Excellent!! Scotto!!!very happy!!!!!

The singing is glorious. Raimondi sounds wonderful in the role of Arrigo and Cappuccilli is in his element as Monforte. Scotto is deep into the role and delivers superlative work with Raimondi giving excellence as Procida. The conducting is deeply within the Verdi tradition, except for the rather staid pacing and drama of the last act. It seems to dissipate strangely. I wondered if it was because Scotto and Raimondi were more on the lyrical, not dramatic side of the vocal equation. So it was wonderful up through the Bolero in Act 5 and then seemed to just flow without much suspense to the end. Maybe you will disagree.

Scotto is superb. A great musician as well as singer, she really plays her voice like an instrument and I found her spellbinding. How pleased we would be to have the like of G Raimondi around today. He was always regarded as a second division tenor but here he delivers the part with gusto and often great tone. Perhaps he doesn’t possess the individuality of some of his more illustrious contemporaries but he is undoubtedly a singer to be reckoned with.Cappuccilli is like Scotto superb, a great stylist and in great voice too. I’ve never been a fan of the other Raimondi but there is no doubt he delivers his role with a generous outpouring of what always seems to me to be slightly flat tone. No matter, this is performance that seems to be compiled from a dress rehearsal (?) with few people clapping to a full blown performance when the audience seems to increase by 100 fold! Often electrifying and never dull

This is taken from the dress rehearsal of this production given in front of an enthusiastic audience. The actual opening night was, by many accounts (including Scotto's), a disaster brought about an anti-Scotto claque who were furious because Scotto had criticized Callas in the press.The sound is from an in-house source, but whoever taped it was close enough to the stage to get a good perspective. Occasionally the voices sound a little recessed when they are farther back on the stage.The singing is spectacular. Scotto is at the height of her powers here, immensely involved in the drama. Her singing is very confident. She has no difficulty with Elena's coloratura or trills and crowns the Bolero with an dead-on high E. She doesn't as yet sing the two octave plus cadenza down to low F# in her fourth act aria, but she would work that out later for Muti and Levine.The men are equally good. Gianni Raimondi ducks a high note or two (Arrigo lies very high), but sings passionately with that beautiful underrated timbre of his. Cappuccilli sounds to the manner born in this music and Ruggero Raimondi (no relation to Gianni as far as I know) is a properly vicious Procida. The entire cast is natively Italian and it shows. I know Verdi wrote this originally in French, but it just sounds better in Italian. These are Italian characters after all!All lovers of Verdi or any of the soloists should have this - especially Scotto fans.

Gavazzeni toujours assez personnel dans ses choix, Scotto d'abord un peu pincée mais intelligente comme d'habitude, G.Raimondi toujours très fiable, Cappuccilli comme souvent un peu détaché, R.Raimondi se force un peu .

I Vespri Siciliani demands four powerhouse voices and it gets them in this La Scala performance. Gianandrea Gavazzeni's conducting bristles with purpose, as does Renata Scotto's Elena. Scotto is always specific and her Act IV aria is the performance's apex. Only Ruggero Raimondi's Procida shares her commitment to interpretive ***********. Gianni Raimondi is robust in a It's a grand night for singing sort of way and similar things could be said about Piero Cappuccilli's big, unshaded Monforte. The tenor's path is eased by omission of a difficult Act V solo. There's much to enjoy and to derive enlightenment from here, but I'm not sure I'd recommend it above Opera Depot's other Vespri performances.

Si tratta dell'inaugurazione scaligera del dicembre 1970, edizione scialba e deludente sotto molti aspetti, la direzione di Gavazzeni è dozzinale e grossolana, in sostanza ha condizionato in modo negativo tutto lo spettacolo i due Raimondi sottotono, Gianni in particolare manca di brillantezza vocale e con problemi negli acuti, cmq sia questo non è un ruolo per lui, Ruggero senza spessore e senza piglio drammatico che al ruolo di Procida si dovrebbe conferire, Cappuccilli è in una di quelle serate in cui la voce va come sempre ma senza dare niente di più del suo solito canto, non c'è un minimo di paternalismo, per questi tre artisti si va da un 4 a un 5 di pagella scolastica.Appena appena sopra la sufficienza è Renata Scotto, anche lei in qualche momento di difficoltà, ma forse dovuto più ai suoi partner che a se stessa.Incredibile poi trovare il baritono Carlo Meliciani nella piccola parte del sire di Bethume, quando l'anno prima, il 7 dicembre 1969 all'inaugurazione con Ernani aveva cantato la parte di Don Carlo, mah va a capirle certe cose.In sostanza un edizione con grandi nomi com'era d'uso alla Scala di Milano, ma con una resa molto, ma molto modesta.In quegli anni in Italia ci furono molte edizioni superiori di questi "Vespri siciliani" e con artisti meno famosi, ma propriamente più adeguati alla parte e ai ruoli richiesti.

Excellent performances from everyone involved. All the principals were fine, especially Cappuccilli.

A brilliant all round performance.