Search - Flavio Tasin, Gene Boucher, Sherrill Milnes :: Verdi: La Traviata

A great Violetta, but a mixed blessing otherwise

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 07/04/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"For the long time that this performance was out of print, it became legendary. Caballe in her prime in 1968 sang more easily than de los Angeles, more beautifully than Sills, with more technical security than Callas. She was paired with the elegantly stylish Carlo Bergonzi, always a critics' favorite. The only fly in the ointment was said to be the wayward, push-pull conducting of Georges Pretre--but how bad could that be?



Astonishingly bad, actually. Pretre takes it upon himself to distort every single number in the opera, adding arbitrary taffy pulls to the tempo, stopping the music in mid-phrase, and generally throwing the listener off balance. As a result, his lead singers are timid about cutting loose, and despite their vocal beauty, both Bergonzi and Caballe sound trapped in Pretre's grip. Of course, there's lots to love anyway. In terms of temperament, both leads are cooler than what we usually hear--these two aren't wildly passionate about each other. But they are warm, and abovee all the sounds they make are gorgeous.



If you listen to key arias (Sempre libera, De' miei bollenti spiriti) you'll know immeidately if this calmer view of Violetta's tragedy is dramatically to your liking. Callas on the one hand and Pavarotti on the other make more vivid impressions. Sherrill Milnes records his first Germont here, his second being on the great Carlos Kleiber set (DG). He has a magnificent voice but also a tendency to shout, particularly as a younger singer--the Gramophone reviewer said that Milnes seems to be addressing a public assembly--but the voice per se is mesmerizing.



In sum, a great Violetta in her prime is set in a production where things aren't perfect. But a lot is very fine."

VERDI WOULD'VE BEEN HAPPY

Bartolome Mesa Gil | Malaga, SPAIN | 12/08/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is for me the best Traviata on records. True, it's not perfect. What is in this world? But nobody has matched the Violetta and Alfredo of this recording. Caballé is truly magnificent, her rich creamy sound following like no other soprano on records Verdi markings. She doesn't need "to be dramatic", she finds the drama in the music. And if you listen carefully you will see how many details are subtly illuminated by her performance. This is not one on your face interpretation. She doesn't scream her pain, she sings it. Her Alfredo is a perfect match, with unequalled phrasing and style. Their breath control is the stuff dreams, not to say legends, are made of. Do listen to Callas and Di Stefano of course, but give this recording a chance. If only Verdi could have heard it!"

The faithful artist

J. Anderson | Monterey, CA USA | 02/15/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Three unalterably supreme elements contribute to the abiding love I hold for this, my favorite recorded Traviata: the singing of Montserrat Caballe and Carlo Bergonzi, and these two artists' faithfulness to Verdi's score. There is little I can add to the perfect comments below of Bartolome Mesa Gil "TOLO". With a few knowing words, he hits upon the essence of a genuine singing art - fidelity to the composer's indicated markings, and the gifts of humility that lead a singer to trust the music, finding through that faithfulness alone all the drama required to bring an operatic score to eternal life. Caballe is the finest purveyor of these irreplaceable qualities of muscianship I've ever encountered in a singer. This recording holds those elements supremely to the fore, qualities that make it the most fulfilling Traviata I've heard in forty years of listening. Search far and wide; a singer who trusts the score is a singer who will inevitably divulge its riches with everlasting conviction. Caballe and Bergonzi meet that test with a devoted embrace, and raise the operatic art by the gift of their musical faithfulness. A recording to treasure."