This is a fine Tosca. Cioni has a light voice but he is effective in his role. Stella has a steely voice that is well suited to Tosca. I would compare her to Tebaldi in timber. Basile moves this live RAI performance briskly. The sound is very very good mono. The voices are clear as one would hope. This is a worthy performance.

The Pirate Gods smiled happily on this Tosca made for the Rome RAI in 1965. The sound is very good broadcast mono and there are no glitches that I heard. Everyone is in top shape. Stella, of course,was known for her Puccini and Tosca in particular. She had recorded it commercially (with Poggi and Taddei in 1957 or so) and there is also a fine Met broadcast with Tucker and Warren from 1958. She was in very good voice the night this was recorded, her top B's and C's popping out effortlessly. Her "Vissi d'arte" is a classy piece of singing. Furthermore she is on fire dramatically: her cries of "Muori!" in the murder scene are ferocious. Her account of the finale while not as hair-raising as Nilsson's is quite convincing.Cioni sings very well with that caressing Italianate tone of his. He knows how Cavaradossi is supposed to go and supports Stella accordingly. Quilico in the first flush of youth sounds terrific, his beautiful baritone rolling out and captivating us as much as it does Tosca. He also knows the routine of Scarpia and is most effective (and sexy). The supporting cast includes Piero De Palma as Spoletta and a very young Daniela Mazzuccato as the Shepherd Boy. They all are excellent as is Basile's leadership. This is how Tosca is supposed to go and it goes very well indeed here!

This is an important document of a much loved artist in fine sound quality.