# Pavarotti the Last Tenor



## Foamy (Nov 25, 2013)

Hello out there!
I was watching Pavarotti the Last Tenor and was wondering what is the name of the attached aria and is it on a performance available on CD or DVD?

Thank you
View attachment Pavaratti 2.mp3


----------



## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

It's from Verdi's La Traviata, last act.

You'll find it at 1.30 here:


----------



## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

BTW my personal favourite CD is this:










And my favourite DVD is this:


----------



## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

FWIW, This is my favorite.
Gedda out classes all rivals.
Sills outstanding. 
Panerai perfect.
Chorus wonderful.
Ceccato perfect.









And the score is COMPLETE.
yay


----------



## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Itullian said:


> FWIW, This is my favorite.
> Gedda out classes all rivals.
> Sills outstanding.
> Panerai perfect.
> ...


Yay! It's on Spotify! I LOVE Spotify.


----------



## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

...Spotify can be your best friend when comparing performances.

For me, a good La Traviata needs a good Violetta and I think Scotto is the greatest recorded Violetta (with quite a bit of daylight between her and second-place). Her and Votto are great in this.









My pick for a best overall recording would be this one. Everyone is in fine form.









I think that La Traviata takes a sharp decline after those two but it's worth listening to as many as you can as preferences are highly personal.
I'd give 3rd place to Cortrubas with Kleiber. Whilst the rest of the ensemble is proficient, they're hardly spectacular in this instance.








_
Victoria De Los Angeles/Orchestra Del Teatro Dell'Opera, Roma/Tullio Serafin_
This is a great recording but I think Serafin's conducting lacks the necessary "oomph" in places. Some may prefer the softer approach.

The Toscanini recording was done during rehearsal in 1946 and it sounds incredible. The audio can get a bit iffy during higher notes but mostly it sounds like it's from 1986.
Albanese is quite interesting and worth a listen.

Other great performances exist but the audio is probably too poor to make it worth the purchase. This is where Spotify is handy.

Callas was famous for playing Violetta but the recording with Ghione in Lisbon is really the only choice. She's good but not great in it. Her performance with Giulini at La Scala is much better but the audio is terrible in the latter half.

Ponselle & Co. sound great with Panizza conducting but it's 1935 and the audio is as poor as you might expect.

An interesting Sills recording is with Ceccato conducting in Naples. I'm guessing that it was recorded by someone in the audience so that gives you an idea on the audio quality. You also get a running commentary during the applause. I think it was Sills' debut in Italy - they liked her A LOT!


----------

