RECORDS Gigli At His Best

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29224, 7 June 1960, Page 8

RECORDS Gigli At His Best

BENIAMINO GIGI.I (tenor): O dolce incanto ("Manon”—Massenet); Che gelida inanina (“La Boheme”—Puceini): Salve dimora (“Faust"—Gounod); Mi par d'udir ancora (“Peeheurs de Perles”—Bizet); Ombra tnai fu (“Serse”—Handel); Una hutiva lagrima ("L’Elisir d'Amore”— Donizetti); E hicevan le stelle ("Tosca”—Puccini); La donna e mobile ("Rigoletto” Verdi); Vesti la giubba (“Pagliaccl"— Leoncavallo): I) fior (“Carmen” —Bizet); Agnus Dei (Bizet); Celeste Aida (“Aida”—Verdi). H.M.V. mono MALP.I6BI (12in).

“The Best Of Gigli” is the title of this LP, although that more properly belongs to the recordings the great tenor made in America from 1925 to 1930, rather than these European records made between 1931 and 1937. _ But it does contain much that is very good indeed and at least four of the numbers must be accounted among his finest recordings. The period coincided with a slight decline in Gigli’s artistry (but not voice) and the chronological listing above is also more or less the order of merit. In the later recordings he was more ready to introduce a sob or catch for easy effect. Perhaps the finest of all is the 1931 “Pearl Fishers” aria, which shows the ravishingly smooth mezza voice that made Gigli unique and must be a revelation to anyone who has heard only contemporary tenors. The other 1931 numbers also contain manj wonderful things: lovely legato and delicate turns in the dream aria from “Manon”: a glorious sweep in the phrasing of “Che gelida manina" and “Salve dimora." with a beautiful high note in the latter. The 1933 “Una furtiva lagrima” has some odd accents at the start and the ending is rather crude, but the middle section is excellent. The Handel aria of the same year, complete with recitative, has a few mannerisms but it is a fine piece of massive phrasing without any attempt to turn this aria from a comic opera into the sentimental “Largo.” (Whoever added an organ to the accompaniment had no such scruples, however.) The 1934 recordings are the “Tosca” aria, a delightfully humorous “La donna e mobile” and surprisingly temperate account of Canio’s lament from “Pagliacci,” which is among the

finest of all recordings of that aria. The 1936 “Agnus Dei" (with a chorus thrown in) and the 1937 “Celeste Aida,” which was really too heavy for Gigli, are not outstanding. The transfers have been extremely well done and there is none of the heavy surface noise which accompanied some of the recordings even when they were first issued. Opera fanciers should obtain great pleasure from this collection, which will allow many to replace 78’s that are becoming worn.

Another singer, whose heyday coincided with Gigli's, appears on Top Rank 39.626, although the

recording is much more recent. It is the negro bass, Paul Robeson, in his first Carnegie Hall concert for 11 years on May 9. 1958 Although his voice had at its extremes by then lost some of the richness which made it famous, Robeson could still produce some fine notes and the force of his personality is undamped The programme ranges wide, from the death of Shakespeare’s Othello and the monologue from Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov” to folk songs and spirituals, a nd Robeson demonstrates his linguistic ability by singing in German, Russian and Chinese as well as English Particularly impressive is the “Boris Godunov” excerpt, where he recites some of the preceding text before singing and shows such insight into the part that one regrets he never recorded it with orchestral accompaniment Among the spirituals and folk songs, “Every Time I Feel The Spirit.” “Balm In Gilead," “Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel.” “Oh No, John,” and the Labour song “Joe Hill.” are truly moving. The listener’s enjoyment is tempered only by regret that such an artist should have been silenced so long The recording is excellent, capturing the acoustic of the big hall and preserving some applause after each song. BACH: Brandenburg Concert! Nos. 3 in G major and 5 tn D major. Karl Monchinger conducting the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra. Decca mono BRM 3007 (lOin.)

Largely because of the dislike of American record-buyers for 10-inch discs, it seemed for a time that the size was going to become obsolete. Decca's new “Immortal Masterpieces” series—to which all the Decca records reviewed here belong—seems to presage a revival of a most useful format. Priced at 255. they are also 4s cheaper than the usual 10-inch disc. These Brandenburg concerti come from a new recording of the series, not the 1950 recording with which the works made their first appearance on LP. Engineering progress in the interval has meant not only more vivid recording but also that a single 10-inch disc accommodates these two concerts which once took a 10inch side and a 12-inch side respectively. Munchinger's interpretation has changed very little in the decade and these are thoroughly reliable performances, rather stolid and mechanical in rhythm, but with the virtues of good ensemble and an excellent unidentified harpsichordist. BIZET: “L’Arlesienne” Suite. Ernest Ansermet conducting L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. Decca mono 8RM.3003 (lOin) A rather surprising gap in the New Zealand catalogue is filled by this issue. It fills the gap worthily too, for «both playing and recording ore very good and

Ansermet conducts with his usual rhythmic alertness and care for balance of sonorities. The minuet, which really comes from the opera, “La Jolie Fille de Perth,” not from the incidental music, to Alphonse Daudet’s play, is most enchantingly played. MENDELSSOHN: Symphony No. 4 In A major, op. 90 (“Italian”). Georg Solil conducting the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. Decca mono 8RM.3004 (lOin). Solti gets brilliant playing from the Israel Philharmonic, especially from the strings, and Decca's engineers have done it full justice. His view of the symphony is too high-powered to be fully satisfying, however. In the outer movements, taken at almost excessive speed, there is much that is thrilling, but in the second and third movements there is a decided want of grace and charm. Nevertheless, it is good to have the work available in this form.