Search - Verdi, Muti :: Verdi: Don Carlo - Luciano Pavarotti, Samuel Ramey, Daniela Dessi, Riccardo Muti, Theatre Orchestra & Chorus of La Scala, Milan

Should have been much better

Daniel G. Madigan | Redmond, WA United States | 08/17/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"This Don Carlo features Luciano Pavarotti in the title role, and he is very good, as is S. Ramey. The rest of this cast is mediocre at best, no real style or stellar vocal qualities that differentiate one great singer from all the others. Pavarotti should stand out but he does not; there is no dramatic committment to the role, as for example, in his Un Ballo Maschera from Chicago (live).Muti mutes all singers anyway..no spontaneity, nothing but obedience to the score in the dull Wagner manner.



An excellent set is the Von Karajan (4 Act Version) with Freni and Carreras et al. The duet between Carrerras and Freni is dynamite, as is the one between Cappuccili and Ghiaurov. Get this one if you can.





Of course there is the Italian Domingo set(EMI) of 1971, very good indeed, and also too the French version with Domingo and the ravishing sounds of Katia Ricciarelli.



This set (EMI) with Pavarotti is hampered by Muti's lack of attention to the dramatic potential in the opera. There is none of the energetic emphasis on certain words and phrases, nothing subtle at all..very pedestrian: A house perforamance on a week day.

"