ALLA BREVE

PUCCINI: “Manon Lescaut.” Mirella Freni, Luciano Pavarotti, Dwayne Croft, Giuseppe Taddei, Cecilia Bartoli, others; forces of Metropolitan Opera, James Levine, conductor. London 440 200-2. Just when you thought no one is around today to sing Puccini with passion and proper style, along comes this release with two old pros showing the tradition is not dead. Freni and Pavarotti (both 56 at the time of recoding) are in prime vocal estate. The soprano sings with an all-stops-out abandon that is a cause for wonderment. The tenor’s “Donna non vidi mai” is predictably lush, but his fervor and commitment in the Act II duet and “Guardate, pazzo son” in Act III are among the greatest since Bjorling’s.

Croft’s virile Lescaut is a plus, as is the vicious Geronte of Taddei (another old pro at 75). Bartoli’s star turn as the Musician represents luxury casting. Levine’s conducting is one of his finest achievements, showing a skill of balance and artfully shaded dynamics in every way memorable. His virtuoso orchestra almost breathes with the singers at every bar. Ironic that the recent Sony/Scala “Manon” under Maazel could be so bloodless, while this New York-based effort results in one of the most distinguished Puccini recordings in many years.

GLUCK: “Iphigenie en Tauride.” Carol Vaness, Thomas Allen, Gosta Winbergh, Giorgio Surian; forces of La Scala, Riccardo Muti, conductor. Sony S2K 52 492. For academicians, historians and pedagogues, the place of Gluck as innovative reformer in opera remains secure. For audiences of today, his operas, despite their admitted musical beauties, can be something of a trial, as they often seem to go on forever. These discs, taken from six live performances of “Iphigenie” last year at La Scala, are not going to change many minds. There is not an individual number that comes close to “Che faro” or “Che puro ciel,” the great arias that make “Orfeo” tolerable.

Muti, as in all his recordings at his home base, is an acknowledged master of orchestral chiaroscuro, whiplash accuracy and attention to detail, but he cannot instil tension, conflict and excitement in a score where little exists. He has a superb ally in Vaness, who gives him everything he wants, and manages to build a considerable character in the title part. She shows a wide color variety singing a lovely French and is especially moving in the last act’s “Je t’implore et je tremble.”

Neither she nor Muti are helped much by a dry-voiced, strained Winbergh as Pylade, to say nothing of the waning vocal resources of Allen’s Oreste. The unheralded Surian as Thoas is much more up to his task.