I have long loved this recording; it represents the standard dream team of the early 70's with the three finest singers available to RCA for recordings at that time. Caballe plays Nedda with more delicacy than some but thereby manages to suggest a youthful vulnerability which sometimes eluded her, as her voice could sound matronly. Her pianissimi in the famous ballatella are simply gorgeous and she also characterises very convincingly, playing the humorous business in the play with a light touch and using subtle inflections to convey how hard she is finding it to hold the performance together as her husband's digressions become increasingly manic. Domingo is in finest youthful voice, with a ringing top and the ability to suggest mounting hysteria, even if he doesn't erase memories of Di Stefano's visceral performance with Callas. Milnes is a leering, brutal Tonio with absurdly showy but thrilling top notes; Leo Goeke as Arlecchino sings a lovely ballad. The chorus is lusty, the LSO in finest form.
I like Santi's direction; wise and experienced he paces it all beautifully and I do not find him lacking in any sense of drama. Now already forty years old, I think this recording has withstood the test of time.