In his thorough review below, William C. says just about everything that needs to be said about this performance. Souliotis is very fine as Luisa, her tone fresh and lovely with the glow that made her so appealing in the mid to late 60s. She has no difficulty with any of the high staccati Verdi wrote for Luisa and her top is secure and full up to an excellent high D-flat at the end of her duet with her father in Act III. MacNeil's vibrato borders on a wobble early on, but that corrects itself by the end of Act I. He interpolates a strong high A-flat at the end of his Act I cabaletta.Tei is good, if not memorable. He gets shortchanged by the abridgement. As William says the entire show (except the last 3-4 minutes of Act I) is available on YouTube. I could understand making an abridgement for a one disc release, but these extended excerpts are spread over two discs.This sounds like it was transferred from records (there are a few clicks though no skipped grooves).If you're a Souliotis or MacNeil you should get this.

This selection documents nearly all the scenes in this opera in which Elena Souliotis and Cornell MacNeil appear. MacNeil, an early proponent of this previously neglected opera, had performed it in Palermo in 1963 and recorded his role (Miller) for RCA a year later. While his vibrato is a bit broad in early scenes, he settles down and does a fine job with his Act 2 duet with Luisa. Souliotis, having made a name for herself in the extravagant role of Abigaille in Nabucco, was broadening her horizons with more standard Verdi roles (the Trovatore and Forza Leonores, Amelia in Ballo in Maschera). Luisa is a lyric role with some coloratura moments, and it fit the current state of Souliotis’ voice well: she rises to the dramatic moments with solid, well supported high notes. However, her mezza voce moments are less successful: at times she resorts to a bothersome “little girl” intonation. On the other hand, her “Tu puniscimi, o Signore” is well planned and powerfully sung, the soprano’s strong chest voice used at times for effect. That draws the evening’s loudest cheers from an audience that is otherwise polite but unenthusiastic.The entire performance survives (it’s been posted on YouTube), and this seller’s selection slights the rest of the cast. Particularly snubbed is tenor Enzo Tei (Luisa’s love Rodolfo); omitted are the Act 1 duet with his arranged bride Duchess Federica and his solo Act 2 scene (with “Quando le sere al placido”). Tei, a lightweight lyric tenor, had a brief provincial career from about 1958-68, focusing on Verdi and Donizetti roles. (Opera Depot has his 1962 performance in Maria di Rohan). Since this opera was at the time mostly unheard, his rendering deserves respect: he has a pleasant, clear timbre and remains true to the score with few, if any, interpolations. He is best when Souliotis is at her best. However, his slight voice gets submerged during the concerted sections, and while he engages with the score’s drama, he adds no individual color to it. His tentative approach to the role compares badly with the many beefier superstars who subsequently took on the part, notably Tucker and all Three Tenors. The smaller parts are given to able, if not stellar, performers. Mezzo Gloria Lane is the best of these: she is impressive in the tense Act 2 interview with Luisa, who’s been coerced to deny her love for Rodolfo. (Still more impressive is her Act 1 scene with Rodolfo, but you have to go to YouTube for that.) Lane was a major figure in New York City in the 1950s, creating two big roles for Menotti’s operas and being a mainstay for the NY City Opera. Near the end of her career here, she shows a focused voice and a keen dramatic sense. Of the two basses, veteran Carlo Cava (Walter) seems no more than all right, while Giorgio Tadeo (not “Taddeo”) gives the one-dimensional baddie Wurm an appropriate variety of creepy intonations. Tadeo, specialized in bel canto buffo roles, so one could hear a bit of Don Bartolo in his performance. The conducting by Nino Sanzogno is OK, but one misses the urgency that Schippers and Gardelli could bring to early Verdi. Sound is good, with voices clear and in front, with few clicks audible during the overture. The very end of Act 1 is cut off here and in the YouTube version.This abridged set will interest mainly fans of Souliotis and MacNeil, but there are much stronger casts in this opera available from this seller and commercially. For a better sense of this performance as performance, stream the YouTube version.