Very nice set..................

 

Florestan, the La Traviata you have there is live. It is a justifiably treasured memento of a great night in La Scala's history; a brand new production by none other than Luchino Visconti of one of the most popular operas in the repertoire. Like all ground breaking productions, it was controversial at the time. Visconti had updated the action to the fin de siecle for no other reason than he thought Callas would look fabulous in the gowns of that time. Strange to think that some objected to the naturalness of the acting. For instance, when she sang Ah fors' e lui she sat by the fire, unpinning her hair and then leaped up onto the table kicking of her shoes when she sang Sempre libera. Whatever the objections it was a major triumph for Callas, Visconti, Giulini and La Scala.

Violetta was the role Callas sang more often than any other apart from Norma, and it was also the one that underwent the greatest change. In my opinion, and that of many others, it finds its apogee in 1958 at Covent Garden, where she also has the benefit of an excellent Alfredo (Cesare Valetti) and a most sympathetic Germont (Mario Zanasi), Bastianini on the La Scala set has a magnificent voice, but sings everything at a monotonous forte. That Callas manages such a heart-rending performance of the second act duet with so little coming back from her partner is something of a miracle. The Covent Garden performance is also in pretty good sound (best on ICA Classics) and is certainly worth looking out.

Incidentally there is no recording of Callas singing any music from Fidelio, though you can hear her singing snatches of Komm Hoffnung in her Master Classes.

 

That is a stunning photograph. What a beautiful dress. Interesting how the statue of cupid in the background appears to be firing his arrows off the top of Maria's head.

I'll have to keep the 1958 at Covent Garden performance in mind if I decide to get the complete opera.

 

Since you don't have too many of the studio recordings, there won't be all that many duplications when you finally break down and buy the big Callas Remastered mega-box ;-)

 

Don't get me going. I have a bad habit of trying different search wordings on Amazon and then paging through as many listings as are presented. Sometimes you find a gem about 15 or 20 pages out. A box set is certainly not out of the question. Maybe my next search will be for all the different box sets of Maria Callas. Problem is, if I find a great deal I won't be able to resist.

 

How about that Tosca? Besides that I have the Paris 1958 Tosca Act II, and the video of the 1964 Tosca Act II.

I must say that watching Tosca knife Scarpia is a very satisfying when considered in the context all the sexual predators in the world.

 

"That" Tosca is, by comment consent, the greatest recording of Tosca ever made, even praised by those who don't normally like Callas. Stunning conducting, excellent cast and brilliantly produced for all that it is mono.

 

Excellent, excellent, excellent! I am even more glad I picked up this set! I probably will not be satisfied in the end until I have the complete opera, now that Maria's voice had drawn me into it and an understanding of the plot makes me realize that it is a very worthy opera.

 

Exactly what I was thinking. Florestan WILL buy the Callas Remastered box, as many of us Callas nuts have done. It's simply necessary.

 

And ultimately he'd be saving money.

 

I can't say I wasn't warned. Right at the beginning I was told to simply get the big box set. I won't be buying it now, as nice as it would be to have, but will keep an eye out for eventual (hopefully) better pricing on used sets. Meanwhile, I thought I would share this You Tube Hamburg concert that I am listening at the moment--Magnificent is not a grand enough word to describe it.

Watch the wonderful emotional expressions starting about 44 minutes in and going on for about 4 minutes before she starts to sing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=krvfJjZ8wyc#t=2534
She's got to have psyched herself into the role so perfectly that she is really feeling the emotions. Nobody can fake that.

That Hamburg concert is so wonderful, I want to buy a DVD of it. Is it available?

 

I can't say I wasn't warned. Right at the beginning I was told to simply get the big box set. I won't be buying it now, as nice as it would be to have, but will keep an eye out for eventual (hopefully) better pricing on used sets. Meanwhile, I thought I would share this You Tube Hamburg concert that I am listening at the moment--Magnificent is not a grand enough word to describe it.

Watch the wonderful emotional expressions starting about 44 minutes in and going on for about 4 minutes before she starts to sing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=krvfJjZ8wyc#t=2534
She's got to have psyched herself into the role so perfectly that she is really feeling the emotions. Nobody can fake that.

And that still doesn't include the live recordings.

 

Well of course you should.

The second part is a different Hamburg concert from 1962.

 

That I will have to purchase. Now I want to make this image my computer backdrop but am afraid that if I do I will short out the keyboard drooling into it while gaping at this excellent Maria Callas set.

 

Well it is the one to have!

 

Is this a good set for sound quality (probably a lot of overlap to my 6-CD 100 Best set though)?

 

All of these are in the Warner box - probably in better sound.

 

There's this one too

 

Great idea. No overlap with the big studio set.

 

I have the 1953 Tosca in a highlights disc and am wondering if what I have is missing anything important from Maria. In other words, is it worth getting the full opera if at present, I mainly want Maria's parts, vs waiting in hopes of getting the complete studio recordings set someday. Here is what is on my highlights disc:

 

Succinctly: 'Yes': you're missing 'everything' unless you have Callas doing everything in the opera, as nothing is ever merely incidental or superfluous with Divina.

Plus, looking at the highlights disc above, it doesn't even have one of the most dramatic scenes of all time in opera: Act II's "Orsu, Tosca, parlate"- the high-drama 'torture scene' between Tosca, Scarpia, and Caravadossi.

Florestan, just get the Warner remastered Callas set. You'll never regret it. . . . . and you can even thank me later. ;D

 

Well I took a shot at the older 70 CD Callas set on ebay. It was listed for £6.99. I went to bed about 2 am with the lead bid at £17.51 (would have gone a bit higher had I woke up by 6 am, but didn't. Would not have won anyway as it went for £31.00 and I needed much incentive over a straight Amazon purchase especially since shipping was $24 to the US from Holland. Ah well, maybe next time.

Now here is something interesting. I am loving my new Mariella Devia CD and here is a track from it that somewhat reminds me of Maria Callas. Could one of you experts tell me what it is about this track that would remind me of Maria?