Don't be turned off of this performance of Der Freischutz just because it's sung as Il Franco Cacciatore. The singers are all excellent as are the actors who perform the dialogue. Albanese was considered a good, if second tier tenor at this time (1955), but he sings up a storm as Max. The voice is ringing and attractive and he never forces. This is the best thing I've heard him do. Jurinac sings a glorious Agathe. She probably would've been more comfortable singing in the original German, but her innate musicality and skill carry her through. Moscucci sings an Annchen with more pep than one normally hears in German and Christoff pounces on Kaspar and treats us to some wonderful singing. I assume someone else does his dialogue, but I could be wrong. Whoever it is sounds appropriately like an Italian Bela Lugosi! The other parts are all done well. Gui conducts a stirring performance, trimming a verse out of Killian and Kaspar's songs in the Act One each. The sound is very listenable, if hardly stellar. My copy had a few minor technical glitches (some weird skipping during the Bridesmaids' scene in Act Three). Fortunately, it doesn't last long. More irritating are those ridiculous pauses between tracks because someone along the line didn't choose the right setting before copying the discs - grrrr...

10 years ago before singing in an American production of DER FREISCHUTZ, I came across this recording in Italian.A fine one it is despite’s less than perfect reproduction from the radio source. Still, at a true bargain price of around 4 Euros & an amazing cast, I cannot complain. What a great role for Christoff in particular. I am not aware whether or not he sang KASPAR on stage but he is really superb here. I was wondering if the Italian text used in THIS recording was the work of BOITO who apparently did produce an Italian translation often libretto. DER FREISCHUTZ has been one of my favorite operas ever since college & I am gratified to finally have had the chance to sing in it. We performed it in the original German, text as well. I still wonder about whether they used Boito‘s Italian Vin this