Search - Donizetti, Tozzi, Peerce :: Lucia Di Lammermoor (Complete)

A Nostalgic "Lucia"

lesismore26 | Chicago, Illinois USA | 03/19/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I really admire RCA for reissuing this recording with the original artwork and texts. It is a virtual duplicate of the original 1958 recording (but now with good remastered sound) as it appeared in record stores at the time of its release. Nostalgic to be sure, to those of us who are old enough to remember, and for those of us who are not, a very nice appearing presentation on two CD's. This is a good middle-of-the-road version of Donizetti's opera, which is given a performance here much like those that took place at the Metropolitan Opera before Maria Callas forced the opera world to view this opera as a real dramatic tour-de-force (though in fact, Callas' revolutionary Lucia was already well known when this RCA recording was made), and Joan Sutherland's vocally spectacular Lucia was still a couple of years into the future. Roberta Peters' Lucia never professed to possess the dark and brooding qualities that made Callas' Lucia so unusual, and she never had the technical fluidity and tonal emission that Sutherland owned in abundance, but Peters was a highly accomplished and attractive coloratura soprano who was gifted with a a very fine voice indeed, and her assumption of Lucia at the Met was considered an event of major musical importance. Peters' Lucia is youthful, bright, yet fragile and graceful. Moreover, her lower notes are considerably more substantial than most coloraturas of her particular type. In the final analysis, she is a pleasure to listen to. Jan Peerce was already a Metropolitan Opera veteran at the time of this recording, and his tenor voice, with a nasal quality not to everyone's liking, still was in reasonably good form during this period. He and Peters sound particularly good in the first act duet, and in the final Tomb Scene, Peerce really produces a thrilling sound. Erich Leinsdorf's pacing of the score is acceptable, but never innovative or profound. The opera is presented with the usual cuts that were in practice at the time. While I still thrill to the Lucia recordings of Callas and Sutherland, I find this RCA version to be a throughly loveable and enjoyable recording, one to which I have returned often."

A Classic Recording For The Hardcore Opera Fan

lesismore26 | 12/03/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Opera lovers may search endlessly for rare and classic recordings and even LP's of legendary 20th century singers. If it were possible, the hardcore operaphiles would collect extremely old phonograph records of the 19th century or early 1900's to get the "recording" voices of such stars as Enrico Caruso, Nellie Melba, and Amelita Galli-Curci. Nowadays, thanks to the magic of digital technology, this is possible. Old recordings resurface new as the day they were released, digitally remastered from the scratchy old LP. Not all studio recordings of ancient LP's are exceptional. Careless and sloppy editing have caused the recordings to sound brash and hard to enjoy. But not all. This RCA recording has been remastered digitally from its original 1958 LP and sounds extremely good. In it, we find coloratura diva Roberta Peters singing Donizetti's tragic heroine Lucia. The cast may not be perfect but Roberta Peter's Lucia stands out as one of the great ones in early recording history. She was singing Lucia at the same time as Maria Callas. Of course, Roberta Peter's Lucia is not as heavy, dark or dramatic as Maria Callas' rendition, which raised the bar even higher which Joan Sutherland would later follow. But those are "big voices" produced from big women. Comparing Roberta Peters to Callas or Sutherland is like comparing apples with oranges.Roberta Peters' is a light voice, more along the lines of such singers as Lily Pons and Beverly Sills, both who have sung Lucias in their careers with great success. Roberta Peters has a tender innocence to her voice, a Disney heroine quality to her singing-acting (a listener once described Roberta Peters voice as suited for "Snow White"). It's true that Roberta has a light instrument and she does produce "good girl" sounds. But that's fine for Lucia. Lucia is a sensitive, frail young woman with a vivid imagination or dementia. Her first aria "Regnava Nel Silenzio" is a haunting, lyrical song describing her encounter with a ghost. Although Roberta does not manage to sound chilling or delusional, it's still very beautiful singing, which after all, is part of the goal of bel canto operas. Even more dazzling is "Quando Rapito In Estasi" with its dizzying coloratura roulades which Roberta embellishes with vocal ornanmentation, tossing the high notes and difficult phrasing with grace and effortless talent. The Mad Scene is subtle, melancholy and elegant. There is very little of the dramatic hysteria that so many sopranos put into the scene. But it's still well done.The fact remains that Lucia, much like Violetta in Verdi's La Traviata, is a standard role for sopranos. Every seriou soprano must come across Lucia in their career. The story about thwarted love, rivaling families and Gothic landscapes almost immediately echoes the tragic romances of Romeo and Juliet or Wuthering Heights. Doomed love is presented with more brilliance thanks to the music of Donizetti. This recording does not have good orchestration when compared to the "serious" dramatic effects of Karajan conducting or Thomas Schippers conducting. But it's a must have for the hard core fan of opera, especially for those interested in collecting old recordings of stars of the Golden Age Of Opera (roughly from the late 19th century to the Post World War II 50's era."

Peters and Tozzi make it worthwhile

Virginia Opera Fan | Falls Church, VA USA | 09/08/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I found a copy of this is a local used CD shop at an attractive price, so I decided to upgrade my 1970s "Dynawarp" Victrola pressings. Peters, a longtime favorite, is a sweet and girlish Lucia. Tozzi brings a beautifully produced bass and humanity to the role of Raimondo. I admit that I've never cared much for Peerce's nasal tenor, but he's not bad. Maero is an unsatisfactory, wobbly voiced Henrico. Leinsdorf's conducting is OK but nothing special. The same can be said for the orchestra and chorus. The cuts common at the time misrepresent, to me at least, the stature of Donizetti's conception. The re-mastered sound came out very rich and well balanced. I own both Callas versions, both Sutherlands, Sills, Gruberova on EMI and Moffo. All have their strengths and not so strong elements. I listen to this one primarily for Miss Peters and Mr. Tozzi."