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4.0 out of 5 stars
Not Quite Their Best, But Still a Treasure, May 15 2004
Remember all those old LP's that maybe your parents or grandparents owned? You were always told not to touch, but you disobeyed the order, and thumbed through the collection. You find a great operatic recording, with the stars on the jacket that seemed larger than life. You take the record out of the jacket, carefully place it on the phonograph, and fall in love with opera. Then of course, you carefully place the record back in the jacket, and few weeks later Mom or Dad, or Grandma or Grandpa listen to the record and can't understand how it got scratched. They know it is you, so you run and hide, but all will later be forgiven when you join them in listening to a Saturday afternoon radio broadcast live from the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Now you're an adult and you remember those great old recordings from opera's golden and know that with all of today's technology and wonderful recording artists, they somehow do not measure up to those of yesteryear? Well, now you can rest assured because someone at Decca must have had the same childhood experiences and has started releasing some of these great recordings in its CLASSIC RECITALS series.This recording of operatic duets by greats Renata Tebaldi and Franco Corelli was recorded in 1973, when both were beginning to be past prime, yet it is still a gem. There are only five duets, three of which are from operas and roles associated with both performers: Manon and Des Grieux in MANON LESCAUT, Francesca and Paolo in FRANCESCA DA RIMINI, and Adriana and Maurizio in ADRIANA LECOUVREUR. These duets are performed well, as one would expect from singers of their caliber. The treasures are the duets from LA GIOCONDA and AIDA. Normally Tebaldi was the soprano in these operas and exceptional as both Gioconda and Aida. Yet in the duets, her voice is more mezzo and she sings Laura and Amneris respectively. The recording is packaged nostalgically which Decca hopes will give it a retro appeal. The only drawback is that the liner notes are in very small, almost unreadable font. Perhaps with a magnifying glass, the text can be read, but at a legendary recording at a discount price is a bargain any day, even with a few slight packaging flaws.
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