This is a hot performance of Puccini's Western. Olivero continues to amaze, her singing secure and smoldering from top to bottom. She commits to every moment like few singers I've ever heard. She easily embraces all of Minnie's top Cs and Bs and even sustains the written C# at the climax of her struggle with Rance in Act Two. You'll be cheering her right along with the audience at the end of the act.Limarilli is a great Johnson with his Italianate timbre and superb diction. Colzani likewise is wonderfully dark as Rance (one of his best roles). The supporting cast is made up of familiar comprimarios and they're all excellent. Previtali leads an exciting performance, albeit one with all the traditional cuts in Act One. The disc break is frustrating; it should've been placed after Act One, but here happens in the middle of Act Two.The minor fly in the ointment here is the murky sound. This clearly stems from a broadcast and is pitched correctly, but the volume, especially on disc 1, is very low. Nevertheless Puccini fans and definitely Olivero fans should have this. Nobody sings this opera today the way these singers sang it back in 1966.

My review title was supposed to be "White Hot Fanciulla, Muddy Sound!", but somehow came out with Carmen instead - oops!