Search - Giuseppe Verdi, Maria Callas, Carlos Sagarminaga :: Verdi: Il Trovatore

A tremendous part of history

Leslie Bennett | San Diego, CA USA | 07/03/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I must say that this recording may not offer the best acoustical "Trovatore", but the sound quality improves on the second CD. This recording indeed must be heard on a high end sound system which will help reveal the genuis of the Leonard Warren-Maria Callas colaboration. Most say that Warren died at the height of his powers at the old-Met ten years later. Most say that Callas lost her voice before she died; in 1950 Callas was a twenty-seven year old vocal sensation. This is utterly evident here in this spledid historical recording. What it lacks in fidelity is more than compensated for as we see and hear two of the centuries biggest voices at the height of tonal perfection. Two voices dual each other in Act 1.Callas brings down the house with a minute of bravas in "D'amor sull'ali rosee". The drama and emotion is heartfelt. Those who dislike live recordings should look elsewhere, but there is no better example of Trovatore for fans of Callas or Warren."