The Maria Callas Thread

[whipped guy]

As previously discussed I am starting this thread as a convenient place to post regarding all aspects of the art and life of Maria Callas… La Divina.

Hopefully by doing so the information and opinions posted can be better organized and more easily accessed by those interested in collecting her many recordings… be they studio based or live.

I personally encourage all opinions regarding the singer who has been referred to as the "supreme diva of the Twentieth Century"… I am not sure all will agree… and that’s what will ultimately make this thread so interesting!

Let's mix it up!

[Ryanquinn]

:oI hear that The film version of Master Class is a disaster.

[whipped guy]

:oI hear that The film version of Master Class is a disaster.

I have seen neither... and thanks for the input and getting this thread off the ground!

[whipped guy]

The second Callas EMI Lucia

On my return trip from my recent adventure in the Big Apple at the NY Bondage Club I listened to Callas’ second (1959) EMI recording of Lucia di Lammermoor via my iPod. Some would say that I continued torturing myself by doing this as this recording is usually panned as being vocally inferior to her classic first recording from six years earlier. However, I am not so sure about that. Yes, the voice is youthful and steady in the earlier version… BUT…. and I purposely typed a big but… for me the vocal and dramatic nuances of the second version outweigh any vocal difficulties.

Certainly the voice sounds a bit tired in the opening recitative, but Callas was still able to control, her at times unwieldy instrument and the vocal shadings that she achieves in this recording are indeed amazing. Just compare the first act cabaletta “Quando rapito” and the differences are enormous. In the earlier version the tempo is faster and she flings her voice around in an almost nonchalant fashion… in the second version the legato is impeccable… the trills are perfection… and the shadings and diminuendi are exceptional. Plus, such attention to detail is continued throughout the performance. Sure the highest notes are a bit unsteady, but that adds a sense of excitement. Also, some have said that the fact that she uses a shorter version of the cadenza in the Mad Scene is a minus…. I find it to be a plus as is seems more dramatically apt… Also, she alters one phrase to a series of ascending trills… and she executes them with such perfection that it indeed quite thrilling trilling! Even in the cabaletta to the Mad Scene her embellishments show much more refinement and subtlety as compared to the earlier version.

I even like Tagliavini (the tenor) in this recording… He is no Di Stefano, but he caresses his verse in the duet “Verrano a te” with a delicacy that makes things seem so appropriate. Even Serafin takes slower tempi throughout which more lovingly and romantically encompasses the music…

Sure, I like the earlier account… but if I could only have only one it would be this second version. Of course I wish that it were recorded a couple of years earlier when the voice would have been steadier as here we admittedly get her a bit past her prime, but the earlier version was recorded a bit too early as the role was not yet completely formed… actually close (and an improvement over her Mexico City performances)… but still no cigar. Perhaps Callas’ best preserved renditions were in the 1954 and 1955 under von Karajan… the former at La Scala and available in barely listenable sound… and the later being the famous Berlin performance.

I feel the same way about her two commercial versions of Norma… though that might be an even more controversial choice as the vocal deterioration is more evident… but there is that dramatic insight… and Franco Corelli… However, I’ll save that for another time…

[Guest Chicagokok]

While I would still prefer to listen to the first Lucia recording, I recently had the opportunity to find the second Lucia on an Angel red label LP at a sale, and listened to it. I had not heard the recording in years, and was surprised at the condition of her voice. Not as bad as I had remembered it. The Gioconda recorded also in 59 is excellent.

 

As for Normas, I prefer the 55 la Scala if i listen to one, but if I had to pick either of the Studios I would pick the first one. Why Walter Legge cast Christa Ludwig as Adalgisa is beyond me. She is fine but is a million times better in other rep. Corelli is wonderful in that recording. Callas' voice is considerably thinner, but she does convey certain lines much better. I must confess a certain fascination for Callas' post 1960 voice. While not always pleasent to hear she conveys so much. Her recording of Beethoven's "Ah, perfido!" is great. You can just imagine she was thinking about Onassis the whole time! And her "Ocean, thou mighty monster..." is wonderful (except for the big note at the end!)

 

As for the Masterclass film, I know Faye Dunnaway was doing it in Detroit, but have not heard anything about it.

 

I got to study a bit the Cologne Sonnambula LP i recieved. I wrote to the person who published it and he said he did not know which date it was from because that info was never provided. Upon comaparing just the first aria against the Ekilpse CD with the supposed clips of the performance on the 6th July, the start is not the same. I think the LP I got is the 4th July performance, but I will continue to compare.

[whipped guy]

While I would still prefer to listen to the first Lucia recording, I recently had the opportunity to find the second Lucia on an Angel red label LP at a sale, and listened to it. I had not heard the recording in years, and was surprised at the condition of her voice. Not as bad as I had remembered it. That was my impression when I first listened to it again when it was released on CD many years ago after not having heard it for quite some time. The Gioconda recorded also in 59 is excellent. I agree.

 

As for Normas, I prefer the 55 la Scala if i listen to one, my first choice as well! but if I had to pick either of the Studios I would pick the first one. I prefer Callas voice in the first recording (in fact she is almost as good as at La Scala in 1955), but the whole performance is studio bound and seems disjointed as if it were recorded out of sequence... Rossi-Lemeni is too woolly, Stignani too matronly, and Fillipeschi is... well himself... Plus Serafin does not excite as in the later recording. Why Walter Legge cast Christa Ludwig as Adalgisa is beyond me. I think Simionato was supposed to be the Adalgisa, but something prevented her from being available. I know Ludwig was not Legge's first choice. She is fine but is a million times better in other rep. Corelli is wonderful in that recording. Callas' voice is considerably thinner, but she does convey certain lines much better. For me she simply IS Norma the woman in all of her many complexities in that recording and in spite of the fact that I really don't care for the condition and timbre of her voice during that particular point in time... but she had a talent for transcending her vocal difficulties.

 

Chicagokok... I don't want you to get the impression that I am being confrontational here... I just thought it easier to respond this way. I don't want you to see red that is! I can understand and do respect your preferences and perhaps when in a different frame of mind, or mood, or at a different point in time we might just totally agree!

[+ Italiano]

It's odd but also very nice to find a "Callas thread" in a male escort website!

 

Not really anything to say today about a particular recording, just I wanted to recall I fell in love for her Art.

 

I was a kid growing up in Milan, by accident when I was 9 I was chosen to be part of the Children Chorus at La Scala (as a first "engagement" I took part to the film version of I Pagliacci with Karajan conducting, Vickers and Kabaiwanska), it was a love at first sight, and I immediately began an odd kid who loved opera!

With the little money they paid me to be part of the Chorus, I began to buy opera LPs, of course the first was I Pagliacci, and periodically I would go for a new opera.

I used to buy at a local small store (old times...), the owner liked the idea I was an opera buff kid and he would suggest what I should buy every month. I didn't know about singers yet, but I began to learn a bit.

I took part to Tosca at La Scala and the owner suggested I would buy the Tebaldi set. I liked it. La Boheme was next and he made me buy the Freni/Pavarotti. I liked it. I took part to Turandot with Nilsson, and there I go for the Nilsson set. I fell in love for Puccini, so the next opera he told me to buy was Madama Butterfly, the only version he had in the store was Callas'. I remember that he wasn't too keen but I decided to buy it anyway, I didn't know anything about her but I liked the name "Maria Callas".

I went home, put the LP on my turntable and with libretto in my little hands I began to listen. By the end (I would usually listen to the whole opera for the first time this way) I was in shock, mesmerized, in tears. I knew that I loved the opera, but also I knew that the way this lady was singing was absolutely new and overwhelming for me. At age 10 I fell in love for her.

I went back to the store and asked for more things with this fascinating singer, at the time I had a special predilection for Tosca (I had sung the little shepherd with Domingo as Cavaradossi, and I was thrilled!) so I asked him to sell me Callas' Tosca. When I played that LP and compared to the Tebaldi that I had previously bought, I thought I was listening to a new opera! So much passion, so much guts, so many nuancees.....

 

And the rest it's history.

[whipped guy]

How I discovered Callas...

 

... And the rest it's history.

 

Funny... xaf... but I was thinking about doing the exact same thing. Actually I discovered her a bit late in life. I always liked classical music since I was about 7 or 8 years old but I did not get into opera until I was the ripe old age of about 13 or so… The first opera I listened to was Mozart’s Don Giovanni on the radio in the Giulini recording… My second was Paisiello’s Il Socrate Imaginario via a RAI broadcast tape that was transmitted from a radio station in NYC. After exploring the Mozart Operas I then investigated Rossini… and in those days (the 1960’s) there was not much to choose from after the obvious Barbiere. I like it a lot and subsequently purchased the Guilini set of L’Italiana in Algeri… and a note in the accompanying libretto spoke of a recording of the sequel… Il Turco in Italia… I recall the day that I purchased it after saving my pennies… It was a cloudy day and after my mom had driven me to the record store… she then had to go do some additional shopping, but I stayed in the car and read the libretto and the essay. That is the first time I consciously heard of a singer named Maria Meneghini Callas… and I had absolutely no clue as to who she was… not a clue!!! I couldn’t wait to get home to spin the discs… but not to hear this singer… but rather to hear the opera! I recall being more than somewhat disappointed by the sound of her voice… She was not De Los Angeles or Roberta Peters… two singers that I liked at the time. It actually troubled me… and troubled me quite a bit… and it troubled me so much that I had to listen to the opera a second time that very day. Yet there was something different about the voice that captivated me…

 

Well after investigating Rossini, the next logical step was Donizetti and Bellini… and since I was working on a budget and the mono EMI recordings were less expensive… and cut so were on fewer discs… as opposed to the more expensive Decca… actually London in those days… Sutherland recordings… I ended up purchasing more Callas recordings… but not because I liked her voice. I purchased them in spite of her appearing on the recordings due to budgetary considerations… I really thought that she was a second rate singer… Plus, I was more interested in the music as opposed to the singers involved. Then I read somewhere that she was considered to be one of the greatest singers of all time… and I said to myself… “How could that be?? The voice is so strange!!!” Then, after hearing her as Norma (her second recording… and the condition of her voice troubled me even more!!!!) I had the opportunity to compare her Norma to the recorded versions by Sutherland and Gina Cigna (the only other recordings available at the time)… AND THEN I UNDERSTOOD WHAT THE FUSS WAS ALL ABOUT!!! I won’t go into the details but as far as comparisons are concerned… and heaven knows I actually do like Sutherland and admire Cigna to some extent, but vocally flawed and all there was a dramatic purpose working behind the Callas voice and subtle nuances that the other singers just only approximated… Plus as time wore on I came to find the voice actually quite appealing and oh so colorful… yes!!! It possessed a kaleidoscope of colors as no other voice had or probably will ever have… I could go on… and I know that here are flaws and she is not a perfect singer… but the pluses far outweigh the minuses… Moreover she was the simple Amina, the vengeful Norma, the insane Lucia, not to mention Violetta, Carmen, and Tosca… Plus so many more… and yes, even the deliciously flirtatious Fiorilla in that often overlooked little recording of Il Turco in Italia...

 

Let me stop here and just say that the rest is indeed history!

[Guest Chicagokok]

Whipped, I agree with most of what you say. For a long time I would lonly listen to Callas as Norma and Traviata--I would not even consider anyone else. It took a long time, but I will every now and then give others a chance.

 

I agree with you about Stignani--kind of matronly. But having just recently gotten the 53 trovatore, her Azucena is wonderful. her cries of "il figlio mio" are hair raising! The crowd goes wild for her.

 

I got into opera much later--the end of high school thereabouts. My first love was Wagner and i listened to tons. And you can't read anything about opera without seeing Callas' name. So i finally decided to hear this "miraculous" singer. I think it was the Pagliacci I heard. My first reaction was "what's the big deal" voice is ok. But after a while I "got" her and have been hooked ever since...

[whipped guy]

More on Lucia

This past Friday after taking care of an emergency at work and then running a bunch of quick errands earlier in the day I settled in at home to await the impending arrival of hurricane Earl. Since he did not seem to be coming soon I listened to the Yankee game where the announcers we anxiously waiting the menacing Earl as well… After the game (and still Earl-less) I decided to pass the time by comparing the various versions of Callas in Lucia di Lammermoor. Since I had recently listened to her second EMI recording and enjoyed it, I felt compelled to compare it to the earlier versions to see if they might provide greater pleasures. The versions auditioned were: Mexico City 1952, La Scala 1954, Berlin 1955, Naples 1956, MET 1956, RAI 1957, and the two commercial recordings from 1953 and 1959.

My verdict after comparing the opening aria and the Mad Scene was that the best version ‘vocally and dramatically’ was the 1954 La Scala version which is unfortunately in the worst sound. The most nuanced version and the one with the best sound is the second commercial recording. Conceivably the compromise recording is the Berlin version… not as subtlety shaded as in 1959 and not as vocally perfect as the La Scala version. The Mexico City and 1953 EMI are not quite completely formed though are quite fresh from a vocal point of view. The 1956 and 1957 live versions find Callas somewhat taxed vocally. The same is true of the second EMI release as well. So the Berlin version is probably in terms of sound quality, vocal attributes, and dramatic considerations the most satisfying of her outings as Donizetti’s hapless heroine… and in spite of a few missteps in the cadenza to the Mad Scene plus the presence of an airplane obbligato in addition to the flute. I personally am still fond of that 1959 recording… but in actuality I really need them all.

Incidentally Earl… or what was left of him… finally arrived at about 10 PM in the form of a few rain drops with not even an ominous gust of wind! Indeed Callas proved to be much more tempestuous!

[rossthebosssf]

Anyone here feel the love for Leontyne Price? Nothing beats that incomparable sound mixed with a dash of that Laurel, Mississippi diction. Scrumptious!

[+ Italiano]

Anyone here feel the love for Leontyne Price? Nothing beats that incomparable sound mixed with a dash of that Laurel, Mississippi diction. Scrumptious!

 

Very beautiful unique voice, from her throat I heard some of the most beautiful sounds a woman could produce. Bizarre musical taste at times.

 

An advice:

 

Open your Leontyne Price thread!

[leigh.bess.toad]

Anyone here feel the love for Leontyne Price? Nothing beats that incomparable sound mixed with a dash of that Laurel, Mississippi diction. Scrumptious!

 

Ross -- from one newbie to another, welcomme. I think xafnndapp's suggestion of a Leontyne gthread is a good one. But yes, there is at least one here with love for Leontyne. I have always loved her and consider her to be one of my two divas (the other being Renata Scotto). I've been to see several performances both operatic and recitals and they were experiences I'll always treasure.

[Guest Chicagokok]

Anyone have any thoughts on the Callas Vespri on Testament? Is it that much better?

[whipped guy]

No overture

 

I have not heard this performance is years... but thought that the sound was decent for the time. I certainly have not heard the Testament version, but have read about it. As to the basic sound quality I gather that there is no significant improvement over what has been available... This is supposedly from a different (overture-less) source tape that was part of the Walter Legge collection. So the Overture is missing... no great shakes as it is widely available elsewhere and in better sound... but still!!! Why not include it even if from a different source. I would assume that Testament thinks that their version sounds better than the other available versions or they would not have released it, but just because Walter Legge was in possession of the original tape may of may not make it so. At any rate, based on first and secondhand knowledge of other Testament releases I would assume that there is at the very least some improvement over previous incarnations.

 

As I said above, this is what I recall from reading about this release and is not from any firsthand experience.

 

Addendum: I just remembered that the addition of the overture from another source would have required a 3rd CD... so perhaps not a bad decision.

[uwsman2]

Perhaps Andrew Rose at Pristine Audio will take a whirl at refurbishing the early Callas recordings. That would be something. His new release of the "accidental stereo" broadcast of Toscanini conducting Verdi's Requiem in 1951 is a total trip - you really feel at times like you are back in Carnegie Hall in 1951 hearing this release. ("Accidental stereo" as a result of synchronizing two different tapes that were made from the same live performance - one by the NBC radio network, which was broadcasting live, the other by the staff at Carnegie Hall for their in-house archives. As the microphones were hung slightly apart and at slightly different angles, the result of synchronizing the tapes on two tracks and tweaking them for slight differences in timbre, etc., is to generate something like a real stereo signal.)

[whipped guy]

Pristine

 

I just checked their on-line catalog and there are no Callas recordings... In fact there are relatively few vocal recordings represented compared to the number of orchestral recordings... and of those a minority are operatic in nature. At any rate, I have always thought of them as being more into the symphonic repertory... Toscanini, Cantelli, Stokowski, Beecham, etc.

[Guest Chicagokok]

I had heard about the overture thing with the Legge recording. Also, I read that some of the ballet music is missing.

 

Over on Amazon, some of the reviews were very positive about the sound quality, while others were so-so.

[whipped guy]

Also, I read that some of the ballet music is missing.

I did not realize that. I have always enjoyed Verdi's take on the four seasons. However, because Kleiber included the ballet in his performing edition additional cuts in the opera proper were made... some of which involved Callas.

 

I always forget about those Amazon reviews... gotta check them out. Thanks for reminding me about them.

 

I only own a couple of Testament refurbished recordings and in both cases they replaced other versions... and they definitely offered better sound quality compared to what they replaced. (One is that Edinburgh/Legge Sonnanbula discussed in the other thread.) Still, when dealing with a 60 year old radio broadcast as in the case of Vespri it must certainly be a value judgment as to just how much things can be improved... I personally would probably not only hear but also appreciate the difference. However, to many a 60 year old recording is a 60 year old recording no matter what.

[Guest alanm]

 

I always forget about those Amazon reviews... gotta check them out. Thanks for reminding me about them.

 

 

http://www.amazon.com/Vincenzo-Bellini-sonnambula-Callas/dp/B0017HKZ96/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1284125151&sr=1-6

 

At times, the amazon.com reviews can be wildly off the marks, but the comments about "La Sonnambula" (Testament) seem helpful. I find Amazon a good third or fourth choice -- a place to check just to make sure.

 

I still have ten or more days to wait for "Anna Bolena" for Divina.

[Guest Chicagokok]

SOmeone copied the Divina Bolena for me and it is in very good sound. like the BJR LP.

[whipped guy]

SOmeone copied the Divina Bolena for me and it is in very good sound. like the BJR LP.

Were they able to copy the enhanced CD-ROM features on the first disc? The photos are awesome... and many more photos than appear in the booklet that comes with the BJR LPs of which I saw a copy a while back, which up until now had the most photos I had ever seen of this production.

 

Still, that is the icing on the cake... it is the performance that counts... and I keep wanting to listen to it... and the more I do so Simionato almost steals the show... Plus she and Callas really play off each other in their extended duet... the final phrases of which almost blow the roof off the house. Well, she actually does steal the show for a while. I do recall that she received quite a few curtain calls after her big scene in the final act and this version preserves quite a bit of the applause. Simionato was diminutive in stature, but she packed quite a punch!

[Guest Chicagokok]

The CDROM photos are not included, but this was sort of unsolicited, so I did not ask for them. I am sure they would be easy to copy.

 

They did include a scan of the booklet.

 

I agree with you about Simionato. She is wonderful in this.

[whipped guy]

In another thread we mentioned the Testament CD version of the August 21, 1957 Edinburgh La Sonnambula. In this thread chicagokok referenced the Testament version of Vespri. This prompted me to compare my Testament Sonnambula with the version on Virtuoso that it replaced. The Testament is about 10-15 percent better... and certainly not really worth the exorbitant price... Yes it is cleaner and crisper... but the Virtuoso is warmer if a bit tubby... Anyone who is looking for this performance (in spit of the fact that Callas flubs her entrance aria) should seek out a used copy of the Virtuoso version if finances are a concern... unless they are a fanatic of course! Incidentally, I am waiting for a rainy day as I want to compare the various versions of Callas in this piece.

 

Now I am not sure if this finding can be extrapolated to the Vespri recording, but I mention it for what it is worth.

[+ Italiano]

I always smile wide at the end of this short interview, made in Rome in 1969 at the start of her involvement to take part in the movie Medea with Pasolini.

 

I don't know how much you understand Italian, but apart from some not particularly illuminating things she says about this new adventure for her, towards the end the interviewer asks her "Please allow me an indiscreet question". I guess that because Onassis had recently married Jackie Kennedy she was expecting some question regarding them, so immediately she says "No! I don't allow it.". The man insists saying "only one question!", she replies "I will not answer". The interviewer asks her anyway "How much do you weight?". She laughs, tells him "Oh, my God, how kind you are! Well now I am 140 pounds, I am almost 5'8" and I hope to keep this weight because I have to work a lot!!". Charming.