Despite poor singing from the women, this 1953 set is strangely satisfying. Max Rudolf’s leadership can be rough-and-tumble at times, but he pulls back for the tender moments: the initial Anna/Ottavio duet is gentle, Ottavio seemingly genuinely concerned. The finales are hell-bent and thrilling and tempos in general lean toward the quick. And there’s an underlying throb–listen to the accompaniment to Anna’s “Or sai chi l’onore”–that adds urgency without volume.
Giuseppe Taddei is a fabulous Don, overtly cruel and seductive, snide and arrogant, eventually in a rage against hell and always singing with cantante smoothness. The Leporello of Italo Tajo is fluid and has a laugh in it, which must drive Elvira nuts in “Madamina”. He’s having a grand old time of it until the going gets very rough–this is not a Leporello with conscience. Cesare Valletti again proves that he was the finest tenore di grazia of the ’50s, singing Ottavio with smooth legato, impeccable, pointed diction (this is true of the entire cast, by the way), great attention to the text (he always seems to be listening to Anna very carefully), and admirable breath control. Antonio Zerbini is impressive in his two scenes as the Commendatore.
Things start sliding downhill with the Anna of Curtis Verna. The voice is impressive and she knows the character, but she can’t get around the notes when there’s any call for coloratura–and “Non mi dir” is a mash. Carla Gavazzi has lots of temperament as Elvira but she has a nasty sound, cannot sustain pitch, and seems as if she’s ready to just give up and start screaming during “In quali eccesi”. Elda Ribetti is a wretched Zerlina, and she deserves the wimpy-voiced Masetto of Vito Susca.
So what to do? The men are worth hearing (they’re not making juicy Italian voices like that any more), the women (except for Ribetti) are tolerable-to-poor. The flat sound is not a great help and the piano-accompanied recits are a bit clumsy, especially in their too-close acoustic. Arias and ensembles from Rigoletto, Ernani, and Falstaff with Taddei and others (Lina Pagliughi, Caterina Mancini) are a nice bonus.
