# I need some Verdi advice



## theclassicalguy (Jan 21, 2009)

I'm looking to buy a recording of La Traviata and also Il Trovatore and picking out the best is driving me crazy. (Incidentally, a totally complete score is a definite plus for me, though not totally essential). I have Traviata with Levine and Pavarroti/Studer, but I've never really liked it-I'm thinking about Solti or the Netrebko/Villazon version. As for Trovatore, I know Giulini is totally complete, but Serafin's version with Bergonzi seems to have a real force to it. I'm looking to purchase this week if possible. Any advice would be very welcome, and thanks in advance for your help!


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## jhar26 (Jul 6, 2008)

JoeGreen is the Verdi expert here, but there are two Trovatore recordings that I have that are truly great - Callas/Di Stefano/Panerai/Karajan on EMI and Price/Domingo/Milnes/Mehta on RCA. Unless you are a Callas fan I'd give the nod to the RCA set because the EMI set is in mono, but both are excellent.

I also have a few Traviata recordings - Callas/Giulini on EMI, Sutherland/Pavarotti/Bonynge on DECCA and Gheorghiu/Lopardo/Nucci/Solti on LONDON. The Callas set has poor-ish sound quality, the Sutherland set has excellent singing, but Bonynge isn't much of a conductor - but it's the complete score (I think). Overall maybe the Solti set is the best of the three. My favorite Traviata is the recent DVD with Fleming and Villazon with James Conlon conducting - but keep in mind that I have a soft spot for Fleming.


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## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

jhar26 said:


> Overall maybe the Solti set is the best of the three.


I agree with this...


jhar said:


> My favorite Traviata is the recent DVD with Fleming and Villazon with James Conlon conducting - but keep in mind that I have a soft spot for Fleming.


Fair enough... but I think (Solti+Gheorghiu)>(Conlon+Fleming).


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## jhar26 (Jul 6, 2008)

Chi_town/Philly said:


> Fair enough... but I think (Solti+Gheorghiu)>(Conlon+Fleming).


Well, there are quite a few people who have a soft spot for Gheorghiu as well. Since our friend is probably looking for a cd version it's hard to argue against the excellent Solti set - the Solti/Gheorghiu DVD is very good also by the way. I also have the Netrebko/Villazon DVD of Traviata, but I still haven't had the courage to watch it because it's one of those 'moderrn' productions.


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## theclassicalguy (Jan 21, 2009)

Is the Mehta Trovatore complete, or does it have cuts?


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## jhar26 (Jul 6, 2008)

theclassicalguy said:


> Is the Mehta Trovatore complete, or does it have cuts?


Could be that it's complete. The booklet doesn't mention any cuts anyway, but don't hold it against me if I'm wrong about this.


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## theclassicalguy (Jan 21, 2009)

Thanks for the recommendation jhar26. I looked it up and the Mehta is definitely not cut. I've always had a hard time buying Verdi, and this is proving to be no exception!


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## Mirror Image (Apr 20, 2009)

Where's JoeGreen at? He's our resident "Verdi" guy. I wish I could help.


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## bdelykleon (May 21, 2009)

For the Traviata I like very much Moffo/Karajan, Georghiu/Solti is a bit of a non exciting middle ground.
For the Trovatore, Milanov/Bjorling is my favorite. But I'm not sure if these recordings are available in the US (copyright issue).


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## JoeGreen (Nov 17, 2008)

Sorry for the late response, i didn't see this thread, but here I am.

My picks for La Traviata and Il Trovatore would be....









(this is the highlights, not the full recording, the full recording has a similiar looking cover)

Great pacing, good chorus, the leads are amazing, and Fischer Dieskau as Gemont is stupendous. My intro to Verdi and the rest of the classical world.

Il Trovatore is a little tougher...
you could go with this one










I recomment this one with about the same reasons as the Traviata, but the audio quality is a little sub par, but really doesn't tarnish this great performance.

or this one, which includes some revisions using the Parisian version of Il Trovatore...










The audio quality is fantastic on this one but the tempos aren't as brisk as the first option. But Pavarotti's glorious voice makes up for that sure, and Sutherland, while not one of my favorite Sopranos, does well.


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## JoeGreen (Nov 17, 2008)

jhar26 said:


> My favorite Traviata is the recent DVD with Fleming and Villazon with James Conlon conducting - but keep in mind that I have a soft spot for Fleming.


Really is it good? I've seen at my library but I've been skeptical as I'm not a big fan of Villazon. Fleming has her moments.But those moments are to die for.


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## theclassicalguy (Jan 21, 2009)

Thanks for the advice everyone. Joe, I especially am glad you recommended that Traviata. I'll check it out for sure. I'll never understand why buying Verdi is so hard-I agonize over my purchases of his music more than any other composer.


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## JoeGreen (Nov 17, 2008)

Your welcome, another piece of advice, with Verdi look for conductors who keep a brisk pace of tempo, because that's how Verdi would have liked it, and it works!


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

*"Ira Levin, Meet Maria Callas"*

Remastered Rigoletto:









Un-remastered Rigoletto:









I have a question for the Verdi and Callas savants out there: Does the post-1997 ART/EMI remaster of the Callas/DiStafano/Gobi/Serafin Rigoletto sound inferior to the earlier, un-remastered cd's?

The reason I ask is because someone on Amazon said that the EMI remaster did not come from the original master tapes, but rather from the first generation cd's; a consequence of which the higher-end of Callas' voice is clipped; or, as he put it, ". . . you won't get the real Callas, you'll get the Stepford Callas, seemingly real on the surface, but oddly artificial. . ."


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

For Trovatore either Karajan version is good, though the later one suffers from some sound manipulation.
The earlier one has Callas and is incomparable for soprano and conductor.
There is a live Karajan with Price and Corelli in pretty inferior sound but a white hot performance.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Marschallin Blair said:


> Remastered Rigoletto:
> 
> View attachment 38210
> 
> ...


I'm afraid I can't tell you. I have the earlier version, which sounds fine to me.

I did come across an article somewhere, in which somebody was quite scathing about all the Callas Edition re-masters, though to be honest, either my ears or my equipment aren't sophisticated enough to notice the differences.


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