GanChan
500+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2002
- Posts
- 758
- Likes
- 12
Going through my CD collection the other day, I realized with some horror that I own about half a dozen versions of Verdi's Il Trovatore. I never planned on this -- I wasn't even aware that i LIKED Il Trovatore -- and yet there they were. So in my efforts to sort through these various recordings, I thought I would write down my impressions. This may not be useful to anyone, or on the other hand, it might. Anyway:
To begin at the beginning, I have a 1930 recording featuring the tenor Aureliano Pertile. He is a tremendous presence throughout, for better and occasionally for worse. He gets a little overheated once in a while (with a few approximate pitches as a result), but hey, it's Trovatore. His voice can sound rather plain in its middle register, but the higher he goes, the bigger and more impressive the sound; his high B in "Di quella pira" is probably the loudest single noise on the entire recording. the soprano, Maria Carena, has garnered all kinds of rotten tomatoes from critics over the decades for this performance, but she isn't terrible; just drab and rather lifeless. On the other hand, the mezzo (Cattaneo?) and baritone (Apollo Granforte -- what a name!) are just about the best you could possibly imagine in their roles. The bass is imprecise and rather wobbly. Sabajno conducts a traditional, uneccentric performance on a semi-okay 78 transfer on Phonographe (the Romophone transfer is supposedly better, but I got this one for 6 bucks, so....).
(Naxos has recently released another Trovatore from this era, featuring another star tenor of the period, Francesco Merli. I would imagine it is sung and performed in a similar style to the abovementioned, though in a better remastering. I hope to hear it.)
Moving forward, my RCA Trovatore from 1952 is a lot of fun, as a vocal showpiece for Milanov, Bjoerling, and Warren, who were probably the greatest Verdian team at the Met (or maybe anywhere) in the 1950s. i think Naxos just remastered this one too! My older edition has some annoying distortion and pre-echo, and the orchestra sounds flat and distant. The conducting is energetic but lightweight and lacking in impact, all of which comes from the singers. Bjoerling doesn't just "hit" his high C, he knocks it into next week.
My guilty pleasure, and the one I keep listening to in spite of myself, is the 1955 stereo Trovatore with Tebaldi, Simionato, Ugo Savarese (who?) and tenordom's answer to George Foreman, Mario del Monaco. No subtletly and little grace from him, but the big moments ring like Big Ben. (He seems to sing the C in "Di quella pira," but I've heard rumors that they actually took a B and adjusted the speed to pitch it higher! I dunno, but there is a pretty audible splice or two in there....). Tebaldi had the ideal size and timbre of soprano for Leonora, but she seems kind of vague and uninvolved dramatically, and she can't trill. Simionato, as Azucena, contributes the highest drama in this performance. Savarese isn't bad, but he sounds like a journeyman baritone, which he probably was. Erede's conducting has been criticised, but I don't have any big problem with it -- uninsightful, occasionally sleepy or hyper, but reasonable. The early stereo sound is fantastic, and Decca has this out as a twofer set so it's cheap. Not that i'm telling you to buy it or anything....
The most famous of my Trovatores is the 1969 Mehta, with Leontyne Price, Cossotto, and a very young Domingo and Milnes. But I'm kind of iffy about this one. Domingo mostly sounds great, but his tone back then was noticeably thicker and darker than it later became, and although he sings "Di quella pira" in C, the high note is yelled rather than sung. (I would rather hear him sing it in B.) Milnes is terrific -- he can switch between nobility and villainy and back again without ever losing his poise. Cossotto sounds a little too light and youthful for an old gypsy, IMO, though she sings well. Mehta behaves himself and conducts a middle-of-the-road interp. The biggest problem is the sound, with HORRIBLE distortion on fortissimos. Apparently this is a master-tape problem that couldn't be fixed even the latest remastering. Makes it hard for me to enjoy it.
My Giulini Trovatore was disappointing. I usually like Giulini's gravitas, but in this opera it just doesn't work. Domingo is still mostly good here, but again the role lies a little too high for him. The two ladies just sound wrong -- not bad exactly, just not remotely Italianate or Verdian. I can't even remember the baritone's contribution.
My "wild card" is the insanely cheap Opera D'Oro set of a live recording from 1964 in Moscow, with the visiting La Scala troupe conducted by Gavazzeni. Overall, this may be the best performance in my collection. Gabriella Tucci occasionally sounds a little edgy and fluttery, but she is in complete command of both music and drama. Simionato has lost some vocal sheen, but she can still deliver, and the live audience loves her. Cappuccili sings the baritone role as well as anyone i've ever heard, though he doesn't add much energy to the proceedings. Bergonzi sure does, though. He combines his trademark elegance with enough power to make an almost ideal Manrico, and he is in remarkable voice. Gavazzeni's conducting is all about energy and high drama. the only problem with this set is that, at least on my pressing, the otherwise decent mono sound seems to favor the left channel over the right. Well, I have a balance knob....
Well, now that i've examined my trovatores, I'm more confused than ever, and I'm sure you are too. Guess I'll keep them all!
To begin at the beginning, I have a 1930 recording featuring the tenor Aureliano Pertile. He is a tremendous presence throughout, for better and occasionally for worse. He gets a little overheated once in a while (with a few approximate pitches as a result), but hey, it's Trovatore. His voice can sound rather plain in its middle register, but the higher he goes, the bigger and more impressive the sound; his high B in "Di quella pira" is probably the loudest single noise on the entire recording. the soprano, Maria Carena, has garnered all kinds of rotten tomatoes from critics over the decades for this performance, but she isn't terrible; just drab and rather lifeless. On the other hand, the mezzo (Cattaneo?) and baritone (Apollo Granforte -- what a name!) are just about the best you could possibly imagine in their roles. The bass is imprecise and rather wobbly. Sabajno conducts a traditional, uneccentric performance on a semi-okay 78 transfer on Phonographe (the Romophone transfer is supposedly better, but I got this one for 6 bucks, so....).
(Naxos has recently released another Trovatore from this era, featuring another star tenor of the period, Francesco Merli. I would imagine it is sung and performed in a similar style to the abovementioned, though in a better remastering. I hope to hear it.)
Moving forward, my RCA Trovatore from 1952 is a lot of fun, as a vocal showpiece for Milanov, Bjoerling, and Warren, who were probably the greatest Verdian team at the Met (or maybe anywhere) in the 1950s. i think Naxos just remastered this one too! My older edition has some annoying distortion and pre-echo, and the orchestra sounds flat and distant. The conducting is energetic but lightweight and lacking in impact, all of which comes from the singers. Bjoerling doesn't just "hit" his high C, he knocks it into next week.
My guilty pleasure, and the one I keep listening to in spite of myself, is the 1955 stereo Trovatore with Tebaldi, Simionato, Ugo Savarese (who?) and tenordom's answer to George Foreman, Mario del Monaco. No subtletly and little grace from him, but the big moments ring like Big Ben. (He seems to sing the C in "Di quella pira," but I've heard rumors that they actually took a B and adjusted the speed to pitch it higher! I dunno, but there is a pretty audible splice or two in there....). Tebaldi had the ideal size and timbre of soprano for Leonora, but she seems kind of vague and uninvolved dramatically, and she can't trill. Simionato, as Azucena, contributes the highest drama in this performance. Savarese isn't bad, but he sounds like a journeyman baritone, which he probably was. Erede's conducting has been criticised, but I don't have any big problem with it -- uninsightful, occasionally sleepy or hyper, but reasonable. The early stereo sound is fantastic, and Decca has this out as a twofer set so it's cheap. Not that i'm telling you to buy it or anything....
The most famous of my Trovatores is the 1969 Mehta, with Leontyne Price, Cossotto, and a very young Domingo and Milnes. But I'm kind of iffy about this one. Domingo mostly sounds great, but his tone back then was noticeably thicker and darker than it later became, and although he sings "Di quella pira" in C, the high note is yelled rather than sung. (I would rather hear him sing it in B.) Milnes is terrific -- he can switch between nobility and villainy and back again without ever losing his poise. Cossotto sounds a little too light and youthful for an old gypsy, IMO, though she sings well. Mehta behaves himself and conducts a middle-of-the-road interp. The biggest problem is the sound, with HORRIBLE distortion on fortissimos. Apparently this is a master-tape problem that couldn't be fixed even the latest remastering. Makes it hard for me to enjoy it.
My Giulini Trovatore was disappointing. I usually like Giulini's gravitas, but in this opera it just doesn't work. Domingo is still mostly good here, but again the role lies a little too high for him. The two ladies just sound wrong -- not bad exactly, just not remotely Italianate or Verdian. I can't even remember the baritone's contribution.
My "wild card" is the insanely cheap Opera D'Oro set of a live recording from 1964 in Moscow, with the visiting La Scala troupe conducted by Gavazzeni. Overall, this may be the best performance in my collection. Gabriella Tucci occasionally sounds a little edgy and fluttery, but she is in complete command of both music and drama. Simionato has lost some vocal sheen, but she can still deliver, and the live audience loves her. Cappuccili sings the baritone role as well as anyone i've ever heard, though he doesn't add much energy to the proceedings. Bergonzi sure does, though. He combines his trademark elegance with enough power to make an almost ideal Manrico, and he is in remarkable voice. Gavazzeni's conducting is all about energy and high drama. the only problem with this set is that, at least on my pressing, the otherwise decent mono sound seems to favor the left channel over the right. Well, I have a balance knob....
Well, now that i've examined my trovatores, I'm more confused than ever, and I'm sure you are too. Guess I'll keep them all!
