BERLIOZ: “Les Troyens.” (Highlights, in Italian.) Giulietta...

BERLIOZ: “Les Troyens.” (Highlights, in Italian.) Giulietta Simionato, Mario del Monaco, Nell Rankin, others; forces of La Scala, conducted by Rafael Kubelik. VAIA 1026. These excerpts from a 1960 Scala broadcast are a stylistic mess. The language is inappropriate, of course, but if you want to hear “I Troiani” as if composed by Hector Mascagni, this is your dish. The singers are a mixed bag. Rankin doesn’t offend as Cassandra, but there is much more to this part dramatically than she manages. Del Monaco bellows away with his golden trumpet of a tenor, mostly at forte and beyond. It is left to the great Simionato as Dido to show what musical refinement, vocal and textual mastery and sheer opulence of sound can accomplish.