These recordings are taken from Christmas concerts broadcast on the radio in Italy in 1953 and 1954; there are several others in the series as well (one featuring Callas and Beniamino Gigli, though not singing together; another with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Boris Christoff). The wonderful tenore di grazia Ferruccio Tagliavini is heard in both concerts here, and his honeyed tones and elegant delivery are most welcome. He sings “Una furtiva lagrima” in each, both with utmost sweetness; his “E la solita storia” and “E lucevan le stelle” are paradigms of good taste; his “Flower Song” is a bit underpowered. Simionato is not at her best and she seems clumsy in Tancredi’s “Di tanti palpiti”; her “Letter aria” from Werther is much better.
But the reason for acquiring this CD is the under-recorded and under-appreciated Gertrud Grob-Prandl, an Austrian soprano who had the misfortune to be born the same year as both Birgit Nilsson and Astrid Varnay. Both made their careers outside of Europe in the early 1940s while Grob-Prandl sang in Vienna and Zurich, and for some reason she never quite had the international acclaim she deserved (she sang successfully in San Francisco for one season), and all of her recordings are “private”. The voice is simply spectacular–huge, secure, even from C to C. I dare say that once you hear her sing Rezia’s “Ozean” aria from Weber’s Oberon you’ll have a new favorite version of that aria and will want to hear her Isolde and Brünnhilde, which are available elsewhere in distinguished performances. The accompanying booklet tells us nothing about any of the singers and contains pictures only of Tagliavini and Simionato. Get this for Grob-Prandl.
