Years ago, I was lucky to find a nice box set of Melodiya LPs that featured highlights of the 1964 event in near mint condition. They contained large excerpts of two of the concerts, plus the Bolshoi performances of La Bohème and Il Trovatore. The concerts presented on those LPs are a real treat, especially Freni and Cossotto were in excellent form. Freni's rendition of Liù's act III aria has become a reference recording for me... it can hardly be done better! In the Bohème, Raimondi seemed to have had some trouble with Karajan's tempi, but he saved the aria with a stunning high C. Bergonzi was on fire in the Trovatore. I'm quite sure all of this was filmed... and I wonder where these tapes are now... HAPPY LISTENING // BUON ASCOLTO 1. FIORENZA COSSOTTO Verdi - Il Trovatore: Condotta era in ceppi 00:00:00 2. BIRGIT NILSSON Verdi - Macbeth: Ambizioso spirto... ... Vieni t'affretta 00:06:24 3. MIRELLA FRENI Mascagni - L’amico Fritz: Non mi resta 00:11:0
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