The new "La Forza del Destino" on Deutsche Grammophon probably wasn't meant to give us a standard by which to appreciate all past recordings and all future live performances. But it does. Unless fate is very much against you, it's not likely you'll hear anything quite this nasty for quite a while.

The set is one of several new releases whose transition from studio to store will leave you scratching your head and holding your ears. Even if -- and I used to argue this point -- even if this is not a golden era of opera, is a gracefully sung "Faust" too much to hope for? A "Macbeth" with a persuasively murderous couple? Or a "Forza" with a tenor who doesn't sound like his lover Leonora's father when he wheezes in over the castle parapet for a misjudged elopement? Well you might ask listening to this batch that sends international standards down a few notches with every wobbled-out tune.

Verdi's "Forza" is a grandly scaled opera filled with lavishly melodic arias that are set like illuminating beacons in the dark, war-torn terrain. After years of vocal abuse, José Carreras barely manages to produce a flicker. Toneless and tired, he labors his way through the opera, looking, lord knows why, for Rosalind Plowright, an acidic Leonora we would all walk miles to avoid. When they join up in the first act duet, the last time they duetize -- Verdi's rambling libretto has its mercies -- it's a wonder blood doesn't flow from the grooves.

Copyright © 1987 Dow Jones & Company Inc