Eine ausgezeichnete Aufführung aus Bern mit hervorragenden Sängern, v.a. Helga Dernesch und Jakob Keller

My title isn't meant to be condescending. A lot of singers take on roles, especially when they're just starting out, that they don't keep in their active repertoires. Dernesch did not sing a lot of Verdi, if any, once she began singing the hoch-dramatisch roles though she did record Preziosilla's "Rataplan" for a German highlights disc that had Grace Bumbry as Leonora. She was all of 23 here and the voice and style are very mature already. She never really had an easy top though and that can be heard here as well (the final B-flat of "Pace, pace" is decidedly under pitch.)I can't find any information about Norman Griffin on Wikipedia so I'm going to assume he was an American in Europe when this was recorded. He sings very well with a pleasant, reedy sound, but he and German baritone Rudolf Constantin are given to yelling at each other versimo-style in their final two duets. Both end the "Invano Alvaro!" scene on a ringing high A. Though Constantin's big aria is missing from the original tape, the oft-cut "Sleale!" scene is performed, placed after Preziosilla's Rataplan. Esther Wettach sings the gypsy's music well and Jakob Keller is a very good Guardiano with one of those rich, rolling German basses that used to be so plentiful.The sound isn't bad at all. The last chords of a few scenes are clipped short a few times; there is probably about twelve minutes of music missing from the original tape. Fans of Dernesch or the other singers will find this fascinating.

A very likeable wrong language performance. The young Helga Dernesch is a really wonderful Leonora. The generally poor sound is a challenge, but the performance is worth it.