La Gioconda

As a dévoté of this neglected opera and the owner of half a dozen recordings of it, I am grateful to longtime Amazon reviewer Larry Cantrell for recommending this one to me. This is a milestone first recording of one of the most tuneful, satisfying and exciting operas I know and it features in the title rôle a great singer who should be better known to modern collectors. Giannina Arangi-Lombardi (teacher of Leyla Gencer) had one of the most beautiful voices of all time: a rich, velvety lower register (she retrained from mezzo) and sonorous top notes. She was a classically elegant singer, sometimes a tad placid but unfailingly musical. There is bell-like clarity to her sound without a hint of shrillness and the selection of arias in the recital following the opera is alone worth the modest price of the three discs. Her one fault is that she occasionally sings flat (especially in the "Casta diva") but she has so many virtues, including a perfect trill. The arias from "Lucrezia Borgia" are a particularly valuable example of bel canto. It is also a pleasure to hear the great Ebe Stignani early in her long career, both as a spirited Laura and in the "Norma" duet" recorded in 1927, when she was only 24.

Despite her giving this set five stars, the previous reviewer is, I think, a little harsh in her verdict on the male singers: if we had today a tenor and baritone of the incisiveness and calibre of, respectively, Alessandro Granda and Gaetano Viviano we would be celebrating. Granda succumbs too often to the "Gigli gulp" but is otherwise extraordinarily capable, often sounding like Jan Peerce. Despite the prominence of his fast vibrato and the occasional uninspired patch of singing, the now forgotten Viviano creates a really vivid character of Barnaba, who emerges as Iago's equally nasty cousin - just as he should. He has that vibrancy peculiar to baritones of the era such as Amato, Ruffo, Stracciari et al. The Alvise, Cieca and supporting cast are ordinary, but that matters little.

The orchestral playing, choral singing and conducting are of a much higher standard standard than one might expect; Lorenzo Molajoli (whoever he was - and there is some conjecture that he was really a better known conductor recording under a sobriquet to avoid violating contractual obligations, though others deny this) knows exactly how this opera should go and the performance is suitably impassioned.

The sound is remarkably good for its age. Ward Marston has reamastered the opera from 38 78's which were obviously in pristine condition. He has retained some of the surface hiss, obviously, as to do otherwise would remove too many upper frequencies and overtones, and he has added some discreet ambience to produce an eminently listenable set. I give it four stars rather than five only to reflect the fact that this could not be a primary recommendation for a first-time listener when there are so many excellent modern sets available in stereo (see, for example, my review of the Gardelli version) - but it is a wonderful supplement for someone already familiar with the opera or for the many "canary-fanciers" out there.