The note-writer here tells us that, when Corelli, no mean vocal athlete himself, came off stage from rehearsing Gioconda with Farrell, he commented: “But who is this woman? She has deafened me!” No doubt about it, Farrell, happily still with us and only recently retired, was a formidable presence in every respect: the booklet here shows us her in the sessions for these 1957 recordings, when she was 37, hand firmly on hip, about to deliver what was no doubt one of the many awesome sounds to be heard throughout this CD. Alec Robertson, in his original review, particularly liked her account of “Divintes du Styx”, praising the rich low notes. He also approved of “Ozean, du Ungeheuer”, a Rezia not to be lightly cast aside. These pieces certainly show off the magnificent voice – firmly projected and generous in tone from top to bottom – at its most refulgent. The French items, other than the Gluck, are well and truly sung, but need a subtler profile to make their best effect. The Verdi, though thrilling in terms of sound, is also too generalized in result, and such a strong-willed Gioconda would surely have coped more successfully with her personal life than the one portrayed in this “Suicidio!”, though this is a naturally impassioned reading.
AR rightly reserved his most unfettered praise for Magda Sorel’s great outburst from The Consul. Here Farrell engages most tellingly with the text, which is in her own tongue: the passage beginning “My name is woman” (track 8, 5'24'') goes very much to the heart of the matter – also reminding us that Menotti’s score is unjustly neglected. Similarly the song items, all sung in English and made at the same sessions, both produced by Walter Legge, also catch Farrell’s sincere art at its most compelling. Testament have made a sensible selection from the original LP, eliminating the most sentimental pieces. Rachmaninov’s To the Children is particularly intense and touching.
Apparently a couple of items were made desultorily in stereo, but here the mono tapes have been used. Stereo would undoubtedly have given badly needed space to the huge sound of Farrell’s voice, but it is well enough caught in mono, one or two moments of overloading apart. On the orchestral items, the young Schippers, with the Philharmonia in full cry, provides suitably invigorating support to the generous diva. '