On this DVD, Solti urges the Vienna Philharmonic into a searing account of Verdi's dramatic score, and I've rarely heard instrumental color as richly reproduced. Verdi's natural grandeur is matched by the grandeur of the sets and costumes, and with the work's original Swedish setting restored, this Ballo is magnificent on all fronts.
All the soloists were then at their peak, including Josephine Barstow, whose powerful acting matches her devastating singing. The central scenes, from the arrival of Amelia in the graveyard to the drawing of lots as to who should kill Gustavo, are incomparably fine, with passionate commitment all round. Domingo manages Gustavo's death (from two ear-splitting pistol shots) superbly, and it's also wonderfully filmed. Opera doesn't come much more impressive than this.
F ollowing the death of Pavarotti, Well Go USA in Taiwan is promoting a DVD of a concert he gave at the Grand Teatro del Liceo in Barcelona in 1988. The program is nearly identical to the one he performed the same year at New York's Metropolitan Opera, with James Levine at the keyboard [Decca DVD 074 307-1 2HD].
Well Go's DVD contains an interview with Pavarotti and it's impressive to hear him speaking in fluent Spanish. But it isn't only affection for Levine that makes me prefer the New York concert to this one. The former has far and away the more inspirational feel, and Levine's self-effacing piano playing is nothing less than exquisite.
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