Description:

Opening nights at La Scala can be the most important night of the year for many Italians.   The patrons present for this performance in 1956 could not have been disappointed.  Assembled were some of the biggest names in opera.   Antonietta Stella always seemed to take the back seat to Renata Tebaldi.  With all respect to Tebaldi her performance is far more secure.  Giuletta Simionato, nearing the end of her career, holds nothing back as Amneris and for a role that can descend into caricature she brings the human side of this flawed woman to the forefront.  Giuseppe Di Stefano gets off to a rocky start in “Celeste Aida”, for which the notorious loggionisti show no mercy, but as the night enfolds he relaxes more into the part.  His voice is not as sure as it was in the fifties but he is still very good.   The sound is excellent.

OD 10292-2