The draw here clearly is the Manrico of Jussi Björling, taped live at Covent Garden in 1939, 13 years before he recorded the opera commercially for RCA. From the very start, in his off-stage “Deserto sulla terra”, we hear that tear-infused, gorgeous sound–this turns out to be a remarkably lachrymose Manrico, not altogether a bad thing. In his duet with Azucena he’s simply ravishing: “Mal reggendo” is an object lesson in handsome phrasing and plain old expressive singing. A melting, long-breathed “Ah, si ben mio” (complete with trill) with stunning dynamic shading is followed by a rousing “Di quella pira”, sung in the right key, with blazing high-Cs. And Björling’s similarly impressive in the last act, touching and tender with Azucena, manly and furious with Leonora–a dynamite performance.
Gina Cigna’s Leonora can be wiry and wild, but she’s thoroughly involved and has great dignity. There’s only occasional beauty to be gleaned from her work, but you do know you’ve heard a real Leonora when she’s done. The otherwise forgotten Gertrud Wettergren is thrilling as Azucena. Hers may not be a high-quality voice, but she’s fearless and paints us a brilliant picture of this operatic loon. Mario Basiola’s handsome if not superb baritone sometimes is stressed by Vittorio Gui’s slow tempos, but he also is in the fine Italian tradition. Gui in general is impressive; you get the feeling that another rehearsal or two and this would have been quite a Trovatore. There are moments when the Covent Garden chorus sounds as if it had just learned the text, but it and the orchestra are good enough. The sound is pretty bad. But oh, that Björling!
