Product Review

Decca recorded Turandot with by no means obvious casting Joan Sutherland as the icy Princess and Zubin Mehta on the podium. It became the Turandot of modern times and, of course, gave us the Nessun dorma that became Pavarotti s signature aria during the World Cup 1990 festivities. With Montserrat Caballé as a heart-melting Liù, this is a recording that has not been equalled in the decades since.
The glory years of the 1980s and 90s when Pavarotti had become a true superstar lay ahead, but this recording contains some infinitely treasurable singing Pavarotti was a celebrity who d earned his fame, and learned his craft slowly and completely. He was indeed grandissimo in every way.
James Jolly
Extract from Luciano Pavarotti Edition 1: The First Decade