La Gioconda

“As passionate and uninhibited a Gioconda as anybody could wish,” is how one New York critic described the great Renata Tebaldi the opera this season. Her rich, dark soprano embodies all the longing and the terror of the Venetian street singer with a heart of gold. Cesare Siepi is Alvise, the cruel husband whose wife, Laura (Rosalind Elias), is Gioconda’s rival for the affections of Enzo (Barry Morrell). Cornell MacNeil is the conniving Barnaba, determined to have Gioconda at any price.