Titta Ruffo Opera Recital
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: (Charles Louis) Ambroise Thomas, Giacomo Puccini, Jules (Emile Frédéric) Massenet, Gioachino Rossini, Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Giuseppe Verdi, Gaetano Donizetti, Amilcare Ponchielli, Mario Ferradini, Giacomo Meyerbeer
Label: Prima Voce
Magazine Review Date: 11/1990
Media Format: Cassette
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
Mono
Acoustic
ADD
Catalogue Number: NC7810
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Hamlet, Movement: O vin, dissipe la tristesse (Brindisi) |
(Charles Louis) Ambroise Thomas, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra (Charles Louis) Ambroise Thomas, Composer Carlo Sabajno, Conductor Titta Ruffo, Baritone |
| (La) traviata, Movement: ~ |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Carlo Sabajno, Conductor Giuseppe Verdi, Composer Titta Ruffo, Baritone |
| (La) Gioconda, Movement: Oh monumento! |
Amilcare Ponchielli, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Amilcare Ponchielli, Composer Carlo Sabajno, Conductor Titta Ruffo, Baritone |
| (La) Gioconda, Movement: ~ |
Amilcare Ponchielli, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Amilcare Ponchielli, Composer Carlo Sabajno, Conductor Titta Ruffo, Baritone |
| Pagliacci, 'Players', Movement: Si può? (Prologue) |
Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Carlo Sabajno, Conductor Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Composer Titta Ruffo, Baritone |
| Zazà, Movement: Buona Zazà del mio buon tempo |
Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Composer Titta Ruffo, Baritone |
| Zazà, Movement: Zazà, piccola zingara |
Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Composer Titta Ruffo, Baritone |
| Non penso a lei |
Mario Ferradini, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Mario Ferradini, Composer Titta Ruffo, Baritone |
| (La) Favorita, Movement: ~ |
Gaetano Donizetti, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Carlo Sabajno, Conductor Gaetano Donizetti, Composer Titta Ruffo, Baritone |
| Thaïs, Movement: ~ |
Jules (Emile Frédéric) Massenet, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Jules (Emile Frédéric) Massenet, Composer Titta Ruffo, Baritone Walter B. Rogers, Conductor |
| Otello, Movement: ~ |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Giuseppe Verdi, Composer Titta Ruffo, Baritone Walter B. Rogers, Conductor |
| Otello, Movement: Era la notte (Dream) |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Giuseppe Verdi, Composer Josef Pasternack, Conductor Titta Ruffo, Baritone |
| Nabucco, Movement: ~ |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Giuseppe Verdi, Composer Titta Ruffo, Baritone Walter B. Rogers, Conductor |
| (L')Africaine, '(The) African Maid', Movement: Holà! Matelots |
Giacomo Meyerbeer, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Giacomo Meyerbeer, Composer Titta Ruffo, Baritone Walter B. Rogers, Conductor |
| (Un) ballo in maschera, '(A) masked ball', Movement: ~ |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Giuseppe Verdi, Composer Titta Ruffo, Baritone Walter B. Rogers, Conductor |
| Tosca, Movement: ~ |
Giacomo Puccini, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Giacomo Puccini, Composer Titta Ruffo, Baritone Walter B. Rogers, Conductor |
| (Il) Barbiere di Siviglia, '(The) Barber of Seville', Movement: Largo al factotum |
Gioachino Rossini, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Gioachino Rossini, Composer Josef Pasternack, Conductor Titta Ruffo, Baritone |
| Rigoletto, Movement: Pari siamo! |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Giuseppe Verdi, Composer Josef Pasternack, Conductor Titta Ruffo, Baritone |
| Falstaff, Movement: ~ |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Giuseppe Verdi, Composer Josef Pasternack, Conductor Titta Ruffo, Baritone |
Composer or Director: (Charles Louis) Ambroise Thomas, Giacomo Puccini, Jules (Emile Frédéric) Massenet, Gioachino Rossini, Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Giuseppe Verdi, Gaetano Donizetti, Amilcare Ponchielli, Mario Ferradini, Giacomo Meyerbeer
Label: Prima Voce
Magazine Review Date: 11/1990
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 76
Mastering:
Mono
Acoustic
ADD
Catalogue Number: NI7810
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Hamlet, Movement: O vin, dissipe la tristesse (Brindisi) |
(Charles Louis) Ambroise Thomas, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra (Charles Louis) Ambroise Thomas, Composer Carlo Sabajno, Conductor Titta Ruffo, Baritone |
| (La) traviata, Movement: ~ |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Carlo Sabajno, Conductor Giuseppe Verdi, Composer Titta Ruffo, Baritone |
| (La) Gioconda, Movement: Oh monumento! |
Amilcare Ponchielli, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Amilcare Ponchielli, Composer Carlo Sabajno, Conductor Titta Ruffo, Baritone |
| (La) Gioconda, Movement: ~ |
Amilcare Ponchielli, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Amilcare Ponchielli, Composer Carlo Sabajno, Conductor Titta Ruffo, Baritone |
| Pagliacci, 'Players', Movement: Si può? (Prologue) |
Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Carlo Sabajno, Conductor Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Composer Titta Ruffo, Baritone |
| Zazà, Movement: Buona Zazà del mio buon tempo |
Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Composer Titta Ruffo, Baritone |
| Zazà, Movement: Zazà, piccola zingara |
Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Composer Titta Ruffo, Baritone |
| Non penso a lei |
Mario Ferradini, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Mario Ferradini, Composer Titta Ruffo, Baritone |
| (La) Favorita, Movement: ~ |
Gaetano Donizetti, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Carlo Sabajno, Conductor Gaetano Donizetti, Composer Titta Ruffo, Baritone |
| Thaïs, Movement: ~ |
Jules (Emile Frédéric) Massenet, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Jules (Emile Frédéric) Massenet, Composer Titta Ruffo, Baritone Walter B. Rogers, Conductor |
| Otello, Movement: ~ |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Giuseppe Verdi, Composer Titta Ruffo, Baritone Walter B. Rogers, Conductor |
| Otello, Movement: Era la notte (Dream) |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Giuseppe Verdi, Composer Josef Pasternack, Conductor Titta Ruffo, Baritone |
| Nabucco, Movement: ~ |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Giuseppe Verdi, Composer Titta Ruffo, Baritone Walter B. Rogers, Conductor |
| (L')Africaine, '(The) African Maid', Movement: Holà! Matelots |
Giacomo Meyerbeer, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Giacomo Meyerbeer, Composer Titta Ruffo, Baritone Walter B. Rogers, Conductor |
| (Un) ballo in maschera, '(A) masked ball', Movement: ~ |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Giuseppe Verdi, Composer Titta Ruffo, Baritone Walter B. Rogers, Conductor |
| Tosca, Movement: ~ |
Giacomo Puccini, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Giacomo Puccini, Composer Titta Ruffo, Baritone Walter B. Rogers, Conductor |
| (Il) Barbiere di Siviglia, '(The) Barber of Seville', Movement: Largo al factotum |
Gioachino Rossini, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Gioachino Rossini, Composer Josef Pasternack, Conductor Titta Ruffo, Baritone |
| Rigoletto, Movement: Pari siamo! |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Giuseppe Verdi, Composer Josef Pasternack, Conductor Titta Ruffo, Baritone |
| Falstaff, Movement: ~ |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Giuseppe Verdi, Composer Josef Pasternack, Conductor Titta Ruffo, Baritone |
Author:
The world is running out of folk who heard Titta Ruffo in the flesh, so it is a rare experience now to hear at first hand the tales of wonder, to see the eyes grow wide with the marvel of it, to catch that moment's silence while the mind searches for words that might possibly do justice to the miracle. The recordings, I imagine, almost do justice. It is not always apparent, or at any rate immediately so, that here is the mightiest of voices, the baritone whose singing gave rise to tumults of the kind otherwise reserved for tenors and coloratura sopranos. But almost always, somewhere in the course of a record, there will come a moment, a phrase or merely a single note, where one realizes what they meant, the old-timers whose eyes grew wide with remembered wonder. In the opening item of the opera recital, Hamlet's Drinking song, it is the cadenza, a superb flourish with an expansive crescendo just at the point where it seems he must be coming to the end of his breath. Then it is as though, having understood the perspective of this voice-picture, one can go back and appreciate the rest—which includes an especially subtle range of colouring.
In this selection Ruffo is heard at his finest in the monologue (''O monumento'') from La Gioconda, Iago's Creed in Otello, that extraordinary unaccompanied song inL'africaine, the resourceful expressiveness of Rigoletto's ''Pari siamo''. The marvel is not only the resonance of the fortissimos but the veiled beauty of the soft singing (''Un nido di memorie'' in the Pagliacci Prologue is a fine example). Not right for Germont pere in La traviata, his is the ideal Scarpia voice. Stylistically flawed in ''Di Provenza'', he still gives a marvellous exhibition of the Verdi style in ''Eri tu''. Most generally associated with dramatic music, he can still turn in a lively ''Largo al factotum'', and in the enchanting song ''Non penso a lei'' his laughter and gaiety are vivid and infectious. In duet, Caruso competes with him on his own terms, and the Otello record blazes with their combined power, while Gigli pursues his own lyrical interests and wins through in La Gioconda by refusing to be pressured into a noisier or more declamatory performance than he would have given with the mildest of baritones at his side.
Nimbus deserve all gratitude for putting Ruffo on to CD. As ever, the copies used are in finest condition and surfaces are of the kindest. The hall acoustic is sometimes tiresome, and I found that I had turned up the volume to a higher point than hardly ever used before. The total experience was still an exhilarating one. I only wish the same could be said for the songs on Club 99. Here the muffled quality of the transfers combined with the triviality of the programme do discourage interest. Suddenly all of Ruffo's faults also seemed to come to the fore. If one merely dipped and took a couple of songs at a time the record might prove a source of pleasure; in sequence and as a whole it proved a depressant.'
In this selection Ruffo is heard at his finest in the monologue (''O monumento'') from La Gioconda, Iago's Creed in Otello, that extraordinary unaccompanied song in
Nimbus deserve all gratitude for putting Ruffo on to CD. As ever, the copies used are in finest condition and surfaces are of the kindest. The hall acoustic is sometimes tiresome, and I found that I had turned up the volume to a higher point than hardly ever used before. The total experience was still an exhilarating one. I only wish the same could be said for the songs on Club 99. Here the muffled quality of the transfers combined with the triviality of the programme do discourage interest. Suddenly all of Ruffo's faults also seemed to come to the fore. If one merely dipped and took a couple of songs at a time the record might prove a source of pleasure; in sequence and as a whole it proved a depressant.'
Titta Ruffo Opera Recital
Titta Ruffo Opera Recital
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