PUCCINI: “Turandot” (excerpts).

Eva Turner, Mafalda Favero, Licia Albanese, Giovanni Martinelli, Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and London Philharmonic, conducted by Sir John Barbirolli. EMI-Angel CDH 7-61074-2 (compact disc). These live fragments from two 1937 performances of Puccini’s uncompleted last work have circulated privately in the underground for decades, but EMI’s remasterings reaffirm that Covent Garden’s coronation year production was one for the ages. Turner was the complete Turandot, offering unfaltering stamina and Italianate warmth. Martinelli’s heroic, if sometimes reckless, Calaf, and Favero and Albanese, alternating as Liu, live up to their legendary reputations. The in-house recording balances and the acetate masters are far from ideal, but at Angel’s budget price, this is one of the bargains of the year.