Word: bastianini
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...English rhymes of I Could Have Danced All Night, sung by Birgit Nilsson, of all people, in ponderous and chesty style. In the midst of the second act party scene, the producers have inserted anachronistic "entertainments" sung by some of opera's grandest names-Giulietta Simionato and Ettore Bastianini wander through Anything You Can Do, Leontyne Price sings Summertime from Porgy and Bess. "Gershwin?" quips the introductory dialogue. "But Gershwin isn't even born yet." The gag, unfortunately, dies with the first listening...
Ponchielli: La Gioconda (Anita Cerquetti, Franca Sacchi, Mario del Monaco, Cesare Siepi, Giulietta Simionato, Ettore Bastianini; conducted by Gianandrea Gavazzeni; London, 3 LPs). A first-rate cast gives a racy reading to Amilcare Ponchielli's old campaigner from Venice, proves that there is a lot more to it than its pop-concert Dance of the Hours. Mellow-voiced Soprano Cerquetti gives a superb performance as "the joyous female" of the title role who loses her blind mother and her lover before she plunges a dagger in her heart. Tenor del Monaco sings so gustily that he conceals the fact...
...shrill as Leonora, although parts of her performance are controlled and lovely. The opera itself is uneven, so the singers must sometimes surpass their material. They have only partial success: contralto Giulia Simionato is fine, but basso Cesare Siepi is a disappointment. The best performance comes from baritone Bastianini, making his debut on records. His voice is rich and big, and handled very sympathetically. He contributes the only consistent luster to an otherwise spotty recording...
...Duce and his son-in-law played faction against faction, until no nation could be sure whether he was coming or going. At first the Allies were favored. Insulting press attacks on the Allies, particularly on Great Britain, were toned down; so was praise of the Axis. Friendly Giuseppe Bastianini was appointed Ambassador to the Court of St. James's. Trade talks with a British delegation were nurtured...
...their return journey with cargoes of coal will leave the ports in which they are at present in ballast (unladen) and no further Italian cargo steamers will be sent subsequently to those ports to load coal." Later came reports that British Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax and Italian Ambassador Giuseppe Bastianini had not only settled the dispute but had agreed to double Britain's coal exports to Italy. There were no further squawks from Il Duce, his papers or his representatives. Great Britain had won a grand slam...