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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Magnificently Powerful, 8 Mar 2004
Here we have one of those (rather rare) recordings with a whole cast of stars managing to make a performance just as magnificent as one would expect. James Levine conducts a white hot and blood red performance that still is warm in the more quite and poetic parts, caught in exceptionally clear and vivid sound by the engineers. And his singers definately has the skill to follow him. Both main caracters are far too old to be able to make a believable stageperformance, but you hear little of that fact on this record. Freni's voice is still as great as in many of her much older recordings: both warm, tender and powerful when so called for. Her last aria sola, perduta... shows no signs of wear in the voice. Her des Grieux in Pavarotti is, if possible, even better. I've not always been very fond of him, but this is truely great - he has a almost vulgar power combined with passionate and very thought through singing that perfectly matches des Grieux's caracter. And the mix of Freni and Pavarotti, under the support of Levine, is stunning. I havn't ever heard such a magnificently heartbreaking last act (the desert scene). All the other singers catch up with them - Dwayne Croft superbly so as Lescaut, with a firm and full tone. Having Taddei, Bartoli and Vargas in minor roles is pure luxury. The choir and orchestra of the Met also are splendidly good. This version also is believable, though recorded in a studio, probably because both conductor and lead singers have done it many times before on stage. This recording is a pure puccinian drama caught at its best. There really are no weak part in the whole production, which definately is the case in almost all rivalling versions. Although I love Jussi Björling's des Grieux (on RCA), possibly even more than Pavarotti's, this recording has both better sound and better over all qualities. Don't hesitate - Highly recommended!
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