Verdi: Il Trovatore complete opera EMI Great Recordings of the Century with Maria Callas, Giuseppe di Stefano, Herbert von Karajan, Chorus & Orchestra of La Scala, Milan

First, this is a CD from reel to reel, some of which are early in Callas' career, so the sound is not always perfect. Totally worth it to enjoy listening to her varied types of arias, singing from powerful full chest voice to plaintive soprano. And her trills and runs! Crystal clear. I am still enjoying this and glad I decided to purchase.

Callas. Thrilling, gripping, emotional Trovatore!

This "Trovatore" was recorded in 1956, and has enjoyed pretty much of a "clasic" status for a long time. Some of it is very, very good indeed. Herbert von Karajan performed this opera a lot (most famously, in Salzburg in 1962, with the super-star cast comprising Leontyne Price, Franco Corelli, Giulietta Simionato and Ettore Bastianini --- and yes, there's an avilable recording, and it's spectacular!), and his particular way with Verdi's fiery score is certainly impressive. On this particular recording, he has four great singers certainly, but somehow this recording has never been, for me anyway, all THAT unforgettable. The assets: Maria Callas brings out all the darkness and mystery of Leonora. She is by far the most compelling and vivid exponent of this role. That said, it must also be noted that this role was no longer completely comfortable for her vocally at this point in her career. She had sung the role in Chicago eight months earlier ------- to (according to those who heard it)perfection. Here, however, it cannot be denied that she makes some very unpleasant sounds in the uppermost notes. Her singing in the more florid sections has plenty of bite and fire, however, and overall her performance is certainly one to admire. Fedora Barbieri, to my ears, THE dramatic mezzo of her generation, is considerably less vocally effective here than she was in the same role on the classic 1952 RCA Victor recording with Milanov, Bjoerling and Warren. On THAT recording, she sets her scenes on fire. Here, she considerably more vocally and dramatically subdued. Giuseppe di Stefano's voice is not really large or dramatic enough for Manrico. True, his voice is no larger than was Jussi Bjoerling's, but the way he uses his voice is very, very different. Rolando Panerai is a good di Luna --- suave, lush-voiced ---almost too beautiful sounding for such a mean-spirited character. I have listened to this recording many times, and recently purchased this new edition. Of course it's good, and there are moments when one thinks that this is the ultimate "Trovatore". It's really not. There are some other wonderful recordings available as well: Milanov/Bjoerling on RCA; Price/Corelli live in Salzburg; Price/Domingo on RCA; also, I believe there is a live Caballe' version available. Whatever the case, "Trovatore" is such a "singer's opera", that one is bound to have particular preferences. Lastly, EMI's newly re-mastered sound is excellent.

Classic performance in acceptable sound.

Sublime recording - Maria, DiStefano, et al. Pure pleasure. Will keep you up past your bedtime.

This is an excellent studio recording. Everyone is in top form. Mono sound is excellent.

Certain recordings evoke special memories for me, and in that regard this Trovatore is near the top of the list. I still remember that Saturday afternoon 40 years ago that I wandered into the Enoch Pratt Library in downtown Baltimore, went to the music listening room and followed this recording, score in hand, from beginning to end. At the time, my only acquaintance with the opera was through the highlights LP of the early RCA Victor stereo set with Price and Tucker. As much as I had always enjoyed the RCA Victor recording, after hearing the Angel I walked out of the library that day floating on a cloud. Even now I find this recording pretty amazing.Of course, Maria Callas is probably the primary reason for owning the recording. She kept the role of Leonora in her repertoire for several years, dating back to the 1950 season in Mexico City. This recording, which was her final performance of the complete role, thus gives us her last thoughts on it. In 1956 she was still near the top of her form and is in superb voice throughout, able to manage both the coloratura and the dramatics of the part with ease. While of course it would be unthinkable nowadays for a recording to omit the Act IV cabaletta "Tu vedrai che amore in terra," it was less commonly recorded in 1956 (Tebaldi sang it in the London set issued around the same time and did not seem to be enjoying herself in the least). Callas and Karajan also work well together. Ironically when she died in 1977, Karajan was re-making the opera for EMI/Angel, with Leontyne Price recording the role for the third and final time.For me, Barbieri is close to being an ideal Azucena. She is more adept at portraying the gypsy's wildness than her tender moments, but she never sells the character short. I have a hard time choosing between her recording here and the mono RCA Victor recording, although this is certainly the version I play more often.Although I did not know it at the time I first heard this recording, Giuseppe di Stefano is a controversial piece of casting as Manrico. Not content to stick with the lyric parts that ideally suited his beautiful voice, he made constant forays into roles he might better have stayed away from, such as Canio and Manrico (he later sang Otello and even Rienzi onstage). I am able to listen to the young di Stefano without focusing on the harm he was doing to his voice by singing roles like Manrico, and so I have always gotten a lot of enjoyment out of his performance here. He sounds young and ardent, as indeed Manrico should sound, and on this recording at least he is not overpowered by the role's demands.I have always liked Rolando Panerai. There's something about the unusual timbre of his voice that I find very special, as I also do that of Ingvar Wixell, who is in my second favorite recording of the opera, the Sutherland/Horne/Pavarotti version. I don't know that I've ever heard Panerai to better effect than as the Count di Luna, possibly as Riccardo in the Puritani recording, also with Callas and di Stefano. I have always considered his "Il balen" and its cabaletta one of the highlights of this recording.Finally, Nicola Zaccaria takes the role of Fernando, which often goes for naught, and really makes something of it. His only real moment to shine is his aria in the very first scene, and he gets the opera off to a perfect start with his sinister, moody reading of the aria, abetted by Karajan's atmospheric conducting. After hearing Zaccaria's Ferrando tell the creepy story that forms the background of the opera, it's easy to believe why the soldiers are so terrified when the bell suddenly strikes.A lot of the credit for this very convincing performance of the opera rests squarely on the shoulders of conductor Herbert von Karajan. I believe every one of Karajan's tempi and nuances are ideal and really demonstrate how much a conductor can bring to an opera that is generally considered to be merely a singer's opera. Karajan certainly gives the lie to Caruso's oft-quoted statement that a good performance of Trovatore requires only the four greatest singers in the world. Certainly this would still be a recording to reckon with even without Karajan, given the strength of the singers, but whether it would be my favorite recording of the opera is a question I'm happy I will never have to answer.The CD remastering is among the best of the EMI/Callas sets that I have heard. I have this recording on LP also and the sound here is very reminiscent of the already very good sound that EMI managed to get back when the recording was first issued.My love for this recording no doubt at least partly dates back to the very special memories I have that are associated with the first time I heard it, and I don't think that is the reason it has remained my favorite for the last 40 years. I would not hesitate for a second to recommend it to anyone looking for their first, or even only, Trovatore recording.

Una bellissima edizione del Trovatore. Raffinata da avere. Registrazione eccellente per l'epoca. Personalmente preferisco quella più "teatrale" con la Barbieri Del Monaco diretta da Previtali ma è solo questione di gusti.

karajan und die callas. gibt es eine vollkommenere verbindung? kaum auszuhalten, so schöööön. han inzwischen 4 aufnahmen dieser oper. immer wieder gern gehört.

Cadeau qui a été très apprécié, passe pratiquement en boucle, très bon rapport qualité - prix.A recommander pour ceux qui aiment Maria CALLAS.

Very pleased, thank you.

Received it was marverous.