This is quite a surprise. I don’t recall ever coming across this modest 1952 recording (originally on Westminster), but having heard it I can safely put it on a par with the 1949 Cetra set with the superb Cesare Valletti and Sesto Bruscantini (albeit with a somewhat hard-edged Alda Noni), which is the first choice for this opera. (Why are the other, stereo-age recordings so lacking?)
This performance is light, unexaggerated, and airy. Argeo Quadri’s tempos tend to be leisurely, but nothing drags, and this allows the plot to unfold in a sane, story-telling manner. Even the usually breakneck-for-its-own-sake buffo duet in Act 3 is well articulated, and elsewhere the lack of mugging and rushing brings out the score’s niceties. There are no show-offy, end-of-aria interpolated high notes, and they’re not missed; what we get is the music without overstated star turns.
Melchiore Luise is a not-very-deep-bass Pasquale, but he’s colorful and accurate and he conveys the character’s vanity as well as sadness. Scipio Colombo’s Malatesta is superb–the best available. He’s smooth and rhythmically right on the money, with a nice tone and amazing fluency in the fiorature–a sheer delight. Juan Oncina’s Ernesto is charming and well sung, but rarely have I heard a tenor expend less energy singing. He never leans on a note or strains one iota, and frankly a bit more energy–just a bit–would have been welcome. (His performance of the role a decade later on Decca is strained.) Lina Aymaro, otherwise unknown to me, is much like other Norinas: slightly too perky, a notch too chipper at times. But she always sings on key and she also has got the Donizetti-beat figured out perfectly.
The chorus, with all its work in Act 3, actually sounds involved. The orchestra seems to be slightly reduced, and it plays well. Instruments and voices are very forward and unsubtle, but there’s no distortion; this clearly was recorded with care and does not sound 50 years old. There are a few cuts, all in repeats. Very highly recommended.
