I was recently commenting
on a live "Barber" from the
Met in 1941 and was alternately fascinated
and appalled to find that it offered
a peep into a lost world of comic opera
production; the recitatives (and even
parts of the ensembles) were frequently
ad libbed in a form of "Sprechstimme",
with added asides and generally little
respect for what Rossini wrote. The
score was obviously seen as a prop rather
than an anchor. So how many of the same
habits would be found in this Italian
studio performance of less than a decade
later?
Well, in one respect
both performances are in full agreement
– to cut the score down to a bare minimum.
Everything that can possibly be cut
has been snipped out, the later stages
of Act 2 reduced to a bare synthesis.
In other respects, the two are very
different, and the differences seem
to stem from the conductor. From the
outset we note that Previtali is aiming
at a crisp, rhythmic, buoyant performance
(within the limits imposed by the newly-founded
Milan radio orchestra); in some respects
he anticipates Abbado in concentrating
on the purely musical values of the
score. However, Gennaro Papi at the
Met, in his more laissez-faire manner,
creates much more sense of the theatre
(obviously it helps that the performance
is live); for Previtali perhaps anticipates
Abbado in another way, in that his well-scrubbed
liveliness almost seems to preclude
any sense of fun. If he had also insisted
on a complete text the set might have
proved more significant. He sees, however,
that the singers respect the notes Rossini
wrote in the recitatives and controls
the ensembles with a firm hand.
Under the circumstances,
it is to the singers that we must turn
for Rossini’s comic spirit. Two of the
male principals are little-remembered
and it is regrettable that the booklet
limits itself to a brief note on the
opera itself and the Italian libretto;
this series continues to be very inconsistent
in its presentation. However, if neither
Badioli nor Cassinelli have remarkable
voices they know their business. Luigi
Infantino is somewhat better remembered
and at this point in his career could
boast a youthful, unforced "tenore
di grazia", easy in his high notes
and untroubled by the fioriture. It
is an attractive assumption. However,
it is for Giuseppe Taddei that most
collectors will want this version and
his warmth of tone, technical ease and
lively characterization will not disappoint.
All the same, one wonders if he would
not have found more sparkle still if
Vittorio Gui, for example, had been
conducting.
Unusually for those
days (and unlike the Met), this version
has a mezzo Rosina. The trouble is,
this was a mezzo with all the big tone
needed for Azucena, Amneris and the
rest, and any hopes that her timbre
may have been more delicate in her relatively
young days are quickly dashed. Also,
she is in poor form in "Una voce
poco fa", often singing flat. Later
she recovers and her coloratura is certainly
neat.
However, I could cheerfully
ignore the drawbacks in exchange for
a lively portrayal of the character.
Boredom, alas, seems to be a leading
factor in Giulietta Simionato’s life.
Quite recently, in 2001, I was present
at one of the many Verdian commemorations
in Milan, of which the crowning event
was to have been a speech by the then
91-year-old lady, still in remarkably
good health, I must say. She explained
to her adoring public that she was getting
heartily sick of this Verdian year,
with all the events she was compelled
to attend, and was jolly glad it was
nearly over. Fifty years earlier she
interpreted Rosina in similar spirit.
Truth to tell, though admired for a
magnificent voice, genuine emotive participation
was all too often missing, throughout
her career.
So all-in-all, this
looks like one for Taddei fans, though
connoisseurs might give Infantino a
hearing. It never did have much running
in the catalogue, being swiftly overtaken
a few years later by the classic Gui
Glyndebourne set and, in terms of completeness,
Leinsdorf’s performance with a typical
Met cast of the day. The sound is not
bad for the date but that hardly alters
the situation.
Christopher Howell
Orchestra Sinfonica e Coro di Milano della RAI/Fernando
Previtali 
