RECORDING OF THE MONTH RECORDING OF THE MONTH BARGAIN OF THE MONTH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS A London Symphony Oboe Concerto £11 post free World-wide RACHMANINOV Elegy, Preludes, Piano concerto 3 £12 post free World-wide CHAUSSON, DEBUSSY RACHMANINOV TRios 2CDs £16 post free World-wide

BUY NOW  Crotchet   AmazonUK   AmazonUS

Lawrence Tibbett (1896-1960) Giacomo ROSSINI (1792 - 1868) Il Barbiere di Siviglia: Largo al factotum Guiseppe VERDI (1813-1901) Un ballo in maschera: Eri tu che macchiavi Simone Boccanegra: Dinne...alcun là non vedesti? Simone Boccanegra: Plebe! Patrizii! Popolo Othello (Otello): Inaffia l´ugola! trinca, tracana Othello (Otello): Vanne...Credo in un Dio crudel Othello (Otello): E qual certezza sognate...Era la notte Othello (Otello): Oh, mostruosa colpa!...Si, pel ciel Richard WAGNER (1813-1883) Tannhäuser: Wie Todesahnung Dämm’rung Charles GOUNOD (1818-1893) Margarethe (Faust): Avant de quitter ces lieux Georges BIZET (1838 - 1875) Carmen: Votre toast je peux vous le render Ruggero LEONCAVALLO (1858-1919) I Pagliacci: Si può? Giacomo PUCCINI (1858-1924) Tosca: Tre sbirri, una carrozza Deems TAYLOR The King’s Henchman: Oh, Caesar, great wert thou! The King’s Henchman: Nay, Maccus, lay him down Louis GRUENBERG (1884-1964) Emperor Jones: Standin` in the need of prayer Howard HANSON (1896-1981) Merry Mount; Oh ‘tis an Earth Defiled Lawrence Tibbett (baritone) Orchestra/Nathaniel Shilkret and Rosario Bourdon Metropolitan Opera House Orchestra/Giulio Setti and Wilfred Pelletier Recorded 1926-39 PREISER 89576 [77.32]

AVAILABILITY www.preiserrecords.at Tibbett has been relatively well served by CD reissues but it does no harm to be reminded of his powerful and communicative musicianship. Always a dramatic and dashing figure he was perfect casting for Verdi but was also active in propagating modern American work - Gruenberg, Hanson, Deems Taylor amongst them and all represented on this disc – as indeed he was when taking part in the premiere of Eugene Goossens’ Don Juan de Mañara. The Victors range from 1926 to 1939. It was a crucial span of years. He’d made his debut at the Met, albeit in small roles, in 1924 very soon after completing singing studies with Frank La Forge and his first recordings followed soon after (the 1926 Leoncavallo is here). For the next fifteen or so years he reigned resplendent as the leading American baritone and we catch him therefore in his prime. It doesn’t much matter that the strings are thin and listless behind him in the Shilkret-conducted quartet of sides. The singing itself is powerful, sensitive and illuminated by lightening application of senza vibrato. His Rossini Factotum is a little marvel of tongue twisting alacrity – in fact so tongue twisting that I couldn’t catch it. His Verdi is certainly, unambiguously masculine, the voice powerfully projected and very firmly centred – but it’s also one that can lighten with shades of inflection. It’s not at all marmoreal or unvaried. There’s the famous recording with Rose Brampton of the stretto from Simon Boccanegra. She’s not as impressive as Tibbett whose virility is electric. Warren, Martinelli and Robert Nicholson join them from a recording made at the same session. The examples of Tibbett’s work with hot-off-the–press Americana is represented by that trio earlier mentioned. Merry Mount is available, complete, on Naxos but these snippets are enough to whet the appetite. The balance between voice and orchestra and choir is fine in the Taylor and the qualities of Tibbett’s histrionic projection are nowhere more evident than in Emperor Jones where he well nigh blasts the needle. This is a good, well-constructed and representative collection of Tibbett. Sound quality is good, matrix and issue details are here, notes are brief, in German and English, but cover the biography pretty well. You’ll need Tibbett in your baritone pantheon; this is a good place to start and then radiate outwards. Jonathan Woolf Advertising Rates Visitor stats MusicWeb International has over 40,000 Classical CD reviews on offer Discs received Having a problem Donating? Gerard Hoffnung Concerts & The Bricklayer Story MusicWeb can now offer you discs from the following catalogues: Prices include postage There will be NO VAT Rises [Acte Préalable £13.50] [Arcodiva £12.00] [Avie from £6.25] [British Music Society £12.00] [CDACCORD from £13.50 ] [ClassicO £12.50] [Hallé from £11] [Heritage £10] [Hortus £14.99 ] [Lyrita ONLY £11.75 ] [Nimbus Special prices] [Northern Flowers £13.50] [REDCLIFFE £11 ] [Sheva £11] [Tactus £11.50 ] [Talent from £12.00 ] [Toccata Classics £10.50 ] Musicweb Special Offers Monthly Best Buys   New Releases New Releases   MusicWeb sells the Polish catalogue CDAccord £10.50 post free W-W MusicWeb sells the Arcodiva catalogue £12.00 post free W-W £11.75 post-free world- wide     Google Ads - for information about privacy matters, click here.  Amazon Musicweb International is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com

Return to Index

Reviews from previous months Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.