Good. Olivero always magnetic and one of Tucker’s best roles.

The pairing of verismo specialist Magda Olivero with Met star Richard Tucker wouldn't seem like a great match, but they both deliver in this famous performance from Caracas, Venezuela. Olivero is superb as Puccini's flirtatious good-time-gal Manon. Every phrase has been thought through and she has no difficulty with any of the music (in fact, her top Cs are thrilling). In the last act Olivero seems to bear her soul to us, her fear and then acceptance of death intensely played. Some will call it over the top, but her sincerity is never in question. Tucker's voice isn't quite as smooth as it once was; there is a certain effortfulness about his singing that hadn't been present a decade earlier yet he still manages to convince us of Des Grieux's desperate, doomed love for Manon. The audience goes wild over both singers.Sardinero is a very good Lescaut. The fine comprimario tenor Bernard Fitch plays three roles (Edmondo, the Dancing Master, and the Lamplighter) and does well in each of them. Eugene Green is a deliciously nasty Geronte. Veltri leads an exciting performance though he makes one odd cut (one I've never heard before): in the third act ensemble the phrases leading to and including Manon's top C are excised. Did Olivero find it too taxing? By the way, she adds a high something or other after the ship's commander agrees to allow Des Grieux to leave with Manon at the end of Act Three..The sound is excellent broadcast stereo.

Very Good - Excellent.

Absolutely wonderful! The recording is perfectly clear, and the musical performance is mesmerizing. I was enraptured from beginning to end