Not good role for Nilsson. Simanato spectacular.

Mixed. Simionato is the greatest Amneris ever. Nilsson can sing anything but Aida is not one of her best roles. Tenor does not have a beautiful voice— I prefer many other tenors’ Rhadames to his. What a thrill hearing Ghiaurov in his prime as Ramfis. MacNeil was superb.

Aida was one of Nilsson's most frequently performed Italian roles, a welcome respite from all the Wagner that was her usual repertoire. I don't really have any words of criticism for her. She is a passionate Aida with thrilling top notes (as usual), but also shaping Verdi's lines with finesse and feeling. Simionato is a thrilling Amneris, singing in a way that is now almost extinct. Never is there any doubt of her command of the music. Miranda-Ferraro is very good though the audience reaction is initially lukewarm, despite an excellent "Celeste Aida". They warm up to him after Act Three. I would rather have had Corelli or Del Monaco, but those two greats couldn't sing everything. MacNeil is a superb Amonasro with excellent diction and ringing tone. Ghiaurov and Ferrin are luxury casting as Ramfis and the King. We even get Piero De Palma as the Messenger! Sanzogno knows Aida very well and leads it admirably. The chorus and orchestra are also in top form.The sound is very clear with only some very minor wrinkles in the source material. Fans of the opera and/or the singers should hear this!

With Nilsson, voice per se was never the problem. This 1960 performance of Aida catches her in generally exemplary voice and outstanding interpretation of the beleaguered Ethiopian princess. She responds to the live setting at La Scala with a most sympathetic reading, far superior to her 1965-66 EMI studio recording. Just don’t expect her to sing the high C in “O patria mia” softly.Simionato, who had a voice nearly as large as Nilsson’s, sings up a storm here despite the fact that she is a little unsteady at times. Ghiaurov is simply magnificent as Ramfis, but for me Pier Mirando-Ferraro is the most interesting. He's in better voice here than in Callas’ 1959 stereo version of La Gioconda. I saw him as Otello at the Newark Opera in 1975 and he was absolutely magnificent: a big, cutting voice with power to spare, ring up top, and superb phrasing. This performance catches him at a midway point. The recording is remarkably clean-sounding, with no tape hiss or distortion and only a couple of brief drop-outs. All in all, then, a pretty exciting, almost gut-level Aïda, with some surprisingly good moments, an excellent document of Nilsson singing the title role in her prime and some very fine moments from Mirando-Ferraro. See my full review at https://artmusiclounge.wordpress.com/2018/05/17/nilssons-live-1960-aida-interesting-exciting/

excellent performance