Free Postage! Verdi. Macbeth. 3 x CD.

Free postage!

Includes booklet.

This recording doesn't get much press and this is its first/only re-issue. The recording was made for a film version of the opera. Shirley Verrett is singing Lady Macbeth over tens years after her first recording - the great DG (some would say definitive) recording under Abbado. There are signs that her voice has deteriorateed, both top and bottom, (no surprise) but this is still a highly dramatic interpretation. She was an artist and an actor. Interestingly Verdi didn't want Lady M sung well, he wanted it on the coarse side. So that's a plus.

Leo Nucci gets a lot of criticism and I too haven't been that keen, but I liked him here. He uses lots of colour and the top of his voice is steady and bright. There are You Tube videos of Nucci and Verrett rehearsing for the film and it's clear they put a lot of thought and hard work into this.

Ramey is a good Banco. He has a tendency to sing soft open vowels, so I prefer the more claret bass of Ghiaurov or Siepi, but Ramey does the job. Luchetti was an underused Tenor. He may sing more than act but no damage is done.

The Bologna chorus is terrific in this recording. No silly witch-giggles, just sharp, precise singing with ample sound. Chailly brings the drama out of the score, though it has to be said it must be difficult not to. The apparition scene, in particular, sent chills up the spine.

All-in-all it's a recording that's worth having if you are a Verdi fan, but as I've said on other reviews - if you want one recording, I would say the Milnes/Cossotto/Muti, the Cappuccilli/Verrett/Abbado or the Fisher-Dieskau/Souliotis/Gardelli (I make no apology for that last choice).