Listen to a Sample:

Pros:

• It's hard to believe that in Vienna during the 1970s it was common to hear performances with casts of this caliber. Yes, the performances were often under-rehearsed and far from musically perfect, but the freedom from a cohesive musical and dramatic dictate gave these great artists a chance to bring a sense of improvisation to the proceedings which often elevated the overall artistic level.
• Elena Obraztsova's ample mezzo scales back effortlessly for the seductive moments and can then turn on a dime, releasing torrents of sound. One has to give her credit for singing the descending chromatic scale in the "Habanera" so well in tune.
• James King was the right choice as Obraztsova's Don José. A lesser tenor would have been lost next to her, but he more than holds his own without shortchanging any of the lyrical moments.
• Lotte Rysanek' Micaëla is radiant.
• In their brief moment in Act I, the Vienna Boy's Choir demonstrates why they are the greatest children's chorus in the world.

Cons:

• None to mention

In Mono

OD 12069-2