Macbeth (1984)/ Verdi, Giuseppe

Few conductors excite such widely contrasted opinions as Giuseppe Sinopoli, and I am sure that this electrifying new set of Macbeth will add fuel to the fire of argument. Anyone not prepared for anew experience, with new detail revealed, who insists on traditional views, is unlikely to enjoy it. On one level Sinopoli is constantly calling attention to this or that detail in the score whether in phrasing, dynamic or tempo, and for those who are resistent that may be distracting. But what this latest recording triumphantly confirms, the more so in relation to two such outstanding and powerful sets as those listed above, is the extraordinary voltage of intensity that Sinopoli regularly creates even—or perhaps particularly—in the recording studio. (...)|