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Maria Callas' Recorded Legacy
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Contents of the Ars Vocalis release of the Callas concert in Paris, June 5, 1963
The stereo tape of Maria Callas’s Paris concert of June 5, 1963 as released on Ars Vocalis AV 5663-2 (2 CDs) includes the following:
Disc One
Radio announcement
Overture to Semiramide
Semiramide - Bel raggio
La Cenerentola - Nacqui all’affanno
Overture to Benvenuto Cellini
Manon - Adieu notre petite table
Werther - Werther! Werther! Qui m’aurait dit la place
Disc Two
Overture to Vespri Siciliani
Nabucco - Ben io t’invenni
Intermezzo to Pagliacci
Intermezzo to Manon Lescaut
Bohème - Quando m’en vo
Madama Butterfly - Tu? Tu? Piccolo Iddio!
Gianni Schicchi - O mio babbino caro
Bonus
Maria Callas in conversation with Michel Glotz (recorded at 44 Avenue Foch, May 25, 1963)
Norma - Casta Diva (Stuttgart, May 23, 1963)
The Callas conversation with Glotz was recorded at Callas’s apartment at the time, 44 Avenue Foch. The Casta Diva from the Stuttgart Norma features excellent mono sound. The stereo sound from Paris is excellent.
This release can be ordered through [email protected]
Paul
The stereo tape of Maria Callas’s Paris concert of June 5, 1963 as released on Ars Vocalis AV 5663-2 (2 CDs) includes the following:
Disc One
Radio announcement
Overture to Semiramide
Semiramide - Bel raggio
La Cenerentola - Nacqui all’affanno
Overture to Benvenuto Cellini
Manon - Adieu notre petite table
Werther - Werther! Werther! Qui m’aurait dit la place
Disc Two
Overture to Vespri Siciliani
Nabucco - Ben io t’invenni
Intermezzo to Pagliacci
Intermezzo to Manon Lescaut
Bohème - Quando m’en vo
Madama Butterfly - Tu? Tu? Piccolo Iddio!
Gianni Schicchi - O mio babbino caro
Bonus
Maria Callas in conversation with Michel Glotz (recorded at 44 Avenue Foch, May 25, 1963)
Norma - Casta Diva (Stuttgart, May 23, 1963)
The Callas conversation with Glotz was recorded at Callas’s apartment at the time, 44 Avenue Foch. The Casta Diva from the Stuttgart Norma features excellent mono sound. The stereo sound from Paris is excellent.
This release can be ordered through [email protected]
Paul
BREAKING NEWS - DIVINA RECORDS SET TO RELEASE 1950 MEXICO CITY TROVATORE
Pablo clearly hasn't given up and that's great news for all Callas aficionado. He is set to release the 1950 Mexico City Trovatore, remastered directly from the acetate transcription discs in the BJR Collection.
The 1950 Mexico City Trovatore has been the most desirable and eagerly awaited among live recordings of Callas's Mexico City performances and soon we could expect to hear it in the best ever sound reproduction it has ever received!
So far Pablo has shown only the cover on Divina's website but hopefully more info will be available when it comes to the release of the remastering: Home – Divina Records
The upcoming release is expected to be made available as three different formats of digital downloads. For those who desire physical CDs, it's not certain whether Pablo will resume production of custom-made CD-Rs, so you might wish to wait for further info or contact Pablo to enquire.
Pablo clearly hasn't given up and that's great news for all Callas aficionado. He is set to release the 1950 Mexico City Trovatore, remastered directly from the acetate transcription discs in the BJR Collection.
The 1950 Mexico City Trovatore has been the most desirable and eagerly awaited among live recordings of Callas's Mexico City performances and soon we could expect to hear it in the best ever sound reproduction it has ever received!
So far Pablo has shown only the cover on Divina's website but hopefully more info will be available when it comes to the release of the remastering: Home – Divina Records
The upcoming release is expected to be made available as three different formats of digital downloads. For those who desire physical CDs, it's not certain whether Pablo will resume production of custom-made CD-Rs, so you might wish to wait for further info or contact Pablo to enquire.
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Thank you for the great news. Even though the 1956 EMI recording with Karajan will always remain my favorite among Callas's recorded Trovatore Leonoras, her 1950 Mexico City role debut, sung in that dark, voluptuous, lava-like pre-diet voice with loads of passion, fire, drive and devil-may-care abandon, is a really fascinating document. As in the case of the 1952 Mexico City Puritani, with the Divina edition emerging, all previous incarnations of this performance on various labels are destined for the rubbish bin.BREAKING NEWS - DIVINA RECORDS SET TO RELEASE 1950 MEXICO CITY TROVATORE
Pablo clearly hasn't given up and that's great news for all Callas aficionado. He is set to release the 1950 Mexico City Trovatore, remastered directly from the acetate transcription discs in the BJR Collection.
The 1950 Mexico City Trovatore has been the most desirable and eagerly awaited among live recordings of Callas's Mexico City performances and soon we could expect to hear it in the best ever sound reproduction it has ever received!
So far Pablo has shown only the cover on Divina's website but hopefully more info will be available when it comes to the release of the remastering: Home – Divina Records
The upcoming release is expected to be made available as three different formats of digital downloads. For those who desire physical CDs, it's not certain whether Pablo will resume production of custom-made CD-Rs, so you might wish to wait for further info or contact Pablo to enquire.
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1,413 Posts
Wonderful! This, and the 1939, Bjorling, Cigna Trovatore are two of my very favourites despite the poor sound.BREAKING NEWS - DIVINA RECORDS SET TO RELEASE 1950 MEXICO CITY TROVATORE
Pablo clearly hasn't given up and that's great news for all Callas aficionado. He is set to release the 1950 Mexico City Trovatore, remastered directly from the acetate transcription discs in the BJR Collection.
The 1950 Mexico City Trovatore has been the most desirable and eagerly awaited among live recordings of Callas's Mexico City performances and soon we could expect to hear it in the best ever sound reproduction it has ever received!
So far Pablo has shown only the cover on Divina's website but hopefully more info will be available when it comes to the release of the remastering: Home – Divina Records
The upcoming release is expected to be made available as three different formats of digital downloads. For those who desire physical CDs, it's not certain whether Pablo will resume production of custom-made CD-Rs, so you might wish to wait for further info or contact Pablo to enquire.
Mexico City performances by Maria Callas
Ars Vocalis is the best current source to order physical CDs of all the Maria Callas Mexico City performances that are not available through Divina Records.
I have purchased three from Ars Vocalis:
Aida, Mexico City, July 3, 1951, BJR/AV 151-3
This Aida set is produced from the best available sound source - the BJR LPs. Very listenable sound and a very gutsy performance by all the cast.
La traviata, Mexico City, July 17, 1951, AV 170751-2
The complete July 17, 1951 Traviata survives only as an off-the-air tape made by a fan so the sound quality is marginal but Ars Vocalis has done a fine job of taming tape hiss and re-equalizing to bring out the best sound. Some of this performance survives on much better quality acetate radio transcription discs, but unfortunately only about 20 minutes of highlights were saved on the 16 inch radio discs. The remainder of the performance was either not recorded on disc or they have been lost.
Lucia di Lammermoor, Mexico City, June 10, 1952, AV 100652-2
This Ars Vocalis set also includes the two alternate versions of the Mad Scene from June 14 and June 26, 1952. Apparently the two other Mad Scenes were discovered on original acetate radio transcription discs in Callas’s apartment after her death. As Callas presumably did not have a 16 inch acetate disc player, she was likely listening to tape copies.
These releases can be ordered through [email protected] Ars Vocalis ships quickly and with great care.
All of the Mexico City material is also available on YouTube if you’re skilled in doing MP3 copies to disc or stick from YouTube. Our friend CallasFan has uploaded some of the Mexico City material to his YouTube channel. The out-of-print Opera D’Oro label (Allegro Corporation) also has many of the Mexico City performances available in its CD series and they are not hard to find and are good quality.
Paul
The 1950 Mexico City Trovatore is now available to purchase from Divina Records:
The remastering is offered in three digital download formats: higher quality (though still lossy) MP3 (320 Kbps), CD-quality FLAC, CD-quality iTune Lossless.
Extra materials can be downloaded directly from the webpage.
Pablo is apparently not offering the custom-made CD-R option. This will disappoint those who desire physical CDs. However, given currently rising fuel prices, high shipping cost and generally much slower shipping speed and mail waiting time, if you wish to hear the remastering sooner rather than later, digital download may be the better option and one to bypass all those said troubles and frustrations with shipping.
Suggested downloadable app to play FLAC files on your PC: How to play FLAC files - BOXSET.ME
The remastering is offered in three digital download formats: higher quality (though still lossy) MP3 (320 Kbps), CD-quality FLAC, CD-quality iTune Lossless.
Extra materials can be downloaded directly from the webpage.
Pablo is apparently not offering the custom-made CD-R option. This will disappoint those who desire physical CDs. However, given currently rising fuel prices, high shipping cost and generally much slower shipping speed and mail waiting time, if you wish to hear the remastering sooner rather than later, digital download may be the better option and one to bypass all those said troubles and frustrations with shipping.
Suggested downloadable app to play FLAC files on your PC: How to play FLAC files - BOXSET.ME
I have bought the Divina Records release of the 1950 Mexico City Trovatore in the Flac lossless format digital download. As I had previously bought the earlier incarnation of the performance on Melodram 26017 dubbed and issued by Ars Vocalis, I was able to carry out a comparison. The Melodram issue was apparently sourced from a poor sounding off-the -air tape and sounds muddy and muffled. Coming to the latest Divina issue remastered directly from the 16-inch radio transcription discs in the BJR collection, it is as though layers of veils have been lifted from the sound picture and the performance, in particular Callas' lava-like, thrilling pre-diet voice, emerges with a new clarity and vividness, as well as colours and nuances in softer passages (such as in the two arias, "E deggio e posso crederlo" from Act two conclusion and other places) that I have not previously known. In addition one also gets to hear ovations (such as a prolonged one after Leonora's Act 4 duet with Conte di Luna) and radio commentaries previously not heard in earlier incarnations of the performance.
The Divina release is now THE GO-TO version for the 1950 Mexico City Trovatore, period. As for the Melodram 26017 I had bought from Ars Vocalis, since the insert artworks and print on CDs had been meticulously prepared by Ars Vocalis, I can't bear to throw it away even though the Melodram remastering is now clearly and entirely superseded and replaced. Perhaps I will keep it just as a souvenir.
The Divina release is now THE GO-TO version for the 1950 Mexico City Trovatore, period. As for the Melodram 26017 I had bought from Ars Vocalis, since the insert artworks and print on CDs had been meticulously prepared by Ars Vocalis, I can't bear to throw it away even though the Melodram remastering is now clearly and entirely superseded and replaced. Perhaps I will keep it just as a souvenir.
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Cannot agree more with Viardots about the sound reproduction of the Divina Records release.
Please note that if you've purchased the digital download, apart the audio files of the tracks, you would also have received the cover insert and back artworks presented in a PDF file. You can actually buy your own CD-R and burn the digital audio files to the CD-R using an appropriate software on your PC (of course you need a CD-ROM drive) and find a colour printer to print out the artworks to make your own CD case.
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112 Posts
I just downloaded Callas Fun La Sonnambula from la Scala 5-3-1955. Ιs the best effort I've heard so far. I quote his description concerning both his specific production and the previous one from Mexixo City 1951 Aida.
"Low and high frequency hum has been removed,audience noise,such as coughing,and audible prompters have been removed or minimised while maintaining the integrity of the original sound. Fauls in the original recording have been repaired,and resonant frequencies have been removed where possible."
Αnd something concerning the specific release of la Sonnambula "A true highlight of Callas’career,this electrifying performance is presented with the correct Act1 Scene1 finale,and a wider frequency range than other CD releases"
I can confirm the truth of his words about both of his releases as much as my "poor ears" allow me to
"Low and high frequency hum has been removed,audience noise,such as coughing,and audible prompters have been removed or minimised while maintaining the integrity of the original sound. Fauls in the original recording have been repaired,and resonant frequencies have been removed where possible."
Αnd something concerning the specific release of la Sonnambula "A true highlight of Callas’career,this electrifying performance is presented with the correct Act1 Scene1 finale,and a wider frequency range than other CD releases"
I can confirm the truth of his words about both of his releases as much as my "poor ears" allow me to
Hello all. Ive read most of this thread devotedly. As a late middle aged person (59) im saddened by Divina no longer shipping physical cds. As a simple Callas completist...which is the best download choice for a guy with a laptop and a burner? And do i use junky CDRs or is there a better disc choice?
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Refer to here:
Downloads Info – Divina Records
divinarecords.com
If you want to burn your own CDs, you have to use blank CD-R (i.e. recordable CD) to start with. There is no other choice. Here's a guide to the best CD-R available on the market:
Top 22 Best Music Blank CD-R Discs of 2022 (Reviews) - FindThisBest
What are the best music blank cd-r discs products in 2022? We analyzed 2,839 music blank cd-r discs reviews to do the research for you.
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