Excellent value here, with a good selection of material to represent the famous tenor and his eminent associates, all finely remastered for CD. The duet from Les pecheurs de perles with Robert Merrill is evidently regarded as a sure 'draw' since the record takes its title from that; and certainly it is good to hear these two resonant, evenly produced voices, even if there is little in their expression to suggest that the duet is about anything in particular: curiously, it is probably the least communicative, in this sense, of all the items included here. Expressiveness was never Bjorling's principal claim to attention. Occasionally, in Tosca and La boheme, a faint chuckle lightens the not very imaginative proceedings, and he has a certain generalized intensity in the Don Carlos solo and the Manon Lescaut duet. But mostly it is the musical quality of his singing that gives such great satisfaction: everything in the Tomb scene from Aida, for instance, shows a musicianly care for a genuinely finished performance.
Of Bjorling's partners, Albanese is the only one with a flair for communication, but Milanov sings divinely in Aida, Tebaldi softens her high notes skilfully in Liu's solo, and Merrill gives sturdy, even-textured performances throughout.'