Giuseppe Verdi Herbert von Karajan Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra - Verdi Il Trovatore (37 tracks) +Album Reviews

Hot, Hot, Hot!

Michael Newberry | Santa Monica | 08/15/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is one of the hottest live Opera sets in existence! The principals don't sing they pour out molten streams of gold. Von Karajan conducts with sure-handed brilliance making the orchestra seem to speak for itself. Simionato taunts us with solid, solid bravada, creamy and exclamatory in her upper register, and theatrically dark in her lower depths. Corelli's lower voice is huge, and his high phrases are so great it's incomprehensible that all this sound is coming from one person. Price tosses off phrases of exquisite smoldering beauty. Her upper register must be heard to be believed, it's not just her floating stratospheric highs that are fantastic but her fluid development of the arias. In D'amor sull'ali rosee she unfolds ream after ream of silken phrases, and then launches the most vibrant, thrilling high note I have ever heard, and from there wafts to a smoky low. Bastianini and Zaccaria fill out the furnace! The sound is...good."

THE DEFINITIVE TROVATORE

01/20/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This has nothing to do with the late Thomas Schippers, and thats a good thing. Conducting the esteemed Vienna Philharmonic is the great Maestro Karajan. He takes the tempi with dramatic precision, and the pacing is very well done, unlike the horrendous Decca set with Pavarotti, Sutherland and Horne, conducted by Boynge. Karajan makes the sound come alive.Speaking of the sound, although this is a live recording for Austrian Radio, the sound quality is excellant. The recording has almost inaudible hiss, it's clear and clean, and will appeal to even those used to digital stereo quality. And of course as a live recording, the passion and drama is almost palpable. It is cut, but then most Trovatore were too, and the cutting does NOT remove any of the thrill.This Trovatore has four of the best singers collected on the same stage, a truely priceless gem of an occasion! Corelli is stupendous : big, heroic, at times heartbreakingly tender, at others fiery and passionate. Di Quella Pira, though taken down a half tone, is still viscerally thrilling, and will delight all (as the prolonged applause after the aria shows) who are tired of Pavarotti's mere high notes, uninspired phrasing, and generic vocal emotion. Simionato is THE definitive Azucena, words cannot describe her...well go listen to her. IMHO, only Barbieri comes anywhere close. Price is wonderfull, she is also the definitive Leonara, and what a BEAUTIFUL VOICE! Flawless technique combined with an uncanny awareness of dramatic need produce the best Leonara I have ever heard. Bastianini is the BEST di Luna, Merril, Warren, Milnes are close but not quite his standard here. Which is superlative and Im running out of superlatives.This is the only set where you can get all FOUR of the BEST singers in the same production, combined with the Great Karajan. The RCA set with Cellini and Bjorling and Warren is let down by the rather inept conducting, Pavarotti's several attempts are practically unlistenable, always not having an inspired choice of singers. And Domingo ...well always great but not quite in the class of this SUPERLATIVE TROVATORE!"

A FIERY 'TROVATORE' THAT REACHES GREATNESS

Michael Newberry | 06/23/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This live performance from the 1962 Salzburg Festival was briefly available on DDG for a considerably higher price than this issue on the Gala label. My advice is: get this performance immediately. Von Karajan produces a performance of "Trovatore" that must be heard to be believed. It's as though the great conductor set fire to the orchestra and told them to "give 'em all you've got". And that's how it goes in this performance. Von Karajan has a cast of singers that may collectively comprise the greatest "Trovatore" quartet ever assembled. Leontyne Price delivers a Callas-type of performance here, involved, compelling, and highly dramatic. She is in spectacular voice here (better than on any of her three studio recordings of the role), and adds an interpolated top C in the di Luna duet that pins the listener's ears back. Her arch of vocal sound is so beautiful that one can only feel that "it simply can't be better than this". Franco Corelli, posssibly thanks to von Karajan's discipline, delivers a Manrico far superior to that which he produced for EMI two years later. The voice is clear, sunny, clarion, and remarkably free of any tenor vulgarisms. Gulietta Simionato, who recorded Azucena twice (1956 on London with del Monaco and Tebaldi and in 1964 on EMI withCorelli) surpasses both efforts in this performance. Similarly, Ettore Bastianini is even better here than he was on his 1956 London recording. This was one of those evenings when all of the principals were "turned on", in their very best respective voices, and the audience became the winner. There are those who still speak of this performance, and it's amazing that it should have been recorded in decent sound, and made available to savor again. "Trovatore" doesn't get better than this!"

As good as it gets

John Cragg | Delta(greater Vancouver), B.C Canada | 02/03/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This CD has all the usual problems of live recordings, especially not apparently meant at the time for full release except over radio. But the advantage is that one gets a better balanced account than usually happens with Karajan's studio opera recordings. The principals are fantastic, and the performance generally exciting. Corelli was a marvelous Manrico, and this is as good a singing of Leonora as any that Price recorded. The booklet is the usual Gala disgrace, but otherwise this is a splendid rendition at an very good price."

Among the Great Recordings of the 20th Century

Michael Newberry | 03/31/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Well, many reviewers have praised this recording. I join their praise. Have you ever asked yourself what is the hallmark of a great recording? Well, there are many ways to characterize a great recording. But here's an extremely good acid test. When you have a whole bunch of operas in excellent stereo sound (some of them excellent digital stereo sound) and some of them studio recorded to perfection (not a flaw in the note or intonation) but YET you prefer to listen to a MONO ANALOGUE such as this Il Trovatore. Now THAT'S what I call the HALLMARK OF A GREAT RECORDING. This is precisely my experience with this Il Trovatore. I actually bought this Il Trovatore by 'mistake'. I've heard about Karajan's famous 1962 Salzburg recording. So when I found it, I decided to buy it. The reason I say it was a mistake because I thought that this was in stereo (afterall it's a 1962 recording and most recordings then were made with stereophonic technique). So when I realized that it was a MONO recording, I was intially disgusted because I dislike mono recording in general. But I decided to listen and I blown away by the power of the performance. Yes, this performance is white hot with intensity of epic nuclear proportions. This performance is in that class of superb opera recordings. It is a superbly inspired interpretation and the singers sing with tremendous intensity as if their lives depended on it. I actually prefer this MONO opera recording to many of my stereo opera recordings!!!Just a little history, in the immediate post world war era, I would say around 1950 - 1970, the world's greatest opera singers used to be concentrated in the opera houses of Europe. That was before the era of today's jet-setting opera singers. In those days, opera singers labored for weeks and weeks in rehearsals before the performances. And they worked together in ONE place as a team. Today, opera singers get 'star' treatment. but sad to say, opera singers today are not so commited to their craft. Yes, they are good, I don't deny that. But compared to the opera singers of yore, they are below par. In this set, Corelli sings with searing intensity. His voice comes out like an atomic bomb. Pavarotti and Domingo don't even come near. Yes, Pavarotti and Domingo are excellent singers, I don't deny that. I am a great fan of Pavarotti and Domingo and I have their recordings. What I am just saying is that Corelli in this recording wins them hands down. Leontyne Price is in peak form. I always thought that Price was fantastic. But never did I expect to be blown away by her singing here. Her singing here is far far better than any of the studio recordings I've heard from her. White hot inspiration, blazing heat. You have to listen to believe it. When you hear her down here, you'll realize that you've never known the real Leontyne Price. The same goes with Simionato and Bastianini. They are superbly inspired.Here are 4 of the greatest singers in the world giving the performance of a lifetime. And to the person who thought of releasing these performances from the archives to the public, I couldn't thank them enough. You will not regret this purchase, at a great bargain price too. The greatest regret (or should I say that competitors should be thankful) is that Austrian Radio did not record this in Stereo, for if they did, all the other Trovatores will probably go out of business. Yes, all you competitors out there. As things stand, this is already one of the best-selling Trovatores on Amazon.com.Be glad that this wasn't recorded in Stereo. Otherwise, you would have to close shop."

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