Search - Donizetti, Pagliughi, Vinciguerra :: Lucia Di Lammermoor

Lucia B. C. (Before Callas)

Paul A. Dunphy | Bogota, New Jersey USA | 11/13/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Before Sutherland and Callas put their stamp on the role of Lucia, there was Lina Pagliughi. Most of her complete operas date from the 1950s when her voice was faded but this 1939 recording shows off her creamy legato as well as her famous "voce infantile". Her top notes are mostly tentative and there is little ornamentation and no trill but she does attempt to bring the character to life.
Giovanni Malipiero had a timbre very similar to Tito Schipa but lacked the later's pianissimo. His Edgardo is lyrical and pleasant but has a bit of difficulty with Ugo Tansini's tempo in Act 2 which makes for a bumpy Sextet. Giuseppe Manacchini and Luciano Neroni make solid contributions to the performance.
The opera is heavily cut but they are the same cuts in the Callas recordings.
The sound is what you would expect from a pre-war recording and there is some distortion.
If you are not familiar with the opera, you may go for the Sutherland recording. Then come back to this one to see how the opera used to be done."

A "Lucia" from the verismo era

L. E. Cantrell | Vancouver, British Columbia Canada | 09/09/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"SOURCE: 1939 broadcast by Italian Radio (EIAR di Torino), subsequently issued as an album of approximately thirty 78 rpm sides.



SOUND: Surprisingly good mono, considering that this set is in its seventh decade. Solo voices are very well caught with the orchestra and chorus less so. The Twenty-first century digital remastering was satisfactorily done.



CAST: Lord Enrico Ashton - Giuseppe Manacchini (baritone); Lucia Ashton, Lord Enrico's sister - Lina Pagliughi (soprano); Sir Edgardo di Ravenswood, Enrico's enemy who loves Lucia - Giovanni Malpiero (tenor); Lord Arturo Bucklaw, Enrico's handpicked bridegroom for Lucia - Muzio Giovagnoli (tenor); Raimondo Bide-the-Bent, Enrico's slightly bent spiritual advisor - Luciano Neroni (bass); Normanno, Enrico's henchman - Armando Gianotti (tenor); Alisa, Lucia's maid - Maria Vinciguerra (mezzo-soprano).



CONDUCTOR: Ugo Tansini with the Sinfonico e Coro dell' EIAR di Torino.



TEXT: This is the standard cut text that held the stage until the 1960s, pretty much the same text recorded later by Maria Callas.



COMMENTARY: I take no major exception to the facts about this recording as stated by Mr. Dunphy (although Lina Pagliughi's top notes do not seem all that tentative to me.) But I respectfully disagree with the conclusion he draws from them, as demonstrated by his three star rating. I find this verismo-era production of "Lucia" to contrast refreshingly with the current inelastic concept of the one and only right way to perform the old warhorse. More than that, I find this old "Lucia" consistently pleasing to hear--and that's worth five stars to me."