Search - Toscanini, Siepi, Nelli :: Tribute to Boito

Magnificent performance, terrible booklet

madamemusico | Cincinnati, Ohio USA | 05/18/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"These live recordings are unique documents in musical history, showing how Arturo Toscanini conducted opera at the place that was his musical home for many years. Thus, while the sonics do not compare to the RCA recordings, as a quick comparison with the 1954 NBC Mefistofele Prologue will show, there is the attraction of hearing how Toscanini managed singers and chorus in a live performance setting.As for the performances themselves, they are excellent. This version of the Prologue is paced more slowly and with less pressure than his NBC version, and young Cesare Siepi's voice is both lighter and prettier than Nicola Moscona's, but in the closing minute or so Toscanini creates a crescendo so gradual, so perfect, and so overwhelming that it crashes on your ears like a tidal wave on the beach. Even the Scala audience was almost too stunned to applaud! In the extended scene that follows, soprano Herva Nelli shows that she did not have a serviceable trill for "L'altra notte," yet her high notes ring out with a power that was totally lost in the dead-sounding confines of Studio 8-H.The "Nerone" excerpts are equally excellent, featuring more good singing from Nelli and Siepi as well as surprisingly dramatic singing by Giulietta Simmionato and very fine vocalizing from the usually-unreliable Frank Guarrera. But this is where the booklet lets you down. In addition to getting Arrigo Boito's years of birth and death messed up, they list "Mefistofele" as dating from 1868 instead of 1886 and "Nerone" as being from 1824 instead of 1924!! Plus, "Nerone" is an opera that needs at least an explanation and a plot synopsis to enjoy; it is a dramatically and musically complex work, not a "pop tunes" opera at all, and to present these bleeding chunks without any explanation at all is not conducive to comfortable or informed listening.Nevertheless, if you are a Toscanini or a Boito fan, this is an indispensable addition to your music library."