Although it has become quite the th

Although it has become quite the thing to do to class Dame Joan as a throw-back, I can only say that this recording has been one of my prized possessions ever since it first appeared in the 1960s. I have heard many other Violettas since, and none has given me the simple pleasure of gorgeous singing that she does. Maybe she sounds too healthy for the last act, but I have a good imagination and can easily transport myself and I never come away disappointed. And of course, Carlo Bergonzi shows us how to sing his role, while Robert Merrill convinces me as the very un-sympathetic father, although you'd never know it from the beautiful sounds he makes. After all these years, my favourite Traviata.