Pietro MASCAGNI (1863 – 1945)
Cavalleria rusticana (1890)
Maria Callas (soprano) – Santuzza; Giuseppe Di Stefano (tenor) – Turiddu;
Rolando Panerai (baritone) – Alfio; Anna Maria Canali (mezzo) – Lola; Ebe
Ticozzi (mezzo) – Mamma Lucia
Ruggero LEONCAVALLO (1857 – 1919)
Pagliacci (1892)
Maria Callas (soprano) – Nedda; Giuseppe Di Stefano (tenor) – Canio; Tito
Gobbi (baritone) – Tonio; Nicola Monti (tenor) – Beppe; Rolando Panerai (baritone)
– Silvio
Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala di Milano/Tullio Serafin
rec. 16–25 June, 3-4 August 1953, Basilica di Santa Euphemia, Milan (Cavalleria
rusticana); 12–17 June 1954, Teatro alla Scala, Milan
Synopsis and libretto with translations can be found on the bonus CD-ROM in
PDF form.
EMI CLASSICS 640722 2 [78:08 + 72:37]
These verismo twins – they were first performed together in December 1893
at the Metropolitan Opera – have been recorded innumerable times. The 1907
recording of Pagliacci, first ever complete recording of an opera.
According to Wikipedia both have had more than 130 recordings! Beniamino Gigli
recorded both, Cavalleria in 1940 with the composer conducting. After
the war most of the leading tenors gave given their views of Turiddu and Canio:
Jussi Björling, Mario Del Monaco, Richard Tucker, Carlo Bergonzi, Franco Corelli,
Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and José Carreras. All of these have something
to offer and it is difficult to pick an outright winner. To me Jussi Björling
and Carlo Bergonzi stand out for giving very nuanced and lyrical readings.
In particular the Bergonzi recordings with Herbert von Karajan’s refined conducting
go a long way to prove that these works are far from the simple and primitive
hard-hitters that they have been accused of. I have to admit, however, that
the Decca stereo sets from around 1960 with Mario Del Monaco in the tenor
leads have a special thrill that is difficult to resist – when one is in the
right mood.
On the present set Giuseppe Di Stefano also has ambitions to produce as many
decibels as possible, singing at full throttle most of the time. There is
real thrill in the duet with Santuzza, which is the dramatic climax, but Di
Stefano was never a true spinto, and the raw power that Del Monaco has in
abundance – and one always has a feeling that he still has something in reserve
– comes to Di Stefano as an act of volition. He is as ardent as ever in the
Siciliana and has his moments elsewhere too but generally speaking he overreaches
himself.
Callas, on the other hand, is superb in the role that was her stage debut
in a student production of the opera at the Olympia Theatre when she was only
fifteen. Her voice is fresh and beautiful. nowhere more so than in Voi
lo sapete which is overwhelming in its intensity and vulnerable
as well. This aria is one of those that I would choose to play to people who
think Callas is overrated.
Rolando Panerai is a rather average Alfio – Robert Merrill on the Björling
recording surpasses him with more power and more beautiful tone. I still have
to hear a recording with Serafin that is less than outstanding but here he
and the Scala forces are hampered by audio leaves a lot to be desired. It
may have something to do with the venue; it may also be the fault of the recording
team. Producer and balance engineer are unknown.
Not recommendable, then? Any recording with Callas at this stage of her career
can be recommended – even when her voice sometimes adopts unbeautiful vibrato
that became more prominent after her Turandot recording. Here she is
amazingly good, but the total experience is compromised in several ways.
We move to a quite different world on CD 2. Pagliacci, recorded almost
exactly a year later, but in Teatro alla Scala. Now the producer is not unknown.
It is the legendary Walter Legge who supervised many of Callas’s early recordings.
The balance engineer is Robert Beckett and together they achieve a sound picture
that is far superior to the Mascagni. By today’s standards it lacks, quite
naturally, wide dynamics and pinpoint detail, but it offers more than decent
mono sound, free from distortion. The best mark one can give is, to my mind
at least, that one doesn’t think of the recording but concentrates on the
music and the interpretation. There is little Tullio Serafin can do with some
of Leoncavallo’s most glaring orchestration; on the other hand that is part
and parcel of the verismo concept. It is a rather punchy performance but held
within rather strict reins.
The singing is also on a generally higher level. Tito Gobbi opens the proceedings
with a nuanced and moving reading of the prologue. As always he sings with
‘face’ and he is in glorious voice. Di Stefano also willingly scales down
and finds the lyrical, human voice of Canio before the matrimonial conflict
develops. Un tal gioco is tenor singing of the utmost beauty and sensitivity.
Vest la giubba and the furious outbreaks in the second act are truly
Italianate with all the feelings undisguised before our ears – and though
one can hear the pain and despair he doesn’t indulge in lachrymose sobs and
hiccups à la Gigli.
Nedda is less interesting as a character than Santuzza, but Callas makes the
most of her aria Stridono lassù, where she sings of the birds: ‘Vagabonds
of the sky, who obey only the secret force that drives them on and on’ who
become symbols for her own longing after freedom. But the high-spot of the
whole opera is her duet with Silvio. This was one of the items on my first
Callas LP Callas in Duet and I was at once fascinated by the individuality
of utterance that set Callas apart from the only other recording I then had,
Carla Gavazzi on the old Cetra set, good as Gavazzi was. Here Rolando Panerai
is also on top form and both singers glow like embers. With excellent choral
contributions and Nicola Monty luxurious casting as Beppe/Arlecchino this
is a recording of Pagliacci to challenge even Cellini’s (with Björling
and de los Angeles). This is a case where I would have preferred to be able
to buy the two operas separately, but then I would have had to live without
Callas’s Voi lo sapete.
Göran Forsling
A recording of Pagliacci to challenge even Cellini’s.