CD 1

1) NABUCCO: “Sperate o figli”bs. Nazzareno de Angelis

1937 Columbia CBX 334 .......................................................................................... 3.28

2) NABUCCO: “Tu sul labbro dei veggenti” bs. Nazzareno de Angelis

193 7 Columbia CBX 341 .......................................................................................... 3.45

3) NABUCCO: “Va pensiero” Coro e professori d’orchestra Teatro alla Scala

dir. Cav. Carlo Sabajno 1932 c. VDP 102.668 .......................................................... 4.22 

4) I LOMBARDI ALLA PRIMA CROCIATA: “Qual voluttà” ten. Beniamino Gigli 

bs. Ezio Pinza, sop. Elisabeth Rethberg 1927 Vietar VDP 42.1104 .......................... 4.00 

5) I LOMBARDI ALLA PRIMA CROCIATA: “La mia letizia infondere”

ten. Ferruccio Tagliavini, Orch. Dell’EIAR, dir. Ugo Tansini 1940 Cetra 70490 ......... 2.33 

6) ERNANI: “Infelice, e tuo credevi”bs. Ezio Pinza 1930 Vietar VDP 42.1267 .......... 3.02

7) ATTILA: “Te sol quest'anima” ten. Beniamino Gigli, bs. Ezio Pinza 

sop. Elisabeth Rethberg 1927 Viccor VDP 42.1105 .................................................. 2.50

8) LUISA MILLER: “Quando le sere al placido” ten. Tito Schipa 

1929 Victor VDP 42.709 .......................................................................................... 3.09

LA TRILOGIA POPOLARE The populartrilogy

9) RIGOLETTO: “Signor? Va non ho niente” bar. Apollo Granforte, bs. Franco Zaccarini _ Orch. Teatro alla Scala, dir. Carlo Sabajno 1930 Voce del Padrone VDP 32.1542 ..... 3.57

10) RIGOLETTO: “Pari siamo” bar. Apollo Granforte, Orchestra Teatro alla Scala 

dir. Gino Nastrucci 1930 Voce del Padrone VDP 32.1889 ....................................... 3.49 

11) RIGOLETTO: “Caro nome”sop. Toti Dal Monte 1924 HMV VDP 2.053241 ........ 4.16 

12) RIGOLETTO: “Parmi veder le lagrime” ten. Tito Schipa 1914 VDP 42.679 ........... 3.58 

13) RIGOLETTO: “Parmi veder le lagrime” ten. Enrico Caruso 1913 VDP 2.052076 .. .4.28 

14) RIGOLETTO: “Povero Rigoletto” bar. Giuseppe De Luca, Coro e Orchestra Metropolitan di New York, dir. Giulio Setti 1930 Victor VDP 42.716 ...................... 3.42

15) RIGOLETTO: “Cortigiani, vii razza dannata” bar. Giuseppe De Luca, Coro e Orchestra Metropolitan di New York, dir. Giulio Setti 1930 Victor VDP 42.680 ..................... .4.13 

16) RIGOLETTO: “Bella figlia dell’amore”sop. Amelita Galli Curci, cont. Louise Homer, ten. Beniamino Gigli, bar. Giuseppe De Luca 1927 VDP 2.054210 ......................... 3.24

17) TRAVIATA: “Dei miei bollenti spiriti” ten. Beniamino Gigli

1982 Victor VDP 2.052397 ………………………………………………. 4.07

18) TRAVIATA: “Dite alla giovane” sop. Amelita Galli Curci, bar. Giuseppe De Luca Orchestra Metropolitan di New York, dir. Giulio Setti 1919 VDP 2.054213 ....... 4.01

19) TRAVIATA: “Addio del passato” sop. Claudia Muzio 1922 Columbia CBX 1364… 3.20 

1.14.41

CD 2

1) TRAVIATA: “Parigi, o cara”sop. Amelita Galli Curci, ten. Tito Schipa 

1924 Vietar VDP 40.2396 ......................................................................................... 3.20 

2) TRAVIATA: “Un dì felice eterea”sop. Amelita Galli Curci, reo. Tito Schipa 

1924 VDP 40.2395 .................................................................................................. 3.08 

3) IL TROVATORE: “Miserere di un'alma” ten. Giovanni Martinelli, sop. Rosa PonselleOrch. Metropolitan di New York, dir. Giulio Setti 1928 HMV VDP 2.054243 ......... 4.20 

4) IL TROVATORE: “Ai nostri monti” ten. Giovanni Martinelli, cont. Louise Homer 

1928 HMV VDP 2.054270 ...................................................................................... 4.17 

LA MATURITA' The mature period

5) SIMON BOCCANEGRA: “Il lacerato spirito”bs. Ezio Pinza

1925 VDP 2.052240…………………………………………………………. 4.12

6) UN BALLO IN MASCHERA: “E' lui, è lui”m.sop. Irene Menghini Cattaneo 

Coro e Orchestra Teatro alla Scala, dir. Cav. Carlo Sabajno

1930 Voce del Padrone VDP 32.1256................................................................. 2.14

7) UN BALLO IN MASCHERA: “Eri tu che macchiavi” bar. Gino Bechi, Orch. Teatro alla Scala, dir. Umberto Berrettoni 1945 Voce del Padrone VDP 2BA.4386………… 4.32

8) LA FORZA DEL DESTINO: “Solenne in quest’ora” ten. Beniamino Gigli 

bar. Giuseppe De Luca 1928 Vietar VDP 2.054177……………………………. 4. 14

9) LA FORZA DEL DESTINO: “Il santo nome di Dio” 

bs. Ezio Pinza 1930 Victor VDP 2 052386…………………………………. 4.18

10) LA FORZA DEL DESTINO: “La vergine degli angeli” sop. RosaPonselle, bs. Ezio Pinza, Orchestra Metropolitan di New York, dir. Giulio Setti 1930 Victor VDP 2.054244…4.20

11) DON CARLO: “Dormirò sol” bar. Augusto Beuf, Orchestra Teatro alla Scala 

dir. Umberto Berrettoni 1940 Voce del Padrone VDP 2BA.4390 ............................. 3.44 

12) AIDA: “Celeste Aida” ten. Enrico Caruso 1911 VDP 2.052066 .............................. 4.31 

13) AIDA: “Ritorna vincitor!” sop. Maria Caniglia, Orchestra e Coro Teatro 

dell’Opera di Roma, dir. Tullio Serafin 1947 VDP DB 6395-A ................................ 3.16 

14) AIDA: “Celeste Aida” ten. Beniamino Gigli, Orchestra e Coro Teatro dell'Opera di Roma dir. Tullio Serafin 1947 VDP DB 6393-A ................................................................ 4.22 

15) AIDA: “Cielo mio padre” bar. Gino Bechi, sop. Maria Caniglia, Orchestra Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, dir. Tullio Serafin 1947 VDP DB 6405-A ................................ 3.10 

GLI ULTIMI CAPOLAVORI The last masterpieces

16) OTELLO: “Credo in un Dio crudel” bar. Titta Ruffo 1914 Victor VDP 2.054090 ........ 4.17

17) OTELLO: “Pel ciel marmoreo, giuro!”

bar. Titta Ruffo, ten. Enrico Caruso 1914 Victor VDP 2.054049 ............................ 4.27 

18) OTELLO: “Ave Maria” sop. Elisabeth Rethberg 1930 Victor VDP 42.910 .............. 3.52 

19) OTELLO: “Ora e per sempre addio”

ten. Francesco Tamagno 1903 GT VDP 05.2102 ..................................................... 1.50 

20) FALSTAFF: “L'onore! Ladri” bar. Titta Ruffo 1920 Victor VDP 2.052199 ............... 3.24 

1.18.36

Legendary performances on 7 8s of Giuseppe Verdi's Operas

Acoustic and electric recordings from 1904 to 1947

2046-2047 2CD 

Ideato, registrato e prodotto da: Giulio Cesare Ricci

Assistente alla registrazione: Paola Maria Ricci

Consulenza artistica: Gino Bergamasco e Matteo Marazzi

Progetto grafico: Giulio Cesare Ricci

Data di registrazione: maggio 2000 

Attrezzatura 

Microfoni a valvole: Neumann U47 e M49 

Preamplificatori microfonici: Nagra

Registratori digitali: Nakamichi 1000

Cavi microfonici, digitali e linea: Signoricci

Si ringrazia Pier Carlo Villani per aver messo a disposizione i dischi f»'iginali ricevuti in dono dal nonno materno Carlo Carrante.

In the production of this CD, we aimedto recreate the acoustic conditions of the time in which 78s were recorded, utilising all Foné’s experience and technological expertise. The reproduction of acoustic discs was made on gramophones with an externalhorn, while orthophonic gramophones were used for reproducing electric discs. The sound was recorded using historical Neumann U47 and M49 microphones, which were placed in such a way as to recall the atmosphere breathed by opera lovers who listened to the music so long ago. 

Giulio Cesare Ricci, editore Foné

When Verdi made his debut on the Opera stage with Oberto Conte di San Bonifacio, he had to face the problem of performers trained in the musical and theatrical techniques of Bellini and Donizetti. Tenors were prevalently lyric and romantic, sopranos nearly always dramatic and coloratura, baritones and basses were usually secondary figures, and there was hardly any real difference between soprano and mezzo-soprano. Giuditta Pasta left Amina for Tancredi, Malibran preferred Romeo to Juliet in The Capulets and the Montagues. Eugenia Tadolini, who was to become a great Verdi performer, chose Jane Seymour instead of Anne Boleyn, Oberto has a Donizettian flavour and Un Giorno di Regno, Verdi’s second opera, recalls Rossini. Very few contemporary reports of these two early operas remain. However, in Nabucco (1845), the style, the individual character and the distinctive features of the young Verdi are clearly and unequivocally evident. Although it is based on theRossini model (the bass and most of the choral parts stem from Moses in Egypt), the baritone part, which was to become predominant throughout the19th century, rakes precedence; the soprano, straight from Donizetti roles, is forced to deal with a strong, dramatic tessitura. The unfortunate Giuseppina Strepponi, who was used to singing Lucia di Lammermoor, and Elisird’Amore, must have had a great struggle with it. The new Verdi soprano was born: the acrobatic, dramatic soprano running through two octaves with an intensity, expressive lushness, a vocal projection which reaches amosta heartfelt cry -in interpretation which went further than Elizabeth Roberto Devereux. Odabella, Elvira, Giselda were the prototypes of this kind of vocality which virtually destroyed a belcanto singer used to early 19th century vocal style. Onlythe image of the romantic tenor seems to be conserved in Ernani, I Lombardi alla Prima Crociata, Attila andLuisa Miller. For this reasonthere are numerous contemporary recordings of tenors, while nor until the mid-20th century are we able to discover the real identity of most of the heroines ofVerdi’s early works. The popular trilogy sees a dramatic change. The theatrical component already seen Macbeth becomes one of Verdi’s major features. Vocal composition is no longer anend in itself,but depends on the psychology of the character and coincides with the action. We hear the last echoes of belcanto in the voices of Gilda, the Duke of Mantova, Leonora and Manrico, and there follows such a strength of theatrical interpretation in the characters of Violetta, Rigoletto and Azucena that they bring us shadesof verismo. How many times have we heard renowned singers launch themselves into “Cortigianivilrazzadannata”as if it were the prologue of Pagliacci or into “Addio del passato”in the style of “Io son l’umileancella”. In his mature years, Verdi breaks away from these patterns and clearly defines the identity and personality ofhis characters. Leonora, Amelia and Aida are the fìrst to be known as Verdi sopranos; Renato, Carlo and Posa are Verdi baritones: fully textured voices, rich in harmonic tones, extensive, generous, proud, noble and alluring. Only in the last years of Verdi’s life does the theatre take over again, and with the rediscovery of Shakespeare, the Swan ofBusseto“returns to the past” as he himself liked to say. He gives fullness to his characters in Falstaff and Othello frequently using the technique of “speaking-singing” which lays the ground for the veristic revolution. In Verdi we find the entire vocal range of the 19th century, and these two CDs, with their collection of the greatest exponents of a vocal style lost to us today, is a perfect preparation for 2001, centenary of the death of the world's most popular opera composer. 

Sergio Segalini

English translation: Jane Elizabeth Read