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Verdi: Rigoletto / Serafin, Gobbi, Callas, Di Stefano


Release Date: 08/19/1997 
Label:  Emi Classics   Catalog #: 56327   Spars Code: ADD 
Composer:  Giuseppe Verdi
Performer:  Giuse Gerbino,  Luisa Mandelli,  Giuseppe Di Stefano,  Maria Callas,   ... 
Conductor:  Tullio Serafin
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Milan Teatro alla Scala Orchestra,  Milan Teatro alla Scala Chorus
Number of Discs: 2 
Recorded in: Mono 
Length: 1 Hours 59 Mins. 

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Notes and Editorial Reviews

'Rigoletto' established Verdi's greatness and has held the stage consistently since the premiere in 1851. The libretto was considered astoundingly graphic: the hunchbacked jester, his virginal, frighteningly naive daughter, and the licentious Duke were all given music of astonishing modernity. 'Rigoletto' makes almost no use of the familiar four part aria form (two slow verses followed by two fast ones) which is the fundamental building block of his other great middle period works, 'La Traviata' and 'Il Trovatore,' presaging the music Verdi would go on to write in his late masterpieces.
Although known as the "Callas 'Rigoletto,'" this recording was the third and last time she sang Gilda. Lightening her voice to suggest the girlish Gilda, Read more she is a powerful presence and an excellent foil for the tremendous Rigoletto of Tito Gobbi. Both are less than perfect vocalists but both are recorded at near the peak of their careers. Giuseppe Di Stefano is a dashing, heedless Duke. Serafin leads a richly traditional performance that embraces the usual theater cuts. This 1955 recording is mono although it holds up well in the present remastering. Read less

Works on This Recording

1. Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi
Performer:  Giuse Gerbino (Soprano), Luisa Mandelli (Mezzo Soprano), Giuseppe Di Stefano (Tenor),
Maria Callas (Soprano), Tito Gobbi (Baritone), Nicola Zaccaria (Bass),
Adriana Lazzarini (Alto), Plinio Clabassi (Bass), William Dickie (Baritone),
Renato Ercolani (Tenor), Carlo Forti (Bass), Elvira Galassi (Mezzo Soprano),
Vittorio Tatozzi (Bass)
Conductor:  Tullio Serafin
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Milan Teatro alla Scala Orchestra,  Milan Teatro alla Scala Chorus
Period: Romantic 
Written: 1851; Italy 
 Date of Recording: 9/1955 
Venue:  La Scala Theater, Milan, Italy 
Length: 118 Minutes 33 Secs. 
Language: Italian 

Sound Samples

Rigoletto (1997 Digital Remaster), Act 1: Preludio (Orchestra)
Rigoletto (1997 Digital Remaster), Act 1, Scene 1: Della mia bella incognita borghese (Duca/Borsa)
Rigoletto (1997 Digital Remaster), Act 1, Scene 1: Questa o quella (Duca)
Rigoletto (1997 Digital Remaster), Act 1, Scene 1: Partite? Crudele! (Duca/Contessa Ceprano)
Rigoletto (1997 Digital Remaster), Act 1, Scene 1: In testa che avete (Rigoletto/Borsa/Coro)
Rigoletto (1997 Digital Remaster), Act 1, Scene 1: Gran nuova! gran nuova! (Marullo/Borsa/Coro/Duca/Ceprano/Rigoletto)
Rigoletto (1997 Digital Remaster), Act 1, Scene 1: Ch'io gli parli (Monterone/Duca/Borsa/Rigoletto/Marullo/Ceprano/Coro)
Rigoletto (1997 Digital Remaster), Act 1, Scene 1: O tu che la feste audace (Duca/Borsa/Rigoletto/Marullo/Ceprano/Coro)
Rigoletto (1997 Digital Remaster), Act 1, Scene 2: Quel vecchio maledivami (Rigoletto/Sparafucile)
Rigoletto (1997 Digital Remaster), Act 1, Scene 2: Pari siamo! (Rigoletto)
Rigoletto (1997 Digital Remaster), Act 1, Scene 2: Figlia!...Mio padre! (Rigoletto/Gilda)
Rigoletto (1997 Digital Remaster), Act 1, Scene 2: Ah! veglia, o donna (Rigoletto/Gilda)
Rigoletto (1997 Digital Remaster), Act 1, Scene 2: Giovanna, ho dei rimorsi (Gilda/Giovanna/Duca)
Rigoletto (1997 Digital Remaster), Act 1, Scene 2: E il sol dell'anima (Duca/Gilda/Ceprano/Borsa/Giovanna)
Rigoletto (1997 Digital Remaster), Act 1, Scene 2: Addio, speranza ed anima (Duca/Gilda)
Rigoletto (1997 Digital Remaster), Act 1, Scene 2: Gualtier Maldè ...Caro nome (Gilda/Borsa/Ceprano/Marullo)
Rigoletto (1997 Digital Remaster), Act 1, Scene 2: Riedo!...perche? ...Silenzio! (Rigoletto/Borsa/Ceprano/Marullo)
Rigoletto (1997 Digital Remaster), Act 1, Scene 2: Zitti, zitti, moviamo a vendetta (Borsa/Marullo/Ceprano/Coro)
Rigoletto (1997 Digital Remaster), Act 1, Scene 2: Soccorso, padre mio! (Gilda/Borsa/Marullo/Ceprano/Coro/Rigoletto)
Rigoletto (1997 Digital Remaster), Act 2: Ella mi fu rapita! (Duca)
Rigoletto (1997 Digital Remaster), Act 2: Parmi veder le lagrime (Duca)
Rigoletto (1997 Digital Remaster), Act 2: Duca, Duca! .... Ebben? (Borsa/Marullo/Ceprano/Coro/Duca)
Rigoletto (1997 Digital Remaster), Act 2: Povero Rigoletto! (Marullo/Rigoletto/Coro/Borsa/Ceprano/Un paggio)
Rigoletto (1997 Digital Remaster), Act 2: Cortigiani, vil razza dannata (Rigoletto)
Rigoletto (1997 Digital Remaster), Act 2: Mio padre!...Dio! mia Gilda! (Gilda/Rigoletto)
Rigoletto (1997 Digital Remaster), Act 2: Tutte le feste al tempio (Rigoletto/Gilda)
Rigoletto (1997 Digital Remaster), Act 2: Compiuto pur quanto (Rigoletto/Gilda/Usciere/Monterone)
Rigoletto (1997 Digital Remaster), Act 2: Sì, vendetta, tremenda vendetta (Rigoletto/Gilda)
Rigoletto (1997 Digital Remaster), Act 3: E l'ami? (Rigoletto/Gilda/Duca/Sparafucile)
Rigoletto (1997 Digital Remaster), Act 3: La donna è mobile (Duca/Sparafucile/Rigoletto)
Rigoletto (1997 Digital Remaster), Act 3: Un dì, se ben rammentomi (Duca/Gilda/Maddalena/Rigoletto)
Rigoletto (1997 Digital Remaster), Act 3: Bella figlia dell'amore (Duca/Maddalena/Gilda/Rigoletto)
Rigoletto (1997 Digital Remaster), Act 3: Venti scudi hai tu detto? (Rigoletto/Sparafucile/Duca/Maddalena/Coro)
Rigoletto (1997 Digital Remaster), Act 3: E amabile invero (Maddalena/Sparafucile/Gilda/Coro)
Rigoletto (1997 Digital Remaster), Act 3: Della vendetta alfin giunge l'istante (Rigoletto/Sparafucile/Duca)
Rigoletto (1997 Digital Remaster), Act 3: Chi mai, chi è qui in sua vece? (Rigoletto/Gilda)

Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review:  ( 1 Customer Review )
 intensely dramatic May 3, 2013 By J S E T. (West Grove, PA) See All My Reviews "This is not the most complete or the best recorded or most prettily sung Rigoletto on disc. Those distinctions go to the digital and stereo eras. (I like the Sutherland, Pavarotti, Milnes line up.)But for music drama, this is the performance to have. The drama is so intense, the fear, pain and hurt conveyed by Callas and Gobbi, and underscored by Serafin's infinitely flexible beat is so real as to leave one exhausted and ill at ease by the end. This is tragedy; this is catharsis. This is great opera!" Report Abuse
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