Joan Sutherland – Command Performance (1963)

LP1
01. Weber - Ocean! Thou mighty monster (Oberon)
02. Massenet - Pleurez mes yeux (Le Cid)
03. Meyerbeer - Shadow Song (Dinorah)
04. Leoncavallo - Recit and Ballatella (I Pagliacci)
05. Verdi - Recit and Aria 'Tu del mio Carlo' (I Masnadieri)
06. Verdi - Aria 'Tu puniscimi o signora' (Luisa Miller)		play
07. Rossini - Recit and Aria 'Vorrei Spiegarvi' (La Cambiale di Matrimonio)
08. Bellini - Aria 'Deh! Se un urna' (Beatrice di Tenda)

LP2
01. Benedict - The gipsy and the bird
02. Arditi - Parla!
03. Ricci - Io non sono piu l'Annetta (Crispino e la Comare)
04. Tosti - Ideale
05. Arditi - Il Bacio
06. Tosti - La Serenata
07. Leoncavallo - Mattinata
08. Bishop - Lo here the gentle lark
09. Flotow - The last rose of summer (Martha)		play
10. Wallace - Scenes that are brightest (Maritane)
11. Balfe - I dreamt I dwelt (Bohemian Girl)
12. Bishop - Home sweet home

Joan Sutherland - soprano
London Symphony
Richard Bonynge - conductor

This 1991 CD extracts 50 minutes from the 1962 double LP album Command Performance. Also included is a 12-minute excerpt from Sutherland's 1969 studio recording of Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots. All of this album shows Dame Joan singing excellently. The only snag is that most of this repertoire doesn't really show off her strengths. The excerpts from Oberon, Le Cid, I Pagliacci, I masnardieri, and Luisa Miller, while engaging, give only glimmers of the magic Sutherland could bring to music. The Shadow Song from Meyerbeer's Dinaorah is rather nice though. The best arias are "Come tacer... Vorri spiegarvi il giubilo" from Rossini's La cambiale di matrimonio and "Eccomi pronta... Deh, se un'urna," the finale of Bellini's Beatrice di Tenda. The latter was excellent enough to be included on Decca's 2001 2CD tribute to Sutherland's work: La Stupenda ~ The Supreme Voice of Joan Sutherland. The concluding scene from Les Huguenots is pleasant, particularly the lovely quartet portion. Overall, I would say that all but Sutherland's most dedicated admirers can safely pass this album by. The best track, the Beatrice excerpt available on "La Stupenda," should be enough to satisfy the general collector. ---Aronne

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