February 2010 NEW RELEASES

Music and Arts

CD-4271(2) GIUSEPPE VERDI: LA TRAVIATA. Dress rehearsal, recorded November 1946 in New York. With Licia Albanese, soprano as Violetta Valery; Jan Peerce, tenor as Afredo Germont; Robert Merrill, baritone as Giorgio Germont, his father; Maxine Stellman, mezzo as Flora Bervoix; Johanne Morland, soprano as Annina, Violetta's maid; John Garris, baritone as Gastone, Viscount de Letorieres; George Cehanovsky, baritone as Barone Duopol; Paul Dennis, bass as Marquis d'Obigny; Arthur Newman, bass as Doctor Grenvil. Chorus Master: Peter Wilhousky. Arturo Toscanini, conductor. Total Time: 1:43:52. Technical restoration by Graham Newton. Liner notes by the late William H. Youngren. Unaltered reprint/repressing of the 2003 release. UPC # 0-17685-42712-2

BUZZ: Because the dress rehearsals did not constitute a real performance, given before a paying audience, Toscanini himself participates uninhibitedly. We frequently hear him hushing his singers and orchestra or enthusiastically cheering them on, throwing out a monitory "Crescendo!" or "Legato!" or simply singing along. And in Act II, Scene 1, we are surprised to hear him, in his hoarsely croaking baritone, taking the role of Violetta's servant Guiseppe—in place of a singer who was evidently indisposed. Since these were dress rehearsals, there are none of the famous Toscanini outbursts of temper—though at one point he does come close. The blend of total emotional involvement and professional detachment is characteristic, revealing, and, very moving.

"This La Traviata is almost "possessed" in a way that one must hear to believe. From the very first notes of the act I Prelude, taken at a much slower tempo than he usually used, to the closing crashing bars of the finale, the performance has an almost eerie, indescribable life force that imbues everyone involved. Every voice and instrument tingles with an energy that is not entirely their own. The music leaps from the speakers, fully realized in terms of musical accuracy and dramatic intensity.... Albanese, in particular, is much more involved dramatically, presenting a Violetta as intense as those legendary interpretations of Maria Callas, Anna Moffo, Teresa Stratas, and Ileana Cotrubas."
—Lynne Rene Bailey, Fanfare

View Shopping Cart Ordering Info to place your order	Questions & Comments
Back to New Classical Releases	Back to Main Catalog