Product Description

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Genre: Classical Music
Media Format: Compact Disk
Rating:
Release Date: 9-AUG-2005

Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Attila, opera: Preludio
2. Attila, opera: Prologue. Coro e scena. Urli, rapine
3. Attila, opera: Prologue. Coro e scena. Eroi, levatevi
4. Attila, opera: Prologue. Scena. Di vergini straniere
5. Attila, opera: Prologue. Scena. Santo di patria indefinito amor!
6. Attila, opera: Prologue. Cavatina. Allor che i forti corrono
7. Attila, opera: Prologue. Cavatina. Da te questo or m'� concesso
8. Attila, opera: Prologue. Cavatina. Uldino, a me dinanzi l'inviato
9. Attila, opera: Prologue. Scena. Attila! - Oh, il nobil messo!
10. Attila, opera: Prologue. Duetto. Tardo per gli anni, e tremulo
11. Attila, opera: Prologue. Duetto. Vanitosi!
12. Attila, opera: Prologue. Scena. Qual notte!
13. Attila, opera: Prologue. Scena. L'alito del mattin - Preghiam!
14. Attila, opera: Prologue. Scena. Quai voci!
15. Attila, opera: Prologue. Cavatina. Ella in poter del barbaro!
16. Attila, opera: Prologue. Cavatina. Cara patria
17. Attila, opera: Act 1. Scena. Liberamente or piangi
18. Attila, opera: Act 1. Romanza. Oh! nel fuggente nuvolo
19. Attila, opera: Act 1. Scena. Qual suon di passi!
20. Attila, opera: Act 1. Duetto. S�, quell'io son
21. Attila, opera: Act 1. Duetto. Va! Racconta al sacrilego
22. Attila, opera: Act 1. Duetto. Oh, t'inebria nell'amplesso

Disc 2:

1. Attila, opera: Act 1. Scena. Uldino! Uldin!
2. Attila, opera: Act 1. Aria. Mentre gonfiarsi l'anima
3. Attila, opera: Act 1. Scena. Oltre a quel limite t'attendo
4. Attila, opera: Act 1. Finale 1. Parla, imponi - Vieni. Le menti visita
5. Attila, opera: Act 1. Finale 1. No!... non � sogno
6. Attila, opera: Act 2. Scena. Tregua � cogl'Unni
7. Attila, opera: Act 2. Scena. Dagli immortali vertici
8. Attila, opera: Act 2. Scena. Chi vien? - Salute ad Ezio
9. Attila, opera: Act 2. Aria. � gettata la mia sorte
10. Attila, opera: Act 2. Finale 2. Del ciel l'immensa volta
11. Attila, opera: Act 2. Finale 2. Ezio, ben vinei!
12. Attila, opera: Act 2. Finale 2. Chi dona luce al cor?...
13. Attila, opera: Act 2. Finale 2. Ah! - Lo spirto de' monti
14. Attila, opera: Act 2. Finale 2. L'orrenda procella
15. Attila, opera: Act 2. Finale 2. Si riaccendan le quercie
16. Attila, opera: Act 2. Finale 2. Oh, miei prodi!
17. Attila, opera: Act 3. Romanza. Che non avrebbe il misero
18. Attila, opera: Act 3. Scena. Che pi� s'indugia
19. Attila, opera: Act 3. Scena. Cessa, deh, cessa
20. Attila, opera: Act 3. Terzetto. Te sol, te sol quest'anima
21. Attila, opera: Act 3. Scena. Non involarti, seguimi
22. Attila, opera: Act 3. Finale (Quartetto). Tu, rea donna
23. Attila, opera: Act 3. Finale (Quartetto). Nella tenda

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #69588 in Music
• Brand: BERGONZI,CARLO
• Released on: 2005-08-09
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: .44 pounds

Customer Reviews

A studio version of "Attila" that has yet to be surpassed
SOURCE: Studio recording made in September 1972 at Wembley Town Hall, London.

SOUND: Good 1970s analogue stereo which maintains an excellent balance between the singers and the orchestra. The subsequent digital remastering has preserved the fine quality of the originals.

CAST: Attila*, King of the Huns - Ruggero Raimondi (bass); Ezio*, the Roman general better known to the history books as Aetius - Sherrill Milnes (baritone); Odabella, a Roman woman who loves Foresto, but whose basic bloodthirstiness makes her irresistibly attractive to Attila - Cristina Deutekom (soprano); Foresto**, a young Roman of equestrian rank remembered as one of the founders of Venice, here in love with Odabella - Carlo Bergonzi (tenor); Uldino, a Roman provincial who has thrown in his lot with Attila but who is of dubious loyalty to the King - Ricardo Casinelli (tenor); Leone*, a holy man who, in deference to Italian sensibilities of 1846, was not otherwise identified in the score or libretto, Leo the Great, pope and saint - Jules Bastin (bass).
*Historical figure. **Semi-historical figure.

CONDUCTOR: Lambert Gardelli with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Ambrosian Singers and the Finchley Children's Music Group.

DOCUMENTATION: Libretto in English, Italian, German and French. Brief history of the opera as well as a useful commentary on the 1808 play "Attila, Koenig der Hunnen" on which it is based. Short summary of the plot of the opera. Track list with timings.

COMMENTARY: After his spectacular success with his third opera, "Nabucco," Verdi entered into what he himself described as his years in the galley. He ground out operas at high speed in response to commissions from impresarios for specific productions at specific opera houses and, to some extent, specific casts. In quality, these operas range from abysmal (by Verdian standards, anyway) to pretty good. "Alzira" and "I due Foscari" are probably the worst. "Macbeth" and "Ernani" are the best, with "Giovanna d'Arco" and "Attila" just one step down.

I have a friend who cannot abide Verdi in this period of his career. She loathes his oom-pa-pa writing and his incessant flag-waving. Well, that is exactly what you get with "Attila," but I assure you that it is the best oom-pa-pa-ing and incessant flag-waving that anybody ever put on the operatic stage. This is a still-youthful Verdi, raw, rough, more than a little naive, as much a patriot as an artist, but powerful--already more powerful than any Italian composer before or since. In "Attila" he provided proof, if any were needed, that he was the composer destined to write "Il trovatore" and even "La forza del destino." (Although how the man who wrote "Attila" could have conceived a "Falstaff" or even "Otello" must always remain a mystery.)

"Attila" ostensibly deals with the final generation of the Western Roman Empire, when decayed Romans and their institutions fell before relatively small barbarian hosts that their mighty imperial ancestors would have laughed to scorn--before they crucified half of them and conscripted the rest into their legions, that is. Attila, despite his Germanic nickname (Little Father), was of central Asian ancestry, but half or more of his army consisted of German tribes conquered by his immediate ancestors. In the opera, Attila and his men are all Germans and they call upon Odin and Thor for divine assistance, all this at a time when people were already beginning to call Germans and Austrians "Huns."

In point of fact, the legitimate Huns among Attila's coalition were probably as indifferent to Odin as they were to Jupiter, while the most important German contingent, the Ostrogoths, had been converted to Christianity a full four generations earlier.

If the Hunnic hordes have become Germans in the opera, the Romans have definitely evolved into Italians. Old Roman gravitas just isn't in their nature. Not a bit. And that's just the way the Italian audiences who so enthusiastically paid their money to cheer at this opera liked it. When Ezio says to Attila "Avrai tu l'universo, / Resti l'Italia a me" (You may have all the world, / Leave Italy to me), patriotic Italians smarting under Austrian domination cheered the house down.

For all that, though, there is a strange thing about this opera. Attila the Hun--of all people!--is far and away the most likable character in the piece. He's an honorable man who finds Ezio's treasonous proposal distasteful. He graciously pardons enemies who have no higher ambition than to murder him.

That, as a matter of fact, happens to be true of the historic Attila. A man named Priscus once found himself despatched by the Emperor at Constantinople as part of an embassy to negotiate the ransoms of some high-ranking Byzantine captives. Unknown to poor Priscus, the embassy was a ruse. A turn-coat Hun, serving as their interpreter, was supposed to murder Attila. The Hun King, of course, knew all about the plot and he explained it thoroughly to the Romans while they quakingly contemplated the short and painful remainder of their lives. At the end of his tale, Attila completely astonished the Romans by taking it all as a big joke. He sent them home with little more than a horselaugh and an admonitory wag of his finger at their preposterous plotting. Priscus lived on to become the imperial historian and he must have dined out on the basis that hair-breadth escape for the rest of his life.

This performance, from the day it was first issued, has always been regarded as a fine piece of work, with particular praise going to Gardelli and to Bergonzi. I certainly like what Gardelli does here. He is probably the strongest conductor ever to make a specialty of early Verdi (which isn't saying much, of course.) I can't imagine that anyone else would have more success than Gardelli in converting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Ambrosian Chorus into an Italian band and choir.

Bergonzi is fine, always the most elegant of Verdian tenors, but I feel obliged to point out that even as early as 1972, his voice, though good, had lost its wonderful early sheen and bloom. From this time and ever after one speaks in praise of his technique, not of the beauty of his voice.

The rest of the cast is fine but not ideal. I called Raimondi a bass in the cast list because that is the intended range for Attila. At best, Raimondi was a bass-baritone, and here he offers fine tone where I would expect bite from Attila. Milnes was Milnes, always good, never the best. Deutekom is good, even impressive in some things, but her voice is just too light and too white for a role that cries out for a fired-up, young Caniglia or Tebaldi. No, there's nothing wrong with this cast. It's simply that I hear this music in my own mind with a slightly different set of singers--but that's purely a matter of personal taste.

This recording is not perfect but it equals or betters any other studio set. It offers a fine and famous cast under a skilled conductor, and all at a reasonable price.

Five stars.

Fine recording with an exceptional Forresto (Bergonzi)
All Attila recordings have something to offer. This first studio recording of the opera is not what I would call defenite but there is something uniquely beautiful about it, not found in later recordings.
The young Raimondi, whose handsome voice and dramatic insights I always enjoy, sounds a bit too light for the regal role of Attila. Ramey's instrument for Muti (EMI) is more convincing and how fortunate we are that his assumption of the role has also been captured on video twice. Even grander is Ghiaurov and I wonder why he was never chosen to record the role in studio.

Deutekom is captured in her prime impressing us with her free top and coloratura. Odabella was one of her main roles and she portraits it well. What I miss are the low notes which only Sylvia Sass offers in studio (Maria Guleghina on video beside Ramey also does a superb job).

Milnes has never been a favourite of mine but he doesn't dissapoint here (Cappuccilli would have been ideal though).

I can replace all the three aforementioned singers with others who have performed the roles. However, there is no way I can choose any other tenor who has performed or recorded this role above Bergonzi! He does some of his finest Verdi singing on this set and in his first aria gives the most ravishing pianissimi I've heard by a tenor.

Maestro Gardelli conducts with grace and adds another early Verdi recording to his collection.

Best recording of the work with Milnes in amazing voice.
For this I only have three words:

BUY IT NOW!!!