Search - Giuseppe Verdi, Alexander Rahbari, Czecho-Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra :: Verdi: La Traviata

Better than I'd Been Led to Believe

T. Beers | Arlington, Virginia United States | 02/12/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Alexander Rahbari is a frustrating conductor. A Karajan protege of sorts, he's too often inclined to indulge a taste for slow, "expressive" performances that, on CD at least, just don't take off and soar. On the other hand, he is a careful craftsman and he uses evident care in assembling his operatic casts, even when his means are limited to those at provincial houses. This Slovakian "Traviata," recorded digitally in Bratislava, is by no means a great recording of the score. (For that, you have to go to Callas in Lisbon under Ghione, or Cotrubas/Carlos Kleiber, or Albanese/Toscanini ... you get my drift!) But I still found much to admire and enjoy here, a real ensemble performance with very decent work from the singers. Monika Krause is Violetta. Krause will not make anyone forget Callas or Cotrubas or Albanese (or Tebaldi, etc., etc., etc.), but she has an attractive voice and she's clearly attempting interesting things with her characterization. Both Ramirez and Tichy are strong, stalwart singers; Tichy has appeared to good effect in other Naxos productions (e.g., their excellent recording of Mozart's "Magic Flute"). The chorus is a bit brash and bluff, but they do bring a sense of fun to the party scenes. I don't want to oversell the quality of the singing, but I would be glad to encounter this cast 'live' at some opera house in a second-string European city... like Zurich or Hamburg or, say, Bratislava. Then again, maybe I just had a really good night and I'm feeling kind. Very good sound quality; Italian libretto but no English translation. Veterans who know their Verdi should go elsewhere, but newcomers on a budget will get a decent introduction to Violetta's charms."