A peer among tenors

Press, 26 November 1980, Page 22

A peer among tenors

Classical records \ f J>

ALLAN FRANCIS

O SOLE MIO Pavarotti sings favourite Neapolitan Songs. A World Record release from Decca SXL 6870.

IT is unfortunate that I had just heard Caruso singing the title track from this L.P. shortly before the review disc arrived and several illusions were shattered as a result.

There is no question that Luciano Pavarotti is the finest lyric tenor of this age despite the doubts cast by the recent Parkinson television interview, but this ju'st happens to be one of those rare occasions when the chips were down. Pavarotti muffed two of the opening songs, and one juot happened to be O Sole Mio.”

It is not an easy song though over-familiarity might tend to make it seem so. For sheer perfection of technique Caruso in 1916 cannot be surpassed, at least not on this take by the likeable Pavarotti.

My first impression was that he was not comfortable with the large-scale orchestration of Gmailtime cafe songs, but after the first two tracks were gone and forgotten he became his usual perfect self and turned in some powerful performances of well-known and not no familiar songs. Eleven out of 13 is still good value. Why all latterday tenors of this calibre wish to

follow in the' path of Mario Lanza is beyond me, but there on television we had even Pavarotti coveting the role of the celluloid hero as did Domingo before him. Lanza is simply not in the same league.

Two large orchestras 'support Pavarotti on the programme under review in place of the normal handful of stringed instruments, but this does not destroy the heady flavour of back-street cafes in Naples. It is a little like expecting Tennyson’s brook and stumbling across Niagara Falls instead. S ® >•{

MOZART Symphonies 36 and 38. Sir Charles Mackerras and the LPO issued by EMI from CFP 40079, now on HQS 618. TWO of the composer’s most popular symphonies, the Linz and the Prague, back on the shelves under the noble guidance of Sir Charles Mackerras and well worth their place among later and possibly more modern accounts. The Linz was taken apart and beautifully reassembled by Bruno Walter in 1956 on 77251, still

available, and of anything designed to sell Mozart to the uninitiated this was by far the most successful.

Two versions in 1974, including the review recording, carried the banner still further, and although Mackerras lacks the crispness of Karajan his version on a budget label lacked nothing in quality. The sound is tubby, but this does no worse than give the over-all effect of mellow warmth, and after hearing a batch of 1980 discs with strings which would shatter your crystal, this is a welcome relief.

BIZET Masterpiece. Various exerpts from Pearl Fishers, Fair Maid of Perth, Carmen, Roma, Symphony in C, Jeux D’Enfants, L’Arlesienne and Agnus Dei on SMP 623.

Another admirable selection of carefully chosen pieces by EMI which will tempt the newcomer and provide interesting comparisons for the seasoned collector, such as the famous duet, “In the Depths of the Temple,” by Gedda and Ernest Blanc. It still does not match the RCA Bjorling/Merrill set for sheer ' perfection, but then who can — unless the Pavarotti version might capture the magic so far unprecendented?

It is still a workmanlike version if you have not heard Bjorling and Merrill, and both singers are featured in later excerpts. Sir Thomas Beecham’s immortal Carmen provides an ideal vehicle for both singers, a rousing Toreador’s Song from Ernest Blanc, and a lyrically beautiful Flower Song from Nicolai Gedda. A bonus is provided by Victoria de Los Angeles singing Habanera. EMI has been generous with Carmen, and anyone interested in buying the whole set it is still available on SLS 5021, now enjoying its twentieth birthday, and likely to celebrate many more.

Bizet’s rhythms have always given problems to conductors but tho Beethovenish Roma Scherzo is finely turned by Louis Freinaux and timed to a nicety, as is his brisk finale of the Symphony in C. Giulini lingers lovingly over the Children’s Games with the rich sound: of the Philharmonia, the same orchestra under . Karajan giving new life to the well-worn L’Arlesienne (3 pieces). ' ‘ Franco Corelli; is convincing in Agnus Dei and despite the fact the pieces on side 2 do hot line up with either the label or the cover EMI are to be congratulated on the quality and quantity of the disc.