Description:

The mid 1950s marked the heyday for both Renata Tebaldi and Giuseppe Di Stefano and this performance faithfully represents them achieving near perfection in their respective notoriously difficult roles.  Although Tebaldi never lost the lushness of her tone in her later years the pitch could sag.  Even on the recording she made with Del Monaco this is occasionally the case.  Here every note is a triumph of vocal production.  Di Stefano matches Tebaldi in both vocal purity and feeling.  The amount of voice he gives in his aria certainly cannot be vocally healthy but it is very exciting and conveys the utter desperation of Don Alvaro better than any other performance I have heard.   I have included as a bonus Tebaldi and Di Stefano singing the love duet from Tosca.  This is a true classic.

BONUS:
Tebaldi & Di Stefano sing the Love Duet from Tosca
Brussels, 1958

OD 10325-3