Giuseppe di Stefano

“Callas and Karajan took the world by the ears in the 1950s with this Il trovatore. Leonora was one of Callas's finest stage roles, and this recording is wonderfully intense, with a dark concentrated loveliness of sound in the principal arias that puts one in mind of Muzio or Ponselle at their best. Walter Legge always managed to team Callas with the right conductor for the work in question. Often it was Serafin, but Karajan in Il trovatore is utterly compelling.
This opera, like Beethoven's Seventh Symphony and Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, is one of music's great essays in sustained rhythmic intensity; dramatically it deals powerfully in human archetypes. All this is realised by the young Karajan with that almost insolent mastery of score and orchestra which made him such a phenomenon at this period of is career. There are some cuts, but, equally, some welcome inclusions (such as the second verse of 'Di quella pira', sung by di Stefano with his own unique kind of slancio).
Although the EMI sound is very good, one or two climaxes suggest that in the heat of the moment, the engineer, Robert Beckett, let the needle run into the red and you might care to play the set in mono to restore that peculiar clarity and homogeneity of sound which are the mark of Legge's finest productions of the mono era. But whatever you do don't miss this set.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“It is a joy to hear Puccini's orchestration ... brought out with such precision ... Karajan's impressiveness consists of more than drawing brilliant playing from the Vienna Philharmonic ... [his] control of tension shows itself at its most impressive ... Price pours forth a flood of rich, glorious tone and her attention to detail is exemplary” Gramophone Magazine

“It remains one of the finest versions, with Leontyne Price at the peak of her form and Di Stefano singing most sensitively. But Karajan deserves equal credit with the principal singers, and the sound is first class.” Penguin Guide, 2010 edition ****

“A classic 1954 interpretation with a complex geisha from de Los Angeles, a suave Pinkerton from di Stefano and a memorable consul from Gobbi. Gianandrea Gavazzeni conducts as to the manner born.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2006 *****

“The performance has many advantages over the later, stereo version. De los Angeles's tone is even more beautiful, Di Stefano is a more ardent Pinkerton, and Tito Gobbi. unexpectedly cast as a rugged Sharpless, uses that small role to point some of the set's most memorable moments...The Regis mono transfer is kind to the voices, which are given a full presence.” Penguin Guide, 2010 edition ***

“The sound here is much more confined than on the Karajan set, though more immediate. Serafin conducts swifter-moving performances, yet ones quite as notable as Karajan's for pointing up relevant detail. All four interpretations carry with them a real sense of the theatre and are quite free from studio routine. It's difficult to choose between the casts on these two sets. Callas lives the characters more vividly than anyone.
The sadness and anguish she brings to Santuzza's unhappy plight are at their most compelling at 'io piango' in 'Voi lo sapete' and at 'Turiddu mi tolse' in her encounter with Alfio, where the pain in Santuzza's heart is expressed in almost unbearable terms. As Nedda, she differentiates marvellously between the pensiveness of her aria, the passion of her duet with Silvio, and the playfulness of her commedia dell'arte acting.
Her partner in both operas is di Stefano They work up a huge lather of passion in the big Cavalleria duet, and the tenor is wholly believable as the caddish Turiddu. In the immediacy of emotion of his Canio, it's the tenor's turn to evoke pity. Di Stefano does it as well as any Canio on record without quite having the heroic tone for the latter part of the opera. Panerai is a strong Alfio on the Serafin set, but Guelfi, with his huge voice, is possibly better suited to this macho part. It's impossible to choose between the two Tonios, both pertinently cast. Taddei plays the part a little more comically, Gobbi more menacingly. Callas or Karajan enthusiasts will have no difficulty making their choice. Others may be guided by quality of sound. With either you'll be ensured hours of memorable listening.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“[Callas's] insights make for a vibrantly involving performance. Though Giuseppe di Stefano is not the subtlest of Rodolfos, he is in excellent voice here, and Moffo and Panerai make a strong partnership as the seond pair of lovers.” Penguin Guide, 2010 edition ***

“In this remastering of one of the classic performances of the gramophone, one of Walter Legge's masterpieces as a creative recording producer, you barely miss stereo recording. With offstage effects for example – so important in Puccini – precisely placed, there is a sense of presence normally reserved for twin-channel reproduction. In the long duet between Tosca and Cavaradossi in Act 3 you can even detect a difference of placing between the two singers, Callas set at a slight distance, though whether or not to offset a microphone problem with so biting a voice one can only guess. The immediacy is astonishing, and the great moment of the execution with trombones rasping and the fusillade reproduced at a true fortissimo has never been represented on record with greater impact. The contrasts of timbre are beautifully brought out – amazingly wide with Gobbi as with Callas and with di Stefano producing his most honeyed tones. Though there is less space in the Milan acoustic than we have grown used to in the age of stereo, the separation of voices and orchestra is excellent, with the strands of the accompaniment to 'Vissi d'arte', for example, finely clarified. Only in the big Te Deum scene at the end of Act 1 is there a hint of overloading.
Wonderful as Gobbi's and di Stefano's performances are, and superbly dramatic as de Sabata's conducting is, it is the performance of the unique Callas in the title-role that provides the greatest marvel, and here more than ever one registers the facial changes implied in each phrase, with occasional hints of a chuckle (usually ironic) more apparent than on LP. A truly Great Recording of the last Century which is available in numerous guises. Naxos's transfer is particularly impressive, but if you want top-class supporting material, the mid-price EMI is the one to go for.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010