La Traviata. G. Verdi. June Anderson, Giuseppe Sabbatini, Dmitri Hvorostovsky

The complete opera, audio version, recording from 1993, Chicago Lyric Opera. Conductor: Bruno Bartoletti (whose Lyric Traviata connection goes back 37 years). From the review: The muchtouted 30yearold Siberian bassbaritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky, in his U. S. opera debut, scored an immediate sensation as the elder Germont. The voice is the genuine Verdi article, a warm, mellow, splendidly resonant instrument that commands long phrases with amazing breath control and tonal security, never forcing for effect, always musical and true. His acting is as yet a mite stolid, although this Germont shed some of his sternly moral dignity as his compassion for Violetta grew (there was more than a hint of sexual attraction between them). Hvorostovsky clearly is an important new singer; one can only hope he resists the urge to go too far, too fast.