Why not another record another Le nozze di Figaro? When this studio performance was taped in 1959, there had already been three great postwar recordings of the work -- the 1950
Karajan, the 1953
Furtwängler, and the 1955
Kleiber -- plus
Böhm's 1956 and 1957 performances were surreptitiously available as pirate recordings from Europe, so it's not as if there was a conspicuous deficiency. But, after all, why not record another Figaro? Was there a surfeit of happiness in the world, either in the late '50s or since, that would make the pure joy of Figaro unnecessary?
Of course not: joy, then as now, is always too scarce, and this Figaro is nothing if not joy filled. With the dashing and dramatic young
Carlo Maria Giulini leading the
Philharmonia, EMI's expert studio orchestra, this Figaro is exciting and exhilarating even before the singing starts. And when the singing does start, it gets even better.
Giuseppe Taddei's Figaro is funny but serious and a bit sneaky.
Eberhard Wächter's Count is witty but dangerous and a bit sexy.
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf's Countess is noble, soulful, and quite moving.
Fiorenza Cossotto's Cherubino is silly, charming, and very sincere. And
Anna Moffo's Susanna is the best of all: wise, warm, womanly, and no man's fool. Together they form a wonderful cast in another great Figaro recording from the '50s, captured in first-rate stereo sound by Walter Legge. There is, however, one caveat. This Figaro is cut. This was not unusual at the time -- and for some listeners, the cuts in the recitatives may not be missed -- but it does make this Figaro at best a second or third choice.