata Scotto, Giuseppe di Stefano, Nino Sanzogno, Orchestra e coro del Teatro alla Scala
Title: Lucia Di Lammermoor
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Label: Living Stage
Original Release Date: 1/1/2000
Re-Release Date: 3/1/2000
Genre: Classical
Style: Opera & Classical Vocal
Number of Discs: 2
SwapaCD Credits: 2
UPCs: 675754143121, 3830025714630

Synopsis

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This is a nice find: a recording from La Scala in 1959 in very good sound. Almost all of the standard (for the time) cuts are observed, and Nino Sanzogno keeps the pace exciting and the tension great throughout. The three leads have rarely sounded better: Renata Scotto shades her interpretation intelligently, painting the words with her usual tonal skill, but in absolutely fresh voice, even at the very top of her range. As usual, she leans on the tone for the sake of the drama when need be--this is what, of course, made her so exciting, but it's also what helped to eventually shred her essentially light voice. One might say the same for Giuseppe di Stefano, who sings with golden tone and great care for the text; even when he forces his sound for effect, he's thrilling. Ettore Bastianini is unsubtle, but so is the role of Enrico--and the great baritone is in spectacular voice. The rest of the cast is good enough. Should this be one's only recording of Lucia? No: Sutherland and Callas come first, then this one makes a nice adjunct. --Robert Levine

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CD Reviews

Give this one a listen
10/29/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)

"I have liked this performance for a long time, and am glad to see it on CD. I don't know why anyone would think this is a live performance. Scotto sounds terrific, and at this point in her career to my mind was the perfect Lucia: a better actress than Sutherland and a prettier voice than Callas. Di Stefano might be a little past it, but it's still one heck of a voice. The subtle moments are admittedly not many, but this guy could act with his voice better than most (which probably did him in, come to think of it!). Listen to "Sulla tomba", where he sounds like he's about to bite the soprano's head off. Everyone else is bland by comparison. On Bastianini I am not objective, the voice just blows me away. Again, as someone else said, an unsubtle performance of an unsubtle role, but a matchless voice. Too bad we only get one verse of the aria. Ivo Vinco is pretty uninspiring, the rest of the cast is OK. This is a "traditional" performance, which is to say the score is cut to ribbons. All in all, I would say get either Sutherland or Callas (your preference) and buy this one as a good (no, really good) second."
Lucia as she was
C Christoplous | California | 04/21/2000
(3 out of 5 stars)

"This is not a live performance which the release leads one to believe, but an early stereo studio recording made by Ricordi and released in the US on Mercury in the late fifties early sixties. If nothing else the recording demonstrates the performance style of its day. DiStefano is beyond his prime, and displays his verismo method rather baldly. Bastianini is also out of his element. Scotto, however, is at her youthful best, before she attempted spinto roles that pushed the voice. Yet there are a variety of other "live" recordings available that better demonstrate her abilities in this role. In conclusion, this is not an awful performance, but probably not recommended to those other than collectors or Scotto afficiandos."