Search - Giuseppe Verdi, Fausto Cleva, Anna Moffo :: Giuseppe Verdi: Luisa Miller

A second-to-none performance!!!

Arnulfo ROSAS HERNANDEZ | Puebla, Puebla Mexico | 02/01/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Exciting Luisa Miller by two of the greatest singers of their generation. Moffo and Bergonzi yield a superb performance!!. Please do not hesitate to buy this version even if already have one. This recording compares favourably against other versions available in the market both in terms of its quality and price(in that respect you could also try the DG Domingo/Ricciarelli's)."

The best "Luisa Miller"

Ralph Moore | Bishop's Stortford, UK | 07/11/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Your choice is among three studio recordings. For me there is too much wrong with the Maazel DG set: Ricciarelli, even at this stage of her career, was already resorting to too many breathy, unsupported pianissimi to cover a lack of top notes, Domingo, as much as I admire him, compared with Bergonzi and Pavarotti seems too beefy in what is often very delicate, plangent music for the tenor and Bruson - is it just my ears? - always has that rather bleaty quality to his tone (though "Gramophone" reviewer Alan Blyth, whose taste I esteem, always raves about his being the best post-war baritone; not for me...) and Maazel's direction is choppy. As for the Federica in the DG, Obratsova (excellent when aptly cast) is a disaster; it sounds as though Amneris has dropped by to chew everyone's ear off. By contrast, Verrett, in this RCA recording, tames her opulent sound to be both more vulnerable and incisive, inflecting the words sensitively. Cornell MacNeil uses his lovely, pharyngeally resonant, true Verdian baritone tastefully, Moffo sounds pure and innocent while despatching the coloratura easily and and Bergonzi is his usual model of style and restraint, but still rises to the passion of "Quando le sere al placido". Cleva conducts unobtrusively and really supports his singers. In the Decca, Caballe sounds too matronly and Milnes a bit too woolly compared with MacNeil - but Pavarotti is great and the conducting more exciting. So, my choice for this RCA is set is clear but I can understand anyone going for the Decca - however, I would avoid the DG.

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Get it now...

Canzone | California | 07/29/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"BMG has been dumping stuff right and left, or sending it off to labels like Opera d'Oro (e.g. the Albanese/Bjoerling "Manon Lescaut" - cheap, but includes no documentation). This version has the complete libretto, and the performance is top-notch. This is the kind of role Moffo did so well, and Bergonzi is unmatched in early/mid Verdi. The days are long gone when RCA and London (sorry - BMG and Decca) routinely turned out recordings of this quality. Get it before it disappears, or is degraded."