Verdi: Ernani
Ideally, a more heroic voice than Carlo Bergonzi's is best for the title  role in this complex melodrama about a noble rebel and outlaw in Renaissance  Spain--so noble that he accepts death rather than break his word of honor and  live happily ever after. However, Bergonzi makes up in technique and stylistic  awareness for what he may lack in muscle. Leontyne Price's voice was at its peak  in the late 1960s when this was recorded, but in style she is not comparable to  Bergonzi. Neither is the supporting cast, Thomas Schippers, or, in the best  competing version, Placido Domingo on EMI. This is not a perfectErnanibut, at its reduced price, it's a good buy.--Joe McLellan