Maria Callas

[Tsaraslondon]

To Tsaraslondon:Why did Callas refuse to sing Queen of the night in The Magic flute?

I don't know for certain, but there were probably a combination of reasons. Firstly, the role lay (just) outside her natural compass, secondly, it isn't the leading role in the opera, and, thridly, she had never sung a role in German. Nor was Mozart really her fach, though I have no doubt that in her heyday, she would have made a fantastic Donna Anna. The only Mozart role she did sing on stage was Kostanze in Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail, which she sang, in Italian, at La Scala, Milan. There are a couple of live recordings of her singing Martern aller Arten (in Italian), which suggest that she must have been a formidable Kostanze. The role does lie lower than the Queen of the Night, however.
I always think the problem with the Queen of the Night is that it really needs a voice the size of a Callas or a Sutherland, but the tessitura is so high that we are more likely to get a light soubrette, and consequently she rarely sounds as dangerous as she should.

[wagnernn]

So,in her career,did she touch the F3 in any performance?

[Tsaraslondon]

So,in her career,did she touch the F3 in any performance?

As far as I know the highest note she sang in performance was E in alt, which she sings in both the Bell Song from Lakme (better in a live broadcast from 1952 than the studio performance of 1954) and Merce dilette amiche, from I Vespri Siciliani. It does sound like the very top of her voice though.

[Lilas Pastia]

Very few sopranos went past the E flat or E.  Beyond (F3), there seems to be a boundary which is impossible to cross. Edda Moser had the F (and G ), but she didn't keep them for long: she went to sing heavier roles later in her carreer. The reverse journey seems to be a physical impossibility: sopranos with the altissimo notes in their youth always move downwards.

The only exceptions are few and far between, and furthermore, if they wanted their fame to endure and their carreer to last, they had to stay in the same territory: Berger, Lipp, Robin, Dessay. If you think of other great QoN like Popp, Moser, Gruberova and Deutekom, they all moved to heavier roles - very successfull overall but they were never avble to go back beyond that elusive high C...

[wagnernn]

In her earlier Career,Callas sang E3 many times.So,did it damage her voice and cause the lack of the beauty of her voice in the late of her career?

[Tsaraslondon]

In her earlier Career,Callas sang E3 many times.So,did it damage her voice and cause the lack of the beauty of her voice in the late of her career?

Actually, no she didn't. As I've already stated, she sang it only in I Vespri Siciliani, which she sang 11 times in 1951 (4 performances in Florence and 7 in Milan), and a couple of times in Lakme's Bell Song. As to possible reasons and theories as to what caused the deterioration in her voice, I suggest you read the rest of this thread from the beginning.

[Sarastro]

she would have made a fantastic Donna Anna.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=RyxmsIc6Gf0

[Tsaraslondon]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=RyxmsIc6Gf0

This was actually a test recording, not intended for release, and made just so the engineers could get the feel of the voice. However, even in such circumstances, Callas is incapable of sounding routine; futhermore she sails through the aria as if it was the easiest thing in the world. And it isn't.

[Rod Corkin]

By coincidence I did a poll on the merit of Callas at my site and the response was 100% for the "wailing banshee" option.

[knight66]

Yes, but you are pandering to very much a niche market. It was not the most beautiful of voices; but as with so much else; the weight of opinion is substantially against you.

Mike

[Lilas Pastia]

I'm slowly going through the mammoth 26-cd set of mostly live performances, with many du-tri-quadriplications. One can sample her Lucia, Norma and Violetta in at least 5 performances, whlie there are 3 or 4 Leonoras (Trovatore) and Aidas. Assorted radio concerts of showpieces and arias provide a fascinating foil, allowing to hear how Callas could inhabit a role through a single aria vs full stage presentation.  The lavishly presented booklet details each performance in fascinating detail.


For those interested, it seems to be still available at BRO:

   ' Maria Callas: A Diva's Glory Days'. (A chronological survey of her studio and live recordings, 1947-56. Includes 124-page book by Jurgen Kesting)
Add to cart | Price: $ 51.74 | 26 in set. | Country: GERMANY | D/A code: Mono | Code: 224097 | BRO Code: 135734 | Label: MEMBRAN INTERNATIONAL
Genre: Songs & Arias

[Tsaraslondon]

By coincidence I did a poll on the merit of Callas at my site and the response was 100% for the "wailing banshee" option.

Well I guess canary fanciers, who listen to, as Beecham once put it, the noise that music makes, rather than the music itself, will never like her. However, this entire post, the fact that 30 years after her death, her records still outsell those of any other soprano, and the high esteem in which she is held by many great musicians from all walks of life, would suggest the vast majority of people would disagree. And, incidentally, even the most avid canary fancier, has to admit that the voice could be a thing of remarkable beauty in its early days. Those that accuse her of being a "wailing banshee", have probably only heard, though not listened to, recordings made in the late 1950s and 1960s

[Hector]

Well I guess canary fanciers, who listen to, as Beecham once put it, the noise that music makes, rather than the music itself, will never like her. However, this entire post, the fact that 30 years after her death, her records still outsell those of any other soprano, and the high esteem in which she is held by many great musicians from all walks of life, would suggest the vast majority of people would disagree. And, incidentally, even the most avid canary fancier, has to admit that the voice could be a thing of remarkable beauty in its early days. Those that accuse her of being a "wailing banshee", have probably only heard, though not listened to, recordings made in the late 1950s and 1960s

Agreed, and they probably post those irritating reviews on the Amazon site!

[Rod Corkin]

Yes, but you are pandering to very much a niche market. It was not the most beautiful of voices; but as with so much else; the weight of opinion is substantially against you.

Mike

What do you mean a 'niche market'? If you mean the niche to be that of good taste and discernment then I agree with you, for this is indeed a rare commodity in the CM world.

[M forever]

By coincidence I did a poll on the merit of Callas at my site and the response was 100% for the "wailing banshee" option.

That scientifically proves that you and your friends there are 100% idiots. Anyone surprised?

What do you call that website, BTW? "The Completely Obnoxious Retarded Kids and Ignorants Newsgroup"?

[knight66]

What do you mean a 'niche market'? If you mean the niche to be that of good taste and discernment then I agree with you, for this is indeed a rare commodity in the CM world.

No, that was not what I meant.

Mike

[Rod Corkin]

That scientifically proves that you and your friends there are 100% idiots. Anyone surprised?

What do you call that website, BTW? "The Completely Obnoxious Retarded Kids and Ignorants Newsgroup"?

That's not very nice. 

[knight66]

That scientifically proves that you and your friends there are 100% idiots. Anyone surprised?

What do you call that website, BTW? "The Completely Obnoxious Retarded Kids and Ignorants Newsgroup"?

Please M, don't do that. You know what you did? You put Rod in the right.

That's not very nice.

He was right.

Mike

[Sarastro]

1960s

That was recorded in 1961 (at least I understood thus) but it is definitely divine!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZjQkvxIQkJw
I wish she recorded the entire opera. 

[M forever]

Please M, don't do that. You know what you did? You put Rod in the right.

Mr Corkin is *always* right, no matter if I put him there or not.