Puccini Tebaldi Monaco - Tosca (29 tracks) +Album Reviews

The Grandest Grand Opera Tosca...

Rachel Howard | ocklawaha, Florida United States | 05/29/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Is there a version of this dramatic score out there sung by a more sumptuous trio of stars? And even the Sacristan here is sung by Fernando Corena, a rich voiced bass in his own right. Tebaldi has the right mixture of flame and beauty to bring this role alive for me. Her voice sizzles with emotion, whether it's love for Mario Cavaradossi, jealousy for Atavanti, or hatred for Scarpia. This is a role meant for grand effects. Think about it! Tosca causes the deaths of all the main characters, plus Angelotti! Angelotti dies first, after she betrays his location. Then, she kills Scarpia directly, stabbing him to death. I admit he deserves it, but still! Then Mario dies, also a victim of her treacherous jealousy. `Tosca buon falco!' says Scarpia at the start of Act 2. Tosca is the falcon that hunts down his prey. She does his work for him. Then she kills herself when she's caught by Scarpia's officers. And this all in one day! I do have sympathy for her plight, which makes me able to understand her up to a point. What counts here is how much Mario loves her. Their music together sizzles with passion and love. What Tebaldi and Del Monaco do in the Act 1 love duet is worth the price of the entire set. Mario del Monaco's only vocal rival in Tosca, that I can think of, is Franco Corelli. (We are talking about size, passion, and richness of voice here. Di Stefano and Bjorling are two of my favorite Cavaradossi's, but both of them together wouldn't be a patch on del Monaco's giant instrument. Lyrically, they are superior.) The role abounds with many grand emotional opportunities, and you'd better believe del Monaco takes full advantage of them. His shout of hatred for Scarpia, when talking with Angelotti, makes me fear for Scarpia's life, villain though
he is. Del Monaco sings with vocal variety here, getting into the role of Mario Cavaradossi like a great matador, putting on his suit of lights. This is a masterful interpretation, brimming with humanity and passion. And speaking of passion... and INHUMANITY- there is Vitellio Scarpia, here brought to frightening life by George London, in his pantherish prime. All the suave elegance is here, as well as the oily hypocrisy, and the sheer, brutal dominating power of a man who holds an entire city in an iron grip. This is not a Scarpia where you wonder WHY Rome feared him. Listen to the times when Scarpia loses his temper- this happens many times(Scarpia is not a patient man!)- and KNOW why. George London not only was loud- of all the complete recorded Scarpias, I think Cesare Bardelli is the only serious rival- his brutality is sharply conveyed, straight into the listener's soul. In those moments, London's voice is the thunderous crack of a bullwhip. And yet... there is the unctuous concern for Tosca, when he fans the flames of her jealousy. (Forgive the pun! I could not help myself!) To my ears, these people, Angelotti and the Sacristan included- are not playing their parts- they ARE these characters. As for the conducting, the orchestra, and the choral work-for me, Molinari-Pradelli does a masterful job. I cannot understand why this version is not rated higher by many more opera fans. This performance sizzles. As I said, EVERYONE here seems to be into their characters. The sound is lush; rich and powerful, but crystal clear. As is usual, Decca's technicians did themselves proud. If you love Maria Callas' masterful Tosca, especially in the legendary De Sabata recording, with the great Tito Gobbi and Giuseppi di Stefano, then this recording is also well worth the money and the time. Extremely well worth it!"

The best studio Tosca for me!!!!

Armindo | Greece | 12/20/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This 1959 recording is Renata Tebaldi's second complete studio Tosca. Her second encounter with the role once again proves how much this role suits her. The grand interpretation and singing have and shall never be equaled. The Athens opera Tosca brochure, after comparing all sopranos who have performed this role concluded that Tebaldi was the greatest, grandest and most decent Tosca ever heard. I couldn't agree more with them. I have heard most of the famous ones (Price, Callas Caballe, Olivero etc.) but only Tebaldi made me feel the magic of Puccini in this opera. Of all her Puccini roles (if not of all her roles in general) I think Tosca was her greatest! Her first Tosca has equally, yet alternatively, great interpretation (Tebaldi's first act entrance and Scarpia's death scene always excite me!). By `59 she deepened it but had less of the unbelievable vocal caliber and beauty displayed in the earlier Tosca (truly it's something every opera fan deserves to experience, listen to "vissi d'arte"). I prefer this `59 one because of the stereo sound and supportive cast. Del Monaco makes a heroic, powerful and exciting Mario, if not lyrical enough for some Puccinian moments. Many will prefer listening to Di Stefano, Carreras or Domingo. However, I love the Italian fire that comes out of the Tebaldi-Del Monaco duets. Being Italian, their pronunciation always makes the operatic experience a marvel! London, though underrated, is certainly not a less memorable Scarpia than the famous Gobbi. The Tosca-Scarpia moments are great! We should have had a better maestro than Molinari-Prandelli but still the result is sublime! There certainly exist more popular recordings with great singers but to me the Toscas there are compromises when compared to Tebaldi. Still, Price and Milanov are great but for me Tosca means Tebaldi. Any true opera fan should own her Tosca. She is best in live recordings (try the one here on amazon!) but this studio is a gem too!"

Opera as it Should Be

andrea | 01/06/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In this recording of Tosca, Del Monaco and Tebaldi sing with the passion and flare that an opera such as this should be sung with. They "take no prisoners," as it should be. The orchestra plays wonderfully, although the winds are occasionally out of tune. The musicianship of this recording is of the utmost quality."

Loud And Proud, The Old School Tosca Five Full Stars!

Rudy Avila | Lennox, Ca United States | 11/16/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After hearing this supreme Studio Tosca with Renata Tebaldi, Mario Del Monaco and George London I became a fan of all these singers. While I'm neither a Callas fan or Tebaldi fan, I much prefer Tebaldi as Tosca than Callas 50's EMI studio Tosca. This is exactly what Puccini's masterpiece should sound like, and is a terrific example of the old-school Tosca. Nowadays, Tosca is treated with far more character development that is usually up to the soprano in the lead. If she carries it well, she can be a truly unforgettable Tosca. Well, Renata proves that a singer can not only be a dramatically gratifying performer but a beautiful singer as well. Her Tosca is grand and in every way, from her entrance in which she flies into a fit of jealousy, to her confrontation with Scarpia to his Murder Scene and finally her own suicidal leap. Tebaldi sings the most beautiful "Vissi D'Arte" , and it is a lyrical moment of rest from her taxing tessitura in the confrontations with Scarpia. George London as Scarpia is undoubteldy the greatest Scarpia. I have searched high and low for the best Scarpia and my quest is over. Prior to hearing London, I had believed that the greatest of all possible Scarpias was Giuseppe Taddei in the 1963 Karajan/ Leontyne Price recording. Well Taddei's voice is puny compared to the bombast and electrifying force of London's huge bass voice. London owned this role and he is the greastest baritone of all time. Unfortunately, he is also very underrated because in his day the reigning baritone was Tito Gobbi, whose voice I don't care for. George London is a majestic Scarpia, and while not subtle at all, is effectively dramatic. Upon hearing everything he sings, from his line "Tosca, you make me forget God" at the end of Act 1 to his lusty cry "Tosca, finalmente mia!" we totally understand why this man had "all of Rome trembling".

On equal grounds to London's big and bad Scarpia is the strong, phenomenal tenor voice of Mario Del Monaco, who is largely believed to have possessed the biggest tenor voice in the 20th century. I am far too young to have ever heard him on stage so I would'nt know if he had a HUGE voice but his recordings attest to the magnitude of his voice. If you turn up the stereo high when he sings those high notes you are in for an earth-shaking experience. Del Monaco is not subtle either as Cavaradossi and sings like the old-school tenors who had to shout everything they sang to emphasize drama. However, he is supremely heroic and portrays Mario Cavaradossi not as a victim of a political enemy, not as a sensitive artist but as a fully armored hero. Sure, his weapons is his spirit of liberty and his passion for art and for Tosca, but this is big enough to make him strong. And this is undoubtedly the most STRONG MARIO ever sung. He makes Franco Corelli, Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti sound like babies. Rounding out the cast are bass Silvio Maionica as an exceptional Angelotti and the celebrated basso buffo Fernando Corena as the Sacristan. He may not deliver much of the squeaky falsetto that some bassos use for the character but his voice is full and rich and enjoyable. The sound is awesome as it has been digitally remastered. Molinero-Pradelli conducts the Orchestra of Santa Cecilia, Roma with aplomb, making it verisimo, SUPERCHARGED GRAND OPERA. This made me a fan of all Tebaldi/Del Monaco/London colloborations and I highly recommend their recording of Boito's Mefistofele and their Forza Del Destino as well as Aida."

A very fine Tosca

Robert T. Martin | 03/24/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Tebaldi recorded Tosca for Decca in 1951. It's 1959 and she does so again, but this time she's supported by a better cast, better sound and better conducting. Comparisons with the 1953 Callas/Gobbi/de Sabata recording for EMI are inevitable. Tebaldi doesn't exhibit in her voice the depth of Tosca's jealously, tenderness, rage and despair that Callas does, yet there are compensations, Tebaldi's voice is beautiful, warm and pure and while her top is harder than it was in 1951 listening to her is a pleasure in an interpretation that is heartfelt and not in the least generalized.

Of the three principals in the Callas recording I always thought that DiStefano was the weakest but while he wasn't playing in the same league as Callas and Gobbi he was at least in the same ballpark. In this Decca recording Del Monaco isn't as good. He seems either by temperament or technique (probably the latter) incapable of singing softly. He's either ardent or angry (it's often hard to tell which) and his narrow emotional range is something of a liability in this performance. I'm not sure Cavaradossi was right for him. Still, when he lets loose-which is most of the time- he's absolutely thrilling.

Francesco Molinari-Pradelli conducts well and he's considerably better than Erede in Tebaldi's 1951 recording. Molinari-Pradelli accompanies his singers with sensitivity and he supplies plenty of drama when called upon to do so yet he fails to provide the momentum that makes de Sabata's performance so "edge of your seat" exciting. Molinari-Pradelli's performance is one of missed opportunities, he's solid where de Sabata is miraculous.

I'll never hear all the available recorded Scarpia's but I'm willing to bet George London has to have one of the most beautiful voices ever to sing the part, it's deep, powerful and carefully controlled. But don't let that gorgeous tone fool you-it adds a bit of nobility to a Scarpia that is at times ingratiating and still a malefactor of genius.

The remainder of the cast is fine. Fernando Corena is a very good Sacristan, as he was in Tebaldi's 1951 recording and he easily outshines Callas/de Sabata's Melchiorre Luise.

This recording has outstanding stereo sound-hard to believe it's of 1959 vintage and of course outstrips EMI's Callas/de Sabata rather thin mono. This Decca edition includes a libretto, track information and a synopsis.

If the Callas is the 5 star standard I suppose this Tebaldi should only rate 4- but I wouldn't want to be without it and for many opera lovers I can understand why this would be a top choice.

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