Sophia Loren

[Iago]

I utilized the url provided by Bogey, went to Archiv.com and ordered the remastered sets of the "Verdi Requiem" (Solti, Sutherland, Horne, Pavarotti, Talvela, VPO) and the Complete "Aida" (Karajan, Bergonzi, Tebaldi, Simionato, McNeil, VPO).

While listening to the "Aida" i recalled the film starring a young Sophia Loren in which she lip-synched the role of Aida, and the soundtrack actually consisted of the Karajan recording noted above.

I recall being impressed with La Loren (for obvious reasons) and also of
being impressed with the musical performance.
Does anyone know if that film has ever been transferred to DVD? And if so, where it might be available?

[Lethevich]

Hmm, is this it? http://www.amazon.com/Aida-Gino-Bechi/dp/B000HOJTVU

Edit: Shame that the review indicates that the quality of the transfer sucks...

[Iago]

Thanks for your help.
Yes, that must be the film. But I distinctly remember Hvk and the VPO playing on that soundtrack. Something must have happened (contractually ) in the ensuing almost 60 years,
But how wrong can I go for only $18 bucks?

[T-C]

The Sophia Loren film soundtrack is not the 1959 Karajan recording.

The 1953 soundtrack features :

Renata Tebaldi (Aida)
Ebe Stignani (Amneris)
Giuseppe Campora (Radames)
Gino Bechi (Amonasro)
Giulio Neri (Ramfis)
Enrico Formichi (The Pharaoh)

There is no complete recording of Aida with these singers. Only the 100 minutes that appear in the film were recorded (a missed opportunity...)

[Sergeant Rock]

Thanks for your help.
Yes, that must be the film. But I distinctly remember Hvk and the VPO playing on that soundtrack. Something must have happened (contractually ) in the ensuing almost 60 years

Ever since seeing Boy on a Dolphin at a particularly impressionable age (that amazing scene where she boards the boat after diving) I've been infatuated with Loren. Even now, as a granny, she's incredible.

Loren met Tebaldi some years later. They reminisced about their joint Aida: "When I visted Renata Tebaldi backstage at the Vienna Opera, she said it had been a fair exchange: my face and figure for her voice...although she is, herself, a beautiful woman"

In the book The Films of Sophia Loren the cast and the singers (as noted by T-C in his post) are given. Unfortunately no conductor or orchestra is mentioned, just a musical supervisor, Renzo Rossellini. I'm very curious: is Karajan conducting?



Sarge

[Wendell_E]

In the book The Films of Sophia Loren the cast and the singers (as noted by T-C in his post) are given. Unfortunately no conductor or orchestra is mentioned, just a musical supervisor, Renzo Rossellini. I'm very curious: is Karajan conducting?

Internet Movie Database does list Renzo Rossellini as musical supervisor, but says the conductor was Giuseppe Morelli.  Here's the listing for the orchestra:

Italian State Radio Orchestra ....  orchestra (uncredited) 

so I guess Morelli is in the credits?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045483/

[knight66]

I recall seeing that Aida, a black and white film, in my local cinema in Scotland when I was a kid.

Turning to the Decca Verdi Solti Requiem. I was very disappointed by the transfer, glassy and harsh, not like the LP sound at all.

Mike

[Iago]

I recall seeing that Aida, a black and white film, in my local cinema in Scotland when I was a kid.

Turning to the Decca Verdi Solti Requiem. I was very disappointed by the transfer, glassy and harsh, not like the LP sound at all.

Mike

You must have seen a different film, because this one is certainly in color.
At least the theater version of it was.
Your remark about the remastered Solti Requiem is absolutely correct. Severely lacking in bass response. But even that cannot hide the beauty of the voices of Horne, Pavarotti and Talvela. Sutherland, you can keep.
Something very amiss must have happened in the transfer, because the cds made from the original taped performance were much better. I never bought that set because it was ridiculously priced, ($35 for 2 cds). But I did borrow it from a friend. And it was much better than this current set. Perhaps its a question of space? The former set of discs did NOT have the "Quatro Pezzi Sacri" as a filler. Just the Requiem spread out over two discs. The orchestra in particular, had both a sweeter sound and much more heft.

[knight66]

I am glad it was not just my ears. I was very disappointed with the sound. The singing is pretty superb. Unlike you, I enjoyed Sutherland who even injects drama into her words in the final movement, not just her usual vocalise.

Mike