VERDI Nabucco: Va pensiero.1 I vespri siciliani: Overture.2 Luisa Miller: Overture;2 Quando le sere al placido.3 I Lombardi: Act III Trio.4 Rigoletto: Act III5 • Arturo Toscanini,cond; Jan Peerce (ten);3,4,5 Zinka Milanov (sop);5 Vivian della Chiesa (sop);4 Nan Merriman (alt);5 Nicola Moscona (bbar);4,5 Leonard Warren (bar);5 NBC SO;1–5 All Westminster Ch1 • OPUS KURA 7038, mono (69: 17)

This, another release in the Opus Kura Toscanini series, is like its predecessors in two key ways: it restores to circulation some items that are otherwise not readily available; and it uses HMV LPs as the primary source. The latter is significant in that the HMV material, although derived from RCA sources, seems to come from those that preceded the kind of tampering that RCA imposed in the name of “improvement” that often proved damaging. The only minor drawback of using LPs as a source is the “rumble” that sometimes remains audible in the softest passages. With my sub-woofer off, however, the problem disappeared, without comprising material upward from 50 Hz.

Everything on this disc is drawn from live performances, the final act of Rigoletto derived from a 1944 war-bond concert in the old Madison Square Garden, all the others from broadcasts in studio 8H between 1943 and 1944. The sound in the latter, if a bit cramped and limited on top, is more than listenable. The prize, to my mind, brief though it may be, is the haunting chorus of Hebrew Slaves from Nabucco. One small caveat about the production: insert notes and tracking information are printed in type so small that it borders on the unreadable. But everything here is worth hearing for anyone interested in the performers or the music. Should it not be stocked in your favorite record store, this release is available on line from arkivmusic.com.

FANFARE: Mortimer H. Frank