Puccini: Il Tabarro (In German) - Varady, Fischer-Dieskau, Ilosfalvy, Töpper, Lenz; Sawallisch. München, 1973

$2.97



Listen to a Sample:

 

One of the great husband/wife teams of the latter part of the twentieth century was Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Julia Varady.  Here they are featured in a German language Il Tabarro.  Varady defied any classification in her career easily alternating between Mozart, Verismo, Wagner and anything else that she felt interesting.  Vocally she seems very at home in Puccini letting out a gleaming high C in her aria.  She is also quite moving in the scene with Michele.  Fischer-Dieskau would never be mistaken for a Puccini baritone, however, like him or not, with every role he did he brought a unique perspective.  Robert Ilosfalvy is undistinguished as Luigi although anyone who can manage this demanding spinto role deserves respect.  Hertha Töpper is very colorful Frugola.  Wolfgang Sawallisch leads an astonishingly Italianate performance.  The sound is superb.  I have included Donna Elviras' arias from Don Giovanni with Varady as a bonus.  Even though they are leagues away from Tabarro they were from Munich in the same year and with Sawallisch so it seemed an interesting counterpoint.  

BONUS:
Julia Varady sings Don Elvira's arias from Don Giovanni
München, 1973
Wolfgang Sawallisch, conductor

OD 10390-1