This is superb! I had forgotten what a great singer Cruz-Romo was as, unfortunately, we hear virtually nothing of her these days - four cheers to O D for issuing this recording. I attended one of these 1973 performances and it was quite emotional to relive it. Bergonzi's Celeste Aida isn't his greatest, but thereafter he is on the same level as CR. And what an Amneris Dunn was - another singer who seems to be eclipsed these days. A great recording.

I saw GIlda Cruz-Romo and Mignon Dunn several times (together and separately) in the 1970s and early 1980s at the Metropolitan Opera in New York and at the Teatro de Bellas Artes in Mexico City. I only saw them together with Carlo Bergonzi once, Aida at the Met in November, 1978. That was a fabulous evening. This performance is even better. Mackerras has a better grasp of the score than Patane, the conductor of the Met performance, and the soloists were all in better voice. I was always fond of Dunn's Amneris and it is displayed here in its full-throated glory. Cruz-Romo remains one of my favorite Verdi sopranos and it is such a shame that much lesser sopranos made dozens of mediocre studio recordings during the height of her career. Bergonzi is always an elegant singer, though incapable of communicating the drama of the moment in the same dynamic way Cruz-Romo and Dunn were able to do. No matter; his voice was still capable of producing the beautiful tone and line for which he was justly famous. The sound is better than most live broadcasts of the era. All in all an excellent performance.

Gilda Cruz-Romo was one of those terrific singers who was taken for granted. She was always good in her assignments, especially in the 1970's when the voice was in its prime. Her Aida here is the equal of any of that time and certainly of ours. The top gleams, the middle is beautiful, and there is always a sense of urgency and passion. The C in "O patria mia" is effortless, the pianissimo B-flats later on melting. A great Aida then from an underappreciated soprano!Dunn is thrilling as Amneris, the top B-flats ringing across the ages - you never have any sense that she can't handle the role. Another underappreciated artist! Bergonzi sings like the musical magician he was. The supporting cast is superb (and Te Kanawa's lovely tone is clearly heard as the offstage Priestess). I enjoyed the two basses as well, Forbes Robinson and Gwynne Howell with their distinctive sounds. William Elvin is an unusually good messenger. And Mastromei is really one of the best Amonasros I've heard. Mackerras shows he could conduct Verdi as well as anyone - a great conductor!The sound is excellent broadcast stereo with only one glitch in the Aida/Amonasro scene where there is some brief channel dropout, but it rights itself soon enough.All lovers of Aida should have this performance. I don't say it will change your operatic life, but you will hear an Aida the quality of which can't be replicated today.

Since I have heard Gilda Cruz Romo as Aida in the Arena di Verona in August 1974 (with Plácido Domingo as Radames!) I always hoped to get a recording of her wonderful Aida.This is a recording to love because of the great singers and the conducting of Charles Mackerras, made one year before my Arena experience.The sound is very good!Bergonzi is in perfect shape, I admire this excellent tenor and especially in the role of Radames!Mignon Dunn and Gian Piero Mastromei give strong performances as well do all the rest of the cast.

I often return to this fabulous performance and marvel at my luck; I was seventeen when I saw this revival. Mignon Dunn, good, was replacing Christa Ludwig at short notice (at my performance Amneris was the woefully overparted Ann Howard). But the reasons I revisit this performance are Charles Mackerras, Gilda Cruz-Romo, Carlo Bergonzi (and Kiri Te Kanawa). You have only to listen to the pointing of the wind playing in the dances to realise the special, Toscaninian, detail that Mackerras brought to the score; and the power he elicits from strings and brass in later scenes is superlative. (His 1974 “Otello” with Cossutta, Te Kanawa, and Cappucilli was also classic.) Cruz-Romo and Bergonzi also sang “Forza” (1975) and “Ballo” together at Covent Garden: I find her like a superior Tebaldi here and remain amazed the recording companies did not pursue her. The final scene with Bergonzi is, just as I remember, sublime, even when you compare it to other illustrious couples on record. Bergonzi, a terrible physical actor, is at his vocal and expressive peak here; the ending of Act Three - so firm! - remains beautiful, heroic, thrilling. Mackerras’s effect on the whole cast is wonderful: I remember a queeny regular exclaiming grandly (and correctly) “Gwynne Howell’s singing like a GOD; and Forbes Robinson’s singing as I’ve NEVER heard him sing BEFORE.” The young Te Kanawa was already a name, and the lustre of her voice as the Priestess remains incomparably beautiful here.

Cruz-Romo is a great Aida. She is truly living the role and with wonderful singing. There is something very warm and feminine about both her voice and portrayal. Dunn is a strong Amneris, Bergonzi is a stylish, elegant and yet heroic Radames (but it is his lyrical quality that just can't be beat). MAstromei is a good Amonasro and the remainder of the cast is very fine indeed.

Like the Ballo of two years earlier,this is in very good sound, and a live performance in good sound will nearly always score over a studio. Bergonzi as always is nearly flawless, in a way monotonously so. Still one cannot fault his performance, except perhaps on the B flat climax in Celeste Aida which is slightly strained. Of course the aria comes so early.Cruz-Romo is well up to this taxing role, and meets all challenges with ease. Mignon Dunn displays a quite large voice which surprised me, but I liked her Amneris. The rest of the roles are competently sung.

Very nice performance