A marvelous recording of Pagliacci/Cavelleria Rusticana
Rod Tierman | 05/05/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The main attraction on this recording, I guess, would be Placido Domingo as Turridu and Canio, and boy does he deliver here!! Of The recordings of Cav/Pag recordings by the individual Three Tenors (Domingo, Pavarotti, and Carreras) I think that this one is by far superior. First of all, Domingo's voice is the most suited for the role of Canio (Pagliacco) of the three. Domingo's high notes also ring true and clear on these two operas (which are actually soundtracks for two Franco Zeffirelli films). Domingo is a very vibrant sounding Turridu and an extremely compelling Canio. Teresa Stratas turns in a very lovely sounding Nedda. Of special merit, and worthy of particular praise is the Tonio of Juan Pons. Pons possesses a very rich Baritone voice with extremely free sounding and well placed high notes. Renato Bruson sings a very good and virile Alfio and Elena Obraztsova is exceptional as Santuzza, in the Cavelleria recording. The conducting is very masterfully done by Georges Prêtre. The price of this recording is a steal! There is no libretto in this package, only synopsis notes, so you might want this as a secondary recording, but if the libretto doesn't matter to you, I could highly recommend this as a primary recording. Nonetheless, I highly recommend this recording for everyone's CD collection of two of Opera's all time timeless masterpieces."
Great Recordings!
Josh Rappaport | Harrisburg PA, 17110 | 10/17/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"There are no other recordings of cavalleria rusticana or pagliacci like this one. The way Georges Pretre conducts is how these operas should always be conducted. Too bad about Gavazeni, Levine, Karajan(maybe not him), Santini, Sinopoli, and Cellini. Their Cavalleria Rusticanas and Pagliaccis sound totally the same even the singers, but not on this recording. This kind of conducting is what most conductors of these 2 operas don't seem to realise. Some other conductor should study with Georges Pretre."