Listen to a Sample:

Pros:

• One of the highest achievements for a soprano is to pull off all three of the soprano roles in Puccini's Il Trittico. Beverly Sills, known more for bel canto than Puccini, would not be an obvious choice for this assignment, but she brings an intensity of feeling - particularly in Suor Angelica - that later in her career would make her Donizetti Queens so exciting, and navigates the dramatic moments with intelligence. Take, for example, the high-C in "È ben altro mio sogno" from Il Tabarro. Many sopranos use this moment as an opportunity to show off the size of their voice, but Sills makes a tender moment of it, illuminating the inner world of this hopeful, yet broken, woman, and in the process avoids the trap of trying to make her voice something that it was not.
• A young Plácido Domingo is thrilling as Luigi.
• Norman Treigle is clearly a bass trying to sing a baritone role, but any adjustment he has to make is worth it for the amount of character he invests into Gianni Schicchi.

Cons:

• The sound is only fair.

In Mono

OD 12143-3