New Callas recording?

[+ Charlie]

April 1st. Rumors abound that EMI is about to release a long hidden recording by Maria Callas, called "Callas Sings Negro Spirituals." The recording was made in 1957, but suppressed because of quiet complaints from civil rights groups, based on a claim by Marian Anderson that the interpretations were "inauthentic." As the tap of obscure Callas material runs dry, and the old civil rights groups have fallen into desuetude, EMI has decided this is the right time for a release.

 

This news has overshadowed the potential release of a complete pirate recording of "La Valkyria" with Roberta Knie.

[whipped guy]

April 1st. Rumors abound that EMI is about to release a long hidden recording by Maria Callas, called "Callas Sings Negro Spirituals."

Well Charlie... I heard that EMI was going to release the I Puritani that she did with Serafin (recored in digital surround sound no less) during the La Valkyria run at La Fenice in Venice in 1949... Something about the last chorister who would not sign the release having died...

 

... and Oh Yes! April Fool to you as well!

 

(Still all we Callas groupies can dream... afterall the Lisbon Traviata was a dream at one time!!!)

[+ Lucky]

That's the Comedy part of the Forum...

[whipped guy]

That's the Comedy part of the Forum...

If we get Lucky this forum might just prove to be a "Study in Tragi-Comedy”... to quote the subtitle of the Francis Toye study of the at times dichotomous and paradoxical Gioachino Rossini.

[+ Italiano]

You big TEASERS!!

 

Well, it's not I PURITANI or her NEGRO SIPIRITUALS but soon we'll have out another Callas' DVD rarity, a couple of arias (Norma and Boheme) from 2 concerts she gave in the late 50s.

 

Watch out for eventually her PIRATA, FEDORA, and (why not?...) LA VALCHIRIA! (as they called it in Italy).

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggM2SnqxTKk

[+ Charlie]

I used to have a recording of Callas singing Wagner in Italian, but I don't remember where it is or what was on it.

[body2body]

I have a Callas recording with the Diva singing the Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde in Italian.

[+ Charlie]

That's it! I just found it among my collection. It's from the Athens Festival in 1957.

[whipped guy]

An earlier Italian Liebestod

 

I have a Callas recording with the Diva singing the Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde in Italian.

In addition to the dal vivo Athens 1957 under Votto there is the Cetra studio recording from 1949 under Basile. This last item was recorded along with "Casta Diva" from Norma and the Puritani Mad Scene to showcase her versatility after her stint alternating Brunhilde with Elvira (Puritani).

[whipped guy]

Watch out for eventually her PIRATA, FEDORA,

With Franco Corelli!!! (Well there have been rumors about Fedora...)

and (why not?...) LA VALCHIRIA! (as they called it in Italy).

Why not! Plus while we are dreaming I want the complete Il Turco in Italia from 1950. We already have a snippet. I want it all!

 

but soon we'll have out another Callas' DVD rarity, a couple of arias (Norma and Boheme) from 2 concerts she gave in the late 50s.

Possibly from Pablo and Company at Divina Records?

[body2body]

The CD with the Liebestod (Dolce e calmo) from the Athens Festival is a 1987 EMI release called "The Unknown Recordings" which are obviously not all that unknown. But I have always enjoyed this mixed compilation of arias, both live and studio recordings. In addition to the Wagner it has arias from il Pirata, Don Carlo, Cenerentola, Guglielmo Tell, Semiramide, I Lombardi alla prima crociata, I Vespri Siciliani, and Attila.

 

Whipped Guy you are Fountain of Operatic knowledge.

[+ Italiano]

 

Possibly from Pablo and Company at Divina Records?

 

No whipped, Pablo has almost nothing to do with that.

If you watch the youtube clip that I posted (where you can actually "sort of" see her singing Mimi's aria for the first time!) you will see it's someone who has had the 16 mm movie of it for a while and decided to publish them on a DVD.

It's only 2 arias survived from two televised concerts in 1958 and 1959 in London.

[+ Italiano]

The CD with the Liebestod (Dolce e calmo) from the Athens Festival is a 1987 EMI release called "The Unknown Recordings" which are obviously not all that unknown. .

 

Well, of course the "unknown" was referred to what was known back then of her published CD recordings!

 

Anyway, the 1949 Cetra "Dolce e calmo" (she was not yet 26 when she recorded it!) is quite superior in terms of steadiness of voice for that repertory.

[whipped guy]

No whipped, Pablo has almost nothing to do with that... It's only 2 arias survived from two televised concerts in 1958 and 1959 in London.

 

xaf... Thanks! However I did check out Pablo's website www.divinarecords.com last evening and noticed they they will be releasing a new version of the 1957 Anna Bolena... certainly one of her greatest achievements... from a copy of the original tape. The EMI version is a travesty of the original... I have the Melodram CD release from the mid 1980s and it is much better sounding compared to EMI and most other incarnations. I am hoping that Pablo's version will be even better. So far they have trumped the competition with most of their releases.

 

By the way, that 1957 Athens Concert is available complete on Gala Records.

[+ Italiano]

www.divinarecords.com[/url] last evening and noticed they they will be releasing a new version of the 1957 Anna Bolena... certainly one of her greatest achievements... from a copy of the original tape. The EMI version is a travesty of the original... I have the Melodram CD release from the mid 1980s and it is much better sounding compared to EMI and most other incarnations. I am hoping that Pablo's version will be even better. So far they have trumped the competition with most of their releases.

 

By the way, that 1957 Athens Concert is available complete on Gala Records.

 

Definitely Pablo has the BEST sound in Callas' live recordings!

 

He is soon going to publish all the live Mexican performances taken from the original BJR tapes!

He says that some of the performances (only '51 and '52) were also taped by Mexican TV and that there are rumours about possible future release. That would be a BOMB, but when l lived in Mexico City for few years and I was in contact with people from Bellas Artes and form TV I never heard of such an amazing news...

 

I am still waiting for him to publish AT LAST a good La Scala Traviata, after the shamful horrible thing that EMI made...

[whipped guy]

Again! Thanks xaf for the additional info!

 

Definitely Pablo has the BEST sound in Callas' live recordings!

Definitely! Check out especially his version of the 1955 La Scala Norma, which is my all-time favorite of her live performances of this work. Plus all the CDs are enhanced CDs that have many photos and other historical materials associated with the original productions.

He is soon going to publish all the live Mexican performances taken from the original BJR tapes!

He also has a BJR tape of the 1955 RAI Norma (my second favorite live version) that he hopes to publish as well… and at the proper pitch. Most editions floating around out there are pitched too high… but the Myto version, though advertised as being pitched correctly, is actually too low! Several years ago RAI did broadcast a corrected version of this performance and I was able to get a copy from the internet, but while pitched properly I am sure that something was lost in the transmission process. It will be interesting to see if the BJR tapes will have a certain fullness of sound that is missing from the satellite transmission.

He says that some of the performances (only '51 and '52) were also taped by Mexican TV and that there are rumours about possible future release. That would be a BOMB…

That would be a bombshell of nuclear proportions!

I am still waiting for him to publish AT LAST a good La Scala Traviata, after the shamful horrible thing that EMI made...

It is amazing how many times a big corporation such as EMI (with seemingly unlimited access and financial power to all the musical world has to offer) has literally “screwed up” as regards not only the live performances, but also the studio versions as far as Callas is concerned… and ironically Callas is probably the artist that they have promoted the most over the years.

 

PS: … and to think that this thread was started as an “April Fools” joke…

 

It has turned out to be quite informative!

[+ Charlie]

I certainly have learned a few things, since I am not really an opera queen (more of a Principessa Eboli).

[BaronArtz]

That's it! I just found it among my collection. It's from the Athens Festival in 1957.

 

You can find that on YouTube ... search 'Callas Liebestod'. Indeed an amazing recording! Thanks for pointing it out.