In anticipation of the Verdi anniversary next year (2013) Warner
are reissuing all the legendary Cetra recordings from the 1950s
- La forza del destino and Falstaff even older
- in toto eighteen sets encompassing seventeen operas
(see review
of Rigoletto).
There was an Aida recording under Vittorio Gui made in
1951 (see review)
which in many ways was outstanding, and the main reason for
a new version was no doubt the comet-like rise to stardom of
Franco Corelli. I suppose most readers will buy this set for
the opportunity to hear the fairly young tenor (he was 35) in
his signature role, which he recorded a decade later for EMI
under Zubin Mehta and with Birgit Nilsson, Grace Bumbry, Mario
Sereni and Bonaldo Giaiotti in the other central roles. I bought
it when it was new and it was for many years my only Aida
recording, even though I first got to know the opera through
Karajan’s Decca recording with Tebaldi, Bergonzi, Simionato
and MacNeil - a set that I used to listen to at my local library.
The Mehta recording never captured me the way Karajan’s
did. Nilsson in superb vocal shape lacked the warmth of Tebaldi
and Corelli. Though impressive in many ways, she never managed
to convince me of a human being behind the armoury as Bergonzi
did. Corelli by that time was more of a showman and even though
he finished Celeste Aida with a diminuendo down to a
fine-spun pianissimo as Verdi wanted, I always felt that it
was more a demonstration of his technical ability than something
coming from within. Maybe by this time he was becoming a bit
blasé with the role.
On the present recording he was rather new to Radamès.
After winning the competition at Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
in the summer of 1951 he was scheduled to make his debut at
Spoleto the following Autumn. However he soon found that the
role was too difficult for him at the time and he changed to
Don José in Carmen. After an isolated Aida
in 1953 it was not until 1955 that he started singing Radamès
with some regularity. In December 1956 he was, in other words,
still a relative newcomer to the role and this, I believe, accounts
for the freshness of his reading. There is very little of the
larger-than-life approach that often disfigured his singing
further on in his career. It is not a sophisticated reading
in the Bergonzi mould, but nor is it stentorian à la
Del Monaco. He is powerful, at key moments magnificently so,
but there is flexibility and fine nuance in many places as well.
The end of Celeste Aida is sung at full throttle, no
attempt at scaling down, as he did 11 years later, but just
listen to him in the last two acts, where the real drama takes
place. The end of the Nile scene (CD 2 tr. 8-11) finds him truly
sensitive in the prolonged duet with Aida. One senses that this
is a young man deeply in love, but his horror when it dawns
on him that he has betrayed his country is expressed with tremendous
power and intensity. In the last act scene with Amneris (CD
2 tr. 13-14) he is noble and untouchable and the finale - from
La fatal pietra sovra me si chiuse (CD 2 tr. 18-20) is
as sensitive as one could wish. He is in glorious voice - note
that the whole opera was recorded in one day, probably in one
long take as in the opera house - and the concluding O terra
addio ends on a magical diminuendo. I have somewhat reluctantly
admired Corelli for close to fifty years but on most occasions
felt that it is a pity he couldn’t be more sensitive in
a less artificial way. Well, here is the answer to my expectations.
This is for me the definitive Franco Corelli, comparable to
his Pollione opposite Maria Callas in Norma.
I can hear sceptical murmurings from some readers: You don’t
buy an Aida recording for the tenor alone, and the rest
of the cast is just a group of long since forgotten provincial
Italian singers. And the conductor - who is he? Vittorio Gui
on the older Cetra was one of the greats, still remembered and
both Simionato and Panerai are fixed stars on the operatic firmament.
I will try to refute this scepticism.
Let me start with the conductor. Angelo Questa left a large
legacy of opera recordings, mostly for Cetra: Rigoletto,
Un ballo in maschera, Mefistolele, Il segreto di Susanna, Madama
Butterfly, La favorita, and of these Rigoletto (with
Pagliughi, Tagliavini, Raddei) is a classic, ranked by a lot
of critics alongside the Serafin, Callas, Di Stefano, Gobbi
as the best available. He was not one of those interventionist
conductors who made points for the sake of making points, but
he was a man of the theatre and for him the main object of his
music-making was to put the drama centre-stage. That was what
he so successfully did with Rigoletto and that’s
what he does with this Aida. It is a no-nonsense reading
that propels the action forward, often swift without being rushed
and it is sheer gain to hear the final duet with a speedier
pulse. He takes 4:44 from O terra addio to the end of
the opera. Compared to most other recordings that I have handy
this is not the quickest but faster than the average:
Toscanini 4:28
Gui 4:33
Serafin (with Caniglia & Gigli) 4:34
Questa 4:44
Serafin (with Callas & Tucker) 4:54
Marinov 5:01
Karajan (with Tebaldi & Bergonzi) 5:13
Mehta 5:17
Perlea 5:19
Abbado 5:20
Solti 5:49
It isn’t only a matter of timings. Like Gui there is a
general lightness of touch in Questa’s reading and this
pays off wonderfully. What was always a problem with Cetra’s
recordings was the quality of the recorded sound. Here the Warner
technicians have worked wonders and even though the sound is
thin and the strings are comparatively wiry. It is a clear mono
sound, the triumph scene works well though it is far from spectacular,
the choral singing first class and no one is likely to be greatly
disappointed with the sound - unless one has never heard a recording
of this age.
The rest of the cast? Superb! Athos Cesarini is a splendid,
clear-voiced Messenger, Il re, a role often allotted in the
opera house to some shaky over-aged bass, is sung with steady
tone and quite lyrical elegance. Giulio Neri’s Ramfis
is monumental. He was magnificent on the Gui set and is even
better here: powerful, sonorous, expressive and with a sepulchral
lower end of the voice that is amazing. Few basses of his or
any generation have been of comparable stature. Just listen
to Mortal, diletto ai Numi (CD 1 tr. 12). He died of
a heart attack only a year and a half after this recording was
made, a month before his 49th birthday. This recording
is a worthy memorial of this great artist.
Amonasro is another role requiring a glorious voice to make
the right impact. Gian Giacomo Guelfi was the possessor of such
a voice. Less subtle than Gobbi and Taddei he was just as thrilling.
A pupil of Titta Ruffo he knew how to project his big voice
and his solo in the triumph scene is imposing. Other baritones
have sported more beautiful voices - Merrill and Bastianini
to mention two - but the thrill of hearing his dramatic outbursts
is of that kind that sends shivers of delight down the spine.
He died in February this year, aged 87.
Miriam Pirazzini (b. 1918) was somewhat over-shadowed by Simionato
and Barbieri but she had an important career even so and left
a number of fine recordings, singing Azucena opposite Lauri-Volpi
on the 1951 Trovatore recording on Cetra. She has a dark,
vibrant voice and she characterizes well. Her scene with Aida
in act II is one of the highlights in this recording and she
is superb, even touching, in the scene with Radamès in
act IV.
She is well contrasted with Maria Curtis Verna’s silvery
tones as Aida. This soprano (1921 - 2009) was American but started
her singing career in Italy. She hasn’t quite the creamy
rounded tones of Tebaldi or Leontyne Price but she is a sensitive
singer. Her O patria mia (CD 2 tr. 4) is truly beautiful
with a lovely final note sung pianissimo. She crowns her performance
with a vulnerable Presago il core della tua condanna
(CD 2 tr. 19) followed by one of the finest O terra addio.
There is no libretto, just a rather detailed synopsis in the
booklet, where there are also role photos of the singers. As
usual with these Cetra issues the original LP covers are reproduced
on the booklet back cover.
I hope I’ve been able to convince at least some readers
that this is an issue that is worth considering. If you already
have a good modern recording of Aida this is a worthy
complement.
Göran Forsling
see also review by Calvin
Goodwin
Masterwork Index: Aida
Antonio Zerbini (bass) - Il re; Miriam Pirazzini (mezzo) - Amneris;
Maria Curtis Verna (soprano) - Aïda; Franco Corelli (tenor)
- Radamès; Giulio Neri (bass) - Ramfis; Gian Giacomo Guelfi
(baritone) - Amonasro; Athos Cesarini (tenor) - Un messaggero 