This studio recording bestows very little pleasure. Renata Tebaldi gives one of the most under-characterized readings of this sad little heroine ever offered by a major artist. Indeed, on the rare occasions when she does try to sound like anything other than an opera singer–as in the teensy “Uno! Due! Tre!” in the first act–the results are embarrassingly awkward. She sets herself up well for the “big” quotable moments, but they’re totally unspontaneous and unconvincing. Furthermore, her sound, though essentially exactly the right size for Butterfly, turns hard above the staff except when she’s consciously singing softly, at which point there may as well be arrows pointing to the notes with the words “See? Glorious pianissimi!” in bold letters. Granted, she hadn’t yet sung the role on stage, but her later recording, made in 1958, is not much better: there is none but the shallowest, most painted-on identification with the young geisha.
On the other hand, Giuseppe Campora is sensitive and alert to Pinkerton’s character, and though his tone can turn throaty, he’s interesting and worth hearing. Giovanni Inghilleri is a dry, typical Sharpless and Nell Rankin’s Suzuki doesn’t seem to feel for this Butterfly any more than we do. Alberto Erede’s leadership is sympathetic but run-of-the-mill, the Rome forces play and sing well, and the sound is very good for its 51-year age. Two fine arias from La Bohème sung by Tebaldi are a nice bonus. Nevertheless, this is very close to the bottom of the Butterfly list.
