The drawback to this recording, in addition to its tubby sound, always has been the pedestrian leadership of Renato Cellini, and indeed he is far from enlightening in any fashion, merely keeping (quickish) time and accompanying the singers, offering “oom-pah” rhythms. (He also discourages most added high notes–a true pity in the case of Leonard Warren, a blessing in disguise for Erna Berger.) I must confess that I’ve never liked Berger, and here, near the end of her career, she sounds like a slightly decrepit soubrette, with all the notes in place but little girlishness or charm. True, she sounds somewhat fragile, but not in a way we want from Gilda. Jan Peerce sings the Duke with his accustomed musicality, phrasing well with dead-on pitch–but also, alas, with little charm. This Duke is a bruiser from the start (Cellini’s tempos don’t help him at all).
Warren’s magnificent voice still amazes after so many years–big, even, capable of whispering, great expression, and entirely up to the difficulties, both technical and emotional, of “Cortigiani”. Nan Merriman, a Met staple, is a nice, lusty, Maddalena, and Italo Tajo’s Sparafucile is dark without adding that extra hint of menace we could use in the part. This set will give the newcomer a genuinely valid idea of what Rigoletto is all about, but it leaves the slightly more sophisticated listener wishing for more depth, more vocal suavity, and more of a theatrical experience. The second CD ends with four scenes by Verdi sung by Warren in sessions from 1950; the Forza aria is particularly compelling.
