Magda Olivero had turned 60 the year this performance was recorded, but you'd never guess it. At an age when most singers are retired, Olivero was just getting started. Her Medea is a bewitching, terrifying sorceress, one capable of saying or doing anything to get her revenge. Olivero's supreme command of phrasing and specific textual choices make her a three-dimensional figure of grief and vengeance. She is not better than Callas, just very different and completely her own person.Picchi does well in the thankless role of Giasone. Dominguez sings Neris' big aria with poise and beautiful tone. The other singers are good, but unremarkable. Vernizzi only makes a few trims here and there, but Cherubini's dramatic music is not helped by the awkward Italian translation.The sound is all right, but there are a lot of crackles, snaps, and pops along the way. The transfer level is also too low; I had to turn up the volume considerably to hear some of Olivero's more subtle, softer phrases. Nevertheless, Olivero fans must hear this or one of her other Medea performances!

Toward the end of her active stage career, Olivero made the role of Medea her own. While the Dallas and Mantova performances show her taking a decidedly 'Verismo' approach, 18th Century style not even on the radar, the Amsterdam performance seems a deliberate holding back. It is more evenly vocalized than the other performances. She would have been keenly aware that this was being preserved for radio broadcast. The supporting cast is strong. Mirto Picchi is still a fine Jason, 13 years after the studio recording with Callas ! Vernizzi paces the Lachner/Zangarini version really well. The sound recording sometimes gaps out, but is, overall, quite listenable.