Search - Adelio Zagonara, Mario Sereni, Giacomo Puccini :: Puccini: Turandot

The TURANDOT to GET!

F. Barton | Newport, WA USA | 11/29/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When you have superb sound, a superb piece of work, and THREE superb singers, in their prime, the results have to be fantastic. The sound is especially fantastic, since they built the original "Living Stereo" recorders again, THEN transfered to digital. Inspired, and the results are incredible. Tebaldi is incredible as Liu, and in my opinion, the most effective ever! Why couldn't she have done this on stage? Nilsson holds her own, giving tremendous stamina and force in her interpretation, only to grow with time. And, Bjorling, true perfection. The man doesn't scoop up and whoop down from a note, it's always ringing clear. "Nessun Dorma" is unsurpassed, his voice cutting through the orchestra like butter. Nilsson and Bjoring in Act 2, probably set the recorders on fire, when they were singing. What glorious sounds. The orchestra is especially good, with chorus good as well. A favorite opera of mine, the one to have on CD. Only too bad there is not a video of these artists performing this role. I can dream, can't I?"

A Superb Turandot

Mike Leone | Houston, TX, United States | 02/11/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Turandot is such a standard repertory piece nowadays that it is difficult to believe that there was a time when it had to fight for that position. This recording from the late 50s was preceded by at least four other versions: a 78rpm recording starring Gina Cigna who also recorded Norma and a very young Magda Olivero, a low-budget and still interesting recording on the Remington label starring Gertrud Grob-Prandl who sang the role quite a bit, the first Decca-London recording with Inge Borkh, Renata Tebaldi and Mario del Monaco, and the legendary La Scala recording with Maria Callas and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf.



In many ways, this Turandot was the one that really grabbed the public's attention and began bringing the opera to public notice. The role was a natural for Birgit Nilsson who already had a big following for her interpretations of Isolde and Brünnhilde. And here she is captured at the very top of her prime, her voice gleaming its way through "In questa reggia." Nilsson was to go on to record the role again a few years later with Scotto and Corelli; of the two recordings I prefer this one because she has the advantage of being a bit younger. Renata Tebaldi is certainly to be counted among the very best interpreters of the role of Liù. In her case, she had already recorded the role not too long before. While she is a bit older here, I find her in slightly more attractive voice and presenting a more polished interpretation. For many folks the chief attraction of this set is Jussi Bjoerling's Calaf. I'm not sure whether he ever sang the role on stage although he had recorded a still-memorable "Nessun dorma" back in the early 1940s. In fact, I recall reading before that when Nilsson listened to this recording she would interrupt the LP to put on Bjoerling's 78 of the aria. Giorgio Tozzi is in beautiful voice as Timur and he is very touching in his scene after Liù's death.



The rest of the cast is also good, with Alessio de Paolis a standout as the Emperor. Conductor Erich Leinsdorf is at his best here, bringing out all the color of the music. I'm sure this recording was considered to be a sonic spectacular at the time it came out; it's only stereo competition at the time was the Decca/London recording which was in very early stereo (the Callas recording, made after the Decca/London, *could* have been in stereo, but EMI was wary of leaping into this new technology too soon)



Turandot is no longer in the shadows of the other Puccini operas and it has received many recordings since this one came out, most notably the stupdendous Sutherland recording. Still, this recording, the first note-complete rendition, remains near the top of the Turandot sweepstakes and is well worth getting to know."

Very satisfying

Jeffrey Danowitz | Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv Israel | 12/25/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Surprisingly enough this is the first recording of Turandot that I have heard. I also recently viewed the DVD of Levine and the MET performing the Opera. I listened to the parts of the Mehta recording that are available at the Amazon site.



I am not into comparisons especially between truly magnificent performances. I think that all of the soloists are fantastic and touching. The sound is as I expect it to be -- this is not a digital 2000+ recording however on my system the sound is clean and strong and the noise is not close to the level that would interfere with my listening to the music (the signal in this case).



I must say that I was taken in by this performance and I truly enjoyed it to the point of not being able to get out of the car if I had to stop the disc. The soloists each gave a perfect performance. Leinsdorf does a magnificent job getting the feeling across. He creates a tense yet not rushed atmosphere. From the first bars of the introduction I understood that this was one of those performances that can not be ignored. I was not disappointed when I got to the end of the performance either. I simply put the first disc in again, and listened to the Opera again.



I am not into giving grades to the singers. There are other reviewers who claimed that some of the singers are past their prime, before their prime etc. I don't know how to deal with this kind of comment. I do know that I enjoyed all of the soloists. Perhaps at one time some of them were even better, but I don't see the relevance here. Either the performance is good or not. In this recording, the soloists simply sound outstanding. End of topic!



I give this 5 stars because it simply is a wonderful performance.



Sure, I would love to hear the Mehta in its entirety as well but I am not into knit picking and comparing on purpose just to make a point.



I recommend listening to this performance. I heard it on CD under the RCA Red Seal label, and not under the current RCA "Living Stereo" label. I have other "Living Stereo" recordings and RCA did an outstanding job in terms of the final sound quality. So, I would assume that the same holds for this album as well.



Please listen to this recording, but try to listen to it as if you are in a court room giving testimony to other recordings. Listen to it and enjoy it for its own worth."