La Traviata
 

I know, this is not a travel question per se, but I know of no other forum where I might find an informed answer to my question concerning Verdi's La Traviata.<BR><BR>My question is this: Is there a truly satisfactory recording on CD of La Traviata?<BR>I have four versions, all by well known recording labels and famous singers, but none of them is fully satisfactory. <BR><BR>So, if you know of a recording of La Traviata that you thinks fills the bill, please tell me which one it is. Traviata is one of my favorite operas, but for some reason I have not hit the right recording. <BR><BR>I don't want to tell you which ones I have because I might be stepping on your own favorite version. <BR><BR>Have I heard a fully satisfactory recording of any opera? Yes. My favorite is Carmen with Tatiana Troyanos, Placido Domingo, Jose Van Damm and Tiri Ti Kanawa. And the Tales of Hoffmann with Gedda, Schwartzkopf, et. al.<BR>And a few more.<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>< BR>

I am a big fan of Turandot with Pavarotti and Sutherland. The version on VCR from the SF opera is an incredible production but the singing is not up to Pavarotti. Also the Turandot with Nilsson, Tebaldi and Bjorling is superb. I think overall it is better than Pavaortti and sutherland because of the superior job Nilsson does on Turandot.<BR><BR><BR>Hoffman is another favorite Opera. Domingo does a pretty mean Contes des Hoffman. <BR><BR>I love the new Manon Lescaut by Muti with Cura. Cura certainly lives us tp his billing in this one. Its a live performance as well which makes it even more exciting to listen to IMHO.<BR><BR>Do you have a favorite Tosca?<BR><BR>I am going to the puccini Fest again this year and will hear Turandot, Manon Lescaut, Madama Butterfly and possibly Tosca all at a wonderful outdoor theater on the lake at Torre del Lago Puccini just north of Pisa. And the performances are just about $40.00 a ticket each!!!!!!!

I don't have a favorite Tosca.<BR>Nor am I looking for one. <BR>My current quest is to find a La Traviata that has quality singers in the 3 principal roles. I am tired of tieing up money in bummers.

I think there's only one true Violetta and that's Maria Callas. I wore out two LP albums over the course of the years. Both were live recordings. At La Scala in 1955 she sang with Giuseppe di Stephano and Ettore Bastianini, conducted by Carlo Maria Giulini. In '58, she appeared in Covent Garden with Cesare Valletti and Mario Zanasi conducted by Nicolo Rescigno. I preferred the Covent Garden performance simply because of better sound recording and a less bombastic performance by Zanasi than Bastianini's. Due to a dramatic loss of hearing, I got rid of my record collection some years ago. I do think both performances are available on CD. <BR><BR>Knowing of your love of things German, I have another recommendation for you.<BR>Strauss' "Der Rosenkavalier" on EMI CDs conducted by Von Karajan with Schwarzkopf, Ludwig, Stich-Randall, Edelmann and Wachter. Schwarzkopf's Marschallin will make you forget about Callas' or anyone else's Violetta!

Wes, this is going to shock you!<BR>But Callas and I don't get along.<BR>I have quite a few recordings with Schwarzkopf. She is one of my favorites, particularly in the lighter stuff like Fledermaus and Die Lustige Witwe and Les Contes d'Hoffman.<BR>Matched with Gedda, she is at times stunning. He, of course, is a most underrated tenor, particularly with all the pap spread about concerning the "Big 3", only one of whom, Domingo, is worth buying in my estimation. (And that should touch off a real bow wow of a discussion.)

Hi Bob,<BR>I have two Traviatas, one of them with Cheryl Studer, Luciano Pavarotti and Juan Pons (the James Levine with the Metropolitan Orchestra version). The other one has got Montserrat Caball&eacute;, Carlo Bergonzi and Sherrill Milnes. This last one is old, 1967, but I think I prefer it.<BR><BR>Truly satisfactory, "Don Carlo" with Bergonzi, Tebaldi, Ghiaurov and Fischer-Dieskau. The orchestra and chorus of the Royal Opera House directed by Sir Georg Solti. I know, another oldie. And not an opera, but truly magnificent, the "St. Matthew Passion" of Bach, with the M&uuml;nchener Bach-Orchester directed by Karl Richter.

Actually, Bob, I am in total agreement with you over Domingo & do find that my POV on this provokes the ire of others almost every time it is discussed. (My favorite "Turandot" is a recording with Domingo singing a leading role.) Just out of curiosity, do you seek out CDs while in Europe, and how are your musical preferences taken (if you do seek out CDs) during your travels?

If it is still available, I think the definitive recording is the one with Toscanini conducting and Licia Albanese, Jan Peerce and Robert Merrill in the leading roles. It's on RCA Victor and was recorded in 1946.

I don't look much for CD's in Europe, but I will if a store is in my path.]<BR>(I am usually so busy seeing other stuff.) We do take in operas! Great Turandot in Paris with Jane Eaglen (dramatic, powerful voice, great singer on stage even if she is large economy size), Patricia Racette (beautiful voice now, young singer, loads of promise), Franco Farina (heroic voice - great singer - powerful Calaf.)<BR>Good Traviata in Vienna, and a great fun Merry Widow.<BR><BR>I like Domingo. Great as Don Jose.<BR>I fear I never thought that Pavarotti was a musicianly singer - more of a bleater. He does not come across well in ensembles. Carreras never turned me on. <BR>Thanks for the info on the Traviata versions. Albenese was a great lyric soprano. I don't know the Caballe voice (accent mark vital I know), so thanks for the info. I will look for that one.<BR>If she can trill, and belt out that last note on Sempre Libre, she has it made.<BR>Anna Moffo does it well, but I freak out on Tucker as Alfredo.

I love this. Bob is turned off by Pavarotti and Bookchick loves the Domingo/Von Karajan Turandot. While I love Domingo in Hoffman, his Calaf is as wimpy and pleading a Calaf as I have ever heard! I mean Calaf is supposed to strike enough fear into Turandot to "melt her ice" and "turn her into fire". Placido is singing her a love song trying to seduce her in Nessun Dorma not sounding his impending victory! And Von Karajan never hear a lyrical line that a little bombast wouldn't destroy. But thats just my opinion. <BR><BR>As to Pavarotti, I cannot think of Rigoletto or Turandot without hearing his voice. And in the ensembles he is actually able to enunciate the libretto above the tumult of the orchestra and the other singers without dominating them or chewing up the scene. Of course I cannot see him in La Bhoem without seeing his girth in the Met version on TV or Video. I mean he is doing well for a starving artist. Of course, Bob and Book chick probably think I am full of something.<BR><BR>I know... lets all meet in Italy, go for a gelato and then argue our favorites while we wait in line for the opera.

I realize this is the wrong forum for a dialogue regarding opera but since few travel minded posters are asking for advice and suggestions regarding Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria and Germany about which I may have some knowledge, I’ve little else to do but perpetuate this dialogue. Must keep an idle mind busy, I suppose.<BR><BR>I understand your aversion to Callas, Bob. In my mind, however, what made her distinctive was that she sang and conveyed emotionally charged words in keeping with the drama of the libretto while her chief rival, Tebaldi, simply made beautifully sounded notes. In much the same sense, Sutherland comes to mind; beautiful sound but completely incomprehensible diction. Callas’ Tosca with Gobbi as Scarpia, is an unrivaled dramatic experience as an example. <BR><BR>I do agree with your comment regarding Richard Tucker, much preferring his contemporary Jussi Bjorling. <BR><BR>As a totally unrelated and somewhat lunatic aside, have you ever considered the sheer musicality of the names of some of the Italian opera conductors of the past? They fall trippingly from the tongue: Franco Molinari-Pradelli, Gianandrea Gavazzani, Tulio Serafin, Carlo Maria Giulini among others<BR>

Dean,<BR>I don't think you're full of anything other than your opinion, to which you're well-entitled. In the spirit of freedom of expression, I'll gladly agree to gelato while in line for the opera. We can have different flavors, of course, but should probably settle on one gelato shop!

If we are talking about CDs, the quality of the recording is very important. I have a 1953 recording of Tosca, and even though Maria Callas and Titto Gobbi is in it, poor recording quality (what do you expect, it's 1953 after all) makes it not very pleasant to hear. <BR><BR>I found La Traviata from Decca which sounds pretty good. It is also not very new; it's Joan Southerland's first recording of Traviata (1963). Carlo Bergonzi and Robert Merrill are also in it.<BR>

Bookchick...<BR>if we disagree on the shop we can go to all of them........<BR>;-)

I'm pretty much of a rank amateur here, but for what it's worth I also vote for the Caballe/Bergonzi Traviata. Then again, I would vote for Bergonzi's rendition of the phone book.

Dean, LOL, agreed! (Any, every, or as many shops as it takes!)<BR><BR>And Howard's recording is making me so jealous, I think I'll drop by a store for a long look through the music department.....

This is an interesting discussion, and I am actually making a little progress on finding a La Traviata to try next. I have money tied up in 4 of them, and I wanted to sample opinion before getting another. I love the opera, but feel unsatisfied with the 4 versions I have.<BR>Have any of your music lovers heard the reissue of the version of Traviata with Stella and Di Stefano? It was released not long ago. I have the vinyl LP, but it goes back a few years. I think the big drag there is the slightly off key yodeling of Di Stefano. <BR>Wes, I think "aversion" is a little too strong a term for my reaction to Maria Callas. At times I find her interesting. She was indeed fiery and emotional. Without a doubt she could breathe life into roles that were otherwise not greatly successful. I freely admit that she has her huge, faithful, and sometimes agressive following, and that I am in the minority. <BR>I think she was one of those singers whose on stage impact at times was enough to shrink the viscera. <BR>Catherine Malfitano is another whose on stage presence is incredible. <BR>

Well, obviously, I would vote for anything La Divina sings - especially La Traviata.

Good evening. was there not a CD or<BR>a recording of La Traviata by Levine/Stratas/Domingo in the late 70's.<BR>am not refering to the video.. was very<BR>excellant.. Moffo was another Violetta of note. Richard of Hickory Hills, Il..