Search - Verdi, Cerquetti, E Bastianini :: Don Carlo / Mazeppa

Such an exciting live recording

O. Mason | Glasgow, Scotland | 01/30/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a review with a proviso: I like live recordings. This CD is a single recorded performance in Florence, and as a result has all the usual coughs, applause etc. and sound quality which is less than crystal clear (though perfectly good enough to enjoy... no crackling or hissing, it just doesn't sound as fresh as a studio recording).

The singing is largely excellent, and, in some cases, extraordinary. I am a big fan of Cesare Siepi, who sings King Philip, and he was in his absolute prime in the mid-1950s. His big aria (ella giammai m'amo) is wonderfully sung, and the Grand Inquisitor scene which immediately follows is a great performance of one of the greatest scenes in all opera.

Ettore Bastianini is also in good form as Posa - he had a really exciting voice, but a regrettably short career, and the whole cast is very strong.

I find that a live performance gives you a really interesting insight into what singers actually sounded like on a daily basis, rather than in a studio.

Of course, the price ($68 today) is pretty horrific, and I'm not sure I could justify buying this instead of one of the best studio recordings - I got it out from the library - but it's fascinating to listen to."

Idiomatically superb, ensemble performance

B. Cathey | Wendell, NC United States | 05/20/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Okay, so if you've heard the classy studio performances of DON CARLO on EMI, Decca, etc., and are wondering just how the opera sounds with a truly grand Italianate, idiomatic cast. HERE is where you may wish to start. Anita Cerquetti simply outsings and outshines most of her more famous competitors in the role of Elisabetta, including Tebaldi, Caballe, Mattila, etc. Christoff's Filippo is well known (via the early EMI 1950s recording and others, including a 1954 version on GOP records), and here he is superb. Giulio Neri was the Grand Inquisitor on the early EMI, his hollow, black voice resonating supremely, and once again he makes the role HIS own. Bastianini, along with Tito Gobbi, was the greatest Italian baritone of the 1950s and early '60s. His Posa here demonstrates why...once you hear HIM, you really can't listen to the "studio" Posas with the same ear, they simply pale in comparison. Fedora Barbieri is, IMHO, the very best Eboli on record, bar none. Angelo Lo Forese, while not a Corelli or Bergonzi, is certainly at home in the music and acquits himself well...he would be a superstar where he singing today. And, a word about the sound. It's okay, but not stereo, not "great" by today's standards...but it's listenable and you get used to it, because the great singing draws you in and holds you, gripping you, like only perhaps the Vickers-Brouwenstijn issue (on Myto) or some of the other live recordings manage to do. In any case, you can find this new and cheaply, if you look hard enough, or buy it second hand. You won't be disappointed."