Search - Giuseppe Verdi, Munich Bavarian State Orchestra, Bavarian State Opera Chorus :: Verdi - La Traviata / Cotrubas, Domingo, Kleiber [highlights]

Cotrubas is Great, but what's the hurry?

06/08/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Cotrubas's performances are almost universally deemed "vulnerable" and no more so than here- her voice has a plaintive, sorrowful quality that really makes Violetta a tragic figure- not the fighter that is Callas, but very, very moving. Another reviewer has made a very telling comment calling Cotrubas's performance "Puccinian" meaning the frail heroine is doomed from the start- but I really think this is a major advantage here, so that even in the brightest parts of Act I, you hear desperation and fatalism in her voice (as opposed to other singers who make it so bubbly as to sound as flighty as The Merry Widow). I think the drawback here is Kleiber's speeds- yes, he creates a great deal of dramatic tension, and yes there are lots of places in Traviata for a singer to wallow self-indulgently, but I think his tempi are too fast and he never relaxes for a second: the wrenching preludio (both in Acts I and III) speeds by- the traditional rubato on the higher note at the end of the first phrase of "Addio del passato" is rushed over- "Parigi O cara" drives ahead without quarter... Perhaps Kleiber had been told to get the entire recording on the fewest number of discs possible; but did they have to cut the secord verse of "Addio del passato"?In spite of this, I would still recommend at least the highlights disc (but be warned that Cotrubas and Milnes are wonderful in all parts in-between the arias and duets and you are really missing out of you don't hear them).Interestingly- Deutsche Grammophon put out a highlights disc some time back which does have the same stuff listed on this disc- originally, they left out "Un di felice" in favor of much of the throw-away stuff from the very beginning of ActI -- what's up with that? The original also left off the big concertato at the end of Act II, one of the best Verdi ever wrote-- but it did have the Preludio for Act III as well as the heartbreaking and gorgeously sung arioso material at the start of Act III."

A great record

bart swinnen | Leuven, Belgium | 07/09/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This record was my first contact with Opera and I have become a passionate amateur since. Ileana Cotrubas brings an outstanding Violetta: the sincerety and vulnerability that she puts into the charachter is truly moving. Also Sherril Milnes is impressive in his interpretation of Germont and it is pitty that this record does not include Violetta and Germont's duet 'pura siccome un angelo'. Whether you are a freshman to the world of opera or whether you have been an opera fan for a long time, this record will enchant you."