A welcome opportunity to hear McCracken and Jones live, and a fascinating counterpart to their studio-bound recording of Otello. Jones is particularly fine in her opening aria.The sound is clear and bright (you may wish to adjust your equipment, according to personal taste) with the voices well to the fore. The articulation of the libretto by the entire cast is exceptional; clear enough for a particularly fiendish typing test, if you were so inclined. Ivo Vinco's Ferrando is a good example. Quadri's conducting of this opening scene is exemplary, although I find his conducting of the Act 2 finale a little rushed. The cuts are as puzzling as they are regrettable, but provide an intriguing insight into performance practice in Vienna at the time.

Lovely singing but the pleasure was negated by a defect-ridden second CD. Almost a total loss, I fear.

The other reviews of this Trovatore have been very favorable and I second all those opinions. A pity the "Ai nostri monti" is missing, but collectors of live recordings are used to things like that and this performance is certainly worth hearing, missing duet or not. Jones is extremely good, certainly a Leonora worth fighting over. One wonders what her career might have been like had she stuck with Verdi and other Italian composers rather than pursuing Strauss and Wagner. Don't misunderstand: I love her Strauss and Wagner and she gave some spectacular performances in that repertoire. But her Aida, Desdemona, Elisabetta, Amelia, Lady Macbeth, and Leonora are all consistently well and memorably sung. I wish she had taken the traditional D-flat at the end of Act One here (she certainly had the note), but perhaps that wasn't in her training.McCracken sings a sturdy, exciting Manrico; Sereni a handsome, sexy Di Luna. Cossotto threatens to steal the show with her vivid Azucena. From a solid top C to a resonant low A Cossotto sweeps all before her. Her husband, Ivo Vinco, makes a first-rate Ferrando. Quadri conducts this stirring performance, preserved in excellent sound.

Detractors should never forget that Gwyneth Jones had such an exquisite voice. It still sounds beautiful to me even through her recordings in later career. This live Vienna 1966 performance or her 1964 breakthrough in Covent Garden... I think she sings more exquisite and more expressively in the Vienna performance. You must not miss her whole Act 4, she literally gives me the goosebumps when she cries. That is a Leonora with life. There's also Fiorenza Cossotto, James McCracken, Mario Sereni and Ivo Vinco in the luxury cast this September evening.

Mc Cracken is a singer you are fascinated with or you don´t like. I lave his attaching, expressive kind of singing, alway with a touch of urgency in his boise. This record shoes his exciting Manrico - despite the problem with the last tone of the stretta. And Cossotto was the bets Azucena of that time besides a touching Gwyneth Jones.

I love Fiorenza Cossotto and I bought this CD for her. I think that Azucena is one of her best rols. And here, in 1966, she was in wonderful vocal form.

it is a nice recording from September 1966. G. Jones and Sereni are very powerful, full-blooded Leonora and Luna. Cossoto and Vinco are nice, Mc Cracken not so much. His Italian is very funny. Quadri conducts very well Orch. Vienna State opera.

Excellent performance (with the traditional cuts) due to the wonderful singers and the legendary conductor. Gwyneth Jones shows herself here a true Verdian singer with a crystal clear voice, wonderful pianos and full of passion. Cossotto gives her usual quality in one of here best roles and Sereni is a very good count. His famous aria, "Il balen del suo sorriso" is sung very fine. Mc Cracken makes also a good job as Manrico."Di quella pira" and the final scene are the high points of his performance. But according to my opinion the hero of this performance is the conductor. In the hands of Argeo Quadri this well-known opera takes a new lease of life.

McCracken is one of my favorite tenors. He was outstanding in this performance. The rest of the cast was excellent. Special nod to Ivo Vinco as Ferrando, a role too often cast with lesser singers.

Dame Gwyneth sang a truly superb Leonora, here its a little under pressure due to the conductor, but , the revival at the Garden with Bergonzi ,Guilini and again with Bergonzi and Gavazzeni at La Scala were something else.her first Sieglinde was of the same quality as the Leonora, beautiful line and diction with character.