Pinza's records have been held up over the years as the benchmark by which other basses in his chosen repertory have been judged. After hearing these two CDs I see no reason why that shouldn't continue to be the case for many years to come. The breadth, security, consistency and innate stylishness of his performances allied to one of the truest and most appealing voices ever committed to disc continue to confirm his superiority, particularly as a Verdian, with only Christoff, and his rather different virtues, as a rival among Pinza's successors. And it is to his Verdi on these two reissues that I would send the young, inquiring collector eager to know why Pinza has been so revered. For the 20 years from about 1923-4, when most of the items on the Club 99 collection were made, to 1944, the voice hardly changed in character or quality. You can hear as much if you listen to the early performance of Fiesco's ''Il lacerato spirito'' on Club 99 and compare it with the 1939 live Metropolitan Opera version on the Memoir Classics CD. The only advantage of the later account is an added sense of authority and the greater tension brought about by a live occasion.
More Verdi is to be found on the well-chosen and more generously filled Memoir Classics issue, which includes the best of Pinza's four versions of Philip II's lament, and an account of ''Confutatis maledictis'' made in 1929, superior even to those on both the complete sets of the Requiem in which the bass participated (reissued on CD by EMI and Pearl, 5/90). Add to that his sovereign ''Infelice'' and ''O tu Palermo'' and you have the very best of Pinza, even before you go on to his irrepressible Don Giovanni, Mephistopheles and—important this—a superbly sung, anguished account of Boris's Monologue from a Met broadcast of 1939, new to me. The other broadcast items are variable in quality and sound. I would certainly have sacrificed ''Ombra mai fu'', too heavily sung, and The song of the flea (both from 1944 broadcasts) for some more of Pinza's commercial discs, not least his irresistible ''Some enchanted evening'' (South Pacific), a 1949 American Columbia. Still this is a fair conspectus of his art, though be warned some of the 78rpm items are taken from copies that distort a little.
Amazingly there are no overlaps with the Club 99 disc, which is drawn from the singer's acoustic recordings. These were all reissued on LP, plus several more, by EMI (10/83—nla) in somewhat better sound than that encountered here. It might be worth waiting in the hope that the LP will be transferred to CD. Those feeling this may not happen, can invest in this perfectly adequate substitute, catching examples of both Pinza's Mephistopheles (the Gounod one, here in Italian, and allowing us a taste of that interesting tenor, Giorgini) and much of his Bellini and Donizetti, all faultlessly sung.'