Anna Moffo

Anna Moffo, as the young and vulnerable heroine Lucia, produces a wonderfully sincere, yet highly romantic performance in this classic recording of Donizetti's Lucia Di Lammermoor. Featuring Georges Prêtre conducting the RCA Italian Opera Chorus and Orchestra, the recording features a stellar cast of singers, including the incomparable Carlo Bergonzi, Mario Sereni, and Ezio Flagello.

Shirley Verrett makes a deeply impressive Orfeo, firm and pure in sound, classically restrained in expression; and her "Che farò", at a moderate, beautifully judged speed, is very finely sung, poised and quietly moving. The set is conducted by Renato Fasano, whose pacing of the score shows a very sure touch. The dance music has a grace and lightness, and a stylistic command, that one might not have expected from an orchestra which in those days seemed to be fed chiefly on a diet of Vivaldi.

THE FIRST OF THE TWELVE discs in this collection of Anna Moffo’s RCA recital recordings begins with a 1960 performance of the jewel song from Gounod’s Faust, and that selection, along with the others on this disc, sets out the singer’s basic assets and liabilities. It’s a fresh lyric sound—Moffo was twenty-eight that year—even throughout the range, accurate in pitch and coloratura, with a good try at a trill. She phrases with musicality but not much nuance or variety of color. These qualities serve her and the music well in the coloratura fireworks of the shadow song from Meyerbeer’s Dinorah; “Bel raggio,” from Rossini’s Semiramide; and the bell song from Delibes’s Lakmé, all of which she tosses off with ease. Micaela’s aria from Carmen, however, demands more emotional thrust, while her Mimì and Liù are bland and anonymous.

THE FIRST OF THE TWELVE discs in this collection of Anna Moffo’s RCA recital recordings begins with a 1960 performance of the jewel song from Gounod’s Faust, and that selection, along with the others on this disc, sets out the singer’s basic assets and liabilities. It’s a fresh lyric sound - Moffo was twenty-eight that year - ven throughout the range, accurate in pitch and coloratura, with a good try at a trill.

Anna Moffo - Arias From Faust, La Bohème, Dinorah, etc
Rome Opera House Orchestra / Tullio Serafin
SACD ISO (2.0/MCH): 1,76 GB | 24B/88,2kHz Stereo FLAC: 802 MB | NO Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: RCA Living Stereo # 67905 | Country/Year: US 1960, 2005
Genre: Classical | Style: Opera

…Tullio Serafin and the Rome Opera Orchestra are no strangers to this repertory, and offer lush and sympathetic accompaniments throughout. The recorded sound here is remarkable – lets hope RCA/Sony continues to pump these discs out! The only caveat is the rather skimpy 44-minute playing time the disc clocks in at – but truly, what would you pair it with? Very highly recommended!

Anna Moffo - Arias From Faust, La Bohème, Dinorah, etc
Rome Opera House Orchestra / Tullio Serafin
SACD ISO (2.0/MCH): 1,76 GB | 24B/88,2kHz Stereo FLAC: 802 MB | NO Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: RCA Living Stereo # 67905 | Country/Year: US 1960, 2005
Genre: Classical | Style: Opera

…Tullio Serafin and the Rome Opera Orchestra are no strangers to this repertory, and offer lush and sympathetic accompaniments throughout. The recorded sound here is remarkable – lets hope RCA/Sony continues to pump these discs out! The only caveat is the rather skimpy 44-minute playing time the disc clocks in at – but truly, what would you pair it with? Very highly recommended!