I remember when Price & Bergonzi were singing ERNANI at The Met and The
Times' reviewer wrote that their performances were a "master class in
Verdi singing". Yes, I know I sound like a Dionsaur for saying this, but
when you listen to this gorgeous recording you will, inevitably, think that NOBODY these days is singing on that exalted level. STUNNING!!!

Bergonzi and Price are absolutely outstanding in this recording! Rich, high notes ring out powerfully free of distortion and strain. Bergonzi's tenor is vocal velvet with notes spun out effortlessly in a resonant, full timber. Price is Price! What else can you say! One of the greatest Verdi sopranos since Milanov and Tebaldi. Leona Mitchell sang in this class and now we have Sondra Radvanovsky. Thank god the torch gets passed on.Price was blessed with an almost unerring technique that produced the most prodigious sounds: velvet, creamy timber, mesmerizing piano, and what other phrases you may think of. Sereni and Flagello do well vocally but are uninspired. Schippers directs the score superbly with gusto and refinement. The RCA Italiana doesn't get the attention they deserve and under Schippers's knowing baton we have a treasure.

Rudy Avila is stated as "Top 1000 reviewer", and again, as in his review of Karajan's Salzburg Don Giovanni, he is messing up the singers and now even the conductor. So, does he really look at the cast and listen to the recordings he is writing about ?
Ezio Flagello is no baritone, and Erich Leinsdorf is not the conductor of this recording !
Of course this is a fine recording, and I would recommend it as the best on the market, but consider also the Mono recordings with Previtali as conductor (with Mancini, Penno, Taddei etc) and with
Mitropoulos from Florence or from the MET.

This Victor Opera Series recording of Verdi's early opera Ernani is sung by the supreme Verdi singers of their time- tenor Carlo Bergonzi and soprano Leontyne Price, whose talents and rich, expressive singing save this opera from being lackluster and boring. The plot is what makes most people turn a deaf ear. A displaced member of the nobility (Ernani, Bergonzi) turns to a life of crime and, consumed by jealousy of his rival (a baritone, Ezio Flagello) captures his true love, the aristocratic lady Elvira (Leontyne Price) and gains her hand in marriage. Eventually, he sacrifices love for honor and returns Elvira to her husband, his rival and kills himself. It is a tragic opera, and even if the music still reeks of bel canto influence in which the plot takes a backseat and the beautiful singing is the focus. Well, BEAUTIFUL SINGING is what we get here and nothing but beautiful singing. Vocally, it is perfect. Carlo Bergonzi was the only tenor to sing repertoire that was not entirely mainstream, and he sang with a huge, richly layered voice, high on the top register to victoriously essay the E flats and rich in the middle and lower registers as well. He ranks among the best tenors of his day among them Del Monaco, Di Stefano and Corelli. As Ernani, he is wholly convincing and sinsg with bravura and with the power of his prime. Leontyne Price, too, was in her prime and singing mostly Verdi (Leonora in Trovatore, Forza Del Destino and Aida). Leontyne's voice is smooth, strong, vibrant, lyric, in fact her fach is the definition of lyrico-spinto. Her command of the Italian diction is unsurpassed and her voice produces a range of emotions from love to despair. In addition, she always sounds feminine and regal, queenly and in control. Leontyne Price is doing a hell of a job as Elvira. If anything, get this recording for her beautiful voice. She is far better as Elvira than the later recording with Mirella Freni. Ezio Flagello sings the baritone role with grandeur and is also a fine Verdi exponent. Erich Leinsdorf conducts with fine attention to detail and is broad as well. The music has a great sound quality. Perfection!

ERNANI is one of Verdi's earlier operas that doesn't get staged all that often. For a while it was performed somewhat frequently in Italy, and there have been some notable stagings of the work at New York's Metropolitan Opera, but the revivals are not because it is a long neglected work as mush as it's a showcase for performers who want to display their vocal skills, and this opera gives great singers a variety of opportunities to give the listener vocal fireworks. The story of the opera is not one of the all time great opera plots: a displaced nobleman becomes a thief, tries to capture the woman he loves so that she won't marry his rival, in a strange turn of events manages to gain her hand in marriage, only to kill himself later because honor is greater than love. It doesn't make all that much sense to listeners today, but it contains all the trappings of opera and in its day was a crowd pleaser, due to the wonderful music. We find a maturing Verdi who is about to reach his stride, the same Verdi who will soon give the world favorites such as RIGOLETTO, LA TRAVIATA, and IL TROVATORE. Like Verdi's great mid period works, it has catchy arias that are show stoppers and rousing choruses that Verdi lovers have grown to love.

The two principals: Leontyne Price as Elvira and Carlo Bergonzi in the title role are spectacular and the robust conducting of Thomas Schippers shows us what we missed by losing him just as his career was rising. Bergonzi's voice is smooth and Price, who is in top vocal form, is spellbinding. We really don't get an emotive quality in either performance, perhaps because getting into the roles may be somewhat difficult, but the beauty of the singing makes up for any lack of dramatic intensity and since there aren't scores of this opera in recorded form, I'm not sure we miss it. It's an opera that's fun to listen to from time to time and when listening to it, we see glimpses of what is yet to come in the Verdi canon. Perhaps because of the Spanish setting, as well as some of the arias, duets, and trios, listeners are reminded of TROVATORE and FORZA.

Enjoy!!!