Puccini: La fanciulla del West (2001)

This recording of a live performance at La Scala dates from 1956 and it shows its age badly. The sound quality is scratchy and every footstep on-stage, every page turn in the orchestra, and every audience cough shows up. The quality of the recording erratically fluctuates throughout, occasionally improving for a while, but in order to appreciate the fine performances, it's necessary to tune out the aural dross to focus on the music. Antonino Votto leads the orchestra and chorus in a muscular reading of Puccini's dramatic ... Read More

This recording of a live performance at La Scala dates from 1956 and it shows its age badly. The sound quality is scratchy and every footstep on-stage, every page turn in the orchestra, and every audience cough shows up. The quality of the recording erratically fluctuates throughout, occasionally improving for a while, but in order to appreciate the fine performances, it's necessary to tune out the aural dross to focus on the music. Antonino Votto leads the orchestra and chorus in a muscular reading of Puccini's dramatic score, which very clearly served as one of the inspirations for Ennio Morricone's music for Sergio Leone's spaghetti westerns. The opera's relative obscurity is difficult to understand; it has all the grandeur and tenderness of Puccini's best scores and more complex and appealing characters than some of his better-known works.The plot resembles that of Tosca, with similar dynamics in its love triangle, but here, the heroine is successful in rescuing the hero and no one dies. The three... Read Less

• All

• All Copies (0)
• Choose Release (1)

Currently there are no copies available. However, our inventory changes frequently. Please check back soon or try Book Fetch.

2007, Opera D'Oro UPC: 723721255459 CD See All