Gianni Schicchi - Recordings

Recordings

Despite its popularity as a stage work, Gianni Schicchi was not available as a recording until after the Second World War, a neglect described by a Gramophone reviewer as "extraordinary". One of the earliest recordings, a Turin Radio 1950 broadcast performance conducted by Alfredo Simonetto, was praised for its lively presentation but was considered by critic Philip Hope-Wallace to be "too rough a piece of recording to be warmly recommended". By contrast, the 1958 recording under Gabriele Santini, with a cast including Tito Gobbi and Victoria de los Ángeles, was still being discussed nearly 50 years later as the classic performance, with Gobbi's singing at a standard rarely equalled. Among more recent recordings, that of the complete Trittico with the London Symphony Orchestra under Antonio Pappano (1998) has been generally recommended. There are numerous video recordings now available.