Saint-Saëns: Sansone e Dalila

1. Samson et Dalila, opera in 3 acts, Op. 47
   Composed by Camille Saint-Saens
   Performed by Orchestra del Teatro di San Carlo di Napoli
   with Plinio Clabassi, Athos Cesarini, Mario del Monaco, Lino Puglisi, Jean Madeira
   Conducted by Francesco Molinari-Pradelli
   
   

Saint-Saëns: Sansone e Dalila,Camille Saint-Saens,Francesco Molinari Pradelli,Francesco Molinari-Pradelli,San Carlo Theater Orchestra (Naples),Athos Cesarini,Jean Madeira,Lino Puglisi,Mario del Monaco,Plinio Clabassi,Hardy Classic,Classical,Classical Music,French Romantic Opera,Opera,Opera / Operetta / Oratorio

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Average customer rating: Good Heavens!!! What was that? Gorgeous. Tebaldi's swan song? GIVE HER AN "E" FOR EFFORT! Tebaldian all the way!

Renata Tebaldi: A Tebaldi Festival Manufacturer: Decca ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Bellini, Vincenzo | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Massenet | Massenet, Jules | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Puccini | Puccini, Giacomo | ( P ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Saint-Saëns, Camille | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Verdi | Verdi, Giuseppe | ( V ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Wagner | Wagner, Richard | ( W ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Rossini | Rossini, Gioacchino | ( R ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General Modern | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Vocal & Song | Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music Romances | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music French | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music German | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Italian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music The Decca Records Store | Specialty Stores | Music ASIN: B0000042EV Release Date: 1997-09-16

Tracks:

1. Tannhauser: Salve d'amor, recinto eletto! (Dich teure Halle)
2. Tannhauser: O! Vergin santa, deh! mi ascolta! (Elisabeth's prayer)
3. Lohengrin: Sola ne' miei prim'anni... Cinto d'usbergo e maglia (Elsa's dream)
4. Tristan und Isolde: Dolce e calmo (Liebestod)
5. Carmen: Ella vien! ella vien!... E' l'amor uno strano augello (Habanera)
6. Carmen: Quadri! Picche! (Card Scene)
7. Sanson et Dalila: Sansone, anelante d'amore... Amor! i miei fini proteggi (Amour, viens m'aider)
8. Sanson et Dalila: S'apre per te il mio cor
9. Manon: Ebben! Lo degg'io!... Addio, o nostro picciol desco
10. Manon: Ahime! L'augel... La tua non e la mano che mi tocca?
11. Aida: Ritorna vincitor!
12. La Boheme: Quando me m'vo

Tracks:

1. La Regata Veneziana: I. Anzoleta avanti la regata
2. La Regata Veneziana: II. Anzoleta co passa la regata
3. La Regata Veneziana: III. Anzoleta dopo la regata
4. Granada
5. Estrellita
6. Catari, Catari
7. 'A vucchella
8. Non ti scordar di me
9. Carousel: If I Loved You - Carousel
10. Norma: Sediziose voci... Casta diva
11. I Puritani: O rendetemi la speme... Qui la voce sua soave... Vien, diletto
12. La Sonnambula: Oh! se una volta sola... Ah! non credea mirarti
13. Nabucco: Ben io t'invenni... Anch'io dischiuso... Salgo gia del trono
14. Don Carlo: O don fatale

Customer Reviews:

Good Heavens!!! What was that?.......2005-04-10

The other day, I was listening to one of Tebaldi's live Toscas, and then in the end scene where Tosca sings "O Scarpia, avanti a Dio!", Tebaldi utters out an unearthly scream that could, instead of freezing your blood, wake up the laughing dead!!! Not that it was horrible, but then that was simply one of the main reasons why my tastes have strayed farther and farther away from verismo.

Anyhow, regarding this disc, I think most of the selections from verismo are sung wonderfully. Tebaldi was a verismo singer, and a good dramatic one at that. Her Verdian voice was good, but quite lacking in some arias. The Wagner selections, sung in Italian, were quite good, although I still prefer Callas' "Dolce e calmo" to hers.

And then...bel canto. No! Never never never! Tebaldi should never have made any attempts to sing bel canto roles, even if they are in the studio! It only shows how limited her vocal flexibility is! Tebaldi can be enjoyed in Puccini just fine, but don't let her do Bellini or Donizetti! Goodness knows what she would have sounded like if she had tackled Rossini! Ack! The horror! Imagine Rosina screaming like that live Tosca!

This is a good recital for Tebaldi fans, but please don't even think about listening to the excerpts from Nabucco, Sonnambula, Norma, Puritani, and Don Carlo!!!! Those are simply nightmares I must tell you!!!! Nightmares!!!! She doesn't even attempt "Ah non giunge!" from Sonnambula! My goodness Amina was left asleep! But of course, Tebaldi would have died if she had sung Amina's final aria! And then there's the excerpt from I Puritani...how slow!! And her Ah bello a mi ritorna!!!! Horrible!!! She shouldn't try to be Callas! Nowhere in her great career will she ever approach the great Callas' repertoire or insight!

Gorgeous........2005-03-28

There is nothing on this collection of arias/songs that I dislike. All are sung beautifully, with utmost artistry and dramatic emotion.
Tebaldi never had the severe vocal crisis of Maria Callas, so even in these last years there isn't even a semblance of a wobble. That is not an attack on La Callas it is simply the truth. Throughout her life, Tebaldi had a good, solid technique and a lush velvety tone only exemplified by the acquisition of full, chest tones towards the end of her career.
There are, of course, some things that Tebaldi should not have sung. The scenes before and after Casta Diva (including the aria) are very good, with the exception of the little bits of coloratura between verses. She should not have ventured into "Ah! bello a me ritorna" because she could not handle the coloratura. Not because of poor training, but her voice was not one that could move as easily as others. It was a huge instrument. Her scena ed aria from "Puritani" while lacking, once again, in the coloratura passages, can still be appreciated for it's warmth and innocence. The scene from Nabucco, I believe, is immaculate. I cannot help but listen to it. It's full of the fiery passion of Abigaille, the deceit, the anguish, the angry, the loneliness. It's also there. We can certainly forgive the lacking florid passages. Her O don fatale is my favorite. Even the aria from La Sonnambula is amazing. I don't care if it's bel canto. This is something that Tebaldi could've sung at any time in her career. That is not to say that she could've handled Amina. Certainly not. "Ah! non giunge!" would've been suicide for Tebaldi.

Yes, there are better recordings of nearly everything on this disc, whether by Tebaldi, or by another artist. But the title of the album is correct...it's a Tebaldi Festival! It's comparable to a carnival. You can listen and just have fun with Mme. Tebaldi.

I won't ignore, of course, the first disc. Some stuck up opera whores will say that Tebaldi singing Wagner/Massenet/Saint-Saens in Italian is heinous. Have we forgotten that until recently most operas were sung in the language of the audience or in the language of the interpreter? I would rather here an emotionally present "liebestod" in Italian than a weak, distracted, stumbling one in German.

It's good stuff, people!

Tebaldi's swan song?.......2004-11-02

It wasn't without some reservation that I purchased this recording, which I later came to cherish dearly. I was intrigued by the fact that Tebaldi wanted to give a try to a Fach that did not suit her otherwise manifolded talent. I am referring to the bel canto heroines such as Norma and Elvira, along with the veristic Carmen and sensous Dalila. While Carmen and Dalila fare much better, given Tebaldi's stunning arsenal of dark chest notes, the dramatic coloratura parts of Norma and Elvira are below par, as Tebaldi never was a coloratura soprano (she was a spinto soprano) and must therefore negotiate the difficult fioriture with evident great effort. Nevertheless, it is a pleasure to listen to her in these pieces. The first part of Norma's grande entrée showstopper, "Sediziose voci..", and the ensuing recitative are sung with rich detail and plenty of bravura.
This recording however is a well of surprises. I was totally swept off my feet by Tebaldi's rendition of Wagner's Liebestod. I remember saying to myself: "brava, Renata!", when I first listened to this piece. Later, I read in the liner notes that the members of the orchestra had stood up for an improvised ovation of the diva after the recording of Liebestod. I can now understand why. My surprise continued for the whole of the German repertoire on this recording (albeit in Italian) and for the velvety excerpts from Sonnambula and Manon, where Tebaldi brings a lovely touch of melancholic vulnerabiltiy.

GIVE HER AN "E" FOR EFFORT!.......2002-08-23

Tebaldi was a great soprano, and it is on her magnificent recordings of her complete operas made in the 1950's that one finds the prime Tebaldi. Like Callas (with whom she should never have been compared), she developed vocal problems fairly early (though Callas demonstrated vocal problems first), and by the time she had reached her 50th birthday in 1972, her career on the opera stage was over (a few years of recitals and concerts were still left for her). Callas, of course, by this time was completely silent, save for that sad comeback series with Giuseppe di Stefano.
By the time these recordings were made in the late 1960's,
Tebaldi's uppermost notes were pretty far gone. Also, the fact that she never sang in any language other than Italian definitely diminishes the idiomatic quality of the non-Italian items on this recording. Wagner in Italian is simply not Wagner, and to hear the music of Carmen and Dalila sung in Italian is to weigh the music down with an inappropriate heaviness - sort of a suffle being turned into a dumpling!
The Italian items on this recording may find Tebaldi singing in her native language, but they certainly do not find her vocally comfortable, and I would have liked to hear what she would have done with Norma ten or fifteen years earlier, though even then she had no real bel canto flexibility. Operas like "Nabucco", "Puritani", and "Sonnambula" would have never been for her because she lacked the florid technique to do them justice.
But Tebaldi, like a true veteran, valliantly attempts this music and manages to get through them with a modicum of respectibility.
But this is nowhere near the ultimate Tebaldi ---- for that one must go to her recordings made on London in the 1950's -- creamy and luscious versions of "Butterfly", "Boheme", "Forza", "Tosca",
"Fannicula del West", "Otello", "Andrea Chenier", etc.
This recording is OK for Tebaldi fans only, but not even they can deny the deterioration in her voice here as compared to her vocally impeccable work a decade earlier.

Tebaldian all the way!.......2001-09-29

A lot of peolpe I talk to about this album are skeptical about it, saying that she shouldn't have made it, but then my response usually is, "Well where else are you going to hear her sing some of these selctions, which I think are better than other singers' interpretations?!!" You will not be able to hear her do the mad scene from Puritani, Casta Diva, or anything from Nabucco on any other CD of hers-end of story!! True, she may have been past her prime, but so was the "rival"(Callas)which didn't seem to stop her for the next 20 years, and seeing as how Tebaldi lasted for 30 years+ by being careful not to damage her instrument, as opposed to Callas' 13 years of complete misuse...well, need I say more? Enjoy!

Average customer rating: Undone by Sound

Saint-Saëns: Sansone e Dalila Manufacturer: Hardy Classic ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Saint-Saëns, Camille | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Romances | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music French | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music ASIN: B00000JFYR Release Date: 1999-12-09

Customer Reviews:

Undone by Sound.......1999-12-04

The good--Well, from what I can tell, this was a once-in-a-lifetime performance. Madeira luxuriated in the part of the seductress, a role perfectly suited for her beautiful mezzo-contralto voice. The muscle-bound doofus with a noble heart fit Del Monaco's range, power, and dramatic abilities perfectly. He obviously enjoyed the role like no other. Molinari-Pradelli conducted with the right mixture of grandness and mystery the opera calls for, plus the orchestra and chorus work sounded just as involved. The bad--All of this could be confirmed by the listener IF ONLY ONE COULD HEAR THE PERFORMANCE THROUGH THE AWFUL RECORDING! Honestly, it sounds as if it had been recorded under water. One day, technology will be able to restore this performance so it can be properly enjoyed. The ugly--Del Monaco and Madeira's talents are wasted in the fact that they didn't make a studio recording of this opera. So what if Del Monaco's French is questionable?

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