This recording, made
in 1949, is absolutely contemporary
with the Cetra Gianni Schicchi
which I havealso reviewed.
Giuseppe Baroni, the conductor here,
shows the same affinity for Puccini
as Alfredo Simonetto on the other set.
True, this time the big names of Giuseppe
Taddei, Fernando Corena and Franco Calabrese
are missing, but the sense of true Puccini
drama is everywhere apparent throughout
Tabarro’s grisly tale.
The sound is of its
period. I take this to be a radio studio
recording, and it is rather dry. Some
may find this an advantage as it negates
any tendency towards Puccinian splurge.
Clara Petrella is a
strong Giorgetta. She is given top billing
on the back cover, second billing on
the front. She is strong of voice and
very, very Italian. Her vibrato is not
too much. She can blossom in a most
Puccinian fashion, too. Just try her
‘È ben altro il mio sogno!’
(track 6), as she sings of Paris. Her
parlando, too, is impressive (‘Penso
che hai fatto bene a trattenerlo’,
track 11).
Her Michele, Antenore
Reali, has a nice bass voice and good,
clear diction. There is a black-and-white
photo of him in the booklet, but it
is so low-quality it hardly adds to
the overall picture. He colours his
voice very attractively at his ‘big’
solo, ‘Ora la notte’ (track 9),
making it very dark at the passage from
‘Erano sere come queste’, and
especially at the word ‘Tabarro’
(the cloak of the title).
Michele, Giorgetta’s
husband, is exactly twice her age, fifty
to her twenty-five. The love-interest
as he might be called - or the young
blood that Giorgetta becomes involved
with - is Luigi, here sung by Glauco
Scarlini, as enthusiastic a tenor as
they come. When we get the love-music
(track 7) and hear the two together,
we find Puccinian outpouring at its
best, and well-served it is, too.
In fact there is a
general enthusiasm running through this
production. The Frugola (Talpa’s wife),
Ebe Ticozzi, is characterful and, well,
fun. The same goes for the orchestral
contribution in track 2, a sort of Puccinian
barrel-organ offering a parallel to
Petrushka!
Baroni’s strength as
a conductor is that he leads the opera
towards its arrival points well, moving
to a terrific climax in track 10, with
both soloists and conductor conspiring
to make a huge emotional effect. The
‘dolente’ playing of the orchestra in
the final moments is spot-on.
Obviously this cannot
be a top recommendation – not with Tito
Gobbi from the 1950s looming in the
shadows. Certainly worth hearing, though,
especially at the price.
Colin Clarke
Carla Petrella (soprano) Giorgetta; Antenore
Reali (tenor) Michele; Glauco Scarlini (tenor)
Liogi; Giuseppe Nessi (tenor) Tinca; Dario Caselli
(bass) Talpa; Aldo Bertocci (tenor) Un venditore
di canzonette (Ballad-Seller); Ebe Ticozzi (mezzo)
Frugola; Orchestra Lirica di Torina della RAI/Giuseppe
Baroni. 
