Verdi: Macbeth - Zanasi, Souliotis, Merighi, Washington; Patanè. Genova, 1970
$8.95
Description:
By the early 1970s, Greek soprano Elena Souliotis was facing the challenges of a career that had accelerated too quickly. The punishing roles she took on in her twenties had begun to wear on her once-pristine soprano. Fortunately, this performance of Macbeth captures her on a good day, when she was still firmly in command of her formidable vocal resources. Her Lady Macbeth is strikingly youthful—less a calculating villainess and more an amoral figure with a chilling innocence, closer in spirit to Berg’s Lulu than to Shakespeare’s hardened antiheroine.
Mario Zanasi brings elegant phrasing and vocal strength to the title role, matching Souliotis’ energy with a Macbeth that unravels with dignity and pathos. Giorgio Merighi contributes a strong Macduff, singing his aria with clarity and emotional weight. While the sound quality leaves something to be desired, the power and character of the voices still shine through.
In Mono
OD 11418-2
