From: conrad@brahms.udel.edu (Jon Conrad)
Subject: Re: La Traviata
Organization: University of Delaware
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 15:13:18 GMT

In article <92239.155230KSSHC@CUNYVM.BITNET> Ken Sherrill <KSSHC@CUNYVM.BITNET> writes:

>The Moffo/Tucker/Merrill/Previtali...

>(I am tempted to start a thread on the appropriate
>vocal weights in Traviata.) ...

I was going to invite you to do so, rather than hinting around so much,
but it turns out that you went ahead and did it later on.  I agree about
Violetta, but can you explain why Alfredo *needs* a heavier voice?  I'm
not convinced about that.

>Its major drawbacks are Previtali's lackluster conducting 

I'd mildly disagree.  I find Previtali one of the better Traviata
conductors on disc; he shapes the Preludes beautifully, has a good
dramatic feel with some "give" where necessary, and sets up the singers
skillfully.  It's much more to my taste in this piece than Toscanini,
for instance.  And don't get me started on Maazel and Pretre.

>and too many "traditional" cuts.

Being a purist in most respects (if it's a good opera I want to hear it
all!), I must confess that my ideal Traviata would not be 100% complete.
I definitely want to put back all of "Parigi o cara" (that cut is a real
loss), and restoring second verses of Violetta's cavatinas is fine with
me IF she's willing to vary and ornament them the second time around.
But the men's cabalettas are the kind of formalism that Verdi was
growing out of, felt to be old-fashioned, and (if I remember right)
wrote no more of after this opera (not in such obvious form anyway).  I
don't mind one time through Alfredo's "O mio rimorso," because it does
give his character some backbone.  But I can't see any use for Germont's
cabaletta; "Di Provenza" has already brought the action to a halt, and
now he's going to do it AGAIN?

(I can't believe I just wrote that; I who strenuously protest cutting
Leonora's Act IV cabaletta in Trovatore!)

>A second wonderful recording is, of course, the Toscanini with Albanese, Peerce
>and Merrill. All are in good voice -- esp. Toscanini ;-) -- and give committed
>and generally musical performances. Albanese's coloratura is not what we expect
>from a Violetta these days (as, say, Milanov's is not for a Trovatore Leonora--
>but don't get me onto the proper vocal weights for Traviata) and the sound is
>tubby. Again, the score is heavily cut.

I don't understand the Milanov reference.  Surely her weight is exactly
what we still expect in Trovatore?  And are you calling her a
"coloratura"?  Not on any tape or disc I've ever heard.  Sloppy city.

>The Carteri/Valetti/Warren/Monteux is a gem of a performance -- if you like a
>small-scaled traviata. 

Which, as I've said, I do.

>Certainly, no recorded Germont is more beautifully sung
>than Warren's. The Di Provenza is textbook legato singing. Valetti isintelli-
>gent and musicianly; he has a lovely voice, but it is too light for the part.

Based on what?  Where does he sound too light?  (In the denunciation, I
guess?)

>Now we start getting to the problems. I believe that Violetta, Gilda, and Leo-
>nora in Trovatore should be sung by sopranos whose voices have similar weights.

As mentioned, I agree.  I wonder on what historical basis Julian Budden
differentiates among the vocal types for these roles in his wonderful
3-volume work.  In fact, I'd like to know what his source is for some of
his vocal descriptions.

>I imagine La Studer will be just fine when
>she gets around to all three.

You threw in that "La" just to bug me, didn't you, Ken?  :-)

>Callas' Lisbon Traviata is just fine, thank you, if you think Alfredo Kraus is
>right for Alfredo, 

Seems good to me.

>Once we get past the Violetta problem, we have to find an Alfredo. I once heard
>a tenor explain that he hated the part because he has to sing his heart out,
>only to be eclipsed by one of the other characters. 

Even more of a problem with Pinkerton, right?

>I was at one of Maria Callas' master classes when she asked a young baritone if
>he could sing Di Provenza. She said, "I know it's boring. I just want to see if
>you've been working on your legato." This was about twenty years ago. I keep on
>thinking that as soon as Germont has completed his duet with Violetta, the
>character turns to cardboard -- or in the case of too many baritones, wood. I
>don't think most first-rate baritones find the part interesting.

Callas once shocked people by saying that if she were staging Traviata,
she'd cut "Di Provenza."  People tut-tutted and said "Oh, the vain prima
donna," but I saw her point immediately.  It's a very slim pretext for
an aria (not that I would in fact cut it).  It can be saved of course by
spellbinding singing.  Here's one thought about it:  it seems from turn-
of-the-century recordings that it was universal practice in vocal music
with even note values like this aria, to treat the rhythm very freely,
bending the regular eighths toward speech rhythm, while the
accompaniment stayed steady underneath (very much the Frank Sinatra
style).  This makes a lot of sense to me, and transforms a lot of dull-
looking arias and lieder.  It could very well be what the composer had
in mind for this sort of formalized music -- leaving it to the
performer to make it live.  I wonder if there's any chance of reviving
the practice?

>Finally, Traviata is not as much of a conductor's opera as, say, Rigoletto or
>Trovatore. 

More than Trovatore I'd say.  There ARE those preludes, and some quite
delicate scoring.

>Toscanini, Monteux, Levine and Kleiber are among the few major con-
>ductors to record Traviata. Kleiber's is not on a level with his other opera-
>tic recordings. Levine has never shown particular affinity for the score. The
>other two are dead.

Ahem.  I find that Monteux conducts it beautifully in all respects (he
balances the big finale ensemble better than anyone else).  Toscanini
whisks it along in a way that I can't get into.  I think that some non-
"major" conductors have had more of the right skills for the opera than
folks like Levine.  Serafin (for de los Angeles), Previtali (for Moffo),
Gardelli (for Freni).

And then there's the curious phenomenon of the Verdi conductor who feels
that he has to keep fussing with it, "making" it happen.  Much of Verdi,
especially prior to his last period, just has to be set in motion --
skillfully, with care and love and all that; but once an aria or
ensemble has begun, the pattern is set and should seem to roll along on
its own.  Conductors who keep "doing things" to this progress just get
in their own way.  Pretre (for Caballe) had this kind of unease with the
demands of the music, Maazel (on the rather interesting Lorengar set)
even more so. Kleiber at least refrains from this sort of transgression;
he understands the nature of the music.

By the way:  what happened to the Giulini recording?  I remember in the
latter days of High Fidelity there was one of their "Recording Session
in London" reports.  One was the Rattle "Porgy and Bess" (which came out
in 1989, to give you an idea of how long ago this was).  The other was a
"Traviata" Giulini was doing for DG.  The recording sessions actually
took place.  The cast was Rosalind Plowright, Luis Lima, and Juan Pons
(they don't exactly send the heart racing, do they?).  So, where is it?
Did they abandon it without completing the recording (why?)?  Did they
complete it but Giulini forbid its release?  Weird.

Jon Alan Conrad
Newsgroups: rec.music.classical