Search - Giuseppe Verdi, Antonino Votto, La Scala Theater Orchestra :: Verdi: La Forza del Destino

Tebaldi's best Leonora and a hard working Forza team

Armindo | Greece | 06/11/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"There are two available Forzas with Di Stefano and Tebaldi. Stay away from the '56 Firenze performance because Santini ruins the entire performance and Di Stefano is not in good form. This 1955 Scala performance is moving and exciting.



Tebaldi's singing here is one of the greatest operatic performances I've ever heard. Everything was right that night; the role, the temperament, the high notes, the breath, the clear natural unaffected phrasing and pronounciation, the volume, the pianissimo. I'm listening to her pour out that sound and have no doubt: this IS the perfect voice. When I recover, I also realise she creates a character out of the music Verdi has written. There is so much to digest when listening to this Leonora I can't believe how great she is - she easily outshines herself in all her previous and later performances in this role.



Everyone else doesn't quite match Tebaldi on this glorious day but they all work hard and make it a treasured evening for the Scala audience. I never imagined I'd say this but Di Stefano is a decent Don Alvaro. He still has his shouting moments and forces his lyric voice but on the whole I thought he pulled it off and the audience loves him. Considering the stiff competition of excellent Don Carlos, Protti is good, often very good and generous but certainly not the best. Giuseppe Modesti is clunky, almost singing staccato at times but at least doesn't spoil the evening. I despise Preziosilla. The best mezzos haven't managed to make me like this character and Marta Perez surely didn't make a difference. On the other hand, I almost always enjoy Capecchi and Melitone is exactly the role to enjoy this charismatic man at his best. The often sneered-at Votto may not have been the most idiomatic conductor when Toscanini, Mitropoulos, Serafin, De Sabata were around but I know that many singers thought highly of him and since I don't hear anything terrible I won't complain.



I've got a private version of this Forza that's in incredible sound. This GOP and the cheaper Andromeda pressings are less impressive but good enough to enjoy the performance (think of Callas' better live Scala recordings). The enthusiastic Scala reception makes me want to rate it with 4 stars but thinking of other Forzas where the vocal qualities are more balanced, I think 3 stars is a more reasonable rating."