This set has Edita Gruberova singing in top form, all her scooping cast aside, which one finds in abundance in her Lucia under Richard Bonynge. Here, however, she makes ravishing use of those bits of tone that only she can produce: those instances of coloratura and dramatic legato with little asides and small florishes of style that suggest her intelligent approach and her high degree of musical involvement in this role. She does this in her I Puritani and her Anna Bolena, less so in Roberto Deveraux and Maria Stuarda(both sets). Listen to Addio del passato and the Sempre Libra...ravishing, yes, but there are again those nuances learned from Callas that she makes her own. A very singualr perform,ance, and extremely moving with its detail and cry for pity throughout..from the start even. Neil Schicoff is excellent, not an unworthy Alfredo at all! His is a great lyric tenor voice that should have been in the top line.
Edita Gruberova
as Violetta
Neil Shicoff
as Alfredo
Giorgio Zancanaro
as Germont
Mariana Pentcheva
as Flora
Antonella Trevisan
as Annina
Max René Cosotti
as Gaston
Orazio Mori
as Barón Douphol
Francesco Musinu
as Doctor Grenvil
Paolo Maria Orecchia
as Marqués D'Obigny
Carlo Rizzi
as Conductor
