Puccini TURANDOT (1959 Box Set) LONDON OSA 1308 Borkh Tebaldi LP Records Mint
$
45
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Description
Puccini TURANDOT (1959 Box Set) LONDON OSA 1308 Borkh Tebaldi LP Records. Previously opened but mint- box set. Vinyl is mint, with original London sleeves and 20-page booklet.
Turandot is Puccini’s final opera (unfinished at his death) and perhaps as a result, it is by far and away his most musically adventurous. As in Madame Butterfly, the score is filled with Asian touches, the percussion section in particular packed with gongs and various tuned instruments (xylophones, glockenspiels and the like). It is still, however, an Italian opera with the outrageously titled Ping, Pang and Pong a spin on classic Commedia dell’arte characters. It’s an opera that blends epic chorus passages with some brilliantly intimate moments. Indeed the chorus plays a much more significant role than in Puccini’s other operas, acting as an onstage witness to well over half of the action. The opening is a powerful series of five chords, said to musically depict an executioner’s axe falling, and that hair-raising effect is spectacularly well maintained throughout. Turandot also contains arguably the most famous tenor aria in all of opera, "Nessun Dorma", an instantly recognizable piece of music that has lost its dark meaning by being repeatedly considered out of context. The conclusion stretches incredulity even by operatic standards, but as Puccini didn’t write it, he can’t be blamed!
This 1955 Erede recording contains the best qualities of all the other recordings, with none of the reservations on might put forward: Borkh is magnificent - she can do everything Nilsson could do, but with a more feminine sound. Del Monaco is on his best behavior, and that trumpet of a voice works well here; from the fist phrases you know he is in command. Tebaldi is in her early best voice, and Ping, Pong and Pang are a wonderful, well-matched trio. Very good recorded sound, and some orchestral detail heard nowhere else, notably the big gong that underpins Act One. Well worth acquiring!
Label: London Records OSA 1308
Format: 3 × Vinyl, LP, Stereo Box Set, Booklet with Libretto
Country: UK
Released: 1959
Genre: Classical
Style: Opera
Conductor: Alberto Erede
Soprano Vocals: Inge Borkh, Renata Tebaldi
Tenor Vocals: Mario del Monaco
Chorus and Orchestra: Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Rome
Alberto Erede was seldom given enough rehearsal time in his DECCA recordings--all money was spent on the singers--but this is one of his best accomplishments for them. He gets rich playing from the orchestra and the surprisingly slow, ecstatic tempi, again more Viennese that Italian, are very effective. The finale is something else.
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