Search - Giacomo Puccini, Alain Lombard, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg :: Puccini: Turandot (Highlights)

Glorious voices, limited orchestra

Robert L. Berkowitz | Natick, MA United States | 12/31/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I've previously reviewed two other Turandot Highlights CDs. One with Pavarotti/Sutherland/Caballe and the other with Domingo/Ricciarelli/Hendricks. I was surprised to be as impressed with the voices on this CD as I was. I previously regarded Carreras as a lesser tenor than Domingo or Pavarotti, but he is in great form on this disc. His singing is inspiring and totally compelling. Also Caballe as Turandot is the equal of anyone. Many believe that only Sutherland could fill that role, but Caballe is truly admirable here. Mirella Freni is a full-throated Liu -- maybe a little to bold for the character in my opinion. I was more impressed with Caballe as Liu on the Pavarotti/Sutherland/Caballe disc.The selection of highlights is remarkably different from the other Highlights discs. The disc that seems to make the most sense in terms of highlights is the Pavarotti/Sutherland/Caballe disc, however that one leaves out the first two riddles. Both this disc and the Domingo, et. al. disc have all three riddles. They also all contain "Non Piangere, Liu", "Ah, per l'ultima volta" and, of course, "Nessun Dorma". This disc allows arias to fade out instead of trying to end them in a neatly tied-up cadence.The grave disappointment with this disc is the quality of the orchestra. The orchestral climax at the end of the first act is a total flop. I thought I was listening to first-class voices accompanied by a high school band. Still, the singing is so compelling that this disc deserves consideration, and the budget price makes it easy to try. It does not come with much in the way of liner notes, so it is helpful to already have another disc with the libretto, if you want to be able to follow the arias."