Martinelli is not everybody´s cup of tea. He certainly is mine. Especially his acoustic recordings which show him in the earlier stage of his career yet mostly free of the mannerisms (and vocal difficulties) he showed in his later and late recordings.
All of his Tell-recordings (all acoustic) are equally fine and it is difficult to chose one, so I decided to include both „O muto asil“ (really a reference recording) and „Ah Matilde“, the first of the three Tell-excerpts he recorded already in 1917 (although we have to do without „Troncar suoi dì“). Martinelli´s virtues are a sheer endless breath (never in difficulty with broad tempi), a flowing legato line, cutting edge, expansive phrasing, biting sound, especially in the ringing high register. In relation his lower register sounds a little pale and by putting to much pressure on high notes he sounds squeezed and tight at times. As an interpreter he has verve and never a dull moment – like him or not. This a great Tell and his version of the aria remains – to me – one of the very exemplary ones. The phrases „Ieri felice… ahi, quaAAAnto felice! Oggi fataAAAl, fatal così“ and „fuggir quel tetto io bramo, che caro un dì, un dì mi fu.“ alone show his mastery.
1923, the year of the “o muto asil”-recording, was also the year of the famous production at the MET with Danise, Martinelli, Ponselle, Mardones and Didur – quite a cast…
