At least as far
as the eponymous tragic-heroine is concerned La Traviata is
an opera of two distinct parts. In Act 1 the role demands
a coloratura soprano of lightness and agility. Acts 2 and
3 on the other hand require a voice of greater significant
weight and colour. These qualities are necessary if the singer
portraying Violetta is to characterise adequately and express
her emotional circumstances and mental state. Since Mercedes
Capsir in 1928 over 25 sopranos have set down their interpretations
on record, some more than once. Regrettably a record does
not always catch a singer in her vocal prime. Many critics
revere the Callas performance at La Scala in 1955 under Giulini’s
baton as a non-pareil histrionic experience. For better or
worse that performance was not taken into the studio. Even
on an officially released EMI live recording of that performance
the diva’s singing, in variable sound and without the stage
images, is not wholly convincing. Her only studio recording
of the role, for Cetra, recently remastered on Naxos (see
review),
has her superb interpretation caught when she was in prime
voice. Despite the sonic limitations of the recording, and
also to an extent the singing of her colleagues, it is the
only realistic choice if you wish to add her portrayal to
your collection.
Of the studio
stereo recordings none can go down as perfect in respect of
the singing of the three principals allied with a conductor
having a feel for Verdian cantilena and phrasing. Joan Sutherland
recorded the role twice. In 1963 she has Bergonzi, the Alfredo
here, as her partner with Robert Merrill a sure-toned secure
Germont pére singing mellifluously and with moderately good
characterisation. Sutherland’s diction leaves something to
be desired but this version is preferable to her digital re-make
with Pavarotti a tasteful Alfredo, the issue being marred
by the rough singing of Manuguerra as the Germont and by an
over-resonant acoustic. Pavarotti had a second bite at the
cherry with Cheryl Studer as a strong but hardly light-toned
Violetta in act 1 (DG). Levine’s conducting is sympathetic
but Pavarotti has lost the natural sap of his voice evident
ten years earlier; Juan Pons is an ill-cast Germont. Many
people favour the 1994 Decca live recording from Covent Garden
with Angela Gheorghiu, Frank Lopardo and Leo Nucci in the
principal roles. This performance is also available on DVD
(Decca) and in that medium it carries off the laurels. In
sound alone, the interpretive and singing limitations of all
the principals, particularly that of Nucci, leaves something
to be desired. This present 1964 recording has by far the
most beautiful Verdi singing from two of its principals of
any recorded Traviata. Caballé as a fragile Violetta with
sotto voce coloratura in act 1 is most convincing. She moves
with aplomb from fresh-voiced light bravura singing in response
to Alfredo’s brindisi (CD 1 tr.3) through Violetta’s
personal uncertainties of E strano and Follie! Follie
(CD 1 trs. 8-9). She doesn’t throw off the coloratura of this
scene in the extrovert Sutherland manner. Rather she uses
sotto and mezza voce singing to good effect, bringing out
the pathos of Violetta’s personal uncertainties and emotions
as well as her awareness of her situation. Likewise Caballé’s
range of expression and characterisation in Violetta’s confrontation
with Germont pére, and her yielding of his demands to give
up Alfredo (CD 1 trs. 13-17), is wholly convincing. Her Tenesta
la promessa and Addio del passato
(CD 2 trs 10-11) are, like her interpretation of Violetta’s
death scene, overpowering in their vocal intensity. In all
respects Bergonzi’s singing at least matches and often betters
Caballe’s in terms of vocal beauty, legato and elegance of
phrase. This is best exemplified in their duet Parigi,
o cara (CD 2 tr. 14). Bergonzi not only has one of the
most lovely of tenor voices he also has the musicality to
go with it as well as an innate feel for a Verdian phrase.
I have heard him criticised for blandness and certainly his
acting on stage could be lacking, but in his many Verdi roles
on record, and none more so than in this Alfredo, he clearly
identifies with the part and his singing throughout is expressive
and well characterised. If Sherrill Milnes as Germont does
not quite reach the vocal heights of the other two principals
he by no means lets the side down. This recording was one
of the earliest of his many assumptions of Verdi baritone
roles on record. His tone is a little tight at the top of
the voice, which was, later on, an area of great vocal strength.
His major limitation is of sounding too young for the role
of Alfredo’s father. Better that though than sounding a dull
dog or vocally rough as so many recorded rivals do. Milnes’
singing in the confrontation with Violetta and in the famous
Di Provenza il mar (CD 1 tr. 20) has smoothness, clear
diction and a wide range of colour and expression.
Given the vocal
virtues of the principals, it is appropriate to ask why this
well recorded performance does not rank alongside the all-time
great recorded operas. The answer is as depressing as it is
simple, the conducting of Georges Prêtre which varies between
leaden tempi and periods of frenetic attack. He lacks that
feeling for Verdian line and melody and the ability to realise
the emotions in the music that Gardelli on the Arts Music
set (see review)
has in abundance. Few of Verdi’s twenty-eight operas convey
the varying emotions of the story as that which the composer
achieves in La Traviata. To have a conductor seemingly so
completely unaware of that depth in the music is a considerable
draw-back to the performance as a whole. This is despite the
superb singing.
Excellent for
its time, the RCA Rome recording is one of those to benefit
from the company’s association with Decca engineers. The booklet
has a track-related synopsis. A full libretto can be accessed
from the enhanced CDs using a PC CD-ROM facility. Despite
the conductor’s limitations, the vocal virtues of this performance
leave it high on my list of preferred La Traviatas. Its re-emergence
from the combined CBS/Sony/RCA archive, now under one corporate
roof, is to be welcomed. I hope that that this issue portends
a policy of making available many of the fine recorded operas
that are to be found in that combined archive including many
recordings that have few, if any rivals.
Robert J Farr
Violetta Valéry, Montserrat Caballé (sop); Flora, Dorothy Crebill (mezzo);
Annina, Nancy Stokes (sop); Alfredo Germont, Carlo Bergonzi (tenor); Giorgio
Germont, Sherrill Milnes (bar); Gastone, Fernando Iacopucci (ten); Doctor
Grenvil, Harold Enns (bass); Baron Douphol, Gene Boucher (bar); Marquis
d’Obigny, Thomas Jameson (bar) Giuseppe, Camillo Sforza (ten)
