Marisa Galvany is one of my favorite divas and she is in fine form in this performance from Brazil 1977. Her professional debut was as Puccini's heroine in Seattle and it was one of her favorite roles. She gives us a multi-faceted characterization, playing up all the "big" moments and treating the audience to a grandly sung "Vissi d'arte". She and the Brazilian tenor Benito Maresca play off each other well. His singing of the famous arias is greeted with great enthusiasm by the audience. He had some career in Europe; I don't know whether or not he ever sang in New York. Mastromei is a terrific Scarpia, singing with that burnished, masculine baritone of his that, for whatever reason, never brought him greater international acclaim. Veltri leads a solid performance that builds in tension the way this opera needs to build.The fly in the ointment here is the mediocre sound, obviously recorded by some intrepid audience member from a seat farther back in the auditorium than most of us would like. The voices are audible, but often very recessed. At least the tapist sits still and doesn't jar the mic unnecessarily. For fans of the singers and/or Galvany completists.

Galvany, as always, is incredible in this recording of Tosca.