Evening star., 1961-01-29

- ~ ~SOSOASo 4NNOA Aog AAO 40
no more. This may be an apt
moment to mention Capitol's
memorial to the late "Swed-
ish Caruso," a series called
"The Beloved Bjoerling."
Vol. / Of the proposed s.
record series Is now out,
being a collection Of Is arias
recorded between 1886 and
l948. It is a magnificent
document Of a voice that
never changed Except for
the better) and is guaranteed
to bring tears by the time
"Vesti la giubba" is heard.
Back to Butterfly" credit
must be given an overall top
cast: Mario Sereni as Sharp
less. Piero de Palma as Goro
and Silvia Bertona as Kate,
heading the list. Some may
find slower movement than
they like. The feeling here
is that Conductor Gabrielle
Santini. relishing the beauti-
full voices, found a more re-
laxed pace the thing to do.
The sound and engineering
throughout is superb.
Sparkling Mozart
Turning to Angels new
Marriage Of Figaro" one
finds more light, exquisite
singing from that reliable
one. Elisabeth Schwarzkopf,
as the Countess; Fiorenza
Cossotto as Cherubino, Anna
MOTTO as Susanna and Dora
Gatta as Marcellina.
The madcap story Of in
trigue is given a sparkling
performance with Carlo
Maria Giulini keeping the
action moving without a
single let-down.
The opera buffa has, Of
course, its share Of whistle
able arias, but the exciting
thing is its construction as q
huge canvass panoply Of
sound that sets Mozart off
as the supreme genius.
How the ensemble Give
and-take ripples along! Al
most at a breathless pace, but
everything as clear as crystal.
The sound ranks with the
best, Eberhard Waechter is
more than satisfactory as the
Count, Giuseppe Taddei as
Figaro and Ivo Vinco as the
deep-voiced DR.. Bartolo. No
Mozart lover will be dis
appointed.
Verdi Heard From
If the Butterfly" had
poetry and the Mozart Ca
priciousness, Verdi's "Rigo-
letto" boils with the darkest
hueS Of tragedy.
The new Mercury albums
dramatic quotient is high
indeed. Conductor Gianan-
drea Gavazzeni works as
though a moments relaxa.
ton would be fatal. Re-
corded in Florence with an
almost all-Italian cast, the
opera is high tension
throughout.
Ettore Bastianini is a big.
voiced. revenge-geared Rigo.
letto. He has moments Of
great singing. Renata Scotto,
as Gilda, offers q voice Of
welcome contrast. Alfredo
Kraus, making his first big
tenor start. fares well enough
as the Duke of Mantua.
When there's deviltry afoot,
Basso Ivo Vinco makes q
thoroughly convincing assas-
sin. If the singing quality Of
all the cast seems somewhat
uneven, it may be due to a
little engineering fuzziness.
But 1t is not enough to spoil
a good performance.
AS in the other operas re-
viewed today, stereo gave q
boost to imagined stage real
ism. adding movement to the
productions shifting scenes.
Other Singing Disks
Besides the new operas
there has been an outcrop-
ping Of excerpts and arias on
single disks. Anna MOTTO,
the lovely young American
soprano heard in the Figaro,
has done a group Of colora-
tura arias for Angel. Aided
by great recorded sound, she
sizes UP as one of the most
thrilling young voices today.
Speaking of highlights,
London Records also offers
one that will interest those
who think Tchaikovsky's Eu-
gene Onegin and Pique Dame
(the Queen Of Spades) are
not heard enough. The cast
of Eastern Europeans is emf
nently suited to the Russian
singing with the Belgrade
National Opera Orchestra.
And Miss de los Angeles is
back with two other Capitol
releases. highlights from her
opera successes, La Traviata
and Faust.
Another from London is
highlights of the brilliant
Aida featuring Renata Te-
baldi with a fine cast in
Guiding Carlo Bergonzi as
Radames, Giulietta Simionato
as Amneris and Cornell Mac
Neil as Amonasro. Top sing