After the finale of
World War 2 was played out, Europe began
to drag itself up by its bootstraps.
Bombed out opera houses were rebuilt
and record companies began to look at
the renewal and extension of their catalogues.
Parallel with that analysis was the
emergence into peacetime use of new
technologies such as the tape recorder,
initially too big and bulky for domestic
use it made life in the recording studio
much easier. Meanwhile, domestic record
playing was confined to 78 r.p.m. shellac
discs playing a maximum of around 5
minutes per side; HMV issued their 1946
recording of Aida on 20 such discs!
One UK-based company, with very forward-looking
management, was looking ahead at the
new technologies, often a bi-product
of war. Of the brilliant electronic
engineers who had brought about these
new technologies some went into academic
life but others were snapped up by The
Decca Record Company. With Decca these
electronic tyros were destined to take
sound recording to new levels and put
the label at the forefront of recorded
excellence for the next thirty years.
This recording revolution took place
concurrently with the replacement of
78 shellacs by the vinyl LP, first in
mono and by the mid-1950s, in stereo.
Opera recordings were an obvious outlet
for any extended playing time and would
require the contracting of outstanding
artists. Regrettably, as far as Decca
were concerned, many first rate singers
were already contracted to other labels
intent on their own plans. However,
one singer, Renata Tebaldi, spotted
by Toscanini and invited by him to sing
at the prestigious re-opening of the
‘La Scala’ opera house, was available.
Decca snapped her up as their ‘house’
soprano and built the label’s Italian
lyric/verismo opera repertoire around
her for the next twenty years. This
process was complemented with the production
of many recital discs alongside the
complete operas. The first LP recordings
featuring Tebaldi are now out of copyright
and the likes of ‘Pearl’ and ‘Naxos’
have been issuing their re-mastered
and restored versions, each company
with its own view, in terms of philosophy
and technology, on the processes involved.
I personally have become a fan of Mark
Obert-Thorn’s work for the Naxos label
and recently found his restoration of
Verdi’s ‘Il Trovatore’ outstanding for
warmth, clarity and presence (reviewed
by me elsewhere on this site). If his
results on this issue are not quite
of that standard it is because the original,
recorded in the Santa Cecilia in Rome,
has not the openness in the recorded
ambience. This was a limitation that
beset several Decca opera recordings
made in that venue. One can hear the
difference when Decca re-recorded Aida
with Tebaldi in 1959 (now a Decca ‘Legend’).
It isn’t merely the improvement in recording
technology or the stereo effect, but
the more natural openness and clarity
around the voices obtainable in the
Sofiensaal, Vienna.
Decca tried their best
to surround Tebaldi with other singers
of quality. Regrettably, as here, the
results show mixed success. However,
it is the singing of Tebaldi herself
that makes this recording a must for
lovers of great singing. Her voice is
distinctly lighter and fresher than
in the 1959 remake. It encompasses the
many demands of the part with ease,
fluency and good depth of characterization.
Her attack at the opening of ‘Ritorna
vincitor’ (CD 1 tr. 7) shows these skills
as well as, later in the aria, her fine
legato and phrasing, with notes floated
‘on the breath’ (4"10’). Tebaldi’s
concluding phrase of this aria is not
bettered on record, although Leontyne
Price on her first recording (1962 and
now a ‘Double Decca’) and Caballé
for Muti (1974 and now an EMI ‘GROC’)
come close. By the time of the 1959
stereo recording Tebaldi’s voice had
grown, lost some of that earlier freshness,
and the effect is not repeated, nor
could she hit the high note near the
end of ‘O patria mia’ (CD2 tr.6) dead-centre
as she does here.
Decca signed up Mario
del Monaco as ‘house’ tenor and his
Radames on this issue was the first
of many collaborations with Tebaldi.
Regrettably his singing shares nothing
of her musicality, refined legato or
elegance of phrasing. As to characterization
I am tempted to suggest he didn’t think
about it! He simply sang out with his
big forceful trumpet voice and what
he was singing about was, at best, a
secondary consideration to him. His
‘Celeste Aida’ (CD1 tr 2) is coarse,
throaty and squeezed, with choppy phrasing,
its only virtue, if it is one, being
vocal virility. Vickers, with Leontyne
Price, has similar trumpet tone, but
with more taste, whilst Bergonzi, the
Radames on the 1959 recording, shows
how it should be done.
After Radames’ opening
contribution matters improve (tr. 4)
with the entrance of Amneris sung by
Ebe Stignani. One of a great line of
Italian dramatic mezzos she certainly
knows what she is singing about and
her characterization throughout is that
of a singer long experienced in the
part. Her upper voice is not as secure
as on her 1946 recording with Gigli
as Radames (re-issued by Naxos and reviewed
by me elsewhere on this site). It is
a little fluttery at the top (CD1 tr.10)
but her contribution is a great strength
and in the drama of the ‘Trial Scene’
(CD2 trs.12-15) she is outstanding.
As Amonasro, Protti, whilst not having
the depth of tone of Taddei, or the
vocal histrionics of Gobbi (with Callas)
is as good as Warren (RCA) and better
than his compatriot Nucci on either
of his later recordings. Often criticized
at the time as ‘a dull dog’ his Italian
baritone would be very welcome nowadays
when the well seems to have dried up.
The Ramfis and King are well up to standard,
steady, tuneful, full-toned and well
characterized.
The conductor gives
a steady rather than inspired reading.
Both Karajan, in the 1959 re-make and
Solti with Price and Vickers show what
is possible with the work. Erede is
on a par with the likes of Abbado (DG)
and Leinsdorf (RCA on Leontyne Price’s
second recording), and more idiomatic
than Maazel on his 1980s La Scala recording.
Despite my earlier
stated reservations, I have to note
that the sound is a lot better than
I ever got from my LPs with my Garrard
301 and state of the art stylus and
it is now at a fraction of the cost.
It is a must for Tebaldi fans.
Robert J Farr
Chorus and Orchestra of the Academia di Santa
Cecilia, Rome/Alberto Erede