About this Artist

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Editorial Reviews

If opera thrives by inflating emotion and drama beyond life-like proportions, Puccini's Tosca might be the most operatic opera of all: Murder, suicide, execution, blackmail, seduction, jealousy, revolutionary fervor, and overheated passion are all squeezed into a span of under two hours. Tosca requires singers with larger-than-life personalities to make the inflammatory music and drama seem gripping and not merely sensationalistic. In this respect, Herbert von Karajan's famed 1962 recording of the opera, starring Leontyne Price, is among the most distinguished on disc. Price inhabits the title role as few others have, most notably Maria Callas in her legendary mono recording from a decade earlier; Callas's dramatic extremes are more powerful, but Price's voice, captured here at the summit of her powers, is more ravishing. Giuseppe Taddei's first entrance as Scarpia inspires real terror, and he goes on to build a truly menacing portrait of the villain. As Cavaradossi, Giuseppe di Stefano doesn't match the standard he set opposite Callas on the earlier recording, but he still fills the role with flair. The orchestral playing is superb; Karajan leads the Vienna Philharmonic with explosive excitement and elicits a consistently beautiful sound. The other real star was behind the scenes: John Culshaw, Decca's great, innovative producer of opera recordings, created a riveting sonic panorama with well-integrated off-stage music and sound effects. Newly re-mastered, Price's Tosca is now more priceless than ever. Scott Paulin, Barnes & Noble

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