# Final Round. D'amor sull' ali rosee. Milanov, Ponselle,Price, and MARIA CALLAS



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I changed Price's version to a complete aria . YOU MUST CHOOSE TWO- CALLAS AND HER SECOND BEST We are certain she will win but I want to know who is second best at this aria.






*Zinka Milanov: D'amor sull'ali rosee...Miserere (1945). LIVE*




Il Trovatore: D'amor sull' ali rosee (Recorded 1918) · Rosa Ponselle · Giuseppe Verdi · Romano Romani




*Leontyne Price: Verdi - Il Trovatore,'D'amor sull'ali rosee'*






*IL Trovatore 1953 LIVE Scala Maria Callas (D'amor sull'ali rose + Miserere)*


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

In earlier rounds, I voted for Milanov by default; no need for that here. Ponselle is discounted for the lower keys. In any case, I’d choose Callas over them - in fact they were never in my consciousness.

My second choice is L. Price, who was my Leonora of choice after Callas, despite being very different vocally, but who I saw live in the role.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

To my surprise, this is a rare instance in which I don't prefer Callas to everyone else. With her there's often the question of balancing artistic interest with vocal security or pure beauty of sound, and here, although she predictably finds more emotional intensity and nuance than others do, she is surprising uncomfortable (for 1953) with the high-lying phrases. Fans of _Trovatore_ who know and admire Callas in the complete role may have less of a problem with her difficulties here, but hearing this purely as a piece of music that rises to some gorgeous climactic phrases, I want those phrases to float out like the scent of roses on the night air. If Ponselle needed to take the aria down a half-step to give me her ethereal high pianissimi, I can live with that. Price seems better here than in the last round (where we heard only half the aria), and so I'm giving first and second place to these two. I don't really have any objection to Milanov's performance; I've just never warmed to her voice, to which, similarly, I really have no objection. There are just some things we can't explain.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> To my surprise, this is a rare instance in which I don't prefer Callas to everyone else. With her there's often the question of balancing artistic interest with vocal security or pure beauty of sound, and here, although she predictably finds more emotional intensity and nuance than others do, she is surprising uncomfortable (for 1953) with the high-lying phrases. Fans of _Trovatore_ who know and admire Callas in the complete role may have less of a problem with her difficulties here, but hearing this purely as a piece of music that rises to some gorgeous climactic phrases, I want those phrases to float out like the scent of roses on the night air. If Ponselle needed to take the aria down a half-step to give me her ethereal high pianissimi, I can live with that. Price seems better here than in the last round (where we heard only half the aria), and so I'm giving first and second place to these two. I don't really have any objection to Milanov's performance; I've just never warmed to her voice, to which, similarly, I really have no objection. There are just some things we can't explain.


You give it your all always!!!! I don't normally switch versions in the final round but I wanted to give Price an opportunity to be heard in the whole piece and somewhat redeem my boo boo. I think it worked.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

The Callas performance is from the series at which Schwarzkopf was heard to mutter (by Visconti), "That woman is a miracle!" Maybe the slight hardness on top, exaggerated by the recording here I think, was not so evident in the theatre. In any case, she weaves an atmosphere of nocturnal longing like no other, the trills not merely trills but expressive of her thoughts fluttering in Manrico's cell and miraculously bound into the musical fabric of the whole. The others have prettier top notes (though Ponselle's are transposed down a step to make it easier for her) but I'm not sure they achieve quite the same effect. If I'm honest, I actually prefer Callas's 1956 studio version, where she and Karajan are even more successful at creating that nocturnal atmosphere. Iny any case, she gets my first vote.

I'm finding it harder to make a choice for my second vote. Not Milanov, who just doesn't do it for me and never does. I don't know what it is about her, but I always find her plain dull. Between Ponselle and Price, it's harder to decide. Price is a good deal better here than in the earier version, but I still get a slight air of detachment, as I always do with her. I don't feel her making a connection with the music and the character. I do with Ponselle, but I don't like that she transposes down and I'm not keen of the rushed cadenza at the end. Nonetheless, I think I'll make her my second choice, because of that extra degree of involvement, despite the key change.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

@Tsaraslondon, the video is from a fanboy who always tinkers with the sound of his videos, usually increasing the treble, making it sound clearer, but also more strident. Which is not to say that Callas’s high notes were always beautiful. She is certainly more elegant in the studio recording with Karajan and much more restrained with him (the difference between a studio and live performances).


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

MAS said:


> @Tsaraslondon, the video is from a fanboy who always tinkers with the sound of his videos, usually increasing the treble, making it sound clearer, but also more strident. Which is not to say that Callas’s high notes were always beautiful. She is certainly more elegant in the studio recording with Karajan and much more restrained with him (the difference between a studio and live performances).


Mas I looked for the studio version and couldn't find it for some reason.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Here I go up in that corner again, because you see, none of them get the plum. 
Milanov was fine and sang cleanly but with no distinguishing features.
Callas, mia Callas, was a big disappointment for me (running for cover) but others were better. I almost wanted to give it to Ponselle only because of her incredibly exciting trills but her strange tempo changes turned me off.
As for Price -- she was always a huge favorite of mine in this aria and though she lacks some strong trills, her rich delivery sold her to me.
However, the BIG winner (and reason I sit here alone) is because the one that came through on just about all counts but wasnt part of "the gang", was clearly for me, Sondra Radvanovsky.
So being that I cannot vote for Sondra, I guess the only way to make a proper vote up there (assuming I don't *HAVE* to pick Callas as one of the candidates) will be Price #1 and Ponselle #2.


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## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Mas I looked for the studio version and couldn't find it for some reason.


I don’t like her studio version, the one you picked is far preferable. But the again, I rarely like Callas in the studio after 1953.


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## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

Callas is great here, although this remastering does give a little edge to her high notes and the recording glitches a little on one of the high piano notes making it seem unsteady. I think Leonora was one of her best roles, although I’m not overly fond of her studio recording. Milanov is a great Leonora too. Price is okay but I just don’t find her voice very interesting, this is the one that leaves me cold rather than Milanov. Ponselle is on Callas’s level although I wish she hadn’t sustained the (transposed) high C for so long and gave the top notes a little more vibrato. But really it’s a beautiful rendition. Callas and Ponselle.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Mas I looked for the studio version and couldn't find it for some reason.


It’s a “pirate” recording so they probably don’t have a studio version.


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## ScottK (Dec 23, 2021)

Its interesting thinking about the relationship between this particular piece of music, and what it asks for, and these different singers. The circumstance is serious...not relating events or conjecturing but potentially approaching death...
and the mood and music are suitably dark. However, I don't find it to invite great investment of interpretation. Even with these great singers, I'm not overwhelmed by the different approaches to the aria. I'm most moved by the one whose tone is the most suitably rich, dark and even ( the fact that the music is dark does not mean the voice has to be but here I think it works best) and who can produce that effect right up to the top, the best...Ponselle. Milanov's middle is sometimes somewhat acidic but not here. I enjoyed her the most after Ponselle. I grew up on Price's recording and heard her sing this gorgeously very late in her career. She's great and I'd call it a coin toss between her and Callas who here, I think has too many sounds going on to be at her best. That, plus the fact that I don't think this piece asks for the kind of musical and dramatic genius that she commands.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

ScottK said:


> ...Callas who here, I think has too many sounds going on to be at her best. That, plus the fact that I don't think this piece asks for the kind of musical and dramatic genius that she commands.


Callas could invest a stock exchange report with musical and dramatic genius. The question is whether everything she brings to this aria is needed. I'm with you in questioning that, but would still be inclined to place her first if the top of the voice didn't sound precarious and unpleasant to me, with that slowing of the vibrato that would soon become a wobble. What you want is what I want too: "the one whose tone is the most suitably rich, dark and even... and who can produce that effect right up to the top" - especially up to the top. Ponselle probably isn't as expressive here as she would be in live performance, but she's expressive enough for me.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

I am a little surprised about some of the adverse comments regarding Callas's singing here and put them down to the transfer, which I admit tends to bring out a hardness in the upper register that I'm willing to bet was not evident in the theatre. 

Leonora was considered one of her greatest roles, right from when she first sang it in 1950, acclaimed for its _musical_ excellence rather than any dramatic insights she provided. Indeed, although even in her earlier days she often courted controversy, there seems to have been very little dissent about her Leonora. Schwarzkopf called her "a miracle" when she heard her sing it at La Scala, Bjoerling proclaimed it "perfection" and Lauri-Volpi wrote a long letter to the press after singing the opera with her in Naples in 1951, in which he praised her to the hilt. 

When she sang the role in London, also in 1953, Cecil Smith, the critic in *Opera *magazine, had this to say.

_For once we heard the trills fully executed the scales and arpeggios tonally full-bodied but rhythmically bouncing and alert, the portamentos and long-breathed phrases fully supported and exquisitely inflected._ 

I've always thought that _musically, _it was one of her very greatest roles (yes, even in the studio in 1956 and in the Paris Gala concert of 1958), her phrasing absolutely superb. Those trills aren't just trills. She binds them into the musical whole, so they emerge like a breath of hope, futtering in Manrico's cell (these are actual lyrics in the aria). Likewise the cadenza becomes part of the aria, a musical depiction of Leonora's voice flying out to Manrico in his cell, not just a chance for a bit of vocal showing off at the end. Even with Ponselle and Leider it always seems just tacked on to me. Incidentally Callas sang a different cadenza on every one of her recorded performances, as if she was always striving to find the right one. 

A reminder of the lyrics.

On the rosy wings of love
go, oh mournful sigh;
comfort the flagging spirits
of the wretched prisoner.
Like a breath of hope
flutter in that room;
waken in him the memories,
the dreams, the dreams of love.
But, pray, don’t imprudently tell him
the pangs, the pangs that rack my heart!, etc.

It's one of my favourite Verdi arias and I like all of these except Milanov, whom I never like. Still, it's Callas, who for me best expresses the mood of the lyrics and the music.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Tsaraslondon said:


> I am a little surprised about some of the adverse comments regarding Callas's singing here and put them down to the transfer, which I admit tends to bring out a hardness in the upper register that I'm willing to bet was not evident in the theatre.
> 
> Leonora was considered one of her greatest roles, right from when she first sang it in 1950, acclaimed for its _musical_ excellence rather than any dramatic insights she provided. Indeed, although even in her earlier days she often courted controversy, there seems to have been very little dissent about her Leonora. Schwarzkopf called her "a miracle" when she heard her sing it at La Scala, Bjoerling proclaimed it "perfection" and Lauri-Volpi wrote a long letter to the press after singing the opera with her in Naples in 1951, in which he praised her to the hilt.
> 
> ...


I guess when you root for the superpower Callas who wins everything you don't have the experience to cope with her not doing so well in a poll😜 I have A LOT of experience in not having people seeing how wonderful singers I think are wonderful come out not getting any votes but for me. I have been in other opera forums as well as reading responses on Youtube where people HATE Callas. I am thankful you never have deal with anything more adverse than some people being mostly huge fans of Callas but who think even SHE can have a bad day I was surprised myself at this not being a huge win for her. I feel partially to blame as normally I check with my Callas experts on which video to use and I just thought this one was a slam dunk since it was early-1953 when her top should have been solid -and used without approval and I guess I was wrong. Sorry.


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## ScottK (Dec 23, 2021)

Tsaraslondon said:


> I am a little surprised about some of the adverse comments regarding Callas's singing here and put them down to the transfer, which I admit tends to bring out a hardness in the upper register that I'm willing to bet was not evident in the theatre.
> 
> Leonora was considered one of her greatest roles, right from when she first sang it in 1950, acclaimed for its _musical_ excellence rather than any dramatic insights she provided. Indeed, although even in her earlier days she often courted controversy, there seems to have been very little dissent about her Leonora. Schwarzkopf called her "a miracle" when she heard her sing it at La Scala, Bjoerling proclaimed it "perfection" and Lauri-Volpi wrote a long letter to the press after singing the opera with her in Naples in 1951, in which he praised her to the hilt.
> 
> ...


Without in the least trying to subtract from your response, I don't hesitate to say that I do not find the connection of word and music, in this case, to be the sort of thing that moves me. I don't quit after the first line but opening with "on the rosy wings of love" in these dire circumstances does not draw me into the dramatic situation. I could allow for the idea that she wants him to hear her if the lyrics at the end didn't make that idea somewhat non-sensical.

Callas sings with her unfailing musical investment but to my ear the tone hardens as it ascends making it come out with an unevenness and lack of warmth that works against the musicality she is bringing.

But its still quite amazing!

PS....if I thought piling up the reviews would sway this bunch, Carlo Bergonzi would not be the "...but of course he's quite good" tenor that he is on here!!!


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

I've always suspected that the acid edge in Callas's high notes would sting less when heard live, and that hers is one of those voices that recordings don't flatter. I've been aware of this issue since hearing Nilsson at the Met in 1972. I recall almost a sense of shock at the first sounds to come out of her mouth in _Tristan_, sounds that were recognizable yet didn't have quite the super-bright, metallic edge that's so conspicuous on most of her recordings, despite the fact that she was 54 at the time and her voice had hardened a little since her absolute prime in the early 1960s. I try to keep this in mind whenever I listen to recordings and radio broadcasts of live opera.

With regard to this competition, I suspect I'd be more inclined to favor Callas if I were hearing her in the context of the complete opera. This was no doubt one of her great roles, but I must confess that _Trovatore_ is one of my least favorite of the world's favorite operas. I haven't sat down with it in many years, I couldn't tell you the plot if you held a gun to my head (except that some haggard mezzo-soprano barbecued the wrong baby), and I have an irrational aversion to gloomy women named Leonora singing sad arias in minor keys with Catholic monks chanting in the background.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> I've always suspected that the acid edge in Callas's high notes would sting less when heard live, and that hers is one of those voices that recordings don't flatter. I've been aware of this issue since hearing Nilsson at the Met in 1972. I recall almost a sense of shock at the first sounds to come out of her mouth in _Tristan_, sounds that were recognizable yet didn't have quite the super-bright, metallic edge that's so conspicuous on most of her recordings, despite the fact that she was 54 at the time and her voice had hardened a little since her absolute prime in the early 1960s. I try to keep this in mind whenever I listen to recordings and radio broadcasts of live opera.
> 
> With regard to this competition, I suspect I'd be more inclined to favor Callas if I were hearing her in the context of the complete opera. This was no doubt one of her great roles, but I must confess that _Trovatore_ is one of my least favorite of the world's favorite operas. I haven't sat down with it in many years, I couldn't tell you the plot if you held a gun to my head (except that some haggard mezzo-soprano barbecued the wrong baby), and I have an irrational aversion to gloomy women named Leonora singing sad arias in minor keys with Catholic monks chanting in the background.


 I may have to rethink some of my high marks I have given you for your critiques in the past after what you said about my beloved Trovatore  😜
Nilsson's voice was almost magical. She said naturally it was a darker, heavy sound which became very bright with the way it was projected from her face. Somewhere out in the audience that natural darker placement reappeared in her sound. Explain THAT! Only in mics placed out in the audience do you get closer to the sound that you heard. I am so envious!!!


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Woodduck said:


> I've always suspected that the acid edge in Callas's high notes would sting less when heard live, and that hers is one of those voices that recordings don't flatter. I've been aware of this issue since hearing Nilsson at the Met in 1972. I recall almost a sense of shock at the first sounds to come out of her mouth in _Tristan_, sounds that were recognizable yet didn't have quite the super-bright, metallic edge that's so conspicuous on most of her recordings, despite the fact that she was 54 at the time and her voice had hardened a little since her absolute prime in the early 1960s. I try to keep this in mind whenever I listen to recordings and radio broadcasts of live opera.
> 
> With regard to this competition, I suspect I'd be more inclined to favor Callas if I were hearing her in the context of the complete opera. This was no doubt one of her great roles, but I must confess that _Trovatore_ is one of my least favorite of the world's favorite operas. I haven't sat down with it in many years, I couldn't tell you the plot if you held a gun to my head (except that some haggard mezzo-soprano barbecued the wrong baby), and I have an irrational aversion to gloomy women named Leonora singing sad arias in minor keys with Catholic monks chanting in the background.


Other than that.......


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

nina foresti said:


> Other than that.......


Well, there are those jolly gypsies. I have an irrational aversion to them too. Or maybe it's perfectly rational...


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

ScottK said:


> Without in the least trying to subtract from your response, I don't hesitate to say that I do not find the connection of word and music, in this case, to be the sort of thing that moves me. I don't quit after the first line but opening with "on the rosy wings of love" in these dire circumstances does not draw me into the dramatic situation. I could allow for the idea that she wants him to hear her if the lyrics at the end didn't make that idea somewhat non-sensical.
> 
> Callas sings with her unfailing musical investment but to my ear the tone hardens as it ascends making it come out with an unevenness and lack of warmth that works against the musicality she is bringing.
> 
> ...


It's just that I've heard other transfers of the same aria (on Myto for instance) that are much warmer. That hardness you hear is exacerbated by how the ebay poster has brought the voice forward, sucking out all the house ambience and boosting the mid range. It makes her seem unnaturally close. I wonder what the same treatment would do to the other ladies, though I'd agree that Callas's top notes were never gossamer on the breeze. 

Oddly enough, and _pace _@Op.123, I actually prefer the 1956 studio recording, where the top of the voice, while not exactly a thing of beauty, is better integrated into the rest of her voice, and Karajan supports and breathes with her in a way Votto doesn't here.


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## ScottK (Dec 23, 2021)

Woodduck said:


> Well, there are those jolly gypsies. I have an irrational aversion to them too. Or maybe it's perfectly rational...


I’ve always thought of Verdi as having a French and Spanish side - don’t get too literal with that, probably should just be lusty vs refined- - and always enjoyed the Spanish side more. The lusty Trovatore, Forza being more to my tastes than the more genteel Traviata and Ballo. Traviata is the most compelling- ly told story of that lot but I agree with the guy who said that Verdi is, for the most part successful episodically!!! I think Trovatore has fun episodes!!!


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## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

Tsaraslondon said:


> It's just that I've heard other transfers of the same aria (on Myto for instance) that are much warmer. That hardness you hear is exacerbated by how the ebay poster has brought the voice forward, sucking out all the house ambience and boosting the mid range. It makes her seem unnaturally close. I wonder what the same treatment would do to the other ladies, though I'd agree that Callas's top notes were never gossamer on the breeze.
> 
> Oddly enough, and _pace _@Op.123, I actually prefer the 1956 studio recording, where the top of the voice, while not exactly a thing of beauty, is better integrated into the rest of her voice, and Karajan supports and breathes with her in a way Votto doesn't here.


I'm not a huge fan of Karajan in Italian opera, though his earlier work is more to my liking than later. I actually think Votto's conducting of Il Trovatore is really wonderful, as is his conducting of Norma. His tempo in this aria seems ideal, allowing the lyrical line plenty of space but moving along quick enough for nothing to be lost. In the studio he could be a little placid, but his live records show he could be a wonderful, idiomatic and exciting conductor of Italian opera.


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## Dogville (Dec 28, 2021)

Ughh I had written a good paragraph but I accidentally deleted it and am too lazy to write it out again. To keep it short, Callas is my #1. Perhaps the problems at the top can be attributed to the fact that her voice favored her lower and middle registers at this point in 1953, and this had an adverse effect on the upper register. She sounds positively contralto-ish in the Miserere. Ponselle is my number two. Price's thick American accent has always been a huge impediment to my enjoyment of her in this rep, although she has the beautiful instrument and floated high notes.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

ScottK said:


> I’ve always thought of Verdi as having a French and Spanish side - don’t get too literal with that, probably should just be lusty vs refined- - and always enjoyed the Spanish side more. The lusty Trovatore, Forza being more to my tastes than the more genteel Traviata and Ballo. Traviata is the most compelling- ly told story of that lot but I agree with the guy who said that Verdi is, for the most part successful episodically!!! I think Trovatore has fun episodes!!!


I guess I prefer his "French" side. I'm content with certain bits and pieces from _Trovatore_, and only if beautifully sung, whereas with _Traviata_ I want the whole thing. Beautifully sung, of course!


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Op.123 said:


> I'm not a huge fan of Karajan in Italian opera, though his earlier work is more to my liking than later. I actually think Votto's conducting of Il Trovatore is really wonderful, as is his conducting of Norma. His tempo in this aria seems ideal, allowing the lyrical line plenty of space but moving along quick enough for nothing to be lost. In the studio he could be a little placid, but his live records show he could be a wonderful, idiomatic and exciting conductor of Italian opera.


Whereas I think his 1956 *Il Trovatore *one of the best things he's ever done. I find his conducting is thrilling and one is constantly amazed at the many felicities he brings out in the orchestral colour, like the sighing two note violin phrases in _Condotta ell’era in ceppi_, or the beautifully elegant string tune that underscores Ferrando’s questioning of Azucena in Act III, cleverly noting its kinship with _Condotta ell’era in ceppi_. His pacing is brilliant, rhythms always alert and beautifully sprung, but suitably spacious and long-breathed in Leonora’s glorious arias. Nor does he shy away from the score’s occasional rude vigour. It is a considerable achievement and it's my favourite conducted version.

I also enjoy the other Italian operas he did at this time, *Falstaff*, *Madama Butterfy *and *Lucia di Lammermoor.*


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## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

Tsaraslondon said:


> Whereas I think his 1956 *Il Trovatore *one of the best things he's ever done. I find his conducting is thrilling and one is constantly amazed at the many felicities he brings out in the orchestral colour, like the sighing two note violin phrases in _Condotta ell’era in ceppi_, or the beautifully elegant string tune that underscores Ferrando’s questioning of Azucena in Act III, cleverly noting its kinship with _Condotta ell’era in ceppi_. His pacing is brilliant, rhythms always alert and beautifully sprung, but suitably spacious and long-breathed in Leonora’s glorious arias. Nor does he shy away from the score’s occasional rude vigour. It is a considerable achievement and it's my favourite conducted version.
> 
> I also enjoy the other Italian operas he did at this time, *Falstaff*, *Madama Butterfy *and *Lucia di Lammermoor.*


I do like his Falstaff, but I prefer a more typically Italianate approach in Lucia. There's nothing wrong with his early work though, later I find it becomes too stodgy.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

I like some more than others. A while back I listened to his *Ballo *and was surprised to find I rather liked it. I also prefer his second *Aida *to his first and I think the *Don Carlo *would be great it it weren't for the weird recording balances.


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## ColdGenius (9 mo ago)

Ponselle probably had her head in the clouds during singing and produced strange long sounds, I don't know how to define them. And her conductor hasn't said a word. At least she won the fight for independence from Verdi. 
Price sounded better in the round where she was joined by Jones. Here she wobbled a lot. 
Milanov sang well, solidly, but lacking something evanescent though important. 
Callas was out of competition. 
Where are you, Montserrat?


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

ColdGenius said:


> Ponselle probably had her head in the clouds during singing and produced strange long sounds, I don't know how to define them. And her conductor hasn't said a word. At least she won the fight for independence from Verdi.
> Price sounded better in the round where she was joined by Jones. Here she wobbled a lot.
> Milanov sang well, solidly, but lacking something evanescent though important.
> Callas was out of competition.
> Where are you, Montserrat?


The only part of this post I understand is "Where are you, Montserrat?"

Somewhere in Catalunya, I presume.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Fascinating about the Verdi vs. French/Spanish (O Don fatale -- Spanish -- Tu che le vanita -- French). I too prefer the French.
I have always strongly felt that Puccini had dipped heavily into the Asian world with his scores. I hear so many influences (besides the obvious _Turandot _that is.)


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## ColdGenius (9 mo ago)

Woodduck said:


> Somewhere in Catalunya, I presume.


Cemetery of San Andreu in Barcelona.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

ColdGenius said:


> Cemetery of San Andreu in Barcelona.


Thanks. Something to visit when I go to Barcelona, if I ever get there.


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## toasino (Jan 3, 2022)

MAS said:


> In earlier rounds, I voted for Milanov by default; no need for that here. Ponselle is discounted for the lower keys. In any case, I’d choose Callas over them - in fact they were never in my consciousness.
> 
> My I choice is L. Price, who was my Leonora of choice after Callas, despite being very different vocally, but who I saw live in the role.


The first time I saw Price in Trovatore, I could not believe how gorgeous she sounded, especially in the last act. I went to see her again to see if she could be that good again, SHE WAS! Callas is very good, but her voice is not nearly as beautiful or secure on top as Leontyne's was. Again, To Each Their Own!


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