“E strano … Ah, fors’ è lui… Sempre libera!”, La Traviata (Verdi)
Violetta: Montserrat Caballe (1967)
One contemporary reviewer wrote that Caballe “is not a natural Violetta, and her first act proved it. Here she had to force in order to negotiate the florid passages, and the result was a coarsening of tone and good deal of breathiness.”
Perhaps. But considering the Violettas that have been foisted upon us in the intervening 40 years, all I can say is ….
“Montse, you’re fierce!”
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Sanford 01.02.08 at 11:00 pm
if the reviewer thought Caballe was coarse, what do you think he’d make of Guleghina?
NYCOF 01.03.08 at 5:41 pm
Touche. Sandpaper? Burlap? Exfoliant?
Nick 01.03.08 at 8:25 pm
Caballe has what I think is the best sung Violetta in her studio recording…even with the dreadful conducting of Pretre….. and Ghoulishghina would be like a….. ummmh…sex without lube..
NYCOF 01.04.08 at 2:24 am
Now, children. In all fairness to Mme Guleghina, she never has sung Violetta outside the Iron Curtain as far as I know, and she certainly has never sung it at the MET. So perhaps it’s a bit unfair to compare her Violetta with Caballe’s. It’s like comparing ourselves with Jeff Stryker.
Sanford 09.14.08 at 9:33 am
AH, for the halcyon days of yore, when Verdi meant Sutherland, Sills, Moffo, and Caballe. My personal belief is that most of the Verdi sopranos (with the exceptions of Lady Macbeth and Abigaille) can, and should, be sung by lyric-coloraturas or lighter spintos, rather than dramatic sopranos. And neither of those exceptions absolutely has to be shrieked by the likes of Ghoul. Sondra Radvanovski did a wonderful Ernani this past season from the Met, and will be doing Trovatore next season. And Moffo’s Verdi Arias album (never on CD as far as I know, but now posted in its entirety on Youtube along with her French Arias albums) is one of the most perfect albums ever recorded, IMHO.