Search - Alfredo Catalani, Giuseppe Verdi, Dimitri Mitropoulos :: Renata Tebaldi, Vol. 1

Gems for Tebaldites !

12/18/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This CD is an absolute bargain for Tebaldi fans! It contains two treasurable performances from the great diva -- the 1953 La Forza del destino under Dimitri Mitropoulos in the Florence May Festival, and a 1951 Italian Radio broadcast performance of Giovanna d'Arco (Joan of Arc) conducted by Alfredo Simonetto. The excerpts from the 1951 performance shows Tebaldi at her youthful best. Her voice was never more gleaming and fresher than here. Furthermore, she presents an ardent and at the same time lovely heroine. The excerpts are also precious for letting us hear the young Carlo Bergonzi at a time when he just took on the tenor voice after a brief period as a baritone. Though he was not yet the suave and elegant artist he was to become later, the short exercept of he and Tebaldi singing together does foreshadow their memorable partnerships on records in Madama Butterfly and La Boheme for Decca. The sound shows its age.Yet, the real gem of the CD is excerpts from the 1953 Florence May Festival Forza, for Tebaldi is magnificent here!Mitropoulos's spacious tempi allowed her to exploit her dramatic and vocal endowments to the fullest. The first act scene with Mario Del Monaco's Don Alvaro displays a vulnerable young Leonora, torn between duty towards her father and her love. Then, the horror at her father's death really shocks and shatters. From the act two convent scene, we hear a desparate, distraught 'Son Giunta...madre pietosa vergine', in which Tebaldi rises thrillingly to the climaxes, even though her top Bs are rather off-centred. However, 'La Vergine degli angeli' is sheer magic! It shows Tebaldi at her absoutely loveliest, with pure, unbelievably beautiful legato, ethereal high notes and gentle, exquisitely floated pianissimos. The famous warhorse aria 'Pace pace mio dio' begins with lovingly mastered crescendo and diminuendo, the B flat at 'Invar la pace' floated poignantly, and the powerful, full-throated climatic B flat at the end of the aria drove the Florence audience into estatic frenzy! One could only hope that Opera d'oro can release the entire run of the performance on CD to experience Tebaldi's Leonora in its full glory! The sound is acceptable, though a bit 'boxy'.The traviata exercpt under Serafin was perhaps rather less desirable, for Tebaldi was a par below her best form. As for the aria taken from the 1960 broadcast performance of La Wally, Tebaldi's voice is a degree fresher than her older self in the 1969 Decca recording.No. The very reason for getting this disc is Tebaldi's unforgettable 1953 Florence Leonora. Fans of Tebaldi, and opera in general should hurry and get it while it's available."