Rosalind Elias and Giorgio Tozzi - A Yuletide Song Fest

Rosalind Elias and Giorgio Tozzi were two stalwarts of the Metropolitan Opera in the 1950s and 1960s, taking featured roles in a spectrum of works. Both were in the cast of the premiere performances of Barber's Vanessa in 1958, the year before RCA Victor issued this seasonal album.

Giorgio Tozzi

Tozzi, a bass, has a voice that will be familiar to many music lovers who have never listened to opera. He dubbed the vocals for Rossano Brazzi in the 1958 film version of South Pacific - and very effectively.

Elias achieved no such crossover fame, but, like Tozzi, she had a strong, vibrant, well produced voice that is striking in its power. It is, indeed, a bit too striking in the opening "Deck the Halls," where she pops out of the texture obtrusively. Fortunately, this effect subsides in the balance of the program.

Rosalind Elias

RCA backs Tozzi and Elias with a chorus and orchestra led by Lehman Engel, who was active on Broadway and television, and who also conducted any number of studio recordings for Columbia and RCA during the period. His small pop-oriented chorus here is not well matched to the powerful Tozzi and Elias, sounding enervated in comparison.

The program is largely conventional, but does include the less-often-heard "Patapan," the "Cherry Tree Carol" and "Down in Yon Forest."

The sound is good but washy, as it often was when in the hands of producer Richard Mohr and engineer Lewis Layton.