If you’ve just emerged from the ’50s, you’ll notice immediately that you’re in the presence of lighter voices and less personal intensities. Hearing them, I recalled the feeling that I (and others in my age cohort) had about them: if Del Monaco, Corelli, or Tucker is Alvaro, then Domingo’s an Alfredo (which he and Tucker were); if Warren is Tonio, Milnes is Silvio (which he wasn’t that I know of). And if Milanov or Tebaldi is Leonora, Price is Luisa Miller (don’t think so), or the Ernani Elvira (yes, and with deserved success), or a fine lyrical Aïda (ditto), or perhaps an Elsa (didn’t quite happen). The men, in good fettle, trace the route and observe more indications, take fewer liberties than those I’ve been talking about, never get rough with the music. Price is still good, but if you want her in this role, you want her earlier recording. Here, the darkening middle is starting to make the nicely sailing top a little unclimactic, and the absence of lower register involvement has started to catch up with her. Bonaldo Giaiotti, the Guardiano, had a solid bass; in temperament and awareness of effect, he’s a steep comedown from the older generation. Fiorenza Cossotto is here, also in perfectly good voice but sounding a slenderized, sobered-up version of Preziosilla (she’s better on that Fidenza performance, live), and so is the admirable Gabriel Bacquier, beating away diligently at Melitone.

Yet I meant what I said earlier: if we’d had them back this season for the Forza that I suspect might then have gone ahead, I’d have greeted them happily, and we’d all have pow-wowed about how to deal with Calixto Bieito.

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NEXT TIME: I’m thinking, I’m thinking. I do promise this: it’ll be a lot shorter.