As Andy relates above, Jones stepped in for an indisposed Leontyne Price and became, if not an overnight star, certainly someone that all the opera houses wanted very quickly. Nothing in Leonora's music gives her the least difficulty. By the end of the decade she would be having some difficulty controlling her huge instrument and critics would be wagging their finger at her with a "told-you-so" attitude that was premature and, ultimately, irrelevant. She was always a fine Verdian; a pity she didn't sing more of the repertoire.She isn't the only good thing here though. Simionato, only 54 and still in good voice, retired from the opera stage not longer after this production. She is a great Azucena. This is one of the best performances I've ever heard Prevedi give and Glossop fully justifies his reputation, his voice not having yet acquired the wooliness that would plague him later on in his career. Rouleau is a terrific Ferrando and Bainbridge a lovely Inez. Giulini's conducting is less mannered than it was in his studio recording nearly two decades later. He allows most of the standard interpolated high notes though Jones doesn't crown the end of Act One with a D-flat. Most of the standard cuts are made, but there is one verse of Leonora's "Tu vedrai" restored.The sound is very good, transferred from a set of mostly quiet records; there are some scratches and at least one skipped groove (fortunately, not during anything important).Verdi lovers should get this.

Ausgezeichnet insbesondere in Anbezracht des Alters der Aufnahme!Tolles remastering Andy-bravo!

Wonderful performance - excellent sound