Cellini’s golden “Trovatore” from 1952 is arguably one of the most enduring in discographic history. It has always been a favorite of English-speaking critics, bringing together the Met’s roster of international superstars: Björling, Milanov, Warren, and Barbieri. In Italy, its critical fortune has been more mitigated; yet when pressed, even as staunch a skeptic as the notoriously exacting Elvio Giudici would likely concede it is a near-peerless condensation of vocal fireworks, framed by the equally idiomatic pacing of its conductor.

Zinka Milanov’s relatively open middle register may not be everyone’s cup of tea, and the interpretation (let alone the phrasing) of the then 41-year-old tenor is miles away from the Belcantist approach in subsequent decades. Yet when measured against its competitors – in chronological order, Serafin, Erede, and maybe Karajan – the 1952 record has a lot going for it.

Proverbially, there is no disputing about taste; and HDTT’s sumptuous remaster, to be fully appreciated, needs to be approached thus: as an homage, beyond personal preference, to the quasi-hedonist indulgence in the legendary voices of days gone by.

The ‘Highest Definition Sound’

HDTT’s release was sourced from “previously unplayed British HMV monophonic commercial reel-to-reel tapes” (according to the press statement). They may be the closest substitute to RCA’s presumably lost master tapes, and are generationally different from Mark Obert Thorn’s equally meticulous restoration for Naxos Historical’s opera series in 2003.

Consequently, HDTT restitutes an unsuspected crispness to the voices; they are put under the magnifying lens, as the label’s John H. Haley painstakingly recreates three-dimensional acoustics to metaphorically fill the flattened soundscape of the opera’s earlier pressings. This pays off, especially in the troubadour’s off-stage “Deserto sulla terra,” and the somberly desperate “Miserere.” What is more, Haley’s sonic wizardry stays clear of any artificial or purposely willful alterations to his source. There is no tapering with reverberations, and the hall reverb of Manhattan Center – compressed on the BMG release, for instance – retains an all-natural flavor. It undoubtedly works in favor of Cellini’s slightly belittled conducting efforts, though “Il Trovatore” remains firmly grounded in the mono sound of the original release with its characteristically edgy, steely ring.

Paradise Regained

Haley’s remaster is aimed towards the purists of sonic innovation more than at the semi-casual layman whose good intentions might not immediately grasp the value of having a “decongested,” golden-era recording of “Il Trovatore” right at hand. It is justifiably hard to fault him – given the slightly esoteric nature of an otherwise widely known performance.

Yet if for nothing else, he would not stay indifferent towards the bonus track of “An Audio Restorer’s Fantasy,” Haley’s phantasmagorical recreation of a 1955 performance with Björling and Maria Callas in Chicago. It was to remain both singer’s only collaboration in their respective, fleetingly short careers; no audio document of their performances on the 5th and 8th of November, 1955 is known to still exist.

By artfully removing the tenor part of a Callas recording from 1951, Haley shapes a template in which he inserts Björling’s voice from a radio performance of “Il Trovatore.” The resulting “Miserere” and continuing scene is quite simply a miracle of technical engineering, making “the two singers sound” – in Haley’s words – “like they are in the same performance, in the same sonic time and space.” HDTT proves to have its own maestro, resuscitating from operatic hearsay one of the Holy Grails in performance history – or at least the stunning and utterly deceptive illusion of it!