Bellini: Adelson & Salvini

Advantages: about equal!
Disadvantages: high price of the Sutherland set

...Keen opera fans may sometimes be puzzled by the choice available on the shelves of the larger record shops, especially when trying to compare two stellar casts. Bellini's last (and arguably greatest) opera, I Puritani, is a case in point, with recordings by Callas and Sutherland heading the list. Personally I bought both, to avoid having to choose, but each has it's merits. Callas, as always, brings greater warmth and fire to the usually pallid role of Elvira, but Sutherland's effortless roulades and trills are a joy to hear, and a young Pavarotti has a flawless technique in the infamous tenor role which defeated Caruso, complete with a hair-raising top F in his final aria. The Sutherland set also avoids the cuts made in the earlier recording, but is handicapped by Decca's greedy pricing - still at full-price after 30 years? Come on... Read review

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Advantages: Superb singing
Disadvantages: Hard to find

...When Verdi's immortal opera La Traviata premiered in March 1853 at the Fenice, Venice, it proved a disaster. Verdi was philosophical about the outcome. "Was it the singers' fault, or mine"? he wrote to his friend Emanuele Muzio. Perhaps there was good reason for the audience to pan the performance. Firstly, they objected to the modern costuming - the play on which the opera was based took place some 150 years earlier - but the costumes were contemporary. Then later, in Act 111, when Violetta was dying of consumption and was given merely a few hours to live, the audience erupted into an outburst of laughter. This was due to the fact that opening night prima donna, Signora Salvini-Donatelli, who was rather kindly referred to as 'troppo properosa' - or significantly overweight - did little to add real credibility to the tragedy... Read review

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Advantages: Bellini's music. Gruberova, Kasarova, Bernardini
Disadvantages: Morosow

...Among the Bellini operas, Beatrice di Tenda may not be as compelling musically as Norma or La Sonnambula, but it contains some of bel canto's most beautiful tunes and one of the most beautiful trio ever written. THE STORY: Filippo, the Duke of Milan, is married to Beatrice, but covets her lady in waiting Agnese. He plots to get his wife out of the way by accusing her of having an affair with Orombello (whom Agnese loves, but who is in love with Beatrice). Agnese backs the false charge, thinking that if she can't have Orombello then she doesn't want Beatrice to have him either. A few changes of heart follow in the course of the opera, but Beatrice is the constant good gal who gains a moral victory at the price of her own head. This is a live CD recording from a performance in Vienna in 1992 conducted by Pinchas Steinberg and featuring... Read review

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