Verdi: Un Ballo in maschera - Gedda, Molnar Talajic, Milnes, Toczyska; Martinez. Wien, 1975
$16.95
Listen to a Sample:
Pros:
- Nicolai Gedda proves once again that there was no style that he couldn't master.
- Lilian Molnar Talajic's gleaming soprano proves an ideal fit for the role of Amelia.
- Sherrill Milnes, captured here at the height of his powers, reasserts why he is a Verdi baritone for the ages.
Cons:
- None to mention
In Mono
OD 11983-2
Exciting Performance in Excellent Sound!
This performance was issued by Myto decades ago so it's great to see it reissued at such a reasonable price for a new generation of opera lovers to enjoy. Gedda didn't sing Riccardo very often (there is also a Swedish language performance available with Siv Wennberg as Amelia). He doesn't have a particularly Italianate sound, but he makes the role work for him. He sings ardently and one gets a sense of how much he's enjoying himself. He is one of the few Riccardos who sings the optional lower notes in his Act 1, scene 2 canzone. Milnes amply shows why he was quickly becoming his generation's leading Verdi baritone. He interpolates a high B-flat at the end of Act 3, scene 1, joining his prima donnas for an exciting finish. Molnar Talajic had an incredibly rich, powerful soprano that she deploys very successfully as Amelia. Occasionally her highest notes threaten to get out of control, yet she shapes her cadenzas with such care it doesn't matter. She and Gedda end their big duet on an ecstatic top C. Toczyska is a first-rate Ulrica (I always enjoyed her singing) and American soprano Sally Arneson is a delightful Oscar (I heard her twice in concert at Western Michigan University about a decade later). The supporting singers are all excellent. Martinez leads a tight, dramatic performance preserved in very good in-house sound. The voices are only slightly recessed, giving a good idea of what they sounded like in the house. For fans of the opera and the singers!