Details

Field of Interest

Classical Music

Composer

Giacomo Puccini, 1858-1924

Conductor

Paul Popescu

Content Type

Music recording

Duration

2 hours 12 mins

Recording Engineer

Ion Bamea

Ensemble

Philharmonic Orchestra of Satu Mare, Chorus of Cluj-Napoca

Format

Audio

Sub Genre

Opera

Label

Musical Concepts

Performer

Emil Gherman, Stefan Popescu, Mihaela Agachi, Eduard Tumageanian, Eugenia Moldoveanu, Mircea Moisa, Ioan Soanea, Alexandru Kopeczi, Corina Circa

Producer

Stefan Bonea

Date Recorded

1979

Release Date

1996

Review

EMI's 1955 recording of Madama Butterfly features three of the brightest stars of the era, Maria Callas, Nicolai Gedda, and Herbert von Karajan. Callas hadn't yet sung {%Cio-Cio-San} on-stage when she made this recording, but she fully inhabits the role and brings penetrating insight to it. She's completely convincing as an adolescent, a remarkable feat in this role, which requires a voice of considerable heft. Callas beautifully captures {%Butterfly}'s vulnerability and sensitivity with an astonishingly youthful-sounding vocal freshness, and she's compellingly poignant as {%Butterfly}'s dilemma becomes clear to her. The only caveat about her performance is the intonation and purity of her sustained notes above the staff; several of them are painfully strident. Gedda is thoroughly caddish as {%Pinkerton}, and he sings with passion, but his voice shows some strain in the upper register.

Mario Borriello is a resonant, compassionate {%Sharpless}, and Lucia Danieli sings with warmth and security as {%Suzuki}. Karajan, leading the Chorus and Orchestra of La Scala, has a sure grasp of the score's dramatic contour and makes this a highly charged reading. The orchestral playing is of the highest order. The recorded sound is clear and balance is good, but it shows its vintage; it's somewhat cramped and lacks depth. ~ Stephen Eddins, All Music Guide

Subject

Classical Music, Music & Performing Arts, Romantic, Romanticismo, Romantica

Keywords and Translated Subjects

Romanticismo, Romantica