Search - Bellini, Pagliughi, Anelli :: La Sonnambula

A nostalgic, endearing recording

Armindo | Greece | 11/13/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Some of my favourite reviewers have nothing but good words to say about this old Sonnambula recording so I had to listen to it to see if I share their enthusiasm. It's been a few weeks since I listened to it but its nostalgic sound still rings in my ears. I felt as if I travelled in time and found myself in the post war era listening to this on the radio. With the appearance of Callas, bel canto took a dramatic turn and nothing would sound like this again; every gesture, every word is expected to have a meaning, is supposed to shock the listener whereas the older style aimed at simple singing based on the beauty of the music. You can decide which approach you prefer, all I know is that some singing on this set moved me and for a while, time stood still.



Paliughi is lovely when there are more people singing on stage with her. She and Tagliavini really sound like the lovers of those chaste times. In the solo passages, despite her convincing innocent voice the technical demands of the role leave her very exposed. And now I'll confuse you even more...strangely enough, I'm not sure if I want her to get all the trills, scales and top notes perfectly as her flaws somehow compliment her very individual Amina. Having said that, it will be one of Devia's Sonnambulas (preferably the 1992 from Parma with Ramon Vargas) I will pick to listen to an outstanding performance of the role.



Much has been said about the charm of the young Tagliavini. I didn't expect to hear him sing so much in head voice but it undoubtedly made a memorable impression. I'm more familiar with the Tagliavini who used his full voice and there are plenty of such moments too. No surprises with Siepi; he delivered a definitive performance of the Count Rodolfo and his perfect handling of the aria is a lesson of singing. I can't imagine this performance being bettered in any way and his performance alone is a good enough reason to get this entire set. Finally, Anna Maria Canali, a regular on many performances of the time is good as Teresa.



On the whole, this is a historic recording with beautiful group work, Italian bite and an unmatched innocent feel to it that will always have its fans. Essential listening for every collector."

The most romantic Sonnambula

Michel | Montreal, Quebec | 11/01/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the first studio recording of Sonnambula made in 1952

and reissued in excellent remastered sound. Lina Pagliughi is

an exquisite Amina - the sheer loveliness and youthfulness of

her voice are a delight - she through sound alone creates a

delicate and touching character of considerable warmth and

charm. Ferruccio Tagliavini is utterly beguiling as Elvino -

the perfect foil to Pagliughi - just listen to his meltingly

beautiful "Prendi l'anel ti dono" - a balm to the ears !!!

As if that wasn't enough we are treated to the smooth rich

voice of the young Cesare Siepi as Count Rodolfo. Ornementation

is minimal and interpolated high notes few but tasteful - with

excellent contribution from chorus and orchestra and supporting

cast this is an absolutely enchanting set.















"

Best "La Sonnambula" on CD

L. E. Cantrell | Vancouver, British Columbia Canada | 01/04/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Read my countryman M. Marleau's review. He has it right.

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Source: Studio recording from 1952. While I am not familiar with the details of the history of this particular recording, I assume that it follows the pattern of many opera recordings originally released by the Italian Cetra label: recorded primarily for broadcast with subsequent release on 78 rpm records and Lps a secondary consideration.



Sound: Good 1950s mono. As is customary for the period and particularly for Cetra recordings, voices are given primacy over the orchestra. While no-one is likely to confuse this set with an up-to-date digital recording, the sound is, nevertheless, pleasing, especially when heard with a little good will.



Cast: Amina - Lina Pagliughi; Elvino - Ferruccio Tagliavini; Il Conte Rodolfo - Cesare Siepi; Lisa - Wanda Rugeri; Teresa - Anna Maria Anelli; Alessio - Pier Luigi Latinucci; Un Notario - Armando Benzi. Conductor: Franco Capuana with the Orchestra Sinfonica di Torino della RAI and Coro Cetra.



In the 1960s, with stereo and the Lp-format firmly established, the harsh, mono recordings of the Italian Cetra label were generally dismissed as rough, crude and provincial. This was particularly true in comparison with the amazing new operatic soundscapes emerging from the studios, the most spectacular of them all being the Solti-Culshaw Ring Cycle. Sonic perfection was what we all wanted, a thing that certainly was never to be heard in any live performance. Time has an uncomfortable habit of changing things, for now, when I hear those fabulous studio recordings, it seems to me that their supposed perfection was attained at the expense of liveliness, or even life, itself. What had seemed rough and ready now seems pure vitality. These days, when I hear Solti's overblown Ring with Culshaw's incessant and obsessive tweaking, I think, "You guys have GOT to be kidding!"



Crude and provincial? Consider the cast of this "La Sonnambula:" Pagliughi, Tagliavini and Siepi. The Glyndebourne and Salzburg Festivals should have such crude and provincial casts! This is an Italian production with Italian singers, conductor, orchestra and chorus in a quintessentially Italian opera. All these things are plainly there to be heard on the disks.



While Lina Pagliughi was undoubtedly excellent, I am willing to concede that she was not quite in the league of Sutherland or Callas, purely as a singer. And maybe the same with regard to Devia, too, although I am not entirely convinced about that. But she is a better Amina than any of her successors. She is totally convincing as the ultimate, sweetly innocent, love-besotted, feather-headed and, yes, girlish soprano. Sutherland is always too droopy. Callas is burdened with the baggage of fiery Norma and Medea. Devia sounds too self-confident, too ... well, intelligent (an accusation I am loathe to hurl at any opera singer.) Some Amazon reviewers, I find, judge sopranos purely on notes high above the staff and on trills. These things occupy about one per-cent of any score. Pagliughi sings that one per-cent perfectly adequately and the other ninety-nine per-cent fabulously. That's good enough for me!



Ferruccio Tagliavini and Cesare Valletti are the only two tenors worth hearing as Elvino. (The wretched Nicola Monti is casually blown out of the picture by the overwhelming presence of Callas. Luciano Pavarotti as Elvino is fatally burdened by the unfortunate fact that he sounds exactly like Luciano Pavarotti singing Elvino. Luca Canonici, on Devia's recording, sounds depressingly as though he had learned the part from Pavarotti's recording.) Tagliavini, when he chooses to do so, can be almost as elegant as the super-elegant Valletti, but he can call also on power and squillo entirely beyond anything available to the lighter-voiced Valletti. Elvino is that archetypical Italian opera character, the self-centered, jealous, tenorial jerk for whom perfectly nice Italian sopranos fall, usually with dire consequences. Tagliavini and Valetti neatly capture Elvino's dubious character from his very first notes. (Pavarotti and Canonici seem to be engaging in singing contests; Monti is hardly noticeable.) Tagliavini is at his impressive best in the duets with Pagliughi. Their voices, acting and singing styles are in exact alignment. They provide true pleasure, both together and apart.



As the Count, Cesare Siepi is a sort of older, wiser, kinder Don Giovanni. In Act I, there is a short scene in which the sleepwalking Amina turns up in the Count's hotel room clad in nothing but her night dress. For a few bars, Siepi is so much in full Giovanni-mode that you can almost hear Leporello riffling through the pages of his catalogue in preparation for a new entry: "In Italia seicento e . . ." No other Count on record, to my knowledge at least, can hold a candle to Siepi.



As for the rest, the orchestra, chorus and supporting players, all are as they should be in this charming and tuneful bit of fluff. Every part works beautifully with every other part to make this, as a whole, the best performance of "La Sonnambula" that I know or ever expect to encounter.



Five stars."