Maria Callas Remembered 9/16/1977 - 9/16/2017

[whipped guy]

It has been forty years since the untimely death of Maria Callas who many consider to be the supreme diva of the Twentieth Century. Fortunately the legacy of La Divina lives on!

 

[whipped guy]

Maria Callas did not just sing her roles, she lived them! Others have had more beautiful voices but they did not make musical history and create an operatic legend with virtually every role that they sang.

 

Such was the unique genius of La Divina! She will live forever!

[whipped guy]

Of course there are Terrene McNally's two other Callas plays The Lisbon Traviata and Master Class. The second not only obviously features the Callas character on stage, but contains extensive musical excerpts of of recordings of Callas performing live on stage at La Scala in the 1950's.

[marylander1940]

[marylander1940]

[Radames]

I love and adore the one and only La Divina! Listening to her records I can feel the exact essence of the role she portrays. Each infection each unique phrasing each note conveys a message only she can do. If it were not for Maria, I would not have appreciated and understood opera like I do now! Thank you Maria! You will always be alive in our hearts.

Her Berlin Lucia, La Scala Norma 1955, Cologne Sonnambula, London Traviata , Dallas Medea and her recordings of Tosca, Puritani are a treasure!

[whipped guy]

Even as late as 1965 she can deliver a perfect legato line!

 

[whipped guy]

Callas giving a master class in a perfect legato and the perfect articulation iof trills in an excerpt from the final scene of Anna Bolena. It does not get much better than this!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4Obv-xmnXI

[whipped guy]

I love and adore the one and only La Divina! Listening to her records I can feel the exact essence of the role she portrays. Each infection each unique phrasing each note conveys a message only she can do. If it were not for Maria, I would not have appreciated and understood opera like I do now! Thank you Maria! You will always be alive in our hearts.

Her Berlin Lucia, La Scala Norma 1955, Cologne Sonnambula, London Traviata , Dallas Medea and her recordings of Tosca, Puritani are a treasure!

You mention all her great portrayals where she literally becomes each character. May I add Lady Macbeth and Anna Bolena to the list as well!

 

Even when at less than her best she completely triumphs over the competition as in the 1960 stereo Norma where her portrayal is so complete that one can forgive any vocal shortcomings.

 

Her most underrated performance is Fiorilla in Il Turco in Italia where she proves to be an extraordinary comedienne, and does so completely by acting with her voice and without the benefit of the visual. The mark of greatness! Yet this same voice can make one tremble in fear as Medea or Norma or break your heart as the tender Amina.

[TruHart1]

FYI: Just a note to clarify that this is a tribute to La Callas sung by the light voiced but beautiful sounding Barbara Bonney. Someone put Bonney's voice with the picture of Callas and though this particular Youtube video posted by "MrReiskocher" does explain with the German title that this is meant to be "Ave Maria Callas," (or Praise to Maria Callas) others have posted this in other places on Youtube without that clarification, making it appear that it is sung by Maria, who never recorded the Schubert song, thus upsetting many Callas fans who complain in comments that this is definitely not Callas' voice!

 

TruHart1

[TruHart1]

Lucille Ball was an extraordinary comedienne. Are you really claiming Callas was as good as Ball?

Operatic acting is a completely different thing than acting in a stage play, as is operatic comedic style, especially if comparing singing and acting in a Rossini comedy such as Turco in Italia or Barbiere di Siviglia (or any other bel canto composer's operatic comedy, such as Donizetti's La fille du régiment) with comedic acting in a musical or play (and/or on television.) Much like restoration comedy is quite different from a modern stage comedy such as "Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike," operatic acting/comedy is completely different. IMHO comparing Lucille Ball's brilliant comedy style to Maria Callas' operatic comedy style is much like comparing apples to oranges.

 

TruHart1

[Radames]

You mention all her great portrayals where she literally becomes each character. May I add Lady Macbeth and Anna Bolena to the list as well!

 

Even when at less than her best she completely triumphs over the competition as in the 1960 stereo Norma where her portrayal is so complete that one can forgive any vocal shortcomings.

 

Her most underrated performance is Fiorilla in Il Turco in Italia where she proves to be an extraordinary comedienne, and does so completely by acting with her voice and without the benefit of the visual. The mark of greatness! Yet this same voice can make one tremble in fear as Medea or Norma or break your heart as the tender Amina.

Absolutely! I have her BMJ records from Macbeth and Anna Bolena and I never tire of hearing them. Thank you!

[whipped guy]

Lucille Ball was an extraordinary comedienne. Are you really claiming Callas was as good as Ball?

Well I never said that but... Yes, and much better because she conveyed the comedy without the visuals! The same is true on her recording of Il Barbiere di Siviglia as one can hear the comedy in her voice. Of course unlike Ball She was not a natural commediene. She had to work at it. As an example a recording exists of her first attempt at Il Barbiere and she overplays the comedy. When she recorded it a year later everything was in place pefectly. Also that she did it while singing and in Italian which was not her native tongue makes it all the more impressive!

 

I mean no disrespect to Lucille Ball because "I Love Lucy"... really!!! She is my all time favorite and especially as Lucy Ricardo. I hope this ''splains" how I feel about her as she relates to Callas. As @TruHart1 implies a separate greatness indeed!

Edited September 18, 2017 by whipped guy

[whipped guy]

Absolutely! I have her BMJ records from Macbeth and Anna Bolena and I never tire of hearing them. Thank you!

Ah! BJR! The hallmark of a true Callas fan and someone who knows where the action all originated when it comes to the best recordings of her live performances!

[whipped guy]

It took an enormous amount of time and effort for Ball to become a natural. All of her "I Love Lucy" comic scenes were rehearsed many, many times. Ball was on the radio first with "My Favorite Husband," so she also had to convey comedy without the visuals.

 

" Yes, and much better because she conveyed the comedy without the visuals!" To you really believe that Callas was a better comic than Ball?

Did someone get up in the wrong side of the bed this morning! Geez!! This thread is about Callas and how some of us adore her. So please allow us some hyperbole! I never mentioned Lucille Ball until you referenced her, and perhaps I fell for the bait. Plus, as I said it is a seperate greatness and as @TruHart1 one says it is like comparing apples and oranges. They worked in two different fields.

 

However, as mentioned Callas did not only portray comedy while singing, but while not singing in her native language. In that sense she can be considered to be better or at least different than Lucy. So, it is a different talent and as we all know at least as the character of Lucy Ricardo was portrayed singing was not her main talent.

 

Plus Callas could convey high drama as effectively as well, and again all with the singing voice and not in her native language. That is why she is still considered by many to be the greatest exponent of Norma to this very day. There also moments in her Lady Macbeth that can curdle one's blood.

 

There are only a few films of Callas acting on stage. However, according to those who did see her on stage Callas always reacted to others in a manner that was spontaneous given the situation. It was never exactly the same even when working with someone such as Tito Gobbi in the second act of Tosca as she did on many occasions. It was all on impulse and that made things seem real. Plus, she never had any formal training in acting. It was all a natural instinct at least as far as tragedy was concerned. According to those such as Franco Zeferelli who worked with her she found comedy more difficult because she was not a funny person in real life. She had to work and struggle to get things correct, but she eventually did!

 

Of course all this opens up an argument where I will be accused of saying that she is a better at acting than Olivier, but I'll take my chances!

[whipped guy]

I am very aware you do not like criticism because we have discussed it in PMs concerning the political forum here. Of course, I knew I would be "corrected, " but I felt strongly enough about the subject to go forward.

 

No, I did not get up on the wrong side of the bed.

No, you got up on your usual side and it is not flattering to you. Yes criticisms via PM that were not warranted or appreciated. Criticism that was not based on reality. As I recall I expressed grave concern over relatives who might have been involved in the terrorust attack in Nice France last year. I was on pins and needles for two days. My "concern" made me a "warmonger" according to your PM. Quite a leap on your part and totally irrational. Plus, I know that you have toyed with me since then. The last time I totally did not respond even though I wanted to.

 

So this time I took your bait as you just admitted. That says more about you than me.

 

Situations like this that make me evaluate my participation here. And to think I stated this thread for my love of music and I get aggravation in return. I can get down any dirty with the best of them but I don't need this shit.

 

Plus what a waste of my time.

[TruHart1]

@whipped guy, I was just old enough to watch "I Love Lucy" when I was a child. I am really sorry that Lucy's Broadway show, "Wildcat" closed before I has a chance to see it. That was the extent of my concern. Period.

@WilliamM, then I am truly confused why you decided to bring such a disparate subject as Lucille Ball's comedy, which it appears we all agree is a high standard of comedy for all time, into a comparison (which really does not exist!) during a discussion by fans of Maria Callas, simply because @whipped guy had one throw-away comment about Callas' comedic abilities in one Rossini opera.

 

Maybe it is not an apt analogy, but would you also object to all the Nellie Forbush interpretations of various actors/singers over the years of new productions or revivals of South Pacific because Mary Martin is, in your opinion, the best (and therefore the only legitimate!) interpreter of the role? I'm sorry but Lucille Ball really has no relevance to a discussion of Maria Callas, no matter how you stretch it, and to drop it into a thread such as this as a complete non sequitur seems to appear as if you are trying to completely highjack the thread.

 

I'm sorry too, because I greatly admire your knowledge of various show business/Broadway topics, @WilliamM, but I just feel confused when you drop this sort of unrelated "bomb" in a discussion thread.

 

TruHart1

[whipped guy]

Posts such as the above are exactly what got the "Organ Thread" purged from this very forum and resulted in an esteemed poster being banned from this site. Not exactly a way to get anybody "closer". If an "I Love Lucy" thread is started I will contribute in an appropriate fashion and not mention a word about things operatic because I also have a warm spot for Lucille Ball and would never think of doing anything to jeopardize a thread dedicated to her. Enough said!

 

Incidentally to get things back on track one of my regrets was never seeing Callas in person. I would have been able to do so only during her final recitals in the early 1970's as when I discovered her in 1965 I was all of 14 and that was the last year of her operatic stage career. I recall a classmate at the time asking why I never went to any of her performances as she did appear in NYC which was doable. My response was that she was not the singer that she once was and I felt that it would have been a painful experience. I regret that decision now as Callas was still Callas... and even when not on top of her game she was still unique... and still the one and only La Divina. A missed opportunity indeed!

[Radames]

Ah! BJR! The hallmark of a true Callas fan and someone who knows where the action all originated when it comes to the best recordings of her live performances!

 

I have the BJR recordings of Macbeth, Bolena as well as Berlin Lucia, and Soprano Assoluta.

I love the pirated recordings of her live performances in Ballo, Cologne Sonnambula, as well as the Mexico performances of Lucia, Puritani, Traviata. She does sound much better in the live performances as she herself said she is not as comfortable in the recording studio.

I listen to her and I can feel like she is talking to me and telling me her story, the hurt and the sorrow of the aria. Her Norma and Lucia still moves me to tears when I listen to them.

[+ Italiano]

The day Callas died I passed my admission exam at the Conservatory in Milan to start there voice training.

I was 17.

I will never forget that day.

[+ WilliamM]

Posts such as the above are exactly what got the "Organ Thread" purged from this very forum and resulted in an esteemed poster being banned from this site. Not exactly a way to get anybody "closer". If an "I Love Lucy" thread is started I will contribute in an appropriate fashion and not mention a word about things operatic because I also have a warm spot for Lucille Ball and would never think of doing anything to jeopardize a thread dedicated to her. Enough said!

 

After reading this post, I removed all my comments, but this one.

 

@whipped guy, the "Organ Thread" was active for months, and sometimes off-subject. I was occasionally a poster in that thread. You were aware the thread was off-subject because it was mentioned in the thread more than once, but things never changed. So I decided to take all my post down to remove any danger.

 

Thanks for all your posts about opera over the years. I have seen countless operas at the Met, Chicago and the Kennedy Center, which I would have missed without your wise advice.

[whipped guy]

The day Callas died I passed my admission exam at the Conservatory in Milan to start there voice training.

I was 17.

I will never forget that day.

That must have been a bittersweet moment. A combination of elation and sadness indeed. Well I was a bit older and will never forget that day either.

 

Indeed I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing. It was announced on the radio and I felt a chill come over my body. Still I knew that somehow she would live forever! In fact I would bet that she is revered more now than at any other time.

 

If there ever was a true musician on the level of the greatest artists who ever lived it was she. That is something that is quite rare among singers, many of whom have a voice, but can barely read music and know little about music theory and composition. Callas did not have "a voice" in the traditional sense and probably because of that compensated for the lack of a classically beautiful voice in other ways. Plus she instinctively new how to dramatize what she sang to make it believable. Where others might exaggerate the drama to get a certain point across, with Callas it was never an exaggeration, but exactly how a person in such a situation would react in real life. Again that is something that is rare for singers to accomplish. Yet Callas knew that the great composers provided the framework. It was all there in the score. She trusted them and used the bare notes that they provided, be they a simple phrase or the most complex of coloratura passages, to bring the music magically to life.

 

I can think of so many examples, but right now the thought of the word "delitto" (crime) and how she sings it in Lady Macheth's aria "La luce langue" from Verdi's Macbeth sends shivers down my spine. Yes one simple solitary word! Amazing!!! Truly amazing! Even beyond amazing!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJfY7aUAN14

Edited September 19, 2017 by whipped guy

[+ Italiano]

I am sure Callas lovers will love this newly discovered clip of Callas (no sound unfortunately) of the famous Norma in Trieste (Italy) in 1953.

Previously this clip circulated with the top of the images cut (no heads) and everybody thought it was filmed like this.

Not true, it was filmed correctly! You can watch also a young Franco Corelli.

 

There are more previously unpublished clips at the fabulous Exhibition in Paris!!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvatPyI_so0

[whipped guy]

I am sure Callas lovers will love this newly discovered clip of Callas (no sound unfortunately) of the famous Norma in Trieste (Italy) in 1953.

Previously this clip circulated with the top of the images cut (no heads) and everybody thought it was filmed like this.

Not true, it was filmed correctly! You can watch also a young Franco Corelli.

 

There are more previously unpublished clips at the fabulous Exhibition in Paris!!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvatPyI_so0

I'm guessing that is the duet "In mia man alfin tu sei"! Oh! To have seen Callas on stage and with the molto attraente (very enticing) Franco Corelli as well!!!

 

I love this performance of Norma as it captures Callas in very heroic form. Too bad it was not captured complete. It is available at www.divina.com

[LaffingBear]

And now, you can see her when she goes on tour this Spring.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jItGxg8vafk