Georg Solti, Orchestra e Coro del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Geraint Evans & Robert Merrill
Release Date: 23 September 2022
Label: Urania Records
Packaging Type: Digipak
No of Units: 2
Barcode: 8051773574016
Description
Despite the importance of Verdi's last Opera, Falstaff does not have a discography comparable to that of La Traviata
or Il Trovatore. From 1950 to 2000 the recordings concerning this opera are relatively few, and among these the
1963 version conduced by Georg Solti remains among those memorable.
The great Hungarian conductor would
then record it once again in the Nineties; however, the vocal cast of 1963 remains unrepeatable, made up of
voices that would later become the legend of the Opera, except the protagonist, Geraint Evans, whom some
critics have discussed in more than one occasion. Despite this, the vitality of the interpretation, the overwhelming
comic charge and the beauty of the Decca sound of those years (it is no coincidence that the production was by
John Culshaw) still make this version a milestone in Falstaff 's discography.
"The supporting cast in Solti's recording is superb as well, and among the highlights are Robert Merrill's impressive Ford, possibly his best recording when it comes to getting under the skin of the character. Giulietta Simionato is possibly the most formidable Mrs Quickly anywhere, and we mustn't forget the young Mirella Freni's enchanting Nannetta; how beautifully she sails up in the blue, and how riveting they blend their voices, she and Alfredo Kraus, whose Fenton is a marvel of youthfulness." – MusicWeb International
Tracklisting
Sviatoslav Richter, Philharmonia Orchestra, Wiener Symphoniker Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan
Luigi Chiarizia
Claudio Ronco & Emanuel Vozza
Ensemble Mark Rothko
Furiosi Affetti Ensemble, Lorenzo Gugole, Giorgio Bottiglion
Elena Suliotis, Mario Del Monaco, Fiorenza Cossotto, Orchestra and Coro dell'Accademia di Santa Cecilia di Roma, Silvio Varviso
Vladimir Ashkenazy
Francesco Pasqualotto
Thomas Sanderling, Orchester des Nationaltheaters Mannheim
Malcolm Sargent, Mary Lewis, Tudor Davies, Maggie Teyte, Clive Carey, Marie Howes, Harry Plunket Greene, James Johnstone
Maria Callas
Soloists; Eroica Berlin; Jakob Lehmann
Luigi De Donato; Collegium 1704; Vaclav Luks
Anna Moffo; Cesare Valletti; Fernando Corena; Erich Leinsdorf
Soloists; Orchestre classique de Montreal; Alain Trudel
Europa Galante, Fabio Biondi, Natalia Rubis, Pawel Konik, Krzysztof Baczyk, Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic Choir
