This is the second of the three Verdi projects which Sinopoli has undertaken for Philips. Last year came Macbeth (412 133-1PH3, 11/84) and a complete Rigoletto is due later in the year; but this nicely varied collection of preludes as well as overtures equally amplifies our ideas on a conductor who continues sharply to divide opinion. That Sinopoli is far from being cold and machine-like comes out clearly enough in this account of the Prelude to Nabucco. With a warmer acoustic and a warmer-toned orchestra than he had in his Berlin recording of the complete opera for DG (2741 041, 7/83) Sinopoli responds with a marginally more relaxed account, little more than ten seconds longer in timing but perceptibly different, though within a consistent interpretative frame of sharp contrasts and precise rhythms and phrasing.
Like most single-LP collections of Verdi overtures, this one includes the four finest, La forza del destino, Luisa Miller and I vespri Siciliani as well as Nabucco, and like most of them starts with La forza, the finest of all. There Sinopoli's approach is not quite what one would expect, for the commanding brass unisons at the very start are rather less fierce than one might have expected from him, and the emphasis in the slow introduction is less on sharp contrasts than on delicacy in textures, rhythms and phrasing. Only at the very climax of the following Allegro does Sinopoli allow himself the fullest force of fortissimo. Luisa Miller, by contrast, finely chiselled and very exciting with the resonant strings of the VPO, cellos in particular, adding lustre.
Unlike Riccardo Chailly, whose Decca record of Verdi with the National Philharmonic is the nearest rival (SXDL7595, 6/83), and unlike Muti (HMV ASD3366, 10/77) and Abbado (RCA RL31378 2/79), whose excelent Verdi collections have disappeared from the catalogue, Sinopoli adds important preludes to the basic four rather than more overtures, and with the two La traviata preludes and those for Aida and Un ballo that for many will be more attractive, the first three tending to bring out Sinopoli's preference for slow, intense Andantes (or Adagios) with steady beat but moulded phrasing. The unexpected item is the prelude to Attila, its big melody here made succulent by the glorious Vienna strings, superbly caught by the engineers. Those who firmly resist the Sinopoli approach will obviously prefer the more direct Chailly, also with excellent recording but occasionally less crisp ensemble. Otherwise choice can safely be left to a preference over the extra items, with the balance in favour of the new issue.'