In this legendary recording of Il tabarro (The Cloak), the first of the three one-act operas which make up Puccini’s Il trittico, the part of Michele is sung by Tito Gobbi, the foremost Italian baritone of the post-war years and greatly admired by international audiences for the deep psychological insight which, as a fine actor as well as singer, he brought to his interpretations.

Singing opposite Gobbi, whose performance has been described by an eminent critic as ‘by far the most individual and compelling on record’, are the distinguished Italian tenor Giacinto Prandelli and the French soprano Margaret Mas, in her only major operatic rôle on record, as Michele’s wife.

The cast is conducted by the veteran Italian maestro Vincenzo Bellezza, a stalwart of opera houses in Rome, London and New York.