Maria Callas

Started by knight66, May 08, 2007, 06:16:02 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Tsaraslondon

Reviving this thread with a reminder that today marks the 45th anniversary of Callas's death.



\"A beautiful voice is not enough.\" Maria Callas

Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: Tsaraslondon on September 16, 2022, 01:11:48 AM
Reviving this thread with a reminder that today marks the 45th anniversary of Callas's death.
Thank you for the reminder.  A good day today to revisit and appreciate her amazing voice and wonderful recordings.  :)

If I might continue our discussion from elsewhere regarding changes in voice and your thoughts that it had to due with weight loss (amongst other things), I happened to stumble across this interesting article/reply (from a vocal coach) regarding weight loss, changes and challenges to ones new body, and Callas:  http://vocaltechnician.com/weightloss.html

His background (from the same site):  http://vocaltechnician.com/biography.html

Curious as to your thoughts.

Best wishes,

PD
Pohjolas Daughter

Tsaraslondon

Quote from: Pohjolas Daughter on October 14, 2022, 01:38:03 PM
Thank you for the reminder.  A good day today to revisit and appreciate her amazing voice and wonderful recordings.  :)

If I might continue our discussion from elsewhere regarding changes in voice and your thoughts that it had to due with weight loss (amongst other things), I happened to stumble across this interesting article/reply (from a vocal coach) regarding weight loss, changes and challenges to ones new body, and Callas:  http://vocaltechnician.com/weightloss.html

His background (from the same site):  http://vocaltechnician.com/biography.html

Curious as to your thoughts.

Best wishes,

PD


It's one theory, and no doubt has a certain amount of validity. The weight surely did affect Callas's voice, but, as the voice changed, there were other psychological problems as well. The spectre of her own fame was beginning to take its toll and the way the press treated her was pretty awful. She often sang against doctor's orders, terrified of what the press would say if she cancelled. I also read that she suffered early onset of menopause, which always has a big effect on female voices.

People aways assume she was always very heavy before she dieted, but photos don't really bear that out. In her eariest years in Italy, though she wasn't the pencil slim Audrey Hepburn figure she became in 1954, she was a perfectly normal weight for an opera singer, but you can see that she gradually gained weight until, by 1953, she is really heavy. This too was causing her health problems and these contributed to her desire to lose weight.

\"A beautiful voice is not enough.\" Maria Callas

knight66

#603
Quote from: Pohjolas Daughter on October 14, 2022, 01:38:03 PM
Thank you for the reminder.  A good day today to revisit and appreciate her amazing voice and wonderful recordings.  :)

If I might continue our discussion from elsewhere regarding changes in voice and your thoughts that it had to due with weight loss (amongst other things), I happened to stumble across this interesting article/reply (from a vocal coach) regarding weight loss, changes and challenges to ones new body, and Callas:  http://vocaltechnician.com/weightloss.html

His background (from the same site):  http://vocaltechnician.com/biography.html

Curious as to your thoughts.

Best wishes,

PD

Very interesting points made. I am puzzled when the writer claims that weight loss does not affect muscle mass. It does and depending on what kind of diet someone adopts depends on the proportion of muscle to fat they lose.

I have heard singers who lose weight saying that their stance does not feel so secure, their sense of balance changes. How a singer stands and supports the vocal equipment is important. They can feel there is literally less supporting them and that takes adjustment. Many of the other points make sense. And it is unusual to see a trained singer expanding when they fill their lungs. However, one tenor who sang a lot with Flagstad noted when in performance he was holding her, that she could expand the ribs in her back. He said this enable extra long phrases of loud singing. Some experiences seem to contradict science. On occasion I was in choir and watched Jessye Norman's technique from behind. Often her back certainly expanded noticeably as she breathed in. We used to joke that she breathed in at the start of a piece and made that breath last to the conclusion.

Mike
DavidW: Yeah Mike doesn't get angry, he gets even.
I wasted time: and time wasted me.

Tsaraslondon

Bumping this thread as December sees the 100th Anniversary of Callas's birth. Many magazines are celebrating with special commemorative issues and Warner have released a massive box set, which includes all her live and studio recordings, though I'm not sure whom this is for, as most people will already have everything. It does include one extra disc of rehearsal takes and out-takes from some of her 1960s recording sessions, but almost £300 is a lot to pay for single disc!

Anyway. Here is my contribution to the centenary, a chronology of all her stage role and their essential recordings.
\"A beautiful voice is not enough.\" Maria Callas

ando

Quote from: Tsaraslondon on September 25, 2023, 04:30:00 AMBumping this thread as December sees the 100th Anniversary of Callas's birth. Many magazines are celebrating with special commemorative issues and Warner have released a massive box set, which includes all her live and studio recordings, though I'm not sure whom this is for, as most people will already have everything. It does include one extra disc of rehearsal takes and out-takes from some of her 1960s recording sessions, but almost £300 is a lot to pay for single disc!

Anyway. Here is my contribution to the centenary, a chronology of all her stage role and their essential recordings.
A fun anniversary, no doubt, that will see some wonderful as well as useless collections of Callas memoranda. Thanks for the post. And not to rain on your parade but I'm posting Dave Hurwitz' pan of the new Warner box. As always, take him with a grain of salt.  :)


Tsaraslondon

#606
Quote from: ando on September 25, 2023, 06:34:34 AMA fun anniversary, no doubt, that will see some wonderful as well as useless collections of Callas memoranda. Thanks for the post. And not to rain on your parade but I'm posting Dave Hurwitz' pan of the new Warner box. As always, take him with a grain of salt.  :)


I watched it earlier today. To be honest, he has a point. He made a few errors though. The EMI black boxes were part of the Callas Edition, which was actually the second release of EMI CD riessues.
\"A beautiful voice is not enough.\" Maria Callas

ando

Enjoying this extended discussion involving Callas about Callas.  ;D I'm not a fan of reaction videos, to say the least, but watching Callas' reaction to colleagues talking about her work and to her own recordings, especially, is surprisingly sweet.


ando

Quote from: ando on October 20, 2023, 12:53:29 PMEnjoying this extended discussion involving Callas about Callas.  ;D I'm not a fan of reaction videos, to say the least, but watching Callas' reaction to colleagues talking about her work and to her own recordings, especially, is surprisingly sweet.

Turned out quite differently that I anticipated though I might have known better. Callas was a force of nature - and I completely agree with her life philosophy.

Tsaraslondon

Quote from: ando on October 20, 2023, 01:46:15 PMTurned out quite differently that I anticipated though I might have known better. Callas was a force of nature - and I completely agree with her life philosophy.

I'm pretty sure I've seen this before, but I'd forgotten quite a lot of it. Absolutely fascinating. I love the story Visconti told about Schwarzkopf's reaction to Callas's Leonora.
\"A beautiful voice is not enough.\" Maria Callas

ando



This 1961 recording of Norma on CD was waiting for me to pick up a local used music shop (Princeton Record Exchange) today and because she's been in the air, so to speak, I didn't hesitate to purchase it. Led by the conductor of which Callas was full of praise in the video above, I was also glad to hear that it's one of the go-to Normas on record. Several versions of it on the Tube. This is one of the best:



Tsaraslondon

#611
Quote from: ando on October 24, 2023, 10:03:59 PM

This 1961 recording of Norma on CD was waiting for me to pick up a local used music shop (Princeton Record Exchange) today and because she's been in the air, so to speak, I didn't hesitate to purchase it. Led by the conductor of which Callas was full of praise in the video above, I was also glad to hear that it's one of the go-to Normas on record. Several versions of it on the Tube. This is one of the best:




This was the first complete opera recording I owned, a Christmas gift from my brother. I'd have been around eighteen or nineteen at the time. I still have a great deal of affection for it and, though I now prefer the live 1955 La Scala version (available from various sources, but best on Divina), I actually prefer this 1960 set to the earlier 1954 recording. Callas's top register is occasionally strident, but I find her portrayal here more moving, more inward. Furthermore Corelli is a great improvement on Fillipeschi and Ludwig a surprisingly successful Adalgisa, who sounds, as she should, like the younger woman. Stignani was showing her age by the time of the earlier recording. Zaccaria is a firmer voiced Oroveso than Rossi-Lemeni and the sound is of course much better. Serafin is superb in both.

Callas's 1960 studio Norma

\"A beautiful voice is not enough.\" Maria Callas

ando

Quote from: Tsaraslondon on October 25, 2023, 05:39:13 AMThis was the first complete opera recording I owned, a Christmas gift from my brother. I'd have been around eighteen or nineteen at the time. I still have a great deal of affection for it and, though I now prefer the live 1955 La Scala version (available from various sources, but best on Divina), I actually prefer this 1960 set to the earlier 1954 recording. Callas's top register is occasionally strident, but I find her portrayal here more moving, more inward. Furthermore Corelli is a great improvement on Fillipeschi and Ludwig a surprisingly successful Adalgisa, who sounds, as she should, like the younger woman. Stignani was showing her age by the time of the earlier recording. Zaccaria is a firmer voiced Oroveso than Rossi-Lemeni and the sound is of course much better. Serafin is superb in both.

Callas's 1960 studio Norma
Thank You!

Tsaraslondon



Impressions after seeing this in the cinema yesterday afternoon.

I did of course know the concert from previous issues by EMI and Warner, but it was thrilling to see it on the big screen. the picture mich improved and the sound astonishingly clear, though I'm willing to bet that some of her more piercing high notes were less so in the theatre. The colourisation was, for the most part, subtly and beautifully done, but I do question whether her eyeshadow would have been quite that shade of bright blue. What is remarkable to see in close-up her concentration, her intensity and those eyes....! So expressive. At no point was she just a singer singing an aria. Whether in the concert of the first half or in the fully staged Tosca of the second part, she was always completely inside the character she was portraying.

In places it has always betrayed the fact that this gala concert was hastily put together and sketchily rehearsed. Apparently when Callas arrived at the first rehearsal, the scene was quite chaotic with nobody taking charge of proceedings. She quickly put Gobbi in charge and he basically directed the whole thing. Still, he couldn't prevent a wong entry by the chorus in Casta diva, which Callas corrects herself with an imperious gesture of her right hand. The Trovatore is, I think, the most impressive section of this first half, but Una voce poco fa is charmingly playful and her smile absolutely radiant.

When it comes to the second act of Tosca, I prefer the Covent Garden performance of 1964. She may be in better voice here in 1958, but the Covent Garden performance was from a thoroughly rehearsed and meticulously prepared production where this one was thrown together specifically for this event. Gobbi does a fine job of directing it, but the acting and rapport between these two singers reaches even greater heights at Covent Garden. Vissi d'arte loses some of its impact by the fact that she starts it upstage and the camera doesn't hone in on her as it does at Covent Garden. Though I shought she looked very beautiful in some of the close-ups, she is more becomingly costumed at Covent Garden too. Albert Lance is actually quite impressive vocally, as he is off stage in the Trovatore, but he overacts like mad.

The cinema yesterday afternoon was almost empty and I was one of about a dozen in the auditorium, most, like me, sitting on their own and most of a similar age. I found that rather sad.

A friend of mine went to see it in East Finchley where she lives. She is not as avid an opera fan as those of us on this forum, but she had had a fascination with Callas since childhood. Not having seen the concert in any form before, she was totally knocked out so I guess you could say the film makes its impact.
\"A beautiful voice is not enough.\" Maria Callas

Tsaraslondon



La Divina, Maria Callas was born 100 years ago today. 
Leonard Bernstein once called her "the bible of opera" and 100 years after her birth she continues to exert her influence, though she last performed on the operatic stage in 1965.
Artists of her stature only come around once in a lifetime, if that.
She was and is unique and today we celebrate her centenary.
\"A beautiful voice is not enough.\" Maria Callas

Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: Tsaraslondon on December 02, 2023, 09:10:46 AM

La Divina, Maria Callas was born 100 years ago today. 
Leonard Bernstein once called her "the bible of opera" and 100 years after her birth she continues to exert her influence, though she last performed on the operatic stage in 1965.
Artists of her stature only come around once in a lifetime, if that.
She was and is unique and today we celebrate her centenary.
Great photo of her!  Any idea as to where and when that was taken?

NPR had a very nice story on her recently.  I'll see if I can find a link to it.

By the way, last I read, there was some confusion as to when her birthday was exactly.  I remember reading that it had been narrowed down to Dec. 2nd to Dec. 4th.  Were "they" able to narrow it down further?

PD

p.s.  Here you go:  https://www.npr.org/sections/deceptivecadence/2023/12/02/1216549233/maria-callas-the-soprano-of-the-century
Pohjolas Daughter

Tsaraslondon

Quote from: Pohjolas Daughter on December 05, 2023, 08:24:28 AMGreat photo of her!  Any idea as to where and when that was taken?

NPR had a very nice story on her recently.  I'll see if I can find a link to it.

By the way, last I read, there was some confusion as to when her birthday was exactly.  I remember reading that it had been narrowed down to Dec. 2nd to Dec. 4th.  Were "they" able to narrow it down further?

PD

p.s.  Here you go:  https://www.npr.org/sections/deceptivecadence/2023/12/02/1216549233/maria-callas-the-soprano-of-the-century

The photo is from La Traviata in London in 1958.

Callas's birthday is still a mystery. Her passport stated December 2nd but her mother insisted that she was born on the 4th and she in fact celebrated her birthday on that day.

Thanks for the links to the article.
\"A beautiful voice is not enough.\" Maria Callas