This is a treasure. Zeani pours her heart out as Tatiana and brought me to the edge of my aural seat. As a basso Onegin, Rossi-Lemeni is her equal, bringing just the right amount of haughtiness to his interpretation. Though sung in Italian, I did not find the translation a problem. Sanzogno's conducting is sensitive and keeps the action moving along.

I'm not sure whether this was taken from a broadcast or a house tape. The singers can sound recessed, but then be right on mic for the Big Moments. Occasionally it is the orchestra that sounds distant. These sonic imperfections are worth enduring for the sake of the performance.Zeani is a marvelous Tatiana with just the right plaintive timbre for the role. Her final scene with Onegin (sung by her husband Rossi-Lemeni) is truly heartbreaking: two people who might've been happy together if it hadn't been for their emotional immaturity. Rossi-Lemeni handles Onegin's higher tessitura very well. He doesn't float some of the notes the way a baritone would, but he is arrogant, surly, and penitent in all the right places. One might have thought his role in this opera would have been Gremin, but though unlisted above I think that role is sung here by the Italian bass Plinio Clabassi (who sings it very well indeed).Tagliavini sings Lensky like he's an Italian cousin of Rodolfo in La Boheme and it works completely. The other singers are all very good. I wish we knew who the Filipievna and Triquet were. Triquet sings Tatiana's birthday song in French, but is inclined to ham it up more than most Triquets. Maazel leads a very quick performance.The last 2-3 minutes of Act One are missing, probably because the tapist thought the act was over after Onegin's aria. Still a very enjoyable performance that requires a little patience for its sonic imperfections.

very good