Antonina Nezhdanova, "Mercè, dilette amiche", Verdi: I Vespri Siciliani (rec. 1914)

[younglemeshevist]

Beautiful!

[Kievest]

Dazzlingly crisp diction at a rapid fire pace with moments of interpretive shading

and a showpiece of heart stopping vocal pyrotechnics. Deep, meaningful,

never to be forgotten Verdi it is not and was not meant to be. Not self indulgent

to the point of bringing the tempo to a screeching halt ,but somewhat self aggran-

dizing. Stunning precision but not acidic sounding. Wonderful to hear, Tim.

Thank you!

[EdmundStAustell]

Excellent singing! On the matter of tempi, one needs to bear in mind that historically,different nations have differently interpreted tempo markings. As early as 1701, to judge from works such as Auserlesene Instrumentalmusik, the differences in interprettion of tempo markings in Germany and Italy was marked, Italy on the slow end and Germany on the fast end. As for Russia, I cannot be certain, but I believe that like Germany it was faster. Only a hint,l I know, but an interesting one.

[mayatatyana1]

Tim, beautiful performance by Nezhdanova. Thank you very much. Maya

[meltzerboy]

Nezhdanova has a certain tendency to show off, as in the cadenza, but I like her singing anyway. As far as tempo is concerned, it is no faster than the two lovely versions of Tetrazzini. Maybe it was standard practice to sing the aria at a faster tempo in those days. Ponselle's performance is a bit slower as are those of Callas and Sutherland. However, I admire all of these performances. Thanks for posting, Tim.

[Herur22]

Delightful, but as Bivolari said, very quick.

[Bivolari]

Wonderful singing but it is so rushed that it mitigates against complete enjoyment.

[CurzonRoad]

In many instances her tone is incredibly lovely... a joy to behold!

Thank you, Tim!