Prokofiev: War and Peace (In Italian) - Carteri, Corelli, Bastianini, Tajo, Picchi; Rodzinsky. Firenze, 1953

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The 50s and 60s were a time of great artistic curiosity in Italy offering the world the bel canto renaissance. What gets less acknowledgment is the many operas from composers throughout Europe who enjoyed premieres, in some cases decades before those works would ever show up at the Metropolitan Opera. Here Prokofiev's War and Peace benefits from some of the finest singers of the day (or any day) including Franco Corelli, Rosana Carteri, Ettore Bastianini, Italo Tajo and Mirto Picchi. All of them rise to the occasion. Corelli is particularly good and this performance has added interest as it features the tenor very early in his career (it would be another eight years before he would make his Metropolitan Opera Debut.) The sound is very good.

OD 10667-2