Favourites,
Giuseppe Verdi
After James's Beethoven marathon last week, I felt I should probably set myself a comparably Herculean task to follow, so I've taken the bull by the horns and attempted to settle on 20-odd favourite Verdi recordings (covering all the major operas and including a handful of DVDs, but otherwise limiting myself to one recording per work - as with Mozart, some very difficult choices had to be made here!). In the interests of (relative) brevity, I haven't included every single opera, but as the 2013 anniversary celebrations turned me into quite the fan of the early and more obscure works, I may well cook up something on these at a later date...
As with so many major composers, there are certain interpreters who can rather dominate the field, and the late 1960s and 70s in particular saw a golden age for Verdi singing (when I worked in a record-shop as a student, our general policy on Verdi recommendations was 'Is there a recording with Caballé, Domingo and Milnes? Then get that one!'); I've tried to be as catholic as possible with my selections - though my Domingo weakness may have skewed things ever so slightly!
Pavarotti was well into the autumn of his career when this recording under Lorin Maazel was made in 1985, but the golden lustre of the voice remains undimmed; starrier sopranos have recorded the title-role, but for me Maria Chiara is one of the most engaging on disc. The real laurels, though, go to Ghena Dimitrova (herself a celebrated Aida earlier in her career), sweeping all before her as a lacerating Amneris.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
With Leontyne Price's regal Amelia, Carlo Bergonzi's fervent Riccardo, Robert Merrill's imposing Renato, and Reri Grist's button-cute Oscar, Erich Leinsdorf's 1966 Ballo with the RCA Italiana Opera forces still packs a real punch; the eerie melodrama of both the incantation-scene (a hair-raising Shirley Verrett as Ulrica) and the graveyard sequence chill to the bone.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
No Verdi discography would be complete without at least one appearance from Renata Tebaldi, and this 1955 Forza under Francesco Molinari-Pradelli captures so much of what makes her such a special interpreter of this repertoire; Mario del Monaco's ringing Alvaro and Giulietta Simionato's lusty Preziosilla are equally treasurable.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
James Levine's classic recording with Caballé, Domingo & Milnes (1972) still takes some beating for Verdi's fanciful treatment of the 'Maid of Orleans', but I did warm to last year's maverick newcomer - Anna Netrebko offers more thrills than spills in the title-role and Francesco Meli sings with full-throated ardour as Carlo VII, whilst Giacomo is to my mind Placido Domingo's most successful baritone role to date.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
Phyllida Lloyd's 2011 Covent Garden production works especially well on screen (it was broadcast into cinemas during the run) and the Macbeths are suitably chalk-and-cheese: Simon Keenlyside's dramatic subtlety is ample compensation for a slight lack of vocal heft, whilst the more stolid Liudmyla Monastyrska's visceral dramatic soprano takes no prisoners. The choruses - particularly the witches - come off superbly, and the entire performance crackles with demonic energy under Antonio Pappano.
Available Format: DVD Video
Giuseppe Sinopoli's studio recording of Verdi's Babylonian epic has several selling-points: the Bulgarian powerhouse Ghena Dimitrova, absolutely fearless in the fiendish role of Abigaille, Verdi baritone par excellence Piero Cappuccilli singing with firm tone and authority as Nabucco and the chorus of the Deutschen Oper Berlin sublime in the famous Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
Recorded live at the Metropolitan Opera in 1995, this Elijah Moshinsky production pairs Renée Fleming at her most luminous as Desdemona with Placido Domingo in what was arguably the greatest of his 100-odd roles (though now singing baritone parts, he recently announced that his identification with the character is such that he will never sing Iago, simply because he 'cannot betray Otello!'). James Morris is a slightly moustache-twirling but never less than vivid Iago, and James Levine conducts with his customary empathy and energy.
Available Format: DVD Video
A tiny bit of crackle on the recording is a small price to pay for the glories of Jussi Björling's swaggering, open-toned Duke, Roberta Peters's sweet and steady-toned Gilda and Robert Merrill's imposing Rigoletto on this 1956 recording from Rome, masterfully paced by Jonel Perlea.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC
Though the voice may be lighter than Verdi baritones of yore (such as Piero Cappuccilli on Abbado's 1971 recording) Thomas Hampson brings lieder-like insight and quiet authority to the role of the Doge; his son-in-law Luca Pisaroni is insidious as Paolo, whilst Joseph Calleja brings the house down as Gabriele Adorno. Massimo Zanetti conjures terrific light and shade from the Wiener Symphoniker.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
So many of the older recordings on this list have vintage 'dream-teams' of soloists, and this 2012 Requiem offers a contemporary line-up of comparable lustre: Anja Harteros, Elīna Garanča, Jonas Kaufmann and René Pape are all on thrilling form, and Daniel Barenboim conjures suitably operatic drama from his La Scala forces.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC
Katherine Cooper - Head of Editorial
