The magnificent Ruffo
is well served by this Preiser release.
It covers his Victors made roughly on
either side of the Great War, sessions
made in January and February 1914 (and
then again a year later) and the renewed
series starting in April 1920. The repertoire
is central to his standing, and exclusively
Franco-Italian.
He exhibits here huge
reservoirs of personality as well as
magnificently deployed sonorous vocalism.
True, his Barber was maybe just a touch
more athletic in his early 1907 recording
than in the 1920 remake – but what wit
and excitement this enshrines nevertheless,
and full of the most dextrously applied
effects, seldom if ever overdone. He
was at his happiest in the upper reaches
of the range – a remarkable extension
that abetted him during his long career
and though the lowest reaches were impressive
they contained a rather occluded quality
that lacked ultimate definition. That
relative weakness is seldom audible
during these discs, recorded when he
was still at his peak (he was born in
1877).
His Nabucco is buoyancy
itself aided by a veritable palette
of colouristic devices whilst his Rigoletto,
from 1920, is superbly leonine, powerful,
dramatic, revealing a cast iron technique
throughout almost all the range. Other
examples of his Rigoletto were recorded
at around this time but this is the
only example here – but surely enough
to convince anyone of his standing.
Earlier in 1915 we find in his Un Ballo
extract that the voice is a touch lighter
but one can equally hear Ruffo harden
and centre the tone for maximal impact.
Maybe the Dinorah example
shows him in somewhat strenuous form
but the Faust (in Italian of course)
sees him back to his best form – portamento-rich,
full of colour and shading, great feeling
and martial bellicosity. Ruffo could
float a half voice - try his Otello
Credo – but all the while maintaining
massive authority and he could generate
tension expertly; Era la notte
is a genuine example of bleached withdrawn
tone allied to high tensile theatrical
impersonation. His Thais example is
noble and his Leoncavallo important.
He premiered Edipo Re in 1920,
six years after he recorded these unusual
and rare extracts from Zazà
– where we find him relaxed, unforced,
sympathetic but all the while a master
of the powerful magnetism of his voice.
Of course one can find
plenty of examples of Ruffo’s art but
I commend this selection for its authority
and intelligence of selection. Fine
copies have been used and sensitive
studio restoration reveals the voice
in all its glory, the glory that was
Ruffo.
Jonathan Woolf