Riccardo Muti was just beginning to get a his reputation as a Verdi specialist when this performance was given. The entire opera is driven with enormous verve and a terrific sense of pacing. Muti does not apologize for any of the Witches "oom-pah" music; rather he rejoices in its crudity and makes it work. His forces sound inspired by him.As I've written before, Jones was a great Verdi soprano and here she gives of her best. She manages a good D-flat for the end of the Sleepwalking Scene, better than the one she sang years earlier in an English language performance also available from Opera Depot. Muti denies her an interpolated D-flat at the end of Act One (he was already insisting that Verdi be sung "come scritto"). No matter - Jones handles all the passage work and trills with aplomb. She would begin singing more Wagner and Strauss from this time forward with only a few visits to the Italian repertoire in the future: our loss.Petri sings a ferocious Macbeth, but one that shows his more human side as well. True, the part lies high for him; he manages the tessitura well with only a few signs of tiring towards the end. Haugland is an excellent Banquo. Tagliavini is a first-rate Macduff, really singing his big aria nobly and well.The sound doesn't come from a broadcast, but was probably taped by someone with a good seat in the audience. There is a sense of space around the voices that gives a better idea of what they sounded like in the house.

Muti and the large-voiced Jones deliver as one would expect. Petri, known primarily in opera as a basso, takes here the higher lying role of Macbeth. With his grayish timbre, he gives an interesting introspective characterization of the role that is both subtle and musical. An over-all satisfying performance that also includes insertion of Macbeth’s death aria “Mal per me” from Verdi’s 1847 version of the opera. Adequate sound.

Brilliant performance.

I personally found this a very disappointing issue. As a great admirer of Gwyneth Jones I must confess that by this stage of her career this type of role was no longer congenial. The voice is not under control with much sharp or flat singing. She’s at her best in the sleepwalking scene where she sings a lovely soft high D flat. But you’ll find her in much better voice on another Opera Depot issue. Lady M was the first role I heard her sing in 1964 on a Covent Garden tour several months before the famous Trovatore sensation and she was stunning. In Florence though she is saddled with the worst Macbeth I’ve ever heard. An unpleasant voice than can only reach the top notes by shouting – and several top notes are shouted rather than sung – no legato. Horrible. Add an almost voiceless Aage Hauglund, Muti at his most wilful and an accoustic which makes the performance sound as though it’s taking place in a huge bathroom makes this Macbeth a non-starter for me. Opera Depot has several better Macbeths.