This 1951 Bohème and arias recorded in 1950 present Renata Tebaldi very early in her career and at her freshest. The creamy, womanly sound (she never sounded girlish) is ravishing: at this stage of her career high notes were easy, soft singing was as natural as speech. Somehow, however, she’s not an ideal Mimi; every so often there’s a bit too much steel in the sound. But just bathing in the voice is enough.
She’s interestingly surrounded. Giacinto Prandelli has a first class intelligence and soul in an almost third class voice. He always infuses the text with meaning and never sounds hackneyed–the opening of “Che gelida manina” is about as poetic a reading as is available from any tenor in memory, Bjoerling, Carreras, and Wunderlich included. But the voice doesn’t live up to its owner–the sound itself is prosaic and dry, and although the top notes are there, they don’t flow easily. Giovanni Inghilleri is a dull Marcello, and Hilde Gueden, while flavorful and right-on dramatically, is not a singer particularly at ease in such Italianate company. The others are good and Alberto Erede leads a quick, unsentimental reading, but he leans heavily toward the literal. The old Decca sound, presumably re-engineered, is peculiar–boxy but clean, highlighting the woodwinds later in the opera.
The eight arias from 1950 are unalloyed joy: “Tacea la notte” simply lovely, Wally’s aria moving, the Italian-language Roi de Thule and Jewel Song wonderful treats. Viva Tebaldi–otherwise, who really needs this set? In most ways, the 1959 Decca remake is better in every way, including Tebaldi.
