An Excellent Figaro - Though EMI Should Have Included the Li
Doug - Haydn Fan | California | 06/16/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I must admit right off - I have quite a few performances of Mozart's opera, from the earliest ones right up to Jacobs, and find things to like in all of them. However, if forced to suggest just one I would go with this recently reissued performance. That said there remains one enormous caveat - you'd better already have a libretto because EMI must think you already own one - none is included, merely a track listing of the selections! This thing is happening more and more these days - the Levine Figaro also is bereft of a libretto, though, to be fair, the price is certainly a deal! EMI claims you can download the libretto, but really! Anyway, if you already have a libretto, you should be okay.
As for the performance, the music itself being utterly beyond cavil, Giulini's conducting is broader and more expansive than, say, Jacobs feisty way with the score: those who dote on fast, brisk pacing and excitement over architectural elements may find this a tad too formal. I don't, and suspect most listeners will find the music is performed with elegance and grace, with a majestic orchestra that rarely overly intrudes, or upstages the singers, who are here quite rightly given pride of place. The sound was not digital when this recording was made, but we're talking the finest analog, records that in their original format bring a King's ransom, so there's nothing to complain about there. Best of all the entire performance is never dull. There are a few unfortunate cuts in the Fourth Act - arias for Marcellina and Basilio - and I long hesitated before recommending this because of their absence. But I believe the important parts sound so right - with Schwarzkopf wonderful as the Countess, and Taddei one of the best Figaros - that they redeem the slight loss and can be forgiven. I wasn't quite sure about Anna Moffo as Susanna, but here Moffo is vibrantly alive and does very well by her recitatives! The plumb role of Cherubino receives a good performance by Cossotto, though she's a long way in style from the Golden Age singers who essayed the role as a vocal test.
The cast was put together and the opera produced under Walter Legge - he had recently recorded Don Giovanni with a similar cast. For reasons I don't quite understand, that performance - recently reissused on CD in a restored version receives all the attention here on Amazon with dozens of reviews, while this twin, or stable mate, also offered in a new packaging differing from the inital offering issued way back in 1990 lanquishes forgotten. If you enjoy Giulini's leadership and singers in Don Giovanni, I think you'll find they're also quite good in this recording of Le Nozze di Figaro!
Note: This recording had several stereo effects - with actors and actresses clearly set in different spaces on the stage."
What was that?....Still a quality Figaro.
Doug - Haydn Fan | 12/16/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I am a great lover of opera, and EMI's new releases seem a good value. I love "The Marriage of Figaro", and I jumped to buy this product. I am thoroughly impressed with this production. Elisabeth Schwarzkopf is the best Countess I have ever heard (excepter perhaps Kiri te Kanawa). The only reason that I did not give this production 5 stars was the fact that there is occasional background noise (i.e. clicking, tapping). This recording was made in the 50's, so it may be just old technology coming through. Overall though, this is a great Figaro, and the occasional "click click" does not distract from the performance."
Track Listings (32) - Disc #1