Callas Rarities
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Giuseppe Verdi, Gaetano Donizetti, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Gioachino Rossini, Carl Maria von Weber
Label: EMI
Magazine Review Date: 2/1993
Media Format: Cassette
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
ADD
Catalogue Number: EL754437-4
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Ah! perfido |
Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer
Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer Maria Callas, Soprano Nicola Rescigno, Conductor Paris Conservatoire Orchestra |
| Don Giovanni, Movement: ~ |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Florence Maggio Musicale Orchestra Maria Callas, Soprano Tullio Serafin, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| (Die) Entführung aus dem Serail, '(The) Abduction from the Seraglio', Movement: Martern aller Arten |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Alfredo Simonetto, Conductor Maria Callas, Soprano Rome RAI Orchestra Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Oberon, Movement: Ozean, du Ungeheuer! |
Carl Maria von Weber, Composer
Antonio Tonini, Conductor Carl Maria von Weber, Composer Maria Callas, Soprano Philharmonia Orchestra |
| Armida, Movement: D'Amore al dolce impero |
Gioachino Rossini, Composer
Alfredo Simonetto, Conductor Gioachino Rossini, Composer Maria Callas, Soprano Rome RAI Orchestra |
| Lucrezia Borgia, Movement: Tranquillo ei posa |
Gaetano Donizetti, Composer
Antonio Tonini, Conductor Gaetano Donizetti, Composer Maria Callas, Soprano Philharmonia Orchestra |
| Lucrezia Borgia, Movement: Com'è bello! |
Gaetano Donizetti, Composer
Antonio Tonini, Conductor Gaetano Donizetti, Composer Maria Callas, Soprano Philharmonia Orchestra |
| Don Carlo, Movement: ~ |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
Antonio Tonini, Conductor Giuseppe Verdi, Composer Maria Callas, Soprano Philharmonia Orchestra |
| (I) Vespri siciliani, '(The) Sicilian Vespers', Movement: ~ |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
Antonio Tonini, Conductor Giuseppe Verdi, Composer Maria Callas, Soprano Philharmonia Orchestra |
| (Il) trovatore, Movement: ~ |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer Maria Callas, Soprano Nicola Rescigno, Conductor Paris Conservatoire Orchestra |
| (I) Lombardi alla prima crociata, Movement: ~ |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer Maria Callas, Soprano Nicola Rescigno, Conductor Paris Conservatoire Orchestra |
| Aida, Movement: ~ |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
Franco Corelli, Tenor Georges Prêtre, Conductor Giuseppe Verdi, Composer Maria Callas, Soprano Paris Opera Orchestra |
Composer or Director: Giuseppe Verdi, Gaetano Donizetti, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Gioachino Rossini, Carl Maria von Weber
Label: EMI
Magazine Review Date: 2/1993
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 78
Mastering:
ADD
Catalogue Number: 754437-2
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Ah! perfido |
Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer
Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer Maria Callas, Soprano Nicola Rescigno, Conductor Paris Conservatoire Orchestra |
| Don Giovanni, Movement: ~ |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Florence Maggio Musicale Orchestra Maria Callas, Soprano Tullio Serafin, Conductor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| (Die) Entführung aus dem Serail, '(The) Abduction from the Seraglio', Movement: Martern aller Arten |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Alfredo Simonetto, Conductor Maria Callas, Soprano Rome RAI Orchestra Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
| Oberon, Movement: Ozean, du Ungeheuer! |
Carl Maria von Weber, Composer
Antonio Tonini, Conductor Carl Maria von Weber, Composer Maria Callas, Soprano Philharmonia Orchestra |
| Armida, Movement: D'Amore al dolce impero |
Gioachino Rossini, Composer
Alfredo Simonetto, Conductor Gioachino Rossini, Composer Maria Callas, Soprano Rome RAI Orchestra |
| Lucrezia Borgia, Movement: Tranquillo ei posa |
Gaetano Donizetti, Composer
Antonio Tonini, Conductor Gaetano Donizetti, Composer Maria Callas, Soprano Philharmonia Orchestra |
| Lucrezia Borgia, Movement: Com'è bello! |
Gaetano Donizetti, Composer
Antonio Tonini, Conductor Gaetano Donizetti, Composer Maria Callas, Soprano Philharmonia Orchestra |
| Don Carlo, Movement: ~ |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
Antonio Tonini, Conductor Giuseppe Verdi, Composer Maria Callas, Soprano Philharmonia Orchestra |
| (I) Vespri siciliani, '(The) Sicilian Vespers', Movement: ~ |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
Antonio Tonini, Conductor Giuseppe Verdi, Composer Maria Callas, Soprano Philharmonia Orchestra |
| (Il) trovatore, Movement: ~ |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer Maria Callas, Soprano Nicola Rescigno, Conductor Paris Conservatoire Orchestra |
| (I) Lombardi alla prima crociata, Movement: ~ |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer Maria Callas, Soprano Nicola Rescigno, Conductor Paris Conservatoire Orchestra |
| Aida, Movement: ~ |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
Franco Corelli, Tenor Georges Prêtre, Conductor Giuseppe Verdi, Composer Maria Callas, Soprano Paris Opera Orchestra |
Author:
This is an important issue and not just another selection of items already familiar as anthology-pieces. Except for the most assiduous of Callas-collectors, who have made a point of seeking out everything listed in John Ardoin's The Callas Legacy (Duckworth: 1977), annotating their copy and supplementing their collection with everything that has appeared since, the material will be largely new, and in many instances genuinely exciting. The rarity varies in degree. One of the items, Ah! perfido, was published in the usual way but comes from what tends to be a forgotten corner of Callas's repertoire. Another, the 1953 ''Non mi dir'' has appeared on CD previously but is relatively little-known, having started life as a test-recording in preparation for her first opera with EMI, Lucia di Lammermoor. Most of the others are alternative, formerly rejected versions of solos which eventually appeared in the catalogue in a form originating in some other recording session. These are not alternative 'takes' but products of a different year, sometimes with a different conductor: most notable, under this heading, are the items conducted by Antonio Tonini, which hitherto have comprised, as Ardoin says, ''the largest body of unreleased Callas material''. Then there is the Aida duet, legendary and single survivor of an aborted album with Corelli and Pretre. And best of all are the two items from a concert at San Remo in 1954 in which the soprano sang the Armida aria (which brought Vol. 4 of ''The Record Of Singing'' to such a triumphant conclusion), and ''Martern aller Arten'' (in Italian) from the single Mozart opera in which she appeared on stage.
These show Callas at her most brilliant and breathtaking. In Rossini, the variations involve triplet-sequences and scale-work of dazzling virtuosity: the applause that breaks in on her last note obviously comes from an audience that could not hold back a second longer. The Entfuhrung aria is if possible, still more wonderful. In expression, the defiant spirit bears itself with dignity; technically, the control and precision are astonishing. She is on best form vocally here. In one's list of enviable occasions this concert must stand high, for Gigli was also singing in it and the only consolation for the incurably envious is that there were no duets. The Aida duet with Corelli, however, is another collector's item almost equally to be desired. While it is the tenor who provides the thrills, it is Callas who gives the recording its individuality as a dramatic performance: the mean, cold voice of assumed hostility at the start softens into a quiet utterly sincere expression of longing in the phrases which introduce ''La tra foreste vergine'', which she sings privately, as though to herself, momentarily forgetting the betrayal into which Aida has been so cruelly ensnared.
For the rest, it is usually a matter of picking and choosing. In some ways the newly released version will be preferable, in others the one with which you compare it. In ''Ocean, thou mighty monster'', for instance, she sings with more feeling for contrasts of weight and lightness in this 1962 recording, but also with grotesque (if fascinating) exhibitions of that extraordinary 'cupped' or 'muzzled' effect on some low notes and with a torturous growth of discomfort towards the end. The 1963 re-recording brought gains and losses. Similarly, the Trovatore aria comes to a somewhat desperate conclusion though there have been lovely things on the way. ''O don fatale'', by contrast has little to commend it till the coda, when the exclamations ''Oh ciel! E Carlo?'' suddenly flash into life. But each item, each phrase almost, has something to be said about it: the whole collection makes essential listening.'
These show Callas at her most brilliant and breathtaking. In Rossini, the variations involve triplet-sequences and scale-work of dazzling virtuosity: the applause that breaks in on her last note obviously comes from an audience that could not hold back a second longer. The Entfuhrung aria is if possible, still more wonderful. In expression, the defiant spirit bears itself with dignity; technically, the control and precision are astonishing. She is on best form vocally here. In one's list of enviable occasions this concert must stand high, for Gigli was also singing in it and the only consolation for the incurably envious is that there were no duets. The Aida duet with Corelli, however, is another collector's item almost equally to be desired. While it is the tenor who provides the thrills, it is Callas who gives the recording its individuality as a dramatic performance: the mean, cold voice of assumed hostility at the start softens into a quiet utterly sincere expression of longing in the phrases which introduce ''La tra foreste vergine'', which she sings privately, as though to herself, momentarily forgetting the betrayal into which Aida has been so cruelly ensnared.
For the rest, it is usually a matter of picking and choosing. In some ways the newly released version will be preferable, in others the one with which you compare it. In ''Ocean, thou mighty monster'', for instance, she sings with more feeling for contrasts of weight and lightness in this 1962 recording, but also with grotesque (if fascinating) exhibitions of that extraordinary 'cupped' or 'muzzled' effect on some low notes and with a torturous growth of discomfort towards the end. The 1963 re-recording brought gains and losses. Similarly, the Trovatore aria comes to a somewhat desperate conclusion though there have been lovely things on the way. ''O don fatale'', by contrast has little to commend it till the coda, when the exclamations ''Oh ciel! E Carlo?'' suddenly flash into life. But each item, each phrase almost, has something to be said about it: the whole collection makes essential listening.'
Callas Rarities
Callas Rarities
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