Heard Ilva Ligabue many times live, late - 60:s and eraly 70:s at The Vienna State opera. In the standingplace, as student I had the pleasure to see her many times , mostly in Don Carlos (with Domingo-Ghiarov) and Il Trovatore with Capucilli, Domingo, Cossoto. She was just perfect. Same class as Scotto, Tebaldi and Freni. She should have had more respons and fame.
I have a stunning Verdi Requiem that she did live with Bumbry, Konya and Arie in London with Giulini in 1964. EMI released a black and white DVD. Ligabue is outstanding. It was hard to get a sense of her. She recorded very little and ended up in two very fine recordings of Verdi's FALSTAFF (Soliti on London and Bernstein on Columbia). But this is not a role to assess the strengths of a soprano. i wish I had heard more. Will have to check on RU-vid to see what is there.
She actually recorded many arias and duets (with Filacuridi) of the standard repertoire, but unfortunately on minor labels (orbis etc). But most people stick to Decca and EMI .. and CD re-issues reflect that...
Ő nem a "becsapott öreglány" figurája...mert BÁJOS, GYÖNYÖRŰ, és nem érti ŐT hogy tudta rászedni a szélhámos Don Giovanni... a leg csodásabb hangok egyike!
