Antonio Guarnieri (1880-1952) may now be a forgotten figure but in his day he was a much-respected conductor—at least in his homeland of Italy. He conducted regularly at La Scala from 1929 (when Toscanini departed) until just before his death. He inclined to the works that were outside the regular repertory—as this CD would indicate—and was heard as often in concert as in opera. As such it is hardly surprising to find him a musician very much admired by Giulini, who frequently sat at Guarnieri's feet, literally and figuratively, in his formative years. It is also clear that they shared many of the same attributes, ones that are also to be found in Toscanini's interpretations. Most significant among them is the ability to make the strings sing—indeed, it is only from Giulini and Toscanini that I can recall the Traviata preludes sing so poignantly. The fine line and ability to build to an overwhelming climax makes Guarnieri's account of the Tristan passage so moving.
The other essential in this Italian school of conducting, also heard in Panizza's, de Sabata's and Serafin's work, is the dramatic intensity of the playing. That can be caught in the Overture to La vestale, which was the first work Guarnieri directed at La Scala (December 1929); it is conducted with tragic fervour as is the Pagliacci Intermezzo. But he was also capable of a lighter touch, as the pieces by Catalani and Martucci indicate—Martucci's Novelletta confirms the good impression made by the current revival of his music.
The extracts from Manon come from a complete non-commercial recording of a live performance at La Scala in March 1947. Here attention is more closely focused, almost inevitably, on the singers, especially when they are such impassioned interpreters as Favero and di Stefano. As always with Italians singing Massenet in their own language, the performances are exaggerated. Di Stefano pulls about the Dream almost laughably but has to be forgiven for the sweetness of his tone and delicacy of his phrasing. The audience obviously enjoy Favero's over-the-top singing of ''N'est-ce plus ma main''.
I seriously question whether the orchestral performances come from live ones made in 1940 as Nuova Era suggest. Guarnieri recorded, in the 1930s, the Vestale Overture, the Martucci Novelletta, the Pagliacci Intermezzo (issued here on Parlophone) and the Traviata Preludes for Fonotipia/Odeon, and the Vivaldi concerto and the Wally item for HMV. These must surely be the source of the originals from which this CD is compiled, particularly as they certainly sound like studio performances. By the way, the Vestale Overture will represent Guarnieri on EMI's as yet to be scheduled eight-disc history of La Scala.'