Word: turandote
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...kind of libretto I want for my next opera." Failing in his lifelong search for a girl who combined frailness with sensuality, he built those qualities into a procession of operatic heroines - Manon Lescaut, Mimi in Bohème, Cio-Cio-San in Butterfly, Liù in Turandot. His obsession with swift love followed by swifter death gave his work a narrow emotional range, a failing of which he was conscious. He envied Wagner his heroic themes and majestic brasses, idolized Verdi's poetic tragedies, in later life even made an effort to understand the moderns (although on first...
Other noteworthy records: Nine Beethoven Symphonies, played by the NBC Symphony under Toscanini and popularly priced (Victor, 6 LPs); Puccini's Turandot, with Inge Borkh and Mario del Monaco and St. Cecilia Academy musicians under Alberto Erede (London, 3 LPs); Ravel's Complete Piano Works, played by Walter Gieseking (Angel...
Puccini's last opera, Turandot, is his grandest and in some ways his best. Dying before he could finish it, Puccini left undone what he wanted to be "the greatest duet ever written." Whether or not he could have fulfilled this aim or not, the rest of the music, some two hours worth, is full of a fine blend of Oriental color and Italian melody. The story concerns a Chinese princess who gives her suitors three riddles to answer. The penalty for wrong guesses is decapitation, but the beauty of Turandot entices many prospective bridegrooms. Such a plot satisfied Puccini...
Until recently the only adequate recording of Turandot was the Cetra set which featured the electrifying singing of Gina Cigna as Turandot and the haunting Calaf of Giulio Masini. Now London has issued a beautifully recorded version that is one of their most satisfactory operatic sets. The taxing role of Turandot finds Inge Borkh lacking in the most dramatic moments, but her voice in the lyrical passages is ravishing. Renata Tebaldi has too heavy a soprano for the role of Liu, but she gives a more sustained performance than has been her wont of late. As the Calaf, Mario...
London's recording of La Forza is less successful than Turandot. Tebaldi and del Monaco are also in La Forza but they both contribute uneven performances. Although del Monaco is the outstanding Italian dramatic tenor of our day, too much forcing has taken its toll on his voice and he can no longer sustain the line as well as he should. He is still effective in declamatory passages, but the many lyric moments are sung roughly. Tebaldi tends to be shrill as Leonora, although parts of her performance are controlled and lovely. The opera itself is uneven, so the singers...