This recently discovered broadcast from 1946 is of great interest to admirers of Mario del Monaco, who did not record the role of Riccardo commercially. This was his first engagement outside of Italy where he had made his official debut in 1941; his world-wide fame really arrived with the ’50s. It’s quite an experience hearing him so early in his career: everything we’ve come to love and/or be frustrated by is already present, just on a somewhat smaller scale. The voice is utterly secure, with top-notes ringing–and held on to just as long as he wishes. Even then, del Monaco rarely sang under mezzo-forte, but the general sound of the voice was less leathery and so it isn’t as bothersome. In general it’s a more lyrical, nimble del Monaco, with fleet singing in ensembles, enough giggling in “E scherzo ed I follie” to turn it into a show unto itself, and shallow if passionate emotions. His third-act aria is cut–a tradition that was pretty standard in those days–and it’s a pity. (There exists a Björling performance from the Met in the late 1930s or ’40s in which the same cut is taken.)
Nini Sanzogno leads an under-rehearsed orchestra and chorus, the prompter is amazingly loud (and seems to make some weird grunting noises occasionally), and not to put too fine a point on it, with one exception the rest of the cast is a trial. Piero Biasini is a bluff, big-voiced Renato, nonetheless exciting; Marisa Morel’s Oscar is uninterested in pitch; and Amelia is Carla Castellani, a soprano who retired early. She is musical, involved, heeds all dynamics, and has a simply awful voice. She turns the name-choosing scene in Act 3, scene 1 into hash. It’s good to hear such a young Giulietta Simionato as Ulrica: rich, dark, solid. This is for the curious and for del Monaco fans.
