V1792. CLAUDIA MUZIO: Arias from La Sonnambula, Norma, Il Trovatore, La Traviata, Forza, Mefistofele, Cavalleria, La Boheme, Tosca, L’Arlesiana, Andrea Chénier & Cecilia; w.Francesco Merli: Duets from Otello. (Austria) Preiser 89739, recorded 1934-35. - 717281897396

CRITIC REVIEW:

“Claudia Muzio was one of those exceptional singers for whom the possession of one of the most beautiful voices in the world was not enough. For her, every word, every note of music and every physical gesture had to contain an emotional motive and meaning. Muzio dedicated her career to the achievement of these artistic aims. By the time that Muzio recorded for Columbia in 1934/35 she had lost the youthful freshness of voice but had gained enormous qualities of colour and inflection. On these recordings we are treated to an experience in human terms almost unequalled in the history of recorded sound. The pathos of the dying Violetta in LA TRAVIATA, the heart- rending Marguerite in MEFISTOFELE and the tenderness of Mimì's ‘Addio’, are all vividly caught.”

- Norman White