A trip to the guillotine as Madeleine in Giordano's opera about the French revolution, "Andrea Chenier." In death's shadow, the poet Chenier sings radiant arias about spring, honor, destiny. You couldn't guess that from José Carreras's hollow efforts on a new CBS release. Given the availability of Franco Corelli's charismatic rendition on Angel records and other credible performances by Luciano Pavarotti and Placido Domingo, there is no reason to buy this set, even if Eva Marton sportingly compensates for her partner's throttled sounds by singing loudly enough for two people.

Copyright © 1987 Dow Jones & Company Inc