Puccini: Tosca - download (MP3 & FLAC)

“Tebaldi's heady tone is equal to every one of the role's musical demands, while dramatically she proves an engaged and potent heroine...[Gobbi's Scarpia] as always is dramatically thrilling; though not the greatest voice for the brutal police chief, Gobbi's baritone arguably provides more theatrical frisson than any other exponent. Francesco Molinari-Pradelli is an idiomatic conductor of very respectable forces.” BBC Music Magazine, August 2011 ***

“Tebaldi's voice is remarkably fresh and secure, with all five high Cs in place and offering no problems, the registers perfectly knit and the sound grand, beautiful and womanly...Gobbi, is, of course, sui generis. From his opening, snarling statement in church, through his lascivious, sneering 'Ebbene' and disgusting 'Tosca, finalmente mia' and even beyond, he terrifies.” International Record Review, July 2011

“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

“There has never been a finer recorded performance of Tosca...Gobbi makes the unbelievably villainous police chief into a genuine three-dimensional character, and Di Stefano...was at his finest...The conducting of De Sabata is spaciously lyrical as well as sharply dramatic” Penguin Guide, 2010 edition ****

“Caballé's Tosca is one of the most ravishingly on record, with scarcely a less than beautiful note throughout, save where an occasional phrase lies a touch low for her. She doesn't quite have the 'prima donna' (in quotes, mind) temperament for the part (the coquettish malice of 'but make her eyes black!', as Tosca forgives Cavaradossi for using a blonde stranger as model for his altarpiece of the Magdalen, isn't in Caballé's armoury; either that or she knows that her voice would sound arch attempting it), but her portrayal is much more than a display of lovely sounds. She's precise with words, takes minute care over phrasing, and she knows to a split second where dead-centre precise pitching becomes crucial. Carreras's Cavaradossi is one of his best recorded performances: the voice untarnished, the line ample, and if he's tempted at times to over-sing one forgives the fault for the sake of his poetic ardour. Wixell is the fly in the ointment: a capable actor and an intelligent artist, but his gritty timbre lacks centre and thus the necessary dangerous suavity.
Davis's direction is flexible but dramatic and finely detailed, and the secondary singers are all very good. The recording, despite some rather unconvincing sound effects, still sounds very well, with space around the voices and a natural balance between them and the orchestra. It's pity Philips should have saved space by omitting the libretto.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“The great merit of this new version of Tosca...is that the stage picture is so clear, with the words sharply audible from beginning to end...Pavarotti makes an unusually positive and bright-eyed Cavaradossi, by no means the cipher this character can be...Milnes gives a fresh, alternative view - a Scarpia still thoroughly evil but with a hint of nobility, with the virility of an active lover.” Gramophone Magazine, May 1980

“David Parry with Jane Eaglen, in one of her performances on disc, directs a gripping account of Puccini's red-blooded drama...What above all seals the success of the set is the power and command of Jane Eaglen as Tosca. The confident sureness with which she attacks every top note is a delight” Penguin Guide, 2010 edition ***