La Traviata - Verdi (+CD) (DVD)

Advantages: Callas at her best, stylish Alredo Kraus, Mario Sereni brilliant
Disadvantages: Rough sound, better version on Pearl label

...VERDI - LA TRAVIATA - GHIONE EMI (LIVE RECORDING) PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS ON THIS REVIEW SO I CAN IMPROVE MY REVIEWS IN THE FUTURE!!! La Traviata is an opera about a socialite called Violetta who discovers love in the form of the tenor Alfredo who she originally rejects. They fall in love and live together. Alfredo's father visits her. Violetta is eventually persuaded to leave Alfredo so that his family name is not tarnished (threatening the future marriage of Alfredo's sister). Alfredo hates Violetta for this (he doesn't know of her promise with his father) and shames her in front of her friends. Violetta has TB and is dying. Alfredo comes to her and their love is rekindled just in time for her to die, the promise of future happiness coming to nothing. This recording is very good. Callas is brilliant as Violetta, perhaps even better... Read review

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Advantages: The drinking song, the melancholy oboes
Disadvantages: Long - approx 2 hrs

...La Traviata Composer: Giuseppe Verdi Libretto: Francesco Maria Piave Conductor: Sir Georg Solti Orchestra: Covent Garden Royal Opera House Orchestra Performer: Angela Gheorghiu (Soprano): Violetta Frank Lopardo (Tenor): Alfredo Leo Nucci (Baritone): Gioggio Germont Covent Garden Royal Opera House Chorus Label: Decca Released: July 1, 1995 Price: £25.99 Availability: At must good music shops Giuseppe Verdi was born on October 1813 near Busseto in North Italy. Although Verdi composed in other mediums including sacred choral works, he is best known for his Operas. La Traviata was composed in 1853. Translated as The woman gone astray, it was based on a play by Dumas (of The Three Muskateers fame). Set in Paris, it is an opera of true love. Musical Synopsis Act 1. The Parisian courtesan, Violetta, hosts a party in her... Read review

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Advantages: The Performance
Disadvantages: The Sound

...EMI Callas Lisbon 1958 La Traviata? AWFUL!!! The performance is excellent, of course, but the transfer is one of the poorest that gramophone history has ever saw! This EMI release was made based on the tapes recorded via radio when the performance was broadcasted in 1958 by RDP (Radio Difusao Portuguesa - Portuguese Radio). The EXCELLENT news is that there is a brand new transfer of the EXACTLY same performance based not on those EMI tapes but by the master tapes owned by RDP (the original source, then). The difference is ABSOLUTELY HUGE! This new release made by the label "Pearl" using those tapes, sometimes makes you wonder if the performance was recorded in mono or stereo! I have both releases, the "EMI" and the "Pearl". Despite the excellent booklet included in EMI edition the Pearl Edition is far superior (specially in matters... Read review

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