Puccini: Turandot - Tinsley, Johns, Fuller, Mayle; Armstrong. Cardiff, 1972
$8.95
Listen to a Sample:
This performance attracted me because it featured the British soprano Pauline Tinsley as Turandot. And Tinsley does not disappoint. Her voice is powerful and tireless on top combined with a purity of tone that makes the Chinese princess sound both virginal and savage at the same time. Her Calàf is the fine tenor William Johns. Johns would later transition to the heldentenor rep to the detriment of his sweet yet burly instrument which he displays in all its glory in this performance. The rest of the performance is a little hackneyed getting off to a painful start in which the Mandarin comes in a measure early thereby leading the ensuing chorus over the cliff like a bunch of gazelles. But that is what makes live theater so exciting, I suppose. The sound is fair.
OD 10684-2
