Marina Krilovici has a solid, attractive voice with a good top. She knows what she's supposed to and is familiar with the traditions of Tosca. She's just not very memorable in the role. Bonisolli sings very well and is much more a part of the performance than he would be later on. His high notes ring out and his sobs at the end of "E lucevan le stelle" are credible. Wixell always performed Scarpia effectively and this performance is no exception. The supporting cast (whoever they are) is also very good. Stein leads a capable performance that never really takes off.The opening chords are not encouraging, but the sound gets better almost immediately, the voices recessed, but certainly audible.There's not nothing disastrous here, it's just rather mediocre.

It is a very good recording of Tosca. Krilovici was interesting for me since I've heard her for the first time. I wasn't so much impressed with her singing but she was good. I've heard worse Tosca's before. Bonisolli and Wixell were excellent (very powerful and dramatically convincing). The orchestra under Horst Stein was very energetic and dynamic.