Maria Callas

[king ubu]

Hm, the Ghione so far is my favourite recording of "La Traviata" all in all ... guess the London one goes onto the shopping list. "La Traviata" is an opera I love dearly - but somehow I love the opera itself more than any particular recording (I wish Kleiber would have had an up to par Violetta, his first act for me just falls flat).

[knight66]

Mike, my favourite Traviata is the 1958 performance from Covent Garden, a night when everything goes right. The rest of the cast, Valletti an ideal, and stylish Alfredo, Zanasi a sympathetic and musical Germont, and Rescigno brings sanity and song to the performance, We even get Marie Collier as Flora. Callas always enjoyed working at Covent Garden, possibly because there were never any arguments about adequate rehearsal time, nor did she have to put up with multiple casts, as she often did at the Met, often not knowing until she got on stage just who the tenor would be. The congenial working environment in London obviously contributed to the success of all her performances there.

There are several pressings of this performance out there, but the best is probably the one on ICA. There is a curious anomaly in this version however. In all other versions you can hear Callas softly warming up, and singing along a couple of notes in the Act I Prelude. These notes are entirely absent from the ICA issue. I did write to them about it, but, though they responded, they didn't really come up with a good explanation.

Thanks for again laying that out for me. This time I have gone straight to it and have ordered the version and edition you reccommend.

Mike

[kishnevi]

When you get to it, I will be curious to know if the major sonic flaw of the EMI Turandot was ameliorated in any way....that is the one in which the Emperor seems to have been recorded two floors down at the other end of the building, with the doors closed and covered in cotton...he is near inaudible even with my ear pressed against the speaker.

[Moonfish]

Bought the new Callas box last week ... it's wonderful!

One very minor issue is that discs aren't numbered/sorted in any way, so once you take them out and don't know the sequence of recording by heart, it'll take a moment to get them sorted again - a bit silly, but I'll just print out a sheet with the proper order and add it to the box (the outside sheet, under the shrinkwrap, pictures all covers, but no in sequence either).

Anyway, I posted the following elsewhere, mind me, I'm no audiophile and have little knowledge about tech speech, but still to some it may be of interest:

Thanks for posting your review and all that information. Much appreciated Ubu! I see that people over at Organissimo were quite excited about the release as well!  You make me want to listen to Tosca!!!     

[Tsaraslondon]

Hm, the Ghione so far is my favourite recording of "La Traviata" all in all ... guess the London one goes onto the shopping list. "La Traviata" is an opera I love dearly - but somehow I love the opera itself more than any particular recording (I wish Kleiber would have had an up to par Violetta, his first act for me just falls flat).

I actually like Cotrubas in the role, though Sempre libera taxes her to the limit. I saw her in the role at Covent Garden too, and she was incredibly affecting.

[king ubu]

I actually like Cotrubas in the role, though Sempre libera taxes her to the limit. I saw her in the role at Covent Garden too, and she was incredibly affecting.

I didn't want to sound too harsh ... we're talking great performances here, after all, so it's all good. Will have to revisit some recordings, including the Kleiber - but going from memory (again) it's not that I actually dislike her, probably more like: She does not embody the part in a manner that I wish for in my perfect (only in my head) version of "La Traviata". I know this is off-topic here, but what do you think of the EMI Serafin one, the one that *should* have been Callas' perfect studio recording but instead it features Antonietta Stella? I've only played it once so far, but I like Stella. (There's no thread dedicated to her, I'm afraid, so I hope asking here is okay.)

[Tsaraslondon]

I didn't want to sound too harsh ... we're talking great performances here, after all, so it's all good. Will have to revisit some recordings, including the Kleiber - but going from memory (again) it's not that I actually dislike her, probably more like: She does not embody the part in a manner that I wish for in my perfect (only in my head) version of "La Traviata". I know this is off-topic here, but what do you think of the EMI Serafin one, the one that *should* have been Callas' perfect studio recording but instead it features Antonietta Stella? I've only played it once so far, but I like Stella. (There's no thread dedicated to her, I'm afraid, so I hope asking here is okay.)

To be honest, I find her completely anonymous, and not really up to the demands of the role anyway. Legge was wrong. He should have waited for Callas to be free from her contract with Cetra (only a couple of years after all). That Stella Traviata never sold, whereas a Callas Traviata with Di Stefano and Gobbi would no doubt still be a top seller. Big mistake, Walter.

Of the other recordings, I think Cotrubas is, as I said, a most affecting heroine. I like Gheorgiu too, whom I also saw in the role, but she is saddled with Solti's unlyrical four-square conducting, Nucci's dry old stick of a Germont, and Lopardo's overparted Alfredo.
I seem to remember Freni being quite affecting too in Gardelli's recording, but I haven't heard it in a very long time.
Sutherland just isn't Violetta by any stretch of the imagination and Moffo, who should be good, just skates over the roles deepest emotions.
Scotto should also make a good Violetta, but her first recording catches her a little too soon and her later one too late.

That is why the lack of a really good Callas studio recording is such a tragedy!

[king ubu]

Thanks a lot for that assessment!

I really have to dig into my "Traviata" recordings again soon. Stella I mostly enjoyed in other operas and only after bought the Testament reissue of the EMI/Serafin one. Guess we should take up the discussion in some more fitting thread then, but one I enjoyed quite some is the 1935 with Rosa Ponselle included in Sony's "Verdi at the Met" box. I quite fell for Ponselle's voice and singing there and started buying her Naxos releases afterwards.

[Tsaraslondon]

Thanks a lot for that assessment!

I really have to dig into my "Traviata" recordings again soon. Stella I mostly enjoyed in other operas and only after bought the Testament reissue of the EMI/Serafin one. Guess we should take up the discussion in some more fitting thread then, but one I enjoyed quite some is the 1935 with Rosa Ponselle included in Sony's "Verdi at the Met" box. I quite fell for Ponselle's voice and singing there and started buying her Naxos releases afterwards.

I love Ponselle, and her Violetta has been much admired. Like Tebaldi, she takes a downward transposition in Sempre libera, though she negotiates the notes far better than Tebaldi. It is an appreciable performance, but I never feel she really gets to the heart of the role the way Callas does. Mind you, who does? I do like Stratas in the Zeffirelli film. Vocally the first act is a trial, but it's a tremendously affecting portrayal. Seen, rather than just heard, she makes a thoroughly believable Violetta.

[knight66]

I agree TS on Stratas, the first act is wild, but then the intelligence of her portrail takes you on her journey.

The Callas version you recommended arrived yesterday. I sometimes find Callas' voice fairly unpleasant. But she still beats the likes of Caballe and Scotto etc as she sounds as though the whole role is being extemporised within a real experience. It does not get better than that. She provides colours and insight where most singers merely sing.

Oddly to my ears the baritone sounds very tenor-like and even has the same very tight fast vibrato as the Alfredo. It is a great set which is theatrical and full blooded and moving, thanks.

Mike

[Tsaraslondon]

I agree TS on Stratas, the first act is wild, but then the intelligence of her portrail takes you on her journey.

The Callas version you recommended arrived yesterday. I sometimes find Callas' voice fairly unpleasant. But she still beats the likes of Caballe and Scotto etc as she sounds as though the whole role is being extemporised within a real experience. It does not get better than that. She provides colours and insight where most singers merely sing.

Oddly to my ears the baritone sounds very tenor-like and even has the same very tight fast vibrato as the Alfredo. It is a great set which is theatrical and full blooded and moving, thanks.

Mike

Well, it is late Callas, Mike, and by this time the voice wasn't a particularly beautiful one, but the performance, as you hint at above, really draws you in, and vocal beauty gives way to truth. In any case, if truth is indeed beauty, then Callas's voice was a thing of beauty. Interestingly, after a few more performances in Dallas, she never sang the role again, though she never gave up the idea of singing it, even in retirement. I believe a recording was mooted as late as the early 1970s (with Domingo as Alfredo!). A pipe dream, I fear. There is no way her voice would have coped with the role by then.

I know what you mean about Zanasi, but I like him. In fact the performance sounds like a true collaboration, all the singers working as a true team. There are better sung performances by Callas out there, but this one takes us closer to Violetta's tragedy than any of the others.

[king ubu]

@Tsaraslondon: How do you rate the Callas "Turandot"? I gave it a first spin yesterday, and I think I've heard recordings I liked better (Tebaldi/Erede 1955 - have a few more lined-up but not heard them yet: Nilsson/Leinsdorf 1959, Nilsson/Molinari Pradelli 1965, Mehta 1998).

I love Ponselle, and her Violetta has been much admired. Like Tebaldi, she takes a downward transposition in Sempre libera, though she negotiates the notes far better than Tebaldi. It is an appreciable performance, but I never feel she really gets to the heart of the role the way Callas does. Mind you, who does? I do like Stratas in the Zeffirelli film. Vocally the first act is a trial, but it's a tremendously affecting portrayal. Seen, rather than just heard, she makes a thoroughly believable Violetta.

I guess I'm not deeply into all of this to really be able to tell things apart like you can ... but yes, with Stella there might indeed be a lack of involvement that I, too, noticed.
The Zeffirelli film I don't know yet.

Regarding Scotto as Violetta: I have the Votto 1976 and the Muti 1980 - I assume with the early one you meant yet another? The 1980 is indeed a little too late, but I still think it's pretty good.

[Tsaraslondon]

@Tsaraslondon: How do you rate the Callas "Turandot"? I gave it a first spin yesterday, and I think I've heard recordings I liked better (Tebaldi/Erede 1955 - have a few more lined-up but not heard them yet: Nilsson/Leinsdorf 1959, Nilsson/Molinari Pradelli 1965, Mehta 1998).
I guess I'm not deeply into all of this to really be able to tell things apart like you can ... but yes, with Stella there might indeed be a lack of involvement that I, too, noticed.
The Zeffirelli film I don't know yet.

Regarding Scotto as Violetta: I have the Votto 1976 and the Muti 1980 - I assume with the early one you meant yet another? The 1980 is indeed a little too late, but I still think it's pretty good.

I think you'll find the Scotto/Votto Traviata was actually recorded in the early 1960s, and that is the one I referred to.

The Callas Turandot was recorded too late for comfort (1957) and puts an almost intolerable strain on her voice, though it sounds a lot better in the recent Warner transfer, by the way. I still think Callas probes more deeply into the role than any other soprano, revealing even early on in the opera something of Turandot's vulnerability. As usual with Callas, there are hundreds of details, passed over by more vocally entitled sopranos. I also have a soft spot for Schwarzkopf's Liu. I'll admit she sounds far more like a Duchess than a slave girl, but I love her finely nuanced singing. Fernandi is a bit of a let down as Calaf (why not Corelli?), but I love Serafin's natural way with the score. That said, this of all operas requires spectacular sound, which, even in the new mastering, we don't get here. My all round recommendation has always been Mehta with Sutherland, Pavarotti and Caballe.

Nilsson is probably the most vocally apt for the role, but neither of her sets benefits from great conducting. There is a thrilling Met Broadcast knocking around with Nilsson, Corelli and Moffo, conducted by Stokowski, which is certainly worth a listen, but of course the sound is not up to that of the studio versions. Though Nilsson's top notes are as steely and penetrating as ever, she brings a greater softness and femininity to the more lyrical aspects of the score. Worth a listen.

[zamyrabyrd]

Hm, the Ghione so far is my favourite recording of "La Traviata" all in all .

Mine, too. I also have Callas/Albanese/Salvarese/Santini 1953
Violetta = Callas = forever
It's interesting how she gets compared to her own recordings. Most ladies are not even in the running. If they have the voice, they don't have the intensity or depth of charater.

[zamyrabyrd]

Lest anyone be in doubt of the beauty, ease, power, and infinite resource of Callas's voice on the evidence of her later recordings, just listen to this. Virtually every moment is breathtaking:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dObANnzSIMc

she said she sang like a wild cat in those early years and recommended that people not search these recordings out, and though her artistry certainly became more refined, this is just unbelievable singing.

Very interesting recording indeed! I am familiar with her later Leonoras but somehow managed to miss this live 1950 Mexico. I don't regard it as unrefined at all. She may not have had Serafin watching over her shoulder but her instinctual phrasing was maybe even better. Why? Because she uses messa di voce in the first part of the aria, not chopping up the line but adding more pathos, like she cannot help herself to sob the notes, rather than just sing them. This is simply uncanny and there is probably no other singer who dared to do that. Maybe she was chanelling Pasta, who knows?

ZB

[Tsaraslondon]

Mine, too. I also have Callas/Albanese/Salvarese/Santini 1953
Violetta = Callas = forever
It's interesting how she gets compared to her own recordings. Most ladies are not even in the running. If they have the voice, they don't have the intensity or depth of charater.

I urge you to to hear the Covent Garden performance too, just one of those nights when some sort of alchemy was at work, and the performance really takes wing. True, we don't get Kraus, but Valletti, a Schipa pupil, is excellent, as is Zanasi as his father. There is almost a familial resemblance in their timbre too. Rescigno is inspired to give one of his best performances, and conducts with more lyricism than Ghione. It is my yardstick La Traviata.

[zamyrabyrd]

I urge you to to hear the Covent Garden performance too, just one of those nights when some sort of alchemy was at work, and the performance really takes wing. True, we don't get Kraus, but Valletti, a Schipa pupil, is excellent, as is Zanasi as his father. There is almost a familial resemblance in their timbre too. Rescigno is inspired to give one of his best performances, and conducts with more lyricism than Ghione. It is my yardstick La Traviata.

Ah, I should have bought this version before but meanwhile was looking for a sneak preview on youtube.
Here is part of Act II with your comment below from 6 years ago!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s55I3RvADXA
You are right: "Here Callas is helped immeasurably by Zanasi's beautifully inflected and sympathetically sung Germont. Valetti, the Alfredo at this performance was even better than Kraus."
It's hard to imagine anyone better than Kraus but I'll hold out until I get the full performance. Someone also wrote that the Germonts usually suffer from a late in career wobble. I liked very much this lyrical type baritone.
Also correct about teamwork, Rescigno provides an ideal accompaniment. The more I listen to Verdi, I can't but be impressed with his perfect support for the singers.
Indeed, I should really fill out my Callas collection one of these days.
ZB

[Moonfish]

Interesting article in NYRB about Callas (by Michael Shae):

http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/gallery/2015/jan/24/definitive-maria-callas

[betterthanfine]

Interesting indeed, thanks for that. Not really any new information, but nonetheless a good read.

[betterthanfine]

I came across this review of the recently released Warner remastered complete studio recordings boxset:

http://www.mcelhearn.com/the-new-maria-callas-remasters-good-or-bad/

A dissenting voice, it seems, as all the criticism I've read so far has been more than positive. Any thoughts from people on here who own the new remasters?