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Rigoletto
by (Composer: Giuseppe Verdi) (Conductor: Carlo Maria Giulini) (Orchestra: Firenze Community Theater Orchestra) (Performer: Luciano Pavarotti) (Performer: Arturo la Porta) (Performer: Enzo Guagni) (Performer: Kostas Paskalis) (Performer: Paolo Washington) (Performer: Plinio Clabassi) (Performer: Renata Scotto) (Performer: Rita Bezzi Breda) (Performer: Rosa Laghezza)
Product Group: Music
Studio: Opera D'oro
ISBN: B000006000
EAN: 0723723235824
UPC: 723723235824
Audio CD
Release Date: 1998-02-17
SKU: 08090097
Condition: Like New Like New
Comments: Two Audio CDs in like new condition with no scratches. Very nice jewel case with like new art work and labels. CDs always shipped first class.
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Editorial Reviews
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Amazon.com
It's good to have Luciano Pavarotti and Renata Scotto together in their primes. Here, in a performance taped live in 1966, we find the tenor at his most engaging as the dangerous, carefree Duke, absolutely certain of himself, singing with great passion and energy; while Scotto paints a lovely, fragile picture of Gilda--eager and innocent. The Rigoletto is Kostas Paskalis, a baritone with a big, burly sound who exaggerates all the big moments and pulls the vocal line out of position for the sake of "drama." A pity he couldn't restrain himself. Paolo Washington's Sparafucile is properly sinister; Laghezza's Maddalena is properly slutty. Giulini leads the Florence forces in an energetic, singer-pleasing performance, in fair sound. --Robert Levine
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Customer Reviews
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A young sounding Gilda
Rating  (4)
Date: 2008-12-18
Too many recordings have a soprano that sounds too old to convince me that she is a young girl. Even though they may have the vocal technique to manage the trills or show emotion in their voice, they still sound too mature for me. Scotto sounds like a trusting innocent and makes for a Gilda so pure that her downfall is all the more tragic. The only other Gilda on record that sounds as young is Edita Gruberova. This recording also has Pavarotti singing the Duke, which is a plus. Paskalis is straight forward in his interpretation of the title role and should satisfy most listeners. A good buy for the price.
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In better sound this would be a classic
Rating (4)
Date: 2005-10-18
Even if you are tolerant of bootleg sound, this fuzzy mono recording, obviously taken off the radio, is at times impossibly murky, with dropouts and clumsy changes of volume. Under any other circumstance it would be intolerable, but here we have three great artists--Giulini, Scotto, and Pavarotti--performing Rigoletto better than they ever did in the studio. Other reviewers have already pointed out their excellence.
As for the now-forgotten Kostas Paskalis in the title role, I side with the yea-sayers. He is involving in every bar and knows a great deal about dramatifally coloring his voice. All in all, this is a very Itlain night at the opera in Florence, musically flawed in matters of execution but unparalelled for excitement and raw Verdian power. What a pity about the sound.
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Verdi of the highest order
Rating  (5)
Date: 2004-04-04
2 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
This is a Rigoletto to surpass anything, studio or live. Paskalis will NOT be appreciated by those who have come to believe that a Verdi baritone is supposed to have a uniformly big, round sound, and not much else(Milnes, Morris, etc)Paskalis is that rare baritone voice that has COLOR, shading, and exquisite soft singing, and the ability to execute each note and marking that Verdi indicates in the score. He never goes for the obvious, big effect.This is a tortured, passionate reading, in the grand tradition of the Verdi baritone. This is not a Metropolitan Opera voice, thank God, but a direct link to the great Italian school of Verdi voice training that harkens back to the golden age of singing, the last of which was Bruson.
The Gilda of Scotto is another example of what is so sorely missing from today's opera stages, a mistress of bel canto, combined with fire and passion. If you don't get this style of singing, you don't get Verdi.
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You get what you pay for
Rating  (1)
Date: 2003-02-24
0 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
I thought the price for this was too good to be true. It was. Not worth buying. Sound too poor to enjoy.
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Great performance, poor sound
Rating (4)
Date: 2002-04-21
1 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
This live 60's performance of the young Pav and the young Scotto singing together. They are both at the peak of their form, Pavarotti shining throughout. Scotto is similarly exciting, a tad wobbly here and there, but nonetheless magnificent in "Caro nome" and the entire 3rd act. The rather unsung Kostas Paskalis is nowhere near the Rigolettos of Gobbi or Milnes and his tone is extremely unsteady but he is at times very passionate. The remaining cast is so-so, Plinio Clabassi the exception as an exciting Monterone. Giulini did not make his famous studio recording with Domingo, Cappucilli, and Cotrubas for many years, but he is impressive here too. The sound is not good, a lot of blurring and coughing, but you get used to it.
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