Round Three: Liber Scriptus/ Stignani, Baltsa, Castagna

The two venerable ones, Serafin 1939, Toscanini 1940 are, of course, in monophonic sound and show their age. The Karajan, being from 1984, the Digital Age, is of a different category, though not without its problems: reverberant and raw, but the voice, Agnes Baltsa, with her often biting tone, holds her own against the two veteran and puissant mezzos, Stignani for Serafin and Castagna for Toscanini.

Of the three singers, Stignani has the best material, a voice of large proportions, rich, beautiful, free at the top and bottom, and used with artistry if a bit stolid. She has no trouble delving into her chest register and letting loose her top.
Castagna, for Toscanini, sounds closely recorded; the voice is a lesser instrument than Stignani’s, but no less artistically used, though she indulges in aspirates when the vocal line gets difficult. The top is less free and used with caution when a fff seems indicated. The video cuts off before she is finished.

Baltsa, for Karajan, is the equal of the two veterans but with a slender voice, capable of plunging into her chest along with the best and not shirk up top, with plenty of power, though she is more distantly recorded. The voice is compact, but can cut through the orchestra easily.

A difficult choice, but I think I can cut Castagna first, which leaves two very different voices. I need to ponder before voting.

Round Three - Liber Scriptus - Stignani - Baltsa - Castagna

Two full listening sessions of each selection - Once per day - Judged without reference to written comments...

Castagna - Once was enough but, for the sake of fairness, I did follow through with a second session but it did nothing to change my initial impression and I knew that she was going to unfailingly finish in third place in each of the categories that I use to judge.

Stignani - After the first session, I had her with a definite edge over Baltsa as she seemed to be gifted with a seemingly effortless sense of agility whereas Baltsa had to work hard to maintain a consistent level of craftsmanship and even harder to elevate it into artistry.

Baltsa - It was during the course of the second session in which I heard Baltsa far more clearly than I did in the first and by the end, I knew that, to be fair, she merited a clear edge over Stignani in "Musical phrasing" but that they would essentially be tied in each of the other categories with each "slight edge" for one being balanced out by the "slight edge" given to the other.

Vocal control - Tie - Stignani and Baltsa

Good tone - Slight edge to Stignani over Baltsa

Enunciation - Tie - Stignani and Baltsa

Pronunciation - Clear edge to Stignani

Musical phrasing - Slight edge to Baltsa

Voice suitability - Three-way tie

Versatility - Clear tie - When I listened to Stignani, she had the edge and then when I listened to Baltsa, she had the edge - Neither one was able to put enough distance between themselves to give an edge on this category to either.

Performance that I personally enjoyed the most - Stignani, but Baltsa got the vote when I totaled up the points. I felt real remorse over my somewhat casual dismissal of Castagna and so I awarded her "Miss Congeniality" - Baltsa would have won the swimsuit competition had we had one which we don't and so she didn't.