Luciano Pavarotti and Martina Arroyo offer an extremely thrilling rendition of the famous Un ballo in maschera duet.
Pavarotti here was making his debut as Riccardo (a role he adored). The combination of these two voices is really very thrilling. While Arroyo is spinto and Pavarotti lyric, the voices blend wonderfully. You can hear just how underrated Arroyo was, a gorgeous, sumptuous full sound. Pavarotti here rings like a bell with a glorious brightness in the voice that only Pavarotti ever had.
The whole thing is glorious (despite the very small flaw when Arroyo goes for a diminuendo that winds up slightly messy), they climax with two gorgeous ringing high Cs and you can hear the audience roar with appreciation.
San Francisco Opera Orchestra conducted by Charles Mackerras
12 мар 2009
