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Disc 1:

1. Il Trovatore: Act I: Introduzione: 'All 'erta! All'erta!' (Ferrando, Coro)
2. Il Trovatore: Act I: Di due figli vivea padre beato... Abbietta zingara' (Ferrando, Coro)
3. Il Trovatore: Scene 2: Scena e Cavatina: 'Che piu t'arresti?' (Ines, Leonora)
4. Il Trovatore: Scene 2: 'Tacea la notte placida...Di tale amor' (Leonora, Ines)
5. Il Trovatore: Scene 2: Scena, Romanza e Terzetto: 'Tace la notte' (Il Conte)
6. Il Trovatore: Scene 2: 'Deserto sulla terra' (Manrico, Il Conte)
7. Il Trovatore: Scene 2: 'Non m'inganno. Ella scende!... Di geloso amor' (Il Conte, Leonora, Manrico)
8. Il Trovatore: Act II: Coro di Zingari e Canzone: 'Vedi! le fosche notturne spoglie' (Coro)
9. Il Trovatore: Act II: 'Stride la vampa' (Azucena)
10. Il Trovatore: Act II: 'Mesta e la tua canzon!' (Coro, Azucena, Manrico, Un vecchio zengaro)
11. Il Trovatore: Act II: Scena e Racconto: 'Soli or siam!' (Manrico, Azucena)
12. Il Trovatore: Act II: 'Condotta ell'era in ceppi' (Azucena, Manrico)
13. Il Trovatore: Act II: Scena e Duetto: 'Non son tuo figlio?' (Manrico, Azucena)
14. Il Trovatore: Act II: 'Mal reggendo all'aspro assalto' (Manrico, Azucena, Un messo)
15. Il Trovatore: Scene 2: Scena ad Aria: 'Tutto e deserto' (Il Conte, Ferrando)
16. Il Trovatore: Scene 2: Il balen del suo sorriso...per me, ora fatale' (Il Conte, Ferrando, Coro)
17. Il Trovatore: Scene 2: Finale II: 'Ah! se l'error t'ingombra' (Coro, Il Conte, Ferrando)
18. Il Trovatore: Scene 2: 'Perche piangete?' (Leonoro, Ines, Il Conte, Coro)
19. Il Trovatore: Scene 2: 'E deggio, e posso crederlo?' (Leonora, Il Conte, Manrico, Ferrando, Coro, Ines, Ruiz)

Disc 2:

1. Il Trovatore: Act III: Coro d'Introduzione: 'Or co'dadi' (Coro, Ferrando)
2. Il Trovatore: Act III: Scena e Terzetto: 'In braccio al mio rival!' (Il Conte, Ferrando, Coro, Azucena)
3. Il Trovatore: Act III: 'Giorni poveri vivea' (Azucena, Ferrando, Il Conte, Coro)
4. Il Trovatore: Scene 2: scena ed Aria: 'Quale d'armi fragor poc'anzi intesi?' (Leonora, Manrico)
5. Il Trovatore: Scene 2: 'Ah! si, ben mio' (Manrico)
6. Il Trovatore: Scene 2: 'L'onda de'suoni mistici' (Leonora, Manrico)
7. Il Trovatore: Scene 2: 'Manrico?'-'Che?'-'La zingara' (Ruiz, Manrico, Leonora)
8. Il Trovatore: Scene 2: 'Di quella pira' (Manrico, Leonora, Ruiz, Coro)
9. Il Trovatore: Act IV: Scena, Aria e Miserere 'Siam giunti' (Ruiz, Leonora)
10. Il Trovatore: Act IV: 'D'amor sull'ali rosee' (Leonora)
11. Il Trovatore: Act IV: 'Miserere' (Coro, Leonora, Manrico)
12. Il Trovatore: Act IV: Scena e Duetto: 'Udiste? Come albeggi' (Il Conte, Leonora)
13. Il Trovatore: Act IV: 'Qual voce!'...'Mira, di acerbe lagrime' (Il Conte, Leonora)
14. Il Trovatore: Scene 2: Finale Ultimo: 'Madre, non dormi? ... Ai nostri monti' (Manrico, Azucena)
15. Il Trovatore: Scene 2: 'Che! Non m'inganna quel fioco lume?' (Manrico, Leonora, Azucena)
16. Il Trovatore: Scene 2: 'Ti scosta!' (Manrico, Leonora, Il Conte, Azucena)
17. Il Trovatore: Act III, Scene 2: Duettino: 'Solenne in quest'ora'
18. Il Trovatore: Act III, Scene 2: Scena: 'Morir! Tremenda cosa!'
19. Il Trovatore: Act III, Scene 2: Aria: 'Una fatale del mino destino... Egli e salvo!' (Don Alvaro: Franco Corelli - Don Carlo di Vargas: Ettore Bastianini Orchestra del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Francesco Molinari Pradelli, 1958

Rating: - Il Trovatore
I originally had this as 5 stars, but then I recalled that the album came without a libretto, so I knocked off 1/2 star. While I am not usually a fan of Karajan's conducting, I thought he moved things along crisply, so no deductions there. But opera's about singing, and this one has Franco Corelli and Leontyne Price, two of the most exciting singers of their era or any other. Add Giulietta Simionato and Ettore Bastianini to the mix and you have over two hours of glorious sound.

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Rating: - Il Trovatore
'Non M'Inganno. Ella Scende!... Di Geloso Amor'

This alone makes the whole cd worth buying.

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Rating: - Great exciting performance, old sound
I agree with the reviewers who have praised all the principals. I would put Price's exquisite Leonora at the top of a very strong list of leads -- her highs are incredibly liquid and golden-toned, and her vocal quality throughout her range is beautiful to listen to. Corelli's power and emotion are fabulous (he's probably my favorite tenor), and I consider him the definitive Manrico. However, I wish that he would have sung the parts along with the chorus right before the end of "Di Quella Pira" (as he does in his studio recordings). Simionato is a compelling Azucena and I disagree with reviews that called her voice "ugly" - I would say dramatic and in character. Bastianini is strong and villanous, though his voice sometimes gets lost in the mix in ensembles -- it sounds like he moved downstage.

The pace is breathtaking, though at the cost of precision (singers and orchestra out of sync occasionally, not surprisingly for a live performance). It's the imperfect orchestral/vocal balance, mono, and occasional raggedness of ensemble that makes it less than a 5 for me. Though I weight the singing a 5, the sound is only a 2 compared to modern recordings, thus my overall rating of 4.

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Rating: - Price, Corelli and Karajan at their peaks--need any more be said?
This 1962 Vienna State Opera performance of Trovatore is now a document of a new Golden Age of opera. Price and Corelli had taken the Metropolitan by storm the previous year in the same roles and the vocal beauty, strength and ardor that propelled them to international stardom are much in evidence, particularly in the former's assumption of Leonora--Price even throws in a few extra high Cs in the "Miserere" for good measure. Her two big arias "Tacea la notte" and "D'amor sull' ali rosee" are replete with her characteristic shimmering vibrato and creamy tone. Corelli sings with big, gorgeous tone and with more care in phrasing than in some of his other recorded performances-only his concluding high note at the end of the third act seems somewhat pressed. Azucena and the Conte di Luna are in the more than capable hands of Giulietta Simionato and Ettore Bastianini.

Despite the ease with which the dictum that "all Trovatore needs is the four greatest singers in the world" is met, ultimately the driving force behind this night is Karajan, who gives this fast-moving melodrama exactly the propulsion it needs without slighting the lyrical moments. The Vienna Philharmonic responds with a razor-sharp rendition of the score. Against such virtues the faults of a live recording can easily be forgiven: mono sound and some questionable balances (the "offstage" harp in Manrico's first solo sounds as if it is about two feet from the microphone). Most of the traditional stage cuts are observed as well: thus the second verses of both Leonora's and Manrico's cabalettas are missing, as well as the whole of Leonora's last-act cabaletta, "Tu vedrai." Nevertheless, for opera lovers, this is a Trovatore not to be missed.

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Rating: - Grab it before it goes away. . .
This recording is a must have for any real lover of singing: Corelli and
Price together, LIVE, not to mention Simionato.

Karajan keeps things at a white hot clip, and the velvet of Price with
the trumpeting of Corelli make for the kind of over-the-top opera
experience one lives for.

Given the year and conditions of the recording, the sound is excellent.
I'm one who can tolerate less that state of the art sound for the
excitement of live historic performances.

Price occasionally interpolates unexpected high notes, and then
caps the "Mira" with a high c that would have best been left at home,
but these are just a few tiny pimples on an otherwise stunning face.
And at these prices, it is a complete steal. Buy it.