Having already played the role of Resident Agnostic on the topic of Arturo Toscanini’s supernal bona fides as an opera conductor with my pan of his “legendary” NBC Symphony recording of La bohème, I’m back to share that his equally revered 1946 NBC Symphony La traviata ain’t all that, either.

It co-stars the same beloved Met stars of that era as the Puccini, soprano Licia Albanese and tenor Jan Peerce, here joined by the 29-year-old Robert Merrill. For all his undeniable precision and discipline, I still find Toscanini’s tempi rushed and unyielding and his lack of rubato a chilly turnoff. Those who saw her in the theater raved about Albanese as a singing actress uniquely gifted at giving great pathos. Here, she sounds hectic and wiry, inclined to rely on glottal attacks for emphasis, and generally cowed by her conductor. Posterity hasn’t been kind to Merrill: his handsome timbre is uninformed by any direct comprehension of the Italian words he is singing and so he remains a lovely cipher. (Listen to Tito Gobbi’s 1950 recording of “Di Provenza il mar” to hear how an Italophone colors words to turn the aria into the heartbreaking guilt trip it’s meant to be.). Which leaves Jan Peerce as a thoroughly admirable and straightforward Alfredo — yet no matter how good, a fine leading tenor doth not a great Traviata make.

Listen instead to the 1955 Scala opening night radio broadcast led by Giulini with Callas, di Stefano and Bastianini. Wonky sound, warts and accidents notwithstanding (including La Divina going wildly out of tune launching “Dite alla giovine”) it is alive with drama that captures the soul of this score.