This performance was the (lip-synched) soundtrack for an RAI TV presentation of the opera, and it finds Franco Corelli not only in spectacularly fresh voice, but for the most part singing cleanly and without the sobs and scoops that could disfigure, albeit excitingly, his later work. The high-Cs are big and bright, he sweetens his tone for “Non piangere Liu” and for the start of “Nessun dorma”, and he’s otherwise the perfect Calaf. Who sang–or sings–it better? American soprano Lucille Udovich has a good-sized spinto soprano that encompasses Turandot’s music with ease; neither the tessitura nor the exclamatory nature of the music gets in her way (she also sang Gioconda, Norma, and Abigaille). Her tone is not particularly distinguished, but it’s attractive; she colors the text well and is more than just a trumpeter of big sound. “In questa reggia” is the proper narrative it should be.
The otherwise unknown Renata Mattioli is a lovely Liu, with the requisite high pianissimos, vulnerability, and sweetness, and bass Plinio Clabassi is the most effective Timur on discs, sounding truly tragic after Liu’s death. The Ping, Pang, and Pong sing beautifully and Fernando Previtali leads what cearly was a well-rehearsed, carefully prepared performance. In all, a very good Turandot.
Myto has included 41 minutes of a 1961 Carmen from Turin in which Corelli is joined by the soft-grained, elegant, miscast Carmen of Pia Tassinari, a lovely Micaela named Margherita Benetti, and the bullying Escamillo of Gian-Giacomo Guelfi. Corelli sobs and hollers and sings with great virility, but there’s no reason to go out of your way for this.
