#Falstaff opera music archive#
#Falstaff opera music plus#

The most important aspect of the wartime performance is the presence of Tito Gobbi as Ford. No less well prepared or well played, it allows us to hear even more of the magic of the orchestration. Serafin¹s view of the work seems to be more autumnal, more ruminative than that of his Italian near-contemporary. The recording houses an interpretation from Tullio Serafin markedly different from De Sabata¹s.

It seems to be a studio performance as there is no evidence of any audience participation or stage movement.

#Falstaff opera music archive#

The 1941 Rome performance, or as much of it as survives, stems from the collection of the German Radio Archive in Frankfurt, and appears for the first time. A critic who saw and heard him at the time wrote that he had to resort to some technical tricks to cover up a voice that was no longer in its prime, but added: 'To offset that, his colouring of words was unique as were his gestures, how he moved, his command of the stage'. This is a matter of subtler emphases and vocal chuckles that are so vivid as almost to bring the character before one at home. The veteran baritone seems inspired by his conductor to present an even more imaginative and detailed portrayal than ever before, one quite unstaled by the thousand or so performances he had already given. 'The La Scala performance of 1952 is enlivened by De Sabata¹s superb conducting, at once precise, energetic, imbued with the rightful comedy and altogether exhilarating. UPC # 0-17685-11042-9.Ĭritic Alan Blyth writes in his liner notes:

These portions of the set are a co-production with Deutsches Rundfunkarchiv. * Items marked *: From the archives of Deutsches Rundfunkarchiv.

#Falstaff opera music plus#

Plus bonus tracks from previously unreleased live performances of Otello and Aida conducted by de Sabata (1938). Complete performance from La Scala, Milan given, conducted by Victor de Sabata with Mariano Stabile as Falstaff, Paolo Silveri as Ford, Cesare Valletti as Fenton, Mariano Caruso as Cajus, Giuseppe Nessi as Bardolfo, Italo Taio as Pistole, Renata Tebaldi as Alice, Cloë Elmo as Quickly and Anna Maria Canali as Meg and the previously unissued incomplete recording for RRG (German Radio) with members of Rome Opera, recorded 28 April 1941, conducted by Tullio Serafin* with Mariano Stabile as Falstaff, Tito Gobbi as Ford, Ferruccio Tagliavini as Fenton, Adelia Zagenara as Cajus, Cesare Masini-Sperti as Bardolfo/Pistole, Franca Somigli as Alice, Augusta Oltrabella as Nanetta, Cloë Elmo as Quickly and Vittorico Palambini as Meg.