Giuseppe Verdi Lamberto Gardelli Wiener Staatsopernorchester - Verdi Nabucco (31 tracks) +Album Reviews

Early Verdi at its Best

D. Bennett | 10/17/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Nabucodonosor (Nabucco) is a hugely attractive role for dramatic baritones such as Tito Gobbi;the entire role is wionderfully emotive, not least his Mad Scene and a wonderful duet with Abigaille. Gobbi was still in good voice in 1965 - he is even better here that in his second Tosca recording with Callas - his portrayal oozes with class and his use of Italian is inspired.

Abigaille is sung by Elena Souliotis. I disagree with Joe McLellan's review over Souliotis' portrayal. 1) That she is "burned-out" - although I would agree with this description for Souliotis later in her career for she did ruin her voice early on - I would emphatically not say that about this recording - her finest moment in the studio in my opinion, and certainly in her 'prime'. 2) That she was imitating Callas - Every dramatic soprano singing Abigaille sounds similar in that blazing high notes and wonderful chest notes are all part and parcel with the role's requirements- I feel that Souliotis sounds much like Dimitrova (Sinopoli) and many other dramatic sopranos in the role besides Callas -- maybe ALL the sopranos copied Callas?...I think not.

The rest of the cast are very vivid and - although rather less starry than on Sinopoli's version e.g. Domingo, Lucia Popp - they give very fine portrayals and the chorus is, thankfully, superb - "Va pensiero!" is one of many highlights.

Gardelli is the equal of Riccardo Muti in terms of conducting and quite an improvement over Sinopoli who makes the opera sound very bombastic.

My recommendations for Nabucco are:

1) Gobbi, Souliotis with Gardelli (best overall)

2) Manuguerra, Scotto with Muti (a very exciting recording)

3) Cappuccilli, Dimitrova with Sinopoli (Cast generally very fine especially Cappuccilli but Sinopoli is not best conductor)

Highly recommended"

The Nabucco to which all others are measured!

Armindo | Greece | 08/13/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Finally, amazon releases this 1965 in great sound quality decca Nabucco. Though I admire the later DG version with the grand Ghena Dimitrova as Abigaille, this earlier account remains my favourite. First and foremost its leading soprano, Elena Soulioti is heard here at her very best! I really couldn't get enough of her glorious, powerful, yet beautiful voice not to mention the pathos with which she performed! Many accused her of trying to imitate Maria Callas and though Elena does use some of Callas' tricks, chest notes for example, her instrument has something Callas never had: beauty. Elena nails the high notes perfectly and right after that, she sings warmly and gently (Ben io t'invenni...Anch'io dischiuso un giorno). The "salgo gia del trono aurato.." follows and offers unrivalled excitement! In my opinion, had Souliotis been more careful those years (had she avoided performing roles like Abigaille and Lady Macbeth so often, despite that these were the roles she was born to sing), she would have become greater than Callas even if this does sound a bit too much to say. Like Elena IS Abigaille there is no doubt that Gobbi IS Nabucco. In spite of the fact that he recorded the role somewhat late in his career one can still hear what a great actor and singer he was! Listen to his duet with Abigaille "Deh perdona" and you can feel the chemistry between them. He enriched each role with his special touch and Nabucco was no exception! The rest are also great but this is a Souliotis-Gobbi show! Conductor Gardelli is superb and adds this Nabucco to his famous, supreme early-Verdi recordings (mostly available by Philips) On the whole, this is the definite Nabucco recording that should be in every opera collection."

Still the best "Nabucco" after forty-four years

Ralph Moore | Bishop's Stortford, UK | 04/03/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Two excellent reviews on Amazon.com make too much comment from me redundant but having only just acquired the set after resisting it for many years, I'll add my endorsement to the previous reviewers' sound and perceptive comments.

I suppose I did not listen carefully to this recording sooner because I feared that Suliotis (or "Souliotis", as she later styled herself) was too wild and uneven and Gobbi too close to the end of his career. It is true that he is a little dry and bleak of voice up top, but that had been the case for several years by 1965 and it does not stop him from delivering a typically nuanced and incisive characterisation of a part tailor-made for his voice - and sometimes the sheer vocal quality is still impressive, in both declamatory and softly-sung passages. Suliotis is literally terrific; no other Verdi rôle apart from Lady Macbeth could have suited her better. She exploits the break between her registers to huge dramatic effect: the lower register is cavernous and commanding, the top notes laser-like in intensity even though the voice isn't properly "joined up". The supporting cast, while not as starry as that of the more recent Sinopoli recording, is more than adequate; Carlo Cava's Zaccaria and Giovanni Foiani's High Priest are two basses who deserve special mention - and the basses in the Wiener Staatsopernchor are particularly resonant, too.

I still enjoy the Sinopoli version, too, although some find his direction too frenetic and disjointed. There is also the hard-driven Muti account (see my review); although I always enjoy Manuguerra's refined baritone, Scotto's screechiness is a trial to some, for all her artistry."

Superb, exciting, highly artistic, outstanding cast

Mirna Cudic | Croatia | 06/23/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First, Tito Gobbi in the title role is superb. He definitely acts with his voice (although, for example, Bastianini's voice may be more beautiful), and his (Gobbi's) portrayal of the Babylonian King that is at first arrogant tyrant, later punished with madness, and repentant at the end, is really expressive and dramatically convincing (especially his Dio di Giuda).

Let's proceed with another demanding role, that of the vicious and jealous Abigaille, that is marvellously, astonishingly sung and acted by the Greek soprano Elena Souliotis (even though she ruined her voice later because of singing her too often), but here she sings the hell out of the role! All the complexity and nuances of the role are definitely present in her huge, voluminous, dark-coloured, rich voice: from the raging passion, jealousy (and hatred!) in the Act I trio with Ismaele and Fenena, through the violent impulse of hatred and vengeance in Act II, when she discovers she is merely Nabucco's illegitimate daughter (Ben io t'invenni), (being pleasantly soft in the lyrical moments), as well as her tempestuous duet with Nabucco. She is equally impressive in the tragic moments of her remorse, repentance and death. (Su me, morente, esanime) There she begs her sister Fenena and, later God, for forgiveness in the heartfelt and above all lyrical and soft singing. In short, Souliotis' Abigaille is undoubtedly dramatically deeply nuanced.

The reverent religious figure of Zaccaria, the Hebrew High Priest, is performed by the great, impressive and undeniably convincing "basso profondo" Carlo Cava, both his Act I aria and prayer sung with great piety.

Let's now proceed to the roles unfortunately rendered one-dimensional by both the libretto and the music, but who could have undoubtedly profited by the more nuanced and subtle characterization (possessing in fact truly great human and romantic qualities). I am speaking, as you could probably guess, about the young Hebrew Ismaele and his beloved, the Babylonian Princess (real Nabucco's daughter), Fenena. However, fortunately, they are performed here with as much passion and pathos as possible. Ismaele is sung by the underrated Italian (dramatic!) tenor Bruno Prevedi, who possesses a rich, dark timbre. Although his role certainly does not abound in melodious arias (and the opera lacks melodious love duets, otherwise all that abundantly present in other Verdi operas), he sings the Act I short duet with Fenena with noticeable passion and tenderness, and the trio with Abigaille with great virility (when he rejects her seduction, refusing to renounce his love for Fenena). His arioso (not really aria) when he is being cursed by the Priests) is sung passionately and desperately. The role of Fenena, on the other hand, has only one aria, but that one being truly beautiful (Oh dischiuso e' il firmamneto), her fervent prayer before her execution that was supposed to be performed, sung here beautifully, tenderly and sublimely by the little known singer, Dora Carral. Carral's singing is enriched with pathos both in that prayer, as well as in the Act I duet with Ismaele, including her heartfelt prayer to the God of Israel in the trio.

The supporting cast is also at the certain professional level, and the entire performance is marvellously conducted by Lamberto Gardelli (especially the great Sinfonia, and choruses: Va' pensiero), with the subtle choral performance of the solemn prayers to God.

All in all, definitely worth buying!"

Nabucco with Elena Suliotis and Tito Gobbi

Jean Charneski | Bellevue, WA | 12/24/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This earlier recording has great clarity with the magnificent voices of Gobbi and Suliotis to showcase the very Italian and young Verdi. For anyone who loves Verdi opera this is a quintessential CD to own."

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