Columbia (German) SMC 80890 (SAX 2324): Verdi Overtures

Columbia (German) SMC 80890

Verdi Overtüren (Verdi Overtures)

Overture "Nabucco"

"Aida" Prelude to Act I

Overture "Giovanna D'Arco"

Overture "I Vespri Siciliani"

"La Traviata" Prelude to Act I

"La Traviata" Prelude to Act III

Overture "La Forza Del Destino"

Philharmonia Orchestra

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Tullio Serafin, conductor

Recorded February 19th (RPO tracks) and 27th (Philharmonia tracks), 1959, Kingsway Hall

Matrix numbers: YAX 301-1 / 302-1

Earlier this year in our survey of Rossini overture recordings, I was quite enthusiastic about the Deutsche Grammophon disc from Italian conductor, Tullio Serafin (1878-1968). Today we'll take a look at his recording of Verdi overtures for Columbia, recorded in 1959 and released in the UK as SAX 2324. This one is a relatively hard one to find on the used market and usually sells for a decent amount (median $65, maximum $630 USD on Popsike). I stumbled across a nice copy of the German Columbia pressing of the recording (with a beautifully laminated cover) for $18 USD and am happy to report that it makes for a very fine sounding alternative to the SAX. With -1/-1 matrix numbers, I'm not sure you can get much closer to the original. Side one has the tracks recorded with the Philharmonia ("Nabucco", "Giovanna D'Arco", Aida Act I Prelude), and the sound here is rich and vibrant with the characteristic Kingsway Hall acoustics and a good dose of tube warmth. Side two has the tracks recorded with the Royal Philharmonic. The music here, also well recorded, is of a more lyrical nature, although the final track (Overture to "The Force of Destiny") livens things up to bring the album to an exciting conclusion.

Excerpt from Overture to "Nabucco":

Excerpt from Overture to "The Force of Destiny":

Some interesting commentary from The Stereo Record Guide, Vol. 2 (1961), which gave the record a conditional two stars *(*) and a demonstration "D" (demonstration worthy on first-class equipment):

"Serafin, we must face it, is now an old man, who is no longer quite so agile as he once was, and whose beat is not always readily communicated to the orchestra. But some of the old magic still remains, and the Philharmonia and the Royal Philharmonic both loyally give of their best, so that the shaping and phrasing is still as natural and idiomatic as ever it was. Where Serafin tends to fall down is in the tempo of such a piece as The Force of Destiny where the tension slackens unduly without a really hurrying pace. But even there one finds amends in a spaciousness that Toscanini and his followers have not found time for in years.

The Philharmonia -- which performs the first three overtures on the list above -- is better sprung and more vital than the Royal Philharmonic, and the recording is fuller and more forward on that side, though the difference in sound quality between the sides is not as striking as all that. The unexpected piece is the Joan of Arc Overture, a conventional potpourri of early Verdi, finishing with a blatant piece of rum-ti-tum which Serafin and the Philharmonia enjoy enormously, and which produces the most electrifying playing on the disc."

This recording was also reissued in the 1960s by the Australian World Record Club (STE-253) and Regal (SREG 1035) and in the 1970s by both the French and German divisions of EMI.

References:

• A Classical Discography. https://classical-discography.org/
• Greenfield E, March I, Stevens D. The Stereo Record Guide, Vol. 2. The Long Playing Record Library Ltd, 1961.
• Pettitt, Stephen. Philharmonia Orchestra: Complete Discography 1945-1987. Travis & Emery, 1987.