Giacomo Puccini (1858- 1924)
La fanciulla del West
Minnie – Renata Tebaldi (soprano)
Dick Johnson – Daniele Barioni (tenor)
Jack Rance – Giangiacomo Guelfi (baritone)
Orchestra Sinfonica e Coro di Roma della RAI/ Arturo Basile
rec. live radio broadcast, 28 June 1961, RAI, Rome. Mono
No libretto
Walhall WLCD0355 [2 CDs: 130]
I did not include this in my survey of recordings of La fanciulla del West but was alerted to its existence by a correspondent on another classical music forum whose favourite it is. However, both Barioni and Guelfi here feature in one of my three top recommendations and Tebaldi is very good in her studio recording made three years earlier; furthermore, the conductor was an old hand and the cast includes some admirable regulars. The exceptions are the “Native American” pair who are already embarrassing enough without the tenor having a tremolo and the mezzo a wobble.
Nonetheless, it is only in mono as opposed to the 1958 Decca recording which is in good stereo, and it inevitably sounds a bit boxy, harsh and distorted in ensemble compared with DG’s lovely analogue studio account from 1977, hence requires tolerance. It is still very listenable.
We first hear the enthusiastic, characterful and very idiomatic supporting cast of cowboys led by the ubiquitous comprimario tenor par excellence Piero De Palma and Silvio Maionico’s warm Jack Wallace, the camp minstrel or troubadour – rather too distanced, however – and Jim definitely overdoes the sobbing in a scene which is already sentimental enough.
Giangiacomo Guelfi’s Jack Rance is a strong performance very similar to the 1967 live performance conducted by De Fabritiis that I recommend in my survey; his voice is not as distinctive as Gobbi’s or Milnes’ but he is dark and snarling, with a dangerous edge and the depth of a bass but also ringing top notes. “Minnie, dalla mia casa” is beautifully sung – both subtle and moving – and he gets the fury of “Buona notte” right!
When it comes to Tebaldi’s performance, there is in fact good reason to favour this radio broadcast; she sounds more involved and released, in fresher voice with easier top notes, as there was certainly sometimes of a hint of strain in that earlier recording and she was not yet experiencing the problems which began a year or so later. In addition to greater vocal confidence and security, we also get a deepening of her characterisation.
Barioni hasn’t quite Del Monaco’s machismo heft and heroic bravura but is still very good, strong and incisive of tone. His exchanges with Minnie that close Act I and which open the second act both go especially well, as he excels in the lyrical passages and his top B is a scorcher. He has a clean, clear, pharyngeal tenor which is very pleasing on the ear. He had a very successful career at the Met and elsewhere but it was somewhat derailed by the lamentably early death of his wife whom he survived by forty-four years. However, he may also be heard alongside Guelfi in the De Fabritiis recording which is in better, stereo sound and more vividly conducted, so whether you want him here with Tebaldi or Olivero will depend on which of those two sopranos you favour (unless of course you want both…).
This is currently available new only as a download but the CD set may be found second-hand online and it has also been issued on the Opera d’Oro label.
Everybody sounds fully committed in this performance. Ultimately, it is perhaps mainly for fans of Tebaldi but her two principal co-singers are also very good and the ear soon adjusts to the relatively constricted sound.
Ralph Moore
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Other cast
Nick – Piero De Palma (tenor)
Ashby – Carlo Cava (bass)
Jake Wallace – Silvio Maionica (bass)
Billy Jackrabbit – Giorgio Onesti (tenor)
José Castro – Bruno Cioni (baritone)
Wowkle – Lola Pedretti (mezzo-soprano)
Sonora – Mario Borriello (baritone)
Trin – Athos Cesarini (tenor)
Sid – Attilio Barbesi (baritone)
Bello – Giovanni Ciavola (baritone)
Harry – Angelo Mercuriali (tenor)
Joe – Virginio Assandri (tenor)
Happy – Egidio Casolari (tenor)
Jim Larkens – Giuseppe Morresi (bass)
