 |  | Pagliacci = Placido Domingo |  |
Though not as popular as some former tenors, Placido Domingo is the best in the world. He has the best vocal control of any tenor and best quality too. This is an excellent version of Pagliacci especially considering that Franco Zeffirelli was involved in its creation. Placido Domingo has just the right amount of drama mixed with energy and vocal quality to bring about one of the great performances of Canio. The weakest of the players is Teresa Stratas who seems to have trouble voicing the part of Nedda. This is the best performance of Juan Pons I have heard. Many snobs will find that any music outside of the theater is beastly and ghastly, but what else can you expect from snobs. For a movie rendition it is fantastic. The performances are mostly solid and enjoyable and Placido Domingo shows why he is the best tenor in the world.
October 25, 2007| | | Teresa Stratas is a Great Nedda | |
Ethan Rappaport, I do not know what you are talking about! Teresa Stratas is an excellent Nedda! You must not like verismo opera, don't you? Well, I do. The part where Nedda hurts Tonio with a knife is actually very good. Listen, Ethan: if you have a problem with that scene with Teresa Stratas and Juan Pons, then don't listen to this recording. She sounds excellent in the Nedda-Silvio love duet and all the times she's in. And you, Ethan Rappaport, think that Tonio is nice like a Teddy Bear. He isn't! He is a dangerous man and you should know it. And who is this Jennifer Callaway? Must be someone from your school. This may sound like Teresa Stratas is laughing, because of the sound system, but it's actually Tonio laughing. Your hearing is very bad, Ethan, and once you actually learn to listen properly and learn to understand the story better, then you'll like this opera much better than you do now. I think this opera has a wonderful story.
December 1, 2003Why does the Teresa Stratas of Nedda have to start laughing after Tonio says "assai meglio lieto ne son"? I'll tell you why!
because she really despises him and wants to kill him! Come on, Teresa you know better than to laugh because most Neddas do not laugh at Tonio. That goes for Placido Domingo too, but him as Canio is much better than Stratas as Nedda, except in the crowd scene where he says "Via di li!" and the crowd says "Prendi Questo bel galante" "Con Salute"! Come on Placido, no Canio should say Via di li to a guy like Tonio, he's a precious sweetheart like my friend Jennifer Callaway. And Stratas will burn ...for her scorning Tonio and laughing at him. Teresa Stratas is mean and ugly and she acts like a monster in this soundtrack. She is no Jennifer Callaway(my friend from school as I mentioned before) and of course she(Jennifer Callaway)'s not any kind of a singer. I think Tonio is the best character in Pagliacci, not Canio. Canio is the one who should be hated and punched and beaten by Nedda, and Tonio is supposed to be treated like a precious little Teddy Bear. Trust me, buy the recording on Opera d'oro with Richard Tucker and Riccardo Muti or the one with the Bucharest Opera and Mircea Popa on Vox. The Pagliaccis with not-so-famous Neddas are far better than this recording.
June 7, 2003Two years ago when I didn't know anything about opera I thought this version of Pagliacci was the best one. Nowadays that I've listened other versions I find out that the only thing that this version must preserve as good are the ochestra (Pretre) and Pons.
Here Domingo sounds not as good as he usualy does, and not talking about Stratas that must preserve in the contemporary repertoire, Not Iatalian opera for Stratas!! It seems that she dosen't feel really Italian opera.
I can recomend other Pagliacci's versions: Corelli, Gobbi or di Stefano, Gobbi. Believe me there are better versions than this one.
October 24, 2000This is the soundtrack of Zeffirelli's film of this opera. For those who have seen the film and liked the performance, this CD can be recommended for sentimental reasons. It's packaged nicely with a slipcase and booklet, which includes 14 full-color screen shots from the film. However, the booklet doesn't contain information about the making of the film and, more importantly, doesn't have a English translation to the libretto. (The original Italian libretto is included.)
Musically, the performance isn't the greatest you can find in the market, but it's more than acceptable. Domingo sings heroically if sometimes excessively, and Pons has good characterization. Stratas's voice sounds tight in the bird song, but otherwise she can be exquisite and true to the drama. Pretre's conducting is very good. The recorded sound, though, is not entirely ideal. If you just want the soundtrack but don't care for the pretty packaging, photos, or the libretto here, this recording is also available (coupled with "Cavalleria Rusticana") from the bargain-priced Philips DUO series. August 11, 2000
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