It’s good to have Luciano Pavarotti and Renata Scotto together in their primes. Both were singers of intelligence and sensitivity, and except in Scotto’s case, in the very highest notes, they were singers of great tonal beauty as well. Here, taped live in 1966, we find the tenor at his most engaging as the dangerous, carefree Duke, absolutely certain of himself, singing with great passion and energy. At the same time Scotto paints a lovely, fragile picture of Gilda–eager and innocent. The Rigoletto is Kostas Paskalis, a baritone who had a relatively full career–he has a big, burly sound and he’s thoroughly involved, but he exaggerates all of the big moments and pulls the vocal line out of position for the sake of so-called “drama”, and what we wind up with is a lot of sobbing, snarling, and barking in addition to all the notes. A pity he couldn’t restrain himself. Paolo Washington’s Sparafucile is properly sinister; Rossa Laghezza’s Maddalena is properly slutty. Carlo Maria Giulini leads his Florence forces in an energetic, singer-pleasing, fair-sounding performance. In short, Scotto and Pavarotti fans may clamor for this, but be warned: the central character disappoints.
