It is strange of Romophone to release this 1930, pioneering set of Trovatore and then employ Michael Scott to pour scorn on the singers in his notes. True, some of the singing here is rough-and-ready in a manner then common in Italian performance of its favourite composing son, but the tradition these artists enshrine has many merits, not least one Scott admittedly points out, the fierce conviction with which the text is delivered, something heard all too seldom today when few native interpreters of Verdi are to be found. Then three of the singers, Pertile, Minghini-Cattaneo and Granforte, however freely they deal with the score, do possess the type and weight of voice that their roles demand.
Pertile certainly delivers Manrico’s music with macho power (but it is ridiculous of Scott to suggest an analogy with Mussolini in the singer’s blowing up his personality to compensate for an inferiority complex!), yet at key moments of intimate feeling he is able to fine down his tone with the skill of a tenor who was also adept in Bellini and Donizetti: there’s delicacy here in addition to brawn from a tenor who was rightly admired by Toscanini. Minghini-Cattaneo delivers Azucena’s music with confidence and panache based on a true Verdian mezzo (she and Pertile are particularly sensitive in “Ai nostri monti”). Granforte’s Luna is in every way a proper rival for Manrico to Leonora’s hand in terms of presence and vocal power, but he is the singer who, especially in “Il balen”, mangles Verdi’s line. The real blot on the performance is the inadequate Leonora in terms of voice and style. The Ferrando is excellent.
Recent research has proved that Sabajno, always credited as conductor, was responsible for only two matrices. The rest were ‘ghost conducted’ by Nastrucci, a rather ordinary interpreter, I regret to say. Be warned: he makes the cuts then prevalent in theatre performance. The transfers are well done with none of the tampering with the sound of earlier attempts on CD. The set is certainly worth hearing for Pertile and Minghini-Cattaneo.'