COMPOSERS: Donizetti
LABELS: Sony
WORKS: Lucrezia Borgia
PERFORMER: Montserrat Caballé & Shirley Verrett RCA Italiana Opera Orchestra & RCA Italiana Opera Chorus/Jonel Perlea
CATALOGUE NO: 88697575942
With the 1966 Lucrezia Borgia, on the other hand, we’re back in real prima donna territory. Undoubtedly there’s a golden mean between impetuous Shirley Verrett and careful but oh-so-artistic Montserrat Caballé, though both are top-notch. Still, what a dull opera it is, for the most part; as so often in Donizetti, one lives through so much for the sake of the final scene. David Nice