Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
Il trovatore
Manrico – Jussi Björling (tenor)
Leonora – Zinka Milanov (soprano)
Azucena – Fedora Barbieri (mezzo-soprano)
Count di Luna – Leonard Warren (baritone)
Ferrando – Nicola Moscona (bass)
Robert Shaw Chorale
RCA Victor Orchestra/Renato Cellini
rec. 21 February – 16 March 1952, Manhattan Center, New York
Restoration: John H. Haley
HDTT 15789 [2 CDs: 124]
Ever since this recording was issued more than seventy years ago, it has been ranked as a top contender, however, many new recordings that have appeared. Competition was keen also during the 1950s, with Cetra’s recording under Previtali featuring Lauri-Volpi, Karajan featuring Callas and Di Stefano, Erede with Del Monaco and Tebaldi, and Basile with Tucker and a young Leontyne Price. More followed in a steady stream during the 60s and 70s, but Björling and Milanov remained in the top layer. When the CD-era began in the early 80s, RCA quickly transferred it to the new medium, and when Naxos Historical started its series “Great Opera Recordings” around the turn of the century, Mark Obert-Thorn restored it to a new level of excellence. I rapidly disposed of my old worn LPs and invested in the new Naxos, something I have never regretted. Obert-Thorn writes in a producer’s note: “The Trovatore was transferred from the best portions of several sets of the original LP issue (RCA Victor LM_6008. The original master tape contains some instances of overloading (particularly during Barbieri’s loud passages) found on all pressings.”
For this new restoration, John H. Haley had access to a superior source, “a rare British HMV commercial reel-to-reel tape which was obviously generationally close to the master tape, obtained by the author in unplayed condition”. Reading this in the accompanying inlay, it was with high expectancy I started my first listening session. I started my investigation by taking down the Naxos set from my shelves and listened to the short, gloomy orchestral introduction and Ferrando’s All’erta, all’erta …Di due figli vivea, which sounded excellent in Obert-Thorn’s eminent restoration. Then I changed over to Haley’s newly minted alternative – and it was a revelation! Out of my speakers – or rather headphones – flowed a rich, detailed sound, rounded and at the same time airy and giving an impression of a fairly large hall. When Nicola Moscona entered his voice leaped out with impressive naturalness and presence. He was in the room. And what a voice! The orchestra too sounded less congested than on Obert-Thorn’s version, and still there is no artificial reverberation added and it is still in mono. The Robert Shaw Chorale are on good form and the anvil chorus is powerful and executed with precision, though a mite breathless due to Cellini’s relentless tempo whipping up the intensity to boiling point. But the anvils are pale; I suppose they were under-recorded from the beginning. The balance between the off-stage Björling and the very closely recorded Warren at Manrico’s first entrance is very realistic. Björling is distant but still distinct, and the harp at mid-distance gets its due without swamping the tenor. The voices in general are excellently caught and further confirm the general view, originally formulated by Caruso, that the only things needed for a successful production of Il trovatore is the four greatest voices in the world. By and large, that is what we’ve got here. Personal tastes differ of course, and not everyone is partial to Zinka Milanov – even though she regarded this Il trovatore her best recording, which also Haley mentions in the liner notes, quoting Kenn Harris, Opera Recordings. Callas and Tebaldi are her main competitors.Others prefer meatier heroic tenors like Del Monaco and Corelli to Björling’s leaner and more lyrical Manrico, but neither of them can match Björling’s declaration of love in Act III, Ah, sì, ben mio, and though he doesn’t possess the turbojet engine of Del Monaco he has the heft for a ringing Di quella pira – and bear in mind that Manrico is a troubadour and poet! The other two central characters, Azucena and Conte di Luna, were also sung by members of the Royal Family during the 1950s. Fedora Barbieri and Giulietta Simionato were the reigning mezzos until Fiorenza Cossotto arrived at the end of the decade, and Leonard Warren shared the baritone throne with the youngsters Robert Merrill and Ettore Bastianini. All of them can be heard on rivalling recordings.
My intention when receiving this issue was to sample it from a sonic point of view, but I ended up playing it from beginning to end – and enjoying every minute of it. The black mark has often been Cellini’s unsubtle but energetic conducting. “Lustily”, writes Kenn Harris, and no one can deny that there is a certain primitive thrill about the performance, but Karajan, Erede and Serafin are in a different league. For lovers of Jussi Björling this restauration should be an obligatory buy – even by those who have been satisfied with Mark Obert-Thorn’s excellent Naxos issue.
There is also a fascinating bonus track. Haley calls it “An Audio Restorer’s Fantasy”. Jussi Björling and Maria Callas sang together on the stage only twice, and that was in Chicago in 1955 in two performances of Il trovatore. The performances were rapturous received, and reportedly there existed a tape recording that has been lost. Now Haley has created a “fake” recording of the Miserere scene in the last act, by taking a 1951 live recording of Callas from Naples, and removed the tenor. Then he dubbed in Jussi Björling from a radio recording of the same music, with the effect that they now sing together, and there is no trace of the other tenor. This is the work of wizardry, and I wonder how many hours Haley spent on it. As he says in the notes: “the trickier parts are where they are singing together, but I persevered, with results that satisfy me – nothing of the removed voices is heard”. The sound is primitive and distorted – the Naples recording was lousy – but we get the atmosphere, and Callas intensity tangible, and when Björling comes in at a distance – he is standing in a tower far back – his voice is unmistakably noble. There is even applause after the duet. For a couple of minutes we have experienced an encounter between two giants that unquestionably took place … but under different circumstances. Thanks, John, for the invitation to this magic moment!
Göran Forsling
Other cast: Inez, Margaret Roggero (mezzo-soprano); Ruiz, Paul Franke (tenor)
Availability: High Definition Tape Transfers
