"This 1966 recording from Carnegie Hall, features Tebaldi and Bergonzi with their voices at full throttle.This recording was made for the primary reason that Bing refused to let "Mefistofele" be performed at the MET. So this "concert" performance was arranged by the artists who wanted New Yorker's to hear this masterpiece.You ALSO get the great treat of hearing Tebaldi perform her immortal Margherita, but in the following act you get her as Helen of Troy also!!! Such a dream, to have her sing BOTH roles. Bergonzi and Cole are superb as well.ALSO the mix is VERY good on this issue. Older issues had screaming fans disturbing the flow of the music. ODO has done a terrific job of filtering out all that, while still giving singers their just due. The result is a recording with MUCH more credence that before. A MUST HAVE for your collection."
To ...with other recordings!!!
Jon M. De Benedictis | Fairfield, CT United States | 08/27/2002
(4 out of 5 stars)
"As usual, sound is a major factor but who cares? No other Mefistofele recording can generate excitement like this one. The Sony recoding with Ramey & Domingo comes close, but Eva Marton is downright terrible as Margherita/Elena.
In this live recording from Carnegie Hall you have three legends: Ghiarouv, Bergonzi & Tebaldi singing their hearts out. Even if Tebaldi is a bit past her peak, the sound is still gorgeous. Bergonzi is here much more than the stylist we consider him as too often. In this performance he is thrilling and fiery in the Corelli sense of the word. Ghiarouv is an amazing Mefistofele. Prior to this recording, I felt nobody could touch Ramey (especially since I saw him do this role live 3 years ago at the Met), but after listening to this, I find Ghiarouv's devil more sinister and exciting.
A thoroughly enjoyable performance!"
Outstanding performance
Andrew Coffill | Chicago, Il. USA | 09/29/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"All three protaganists are in top form, this is an exceptional recording with good sound considering the label. I highly recommend this opera!"
Famous 1966 Carnegie Hall performance with three great singe
L. E. Cantrell | Vancouver, British Columbia Canada | 01/11/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"SOURCE:
Live concert performance from the stage of Carnegie Hall, New York, January 25, 1966.
SOUND:
The sound quality of this set seems to be an issue among the previous Amazon reviews. By and large, it strikes me as being fairly typical of the rough and ready recordings of live performances at major venues in the mid-1960s. I am not quite clear in my own mind whether to regard it as a so-so house recording or as an unusually good outing by an out-and-out pirate. I incline toward the former, however. Whatever the specific original source, that fact is that the voices of the principal singers are clear and well-caught, although there are a few moments of roll-off when one or the other of them turns away from the microphone. As recordings of "Mefistofele" go, the unnamed chorus is very nicely captured, a particularly important thing for the prologue. The anonymous orchestra also comes through fairly well. This is a mono recording that was plainly far from state-of-the-art in 1966; nevertheless, it will be perfectly enjoyable to anyone who chooses to listen to it with a little good will.
CAST:
MEFISTOFELE, a spirit who denies - Nicolai Ghiaurov (bass)
FAUST, a wise man who quests foolishly - Carlo Bergonzi (tenor)
MARGHERITA, a victim who becomes a figure of hope / ELENA DA TROIA, a wish-fulfillment figure for classicists - Renata Tebaldi (soprano)
MARTA, a hapless companion to Margherita / PANTALIS, a classical figure - Dorothy Cole (mezzo-soprano)
WAGNER, a friend of the elderly Dr. Faust - Frederick D. Mayer (tenor)
NEREO, another classical figure - Paul Solem (tenor).
CONDUCTOR:
Lamberto Gardelli with unidentified, but nevertheless good orchestra and chorus.
TEXT:
The original, six-hour version of "Mefistofele" that opened at La Scala in 1868 achieved a resounding fiasco. This performance reflects the composer-librettist's second and much shortened version, which opened triumphantly in Bologna in 1875. Considering its history, I am not aware of whether there is, in fact, a unique and authorized performing version of "Mefistofele." This concert version contains all the usual main points of the opera, including the classical Act IV, which was omitted entirely in at least one earlier major recording.
FORMAT:
~ Disk 1: Prologue, tracks 1-5; Act I, tracks 6-14; Act II, tracks 15-16.
~ Disk 2: Act II (continued), tracks 1-5; Act III, tracks 6-10; Act IV, tracks 11-15; Epilogue, tracks 16-19.
DOCUMENTATION:
The usual Opera d'Oro barebones package.
~ No libretto.
~ Track list that identifies the characters who are singing, but omits timings.
~ Short essay on Arrigo Boito (1842-1918) and the development of this opera.
~ Brief summary of the plot.
COMMENTARY:
The whole point of this recording is summarized in three names: Tebaldi, Bergonzi and Ghiaurov. It is a showcase for their impressive talents as individuals and for them jointly. They were all in good form on that winter night more than forty years ago. They delivered the goods and any red-blooded opera fan should be delighted by them. On that basis, alone, this recording deserves five stars.
Having said that, I shall now offer a few nit-picks, in true opera fan style.
Some may regard this recording as a little late for Tebaldi at her best, but that doesn't bother me. On the other hand, it strikes me that she is more than a bit too vital and hearty for that natural victim, Margherita, and too solid and earthy for the ethereal Helen of Troy. In short, I think she is terrific as a great opera singer named Tebaldi, but neither an ideal Margherita nor Helen.
Bergonzi was described in the words of an earlier Amazon reviewer as "much more than the stylist we consider him" to be, even "thrilling and fiery in the Corelli sense of the word". I agree. However, I for one, would much rather have the familiar, stylish Bergonzi here than the would-be Corelli. "Mefistofele" is an opera that pre-dates the verismo revolution in tastes by almost thirty years. Its score, I think, requires more of elegance and style than of vigor and fire. This is particularly true in Faust's first big aria, "Dai campi, dai prati." The piece reflects a gentle, almost elegiac mood. Bergonzi punches it up almost as though it were a lesser "Di quella pira"--and receives little more than polite applause for his efforts.
Ghiaurov is a fine, growling, sneering, dark-voiced, Slavic Demon of the sort that has been delighting audiences since the days of Chaliapin. His performance would have drawn cheers at any opera house in the world, just as it did that January night in Carnegie Hall. However, his is not the kind of performance that the written music seems to call for, or at least it does not seem so to me. I think Boito's Mefistofele should ideally be a huge, dark, basso cantante. Giulio Neri (who can be heard on the old CETRA set with Tagliavini) comes to mind. And Pinza, of course. Even Siepi. There is as much (or more) suave elegance inherent in the score as raging and gnashing of teeth. Mefistofele's "Ecco il mondo" might as easily be offered with casual contempt as with snarling defiance.
The supporting singers are more than adequate in their smaller roles, although I find it a bit puzzling to find that the two small tenor parts were not doubled by one singer, as they had been on at least one earlier recording.
My criticisms are obviously matters of personal taste rather than objective matters of fact. This "Mefistofele" remains a record of a fabulous evening. It should be immensely attractive to any fan of mid-20th Century singing.
LEC/Am/1-09"
Terrible recording ý cough!
Joe Condon | Everett, WA United States | 08/22/2003
(1 out of 5 stars)
"The music, performers, delivery, and presentation (I assume) are wonderful but unfortunately, the recording is horrible - even for 1966. It sounds like there was one microphone for this recording, and that is was far removed from the stage. There are the additional annoyances of multiple microphone taps and the incredibly annoying incessant cougher in the later acts. Waste of money unless you want an example of a great Opera very poorly recorded."
