Excellent performances! It's a thrill to experience this early unfolding of Caballe's unique vocal gifts. and the audience's largely surprised and astonished response. And Gladys Kuchta is a superb Turandot, with the all the requisite thrust and ring, a clarion sound with a core not so much made up of steel, as burnished metal. This is a Turandot at once both commanding and human.

This is the alternate broadcast of this opera from Buenos Aires 1965. The other has the same cast except Nilsson is the Turandot. True, Kuchta doesn't possess Nilsson's laser-like top notes, but her top is certainly good enough and she makes more of the character than the great Swedish soprano. She is imperious, yet vulnerable. One senses her fear of the Unknown Prince from her first utterance.Caballe sings even better here than she did with Nilsson. The audience goes crazy at the end of her suicide aria and rightly so. I wish I liked Uzonov's voice more than I do. His top notes have true squillo, but the rest of the voice is an annoying mess, his vibrato similar to Bernd Aldenhoff's. I was surprised he didn't sing the optional top C at "No, no, principessa altera" since he sang it so well ten minutes earlier. The rest of the cast is very good with a solid trio of ministers and an imposing Mandarin. The sound is excellent (too bad all pirates can't be of this quality!) Previtali is a lethargic conductor, but he doesn't get in anyone's way.Any fans of Kuchta and Caballe should get!

Between Dimiter Uzunov's ugly, wobble-afflicted spinto and Fernando Previtali's often-flaccid conducting (although he does relish the big moments), almost all the thrills come from the combination of Montserrat Caballé. Indeed, Caballé might alone be worth the price of admission. Her affecting Liu shows her at peak form, spinning seemingly endless *fil di voce.* The Buenos Aires crowd cannot restrain its enthusiasm. While not as steely-toned as Birgit Nilsson, Gladys Kuchta assails Turandot's heights without fear and the extra dollop of femininity in her tone hints at the Ice Princess' underlying fire. When Kuchta and Caballé go head-to-head it's a championship match.The sound quality is outstanding for 1965: very up-front broadcast stereo that captures musical details that evade even commercial recordings. It really packs a wallop. The Emperor is good, the Mask trio only ordinary and Victor de Narké's lack of basso weight is largely compensated for by his long, soft legato lines. In sum, not one's only "Turandot" but one that packs some punches.

I can’t imagine anything worse than comparing Uzunov to a good singer… On broadcasts as I remember them, back when, I thought he was the worst singer the Met had… Perhaps this will surprise me!