Maria Callas

[Tsaraslondon]

. I guess Verdi's opera makes it hard for us to imagine Violetta as a prostitute anyway - sentimentalised as it is.

Well when one thinks prostitute, one tends to think someone who walks the streets. Violetta was a long way from that, a courtesan, a career woman, as so many of them were in those days. But I take your point, Schwarzkopf hardly comes to mind as type casting, but then neither does Sutherland, who sang the role quite a lot.

[Guido]

I remember reading that Fleming had had portamentos explained to her in a masterclass while Fleming was studying in Germany - for italian repertoire vibrato is applied during the portamento, and for german repertoire there is no vibrato. Of course it's not so strict as this in reality, but these are the guidelines that Schwarzkopf saw as good style.

[Tsaraslondon]

I remember reading that Fleming had had portamentos explained to her in a masterclass while Fleming was studying in Germany - for italian repertoire vibrato is applied during the portamento, and for german repertoire there is no vibrato. Of course it's not so strict as this in reality, but these are the guidelines that Schwarzkopf saw as good style.

What bothers me about Flemings portamenti is that stylistically they sound wrong somehow, almost like a jazz singer. This is what I find annoying on her most recent recording of the Vier letzte Lieder. So much of the singing is superb and beaitifully moulded, when suddenly she spoils the effect with some jazzy swooping, which, to my ears, sounds entirely out of place.

[Guido]

Well when one thinks prostitute, one tends to think someone who walks the streets. Violetta was a long way from that, a courtesan, a career woman, as so many of them were in those days. But I take your point, Schwarzkopf hardly comes to mind as type casting, but then neither does Sutherland, who sang the role quite a lot.

Yes, but the idea of a courtesan being reformed and loyal only to one man is sentimental verging on the ridiculous.

Sutherland never seems to speak to me in any role...

What bothers me about Flemings portamenti is that stylistically they sound wrong somehow, almost like a jazz singer. This is what I find annoying on her most recent recording of the Vier letzte Lieder. So much of the singing is superb and beaitifully moulded, when suddenly she spoils the effect with some jazzy swooping, which, to my ears, sounds entirely out of place.

I have to say I usually love them. (the most recent Bel Canto attempts excepted). On that same disc, the very quick portamento up to the high piano Bb in Ein Schoenes war makes is the most beautiful I've ever heard. And she was 50 when that recording was made. I think that the Ariadne excerpt, along with Winterweihe, is the strongest portion of that disc.

Here's Fleming, slightly past her prime singing the Viljalied. Beautiful, though the last note hardly comes out!! I have never once heard this happen to her before.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xazJfGIZ-7w

And here's Schwarzkopf. Notice how much more common and laboured her portamenti are.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2jRkp6Ucho

[Tsaraslondon]

Here's Fleming, slightly past her prime singing the Viljalied. Beautiful, though the last note hardly comes out!! I have never once heard this happen to her before.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xazJfGIZ-7w

And here's Schwarzkopf. Notice how much more common and laboured her portamenti are.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2jRkp6Ucho

Common and laboured are two of the last words I'd associate with Schwarzkopf's singing. She is usually criticised for being too aristrocratic, too arty, if you like. This is true of her Liu on the Callas Turandot, where she sounds more like a duchess than a slave girl. I love it nonetheless.

I actually like both performances of Vilja, but yet again feel that Fleming croons sometimes (though this bothers me less in  this piece than it does in others), and she uses portamento on practically every word. Schwarzkopf's style, on the other hand,  is echt Viennese,and she uses portamento more sparingly. Fleming is The Merry Widow, if you like to Schwarzkopf's Die lustige Witwe. You also have to remember that  Schwarzkopf was brought up with Viennese operetta, and it was in her blood. After all she was 33 when Lehar died. I remember an interview when she discussed singing Johann Strauss, and how she tried to emulate Kreisler's tone and phrasing. When you hear her sing Wiener Blut  (here with the no less stylish Nicolia Gedda), you know exactly what she meant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcKuj65wAlk

[Guido]

Common and laboured are two of the last words I'd associate with Schwarzkopf's singing. She is usually criticised for being too aristrocratic, too arty, if you like. This is true of her Liu on the Callas Turandot, where she sounds more like a duchess than a slave girl. I love it nonetheless.

I actually like both performances of Vilja, but yet again feel that Fleming croons sometimes (though this bothers me less in  this piece than it does in others), and she uses portamento on practically every word. Schwarzkopf's style, on the other hand,  is echt Viennese,and she uses portamento more sparingly. Fleming is The Merry Widow, if you like to Schwarzkopf's Die lustige Witwe. You also have to remember that  Schwarzkopf was brought up with Viennese operetta, and it was in her blood. After all she was 33 when Lehar died. I remember an interview when she discussed singing Johann Strauss, and how she tried to emulate Kreisler's tone and phrasing. When you hear her sing Wiener Blut  (here with the no less stylish Nicolia Gedda), you know exactly what she meant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcKuj65wAlk

Sorry I meant "common" as in frequent and "laboured" as in more obvious, slower. Bad choice of words.

Ultimately it's just what one responds to more I guess. I just heard Schwarzkopf's Otello Scena for the first time - very beautiful, and you hear how much Fleming takes from her. There are singers that I like very much indeed, and love particular recordings of them- Schwarzkopf is one, but only two where I am really thrilled  (in that spine liquifying way that only voice fans seem to understand) by virtually everything they do: Callas and Fleming. An odd duo perhaps.

[val]

Just heard again Callas in Verdi's Macbeth with De Sabata. The sound is bad. But no one sings or conducts Verdi with such immense art today. With the Norma conducted by Votto, also live (the sound is even worse) perhaps the two greatest moments of Callas that were recorded.

[Tsaraslondon]

Just heard again Callas in Verdi's Macbeth with De Sabata. The sound is bad. But no one sings or conducts Verdi with such immense art today. With the Norma conducted by Votto, also live (the sound is even worse) perhaps the two greatest moments of Callas that were recorded.

Actually, Val, the divina records version of the La Scala 1955 Votto Norma enjoys much better sound than the Macbeth. Expensive, but well worth the extra outlay for such a performance.

http://www.divinarecords.com/dvn017/dvn017.html

[val]

Tsaraslondon
Actually, Val, the divina records version of the La Scala 1955 Votto Norma enjoys much better sound than the Macbeth. Expensive, but well worth the extra outlay for such a performance.

We are talking about the version with del Monaco (one of his best performances ever) and Simionato? Then you are lucky. My edition (HUNT) has a really bad sound. In many moments it is almost impossible to hear the orchestra.

[Tsaraslondon]

We are talking about the version with del Monaco (one of his best performances ever) and Simionato? Then you are lucky. My edition (HUNT) has a really bad sound. In many moments it is almost impossible to hear the orchestra.

The same. The differences between the Hunt version and the Divina Records version are enormous. The sound on the divina records one is about on a par with the Berlin Lucia. Believe me, it is worth every penny of the extra expense. I see it is also now available as a download.

[Karolina]

Any idea who we might compare with her talent?
I'm wondering who you'll type

[Tsaraslondon]

Any idea who we might compare with her talent?
I'm wondering who you'll type

Nobody.

Love her or loathe her, Callas was unique. I doubt we will ever hear her like again. Certainly not in today's more prosaic world.

[Tsaraslondon]

The Gramophone magazine has just announced its first 50 honourees in the Gramophone Hall of Fame. Of the 50 artistes with the greatest number of votes, five emerged ahead of the rest, four of them conductors (Karajan, Abbado, Furtwangler and Bernstein), the fifth none other than Maria Callas. As Mike stated in the post that opened this thread, the ripples of her way of doing things still vibrate.

[franz65]

I'm a beginner, when it comes to classical music and opera, but Maria Callas is a personality I knew even before I started to explore the world of opera.
She's absolutely wonderful and her Madama Butterfly brings tears into my eyes (even thought I'm a man)

[MariaCallasFan]

I am not a musical expert but I have to say I never tire of listening to Maria Callas. Her rendition of Un Bel vedremo is one of the most moving pieces of music I have ever heard.

[Chaszz]

Can someone list the things that make Callas unique/controversial/special etc. etc

I know nothing about her but want to learn.

Great actresses are rare, few and far between. Who can compare with Meryl Streep today as an actress? Maybe one or two British actresses. Certainly no American one.

Callas' uniqueness is that she happened to be a great actress. There are practically none in opera. Good actresses, yes, but great ones, no. Callas was not only a great, if flawed, singer, but also very likely the greatest actor or actress in the modern history of opera. This is what makes her totally unique and unforgettable.

[Tsaraslondon]

Callas' uniqueness is that she happened to be a great actress. There are practically none in opera. Good actresses, yes, but great ones, no. Callas was not only a great, if flawed, singer, but also very likely the greatest actor or actress in the modern history of opera. This is what makes her totally unique and unforgettable.

Actually I am not sure that is what made her unique. The only film we have of Callas performing on stage is two different performances of Act II of Tosca (Paris 1958 and Covent Garden 1965) show her to be a vivid and natural actress, particularly at Covent Garden, where she and Gobbi are simply two actors, who happen to be singing. But Callas was only really a great actress in the execution of the music. and her ability to get to the very heart of a character, without moving a muscle. According to contemporary reports, she was often very still, particularly in Romantic Opera. Puccini, being verismo, requires rather different skills.

One of the supreme pieces of Callas acting on screen is a late, live television broadcast of her singing Ah non credea fromLa Sonnambula. She is elegantly coiffed and attired, and yet, hardly moving a muscle, she becomes before our eyes the very epitome of the wronged and heart broken village girl Amina.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkMBANqrwfg


Anyway, if it was simply her physical acting that made her great, then now, 35 years after her death and almost 50 years after she last appeared on the operatic stage, she would surely be forgotten. It is her voice that lives on, her musicality, her unique way of doing things and that uncanny ability to act with the voice, so that as we listen, we see. That is what made her a supreme actress.

[Guido]

Absolutely agree with Tsaraslondon on this - the thing about being a great actress is often misunderstood - the point is voice acting - the endless nuance, and dramatic focus that she is able to imbue the music with without it ever deviating from the score. She has no equals in this in the italian repertoire.

Plus in her prime the technique was in my opinion peerless, despite the problems that arose fairly early on - a weird statement but I firmly believe it. Even in the late Carmen recording, the technique and accuracy and vocal detail astound me. In terms of legato and expressive use of coloratura, no one has ever impressed me as much as her.

[Tsaraslondon]

Plus in her prime the technique was in my opinion peerless, despite the problems that arose fairly early on - a weird statement but I firmly believe it. Even in the late Carmen recording, the technique and accuracy and vocal detail astound me. In terms of legato and expressive use of coloratura, no one has ever impressed me as much as her.

Michael Scott in his book Maria Meneghini Callas avers that Callas never lost her technique, but lost her voice. I don't go along with everything he says, but I take his point. Listen, for instance, to her singing of Arrigo, ah parli a un core, from I Vespri Siciliani, which she recorded more than once in the late 60s. Towards the end there is a scale passage that takes her from a C in alt down to a low F# below the stave. The very top of the voice is raw and the lowest notes emerge as something of a moan, but every note in between is cleanly articulated within an impeccable legato. We hear exactly what Verdi wrote, whereas Arroyo, on the Levine complete recording just slithers down the scale.

[knight66]

For me, she was one of a small handful of singers who sounded like the music was being extemporised. She seemingly could play with the music, but in fact was sticking closely to the notes on the page. That is a rare ability and puts her ahead of a lot of great singers who sound inside the music, but following it.

Mike