Description:

This Turandot is an important document as it marks the Italian debut of Birgit Nilsson in the title role (I couldn’t find out whether this was her first ever.  If anyone knows please leave that information below.)  Her voice is incredibly fresh and astounding in the amount of sound that she puts out.   Giuseppe Di Stefano joins her as Calaf.  He is in fresher voice here than he was in 1961 when he reprized the role at La Scala and the Milanese public seems ecstatic with him.  The icing on the cake (as if you needed more) is the superb Liù of Rosanna Carteri.  Her voice is both slender and voluptuous at the same time and exemplifies the Italian notion of chiaroscuro.   The sound is very good.   This is definitely a classic performance!

OD 10311-2