This blood-and-thunder performance recorded in Moscow in 1974 will be of interest mainly to admirers of the three main singers, here heard at their absolute best. Tamara Milashkina is a thrilling if unsubtle singer, much like the “Cetra ladies” of the ’50s and ’60s, but more accurate and less in-your-face exciting and apt to plunge into chest voice. But she lives the role on these CDs, and despite the Slavic edge to her voice (which one either can tolerate or not; to my ears, hers is fine, and the men in the cast have the same type of delivery, so it’s all of a piece), hers is a Tosca to rank with some of the finest.
Vladimir Atlantov had a remarkable, big voice that might remind some of Mario del Monaco, although without the sometimes uncomfortable leathery sound. Like his Italian comparison, he rarely sings below forte, but the voice is so rock solid and so grand that he creates a Cavaradossi to reckon with. And Yuri Mazurok, whose voice may be a bit light for Scarpia, makes up for it with pointed, snarling utterance and an electrifying, very Russian “buzz” to his voice. His Te Deum is brutal–both majestic and crazy. The smaller parts vary, with a couple of them pretty awful.
Mark Ermler leads a tight, “shabby little shocker” of a performance and the Bolshoi forces really get into the mood. The sound is a bit boxy with no warmth within earshot. An exciting alternative to whatever Tosca is in your collection, which must include the 1953 Callas performance on EMI–still the standard. Melodiya is pricing these CDs at almost full price, which is suicidal, by the way.
