Notes and Editorial Reviews
Forty-eight years have elapsed, and sopranos (Callas, Price, Caballé), tenors (Corelli, Domingo, Pavarotti), and conductors (Levine, Mehta, Muti) have come and gone, but this set still manages to be among the best Aidas ever recorded. Karajan was truly a whiz kid in those days, leading with fine-tuning and class as well as thrills, and the Vienna Philharmonic plays gorgeously under him. Some tempos are faster than we might expect, but nothing juts out uncomfortably and the drama piles up. The public moments are grand and exciting, but it's the private confrontations that essentially matter in this opera, and Karajan's cast is steeped in the music while passions simply bubble over. These singers have style as well as voice. To
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nitpick, Tebaldi is not as insightful as Callas or as vocally glamorous (or secure) as Price, and Bergonzi lacks Corelli's virility and squillo, but together they make the most convincing pair of lovers on disc. Giulietta Simionato is in a class by herself as Amneris and Cornell MacNeil's Amonasro makes it clear why he was such a valuable baritone in the '50s and '60s. The big, vivid, John Culshaw sound at times overwhelms the singers, but this is a riveting performance, at a good price.
--Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com
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Works on This Recording
1.
Aida by Giuseppe Verdi
Performer:
Giulietta Simionato (Mezzo Soprano),
Cornell MacNeil (Baritone),
Carlo Bergonzi (Tenor),
Piero de Palma (Tenor),
Arnold van Mill (Bass),
Fernando Corena (Bass),
Eugenia Ratti (Soprano),
Renata Tebaldi (Soprano)
Conductor:
Herbert von Karajan
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra,
Vienna Friends of Music Society
Period: Romantic
Written: 1871; Italy
Date of Recording: 09/1959
Venue: Sofiensaal, Vienna
Length: 150 Minutes 0 Secs.
Language: Italian
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