Maria Callas – Live Recordings 1949–1964) 3

I bought this box set because I have a few of Maria Callas stereo recordings and I was interested in hearing the live ones. In addition there's several operas in the set that I haven't heard yet. Ja, Im not disappointed. The sound quality is really good considering that these are really old live recordings from great opera houses. So far I've listened to La Traviata, Tosca, Lucia di Lammermoor, Aida, Anna Bolena, Iphegenie en Tauride, and Nabucco and Parsifal. I still need to listen to the rest. So far I've been really impressed with Callas live performances. Sometimes her fellow singers are equally brilliant, like in Aida, which is incredible. Iphegenie was a big surprise for me. Very restrained and classical. I loved it. Callas voice is insane in Nabucco and Parsifal. You have to hear it to believe how good she was. I'd also rate this sets live Tosca over the stereo recording with Pretre. I found the La Traviata very very moving where she comes across as very fragile. Anyway that's just some of the highlights. I'm going to listen to them all still. Callas was a really great singer who could sing virtually anything. I love her and this box set which I'm going to treasure for ever.

The recordings of live performances aren't perfect of course, from so long ago, but great value for iconic singer.

Agreed the sound of many of these recordings demands a certain degree of tolerance, but Ralph Moore's review prompted me to go for this set, and at £36 or so incl. p. & p. it was worth every penny. I seem to have heard reports that the sound of the 1952 Milan 'Macbeth' was very poor but I must say that I was very pleasantly surprised at the presence of the whole thing, arguably better than the Mexico 'Rigoletto' of the same year . Pity the price is about 33% higher now, only a few days after I bought the box, but I suppose that's the free market for you. Anyway, even at £44 it should be snapped up.

I haven't had time to listen to all of it, but what I have heard was excellent. I am hearing impaired and this music still comes through clear and true.

Fabulous !

Box had damage to the corner

Callas had a distinctive voice that was highly emotional, where she entered each role and became that person, but was unable to switch off as many singers and actors are able to do. I think she drew upon her own life to understand the psychology of the role. Yet she is as famous today as she once was, and still selling CDs after 40 years. Born in 1923-1977, she sung her last opera in 1965 aged 42. She was a dramatic soprano and became a dramatic coloratura trained in the Romantic bel canto school. The sort of voice that was thought to have disappeared, for she was trained by de Hidalgo, Spanish soprano, a high, delicate voice who excelled as Rosina, Lakme and Musetta. She was Callas's only teacher. Serafin was her mentor, and encouraged her at a early age to tackle Wagner's Ring Brunnhilde, and Puccini's Turandot, which Douglas in his book More legendary voices states did her a disservice. Though Serafin did eventually guide her into Bel Canto roles. Her career compared to many great singer's was short, but had an impact upon soprano's, even today, for operas of the past were revived because of her. I would obtain Tony Palmer's documentary about Callas available Amazon, if you do not already own it.BOX SET:The same red material as the studio box set, covering the tough cardboard box open at the front where the CD's are situated. Heavy when lifted, so carry the box with two hands. To get the CDs out of the box, tilt it and pull out the CDs you wish to play.Around the back of the box and sides, is a advert on grey paper. This states, ' Newly remastered from the best available sources. 20 legendary live performances, including 12 operas Callas never recorded at the studio. Some of the greatest nights in operatic history with Karajan's Lucia, La Sonnambula and Medea at La Scala under Bernstein. Some performances presented in this boxset (Nabucco, Armida, Alceste notably) were recorded under difficult technical circumstances, and this remains evident in the audio quality.' So Warner's have been honest.The sleeves which mainly have two CD's, two have three CDs. fold into each other, with a booklet in the middle held within a slit. The CD's are held with a plastic holder. The front of the sleeve has a black and white photo of Callas with the name of the opera in colour, which reflects the colour of the CD's, also the singers and conductor, as on the back. The spine has the date of the opera recorded, opera and conductor, with the same colour as the front of the sleeve. CD same colour and variations of it in the sleeves. Opera, conductor and CD number.BOOKLET:This is held in the middle of each folding sleeve. Singers and their roles, plus track numbers and arias, with a synopsis of the opera. There is a essay about the history of the composer and the opera in question. Last in the line up of opera sleeves is a 214 page book, or notes, which details Callas's history in the role and details of her life. At the side of the page is the name of the opera, in the colour of the spine of the sleeve, so you do not get lost when reading the Notes. The book is translated into English, French and German.SOUND:From the notes page 5. 'Each recording in this edition has been newly remastered, using the latest audio technology and the best available source material, by Studio Art et Son, one of the most renowned sound studios in France (and indeed worldwide) in collaboration with studio Circe (Paris). In particular, great care has been taken to assure the accuracy of the tape pitch, which has been corrected in various instances. As a result, Callas's voice is heard with a previously unattained authenticity and stunning presence. This means that, though the imperfections inherent in the vintage recordings of these live productions persist, the majority of the recordings in this collection can now be enjoyed with sound of unprecedented quality and fidelity'.On the black back of the Sleeves has the following statement ' Due to the technical imperfections in the original recording, the sound quality of this LIVE performance is not the overall standard one may normally expect.' For example on Nabucco within the sleeve is another explanation.' This 1949 recording has come to us in a very poor state on account of its age and the resulting techniques used. We have nevertheless decided to publish this document, on the one hand since it represents the sole opportunity to hear Maria Callas in the role of Abigalle, and on the other because the mint source we were able to use offers despite its faults a quality and richness of sound particularly in the highs, far surpassing any of the CD releases with which we compared it. We are nevertheless aware that numerous instances of saturation and noise may make listening difficult, particularly in Act 1V.' Actually I own the 64 CD Membran Callas box set which has 11 Live operas amid studio recording operas, and they have been digitally remastered, and so I can compare some of these Live sets. The Membran Nabucco sounds as if it is set in a echo chamber when the difficult bits are fiddled with. I can certainly say after comparing both, that this new remastering Live Callas set is far better.I collect historical recordings on CD so I am aware of the problems with sound on historical CD's . For example, the 1935 recording of La Traviata with Ponselle and Tibbitt, was terrible on the Pearl label, a bit better on Naxos, however on Sony's Verdi at the Met box set, I could actually hear Ponselle in her full glory. However, Callas said of Ponselle" that she was the greatest of us all" Ponselle did sing Norma.So by hearing these voices from the past, one can understand that Callas did not come from no where, but from a great and wonderful tradition, particularly in the 18th Century where her voice is a reminder of that time. I even have one of the few recordings by de Hidalgo, the teacher of Callas. So to sum up, remastered in the historical ' Live' sense is different to those remastered Warner studio Callas recordings. The aim is to get rid of the radio noise, the pop and crackle, also to use the best available tapes or discs found. The wish is to do justice to the voices and if possible the orchestra.For example, Ward Marston the great and blind transfer artist of historical recordings, explains his philosophy on historical transfers in the booklet included with Naxos's 1938 Met broadcast of Verdi's Othello, with Martinelli, Rethberg and Tibbett. Cond Panizza." Ideally, the optimum source would be the original NBC Network discs, but no such source has ever surfaced. There were discs made for Tibbett, but now are degraded. The source of this reissue is a magnetic transfer made of the (Tibbett) discs in the 1950's. Many hours have been spent trying to improve the sound of this recording and correct the flaws. I have carefully removed hundreds of clicks and other disc noises, one by one, so as not to compromise the musical integrity of the performance. I also experimented with several computer based programs, but ultimately, I decided against their use, since all improvements produced undesirable sonic side effects that to me, were more disconcerting than the surface noise of the original source. Pitch stability has always been my chief concern in remastering. This recording had at least 15 pitch shifts occurring between sides which I attempted to correct. Unfortunately, there are two serious flaws in the 1950's tape which I could not eliminate. We can only hope a new superior source is found ". These views gives you an idea of what the Warner historical remastering experts were faced with.I must say this is the first time I have read that publishers of a historical recording explaining the difficulties the listeners may encounter, not only in the advert paper around the box set, but on the Sleeve and goes into more detail inside the sleeves as well. In live historical recordings you expect stage noises, audience coughing and sometimes prompters speaking.OPERAS:VERDI. NABUCCO: (1949) Gino Bechi, Gino Sinimberghi, Luciano Neroni, orchestra Teatro San Carlo di Napoli Cond Gui. The other roles are sung well and the music flows along as it should. The triumph this role represented for the barely 26 year old Callas is of course the result of the experience gained over the course of a career that had begun almost a decade earlier. John Ardoin in the Callas legacy writes ' she is magnificent in every way in the amazonian role of Abigaille..only a personality capable of great emotional responses could bring " Anch 10 dischuso" fully to life, only an Isolde voice with a Puritani agility could make sense of the vocal lines. Callas did so...in a manner that still stands unrivalled.Serafin worked on Isolde in Italian, her debut in this role December 1947, La Fenice, Venice was followed in early 1948 by Turandot. However in early 1949 she sung Brunnhilde, Die Walkure, in Italian with Serafin, Fenice. Then she did the unthinkable. A production of I Puritani was scheduled to open three days after the last performance of Die Walkure. Its Elvira fell ill and Serafin asked Callas to learn the role and stand in. Brunnhilde by Night, Bellini rehearsals by day - her performances as Elvira propelled her to fame.WAGNER. PARSIFAL: (1950) Baldelli, Panerai, Christoff, Lopatto. Orch Sinfinfonica e coro della Rai cond Gui. (sung in Italian). Baldelli's Parsival is exciting, has musicality and generous identification with his role and rhythmic certainty. Panerai and Christoff with Callas are all young here. The singing is remarkable. Gui is pleasingly Italian in his solicitous orientation towards the voices. There is a clarity of detail. The music is lyrical and flowing and There are a number of cuts.VERDI. I VESPRI SICILIANI: (1951) Mascherini, Christoff Orch Teatro Comunale di Firenze. Cond Erich Kleiber, which is fiery in his direction. The 27 year old soprano shows again and again her gift for going to the emotional heart of what she sings and then translating that, through her vocal command, into uniquely affecting sounds.VERDI. AIDA: (1951). Del Monaco, Oralia Dominguez, Taddei. Orchestra Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico. Cond De Fabritiis. Dominguez was singing her role as Amneris for the first time, a richly gifted mezzo, she was a very musical singer. Taddei, Amonasro, was well established in Italy and baritone with a great stage presence. Gramophone states' what makes the set worth having is the 23 year old Oralia Dominguez electrifying Amneris, and Taddei's ferocious Amonasro'. This set preserves Callas's voice in its prime, we hear that in its fully developed but as yet untarnished condition.ROSSINI. ARMIDA: (1952) Albanese, Filippeschi, Ziliani, Raimondi. Teatro Comunale Firenze. Cond Serafin. Gramophone states ' the wonder of the event is Callas's portrayal of the sorceress Armida and her virtuoso singing of this, one of the most demanding of all opera seria roles... It was a tour de force, not least vocally, with the voice itself in prime condition' She is one of the few soprano's in history to master it. A section of some 12 minutes unusable because of cross talk, so Warner omitted the passage which would have comprised most of track 9 CD 2. In this section the music is inaudible.VERDI. RIGOLETTO: (1952) Di Stefano. Palacio de Bellas Artes Mexico. Cond Mugnai. Callas is able to become the dutiful daughter Gilda, slightly different to her 1955 Studio recording with Gobbi and Di Stefano, Campolonghi as Rigoletto. His voice is superb and I wonder why he is not more well known. La Donna e Mobile, this is Di Stefano at his best. The audience goes nuts and quite rightly. The prompter is quite vocal at times, often he disappears into the background. That does happen in live recordings from time to time. The sound is good. Callas is the daughter and captures the innocence. Bella Figlia brings out the best in the singers. The ending is where Callas brings tragedy to the part and is partnered by Campolonghi as the father who is destroyed at finding his daughter dying, every father's nightmare. What Callas always brings to her roles is truth, a universal timeless one, that we all can relate to.BELLINI. NORMA: (1952) Picchi, Stagnani, Joan Sutherland. Royal opera house orchestra, cond Gui. Picchi is Pollione. J.B Steane when he heard this opera, thought he sounded like a smaller, neater Lauri-Volpi. Vaghi's Oroveso fitted well with his idea of a traditional Italian Bass, with Ezio Pinza as the arrchetype. Stignani's Mezzo's sound is crystal clear and young which at 48 is amazing for a singer. Callas in her vocal prime identifies with Norma's plight. A commanding interpretation as is the conducting of Gui. This is the only live recording of Norma, but there are two studio recordings. This live version gives a truthful idea of why Callas was suited for this role and I prefer it to the studio Norma's. For as I stated there is only one way to hear Callas and that is Live.VERDI. MACBETH: (1952). Mascherini, Tajo Penno. Teatro Alla Scala, de Sabata. Callas fits Verdi's idea of a voice that sounds like a she devil. The rest of the cast is good. Although from time to time the Penguin Classical guide does not think much of the cast which I do. The conducting by De Sabata is swift.One of the best Macbeth's around.CHERUBINI. MEDEA: (1953) Barbieri, Modesti and Penno. Teatro alla Scala, Milano. Cond Bernstein. At this point his experience in conducting opera was extremely limited, but Callas insisted he was her man. Callas at her fire eating best. This is the elemental Callas, intense, rending the heart with appeals to father and husband. Her desperate declamation is truly frightening. According to the Met guide to recorded opera, Callas's Medea is one of the most celebrated operatic portrayals in the history of the medium, even via CD's, one catches more then a glimpse of its barbaric splendor. She has a command of the Classical style. There is a film of the ancient Greek tragedy by Euripides, directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini with Callas playing Medea. The New York times review stated about the film ' Full of eccentric imagination and real passion... it is superb'.GLUCK. ALCESTE: (1954) Gavarini, Silveri, Panerai, Zampieri. Teatro alla Scala, Milan. Cond Giulini. He stated ' In all my years in the opera house I have never known an artist like Callas. Hers is no fabricated legend: she truly did have something different.' As well as breathing life into her heroines by her vocal characterisation, nuanced by the feelings their fate inspired in her. Callas always aimed to add a physical dimension to their dramatic credibility. She said once mentioned that Serafin told her ' that all the movements you need are created carefully by the music, all you have to do is listen carefully.' This was a woman who was over six foot, who by sheer will lost 80 pounds and exercised to remain thin. And I believe her voice was loud, like Sutherland's. Recordings can only tell us so much about her. I believe you had to see her on stage, so these Live CD's show us more about her art then ever Studio recording's can.SPONTINI. LA VESTALE.:(1954) Stignani, Corelli, Rossi-Lemeni. Teatro alla scala, Milano cond Votto. ' In the part of Giulia we are left with a sense of Callas's superior vocal skill' J.Ardoin. The Callas legacy. For Visconti who directed this opera said ' it is like Norma with a happy ending'. Toscanini was in the La Scala's artistic directors box on opening night, so Callas handed him the bouquet that had already been presented to her.Ex great Italian tenor Zanatello in 1947 was looking for a Gioconda for the Verona Arena's summer season and Rossi-Lemeni told him ' I have a Gioconda in my pocket'. That was Callas who was then 24, she landed the part. This engagement effectively launched Callas's career: she met and married Meneghini who gave the penniless singer the financial security to pursue her art, and she first worked with Tullio Serafin, who became her mentor and supplied bookings before Callas was recognised Yet in my opinion Serafin who thought she had a great big ugly voice, pushed her into being Brunnhilde, then three days later Elvira, and other antics like that, which was one of the causes of her vocal troubles later on. She was too young to sing Brunnhilde in the first place. It's like a 400 metre runner without training attempting to run a Marathon.GIORDANO. ANDREA CHENIER: (1955) Del Monaco, Aldo protti Teatro alla scala, Milan, cond Votto.. She always brings something different to her roles, that stick in the mind. All these conductors in this set were considered great in their own right, and Callas always surrounded herself with marvellous singers, who sometimes we have never since heard of.BELLINI. LA SONNAMBULA: (1955) Cesare Valletti, Modesti. Teatro alla scala, Milan. Cond Bernstein. Callas was working with a famous producer Visconti and a sympathetic conductor Bernstein. From her very first entry, it is clear that the tone is at its freshest and most flexible. Valletti is the right type of tenor for this opera and Callas. He sings most beautifully.DONIZETTI. LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR: (1955) Di Stefano, Panerai, Zaccaria. Cond Von Karajan. Rias Sinfonie orchester Berlin. This recording is considered the best of Callas's Lucia's either in the studio or live. I know I own her two studio recordings, and this live one. And this new recording is the best of my now two same live recordings. All the elements come together to make a great occasion.DONIZIETTI. ANNA BOLENA :(1957) Simionato, she is in the film Tosca's kiss, the retirement home created by Verdi. Rossi-Lemeni, Raimondi, Teatro alla Scala, Milano. Cond Gavazzeni.GLUCK. IFIGENIA in TAURIDE: (1957) Doni, Albanese, Cossotto.Teatro alla Scala, Milan. Cond Sanzogno. Albanese was the Alfredo in her first La Traviata released by Cetra. This set captures the authority and passion of her utterances, the unique flavour of the voice.VERDI: LA TRAVIATA.: (1958) Kraus, Sereni. Orchestra Teatro Nacional de Sao Carlos, Lisboa.Cond Ghione. This is considered Callas's greatest recording of this opera, better then the Giulini.BELLINI . IL PIRATA: (1959) Ego, Ferraro. Cond Rescigno. Good sound.DONIZETTI. POLIUTO: (1960) Corelli, Bastianini, Zaccaria. Teatro alla Scala, Milano cond Votto. The sound is clear and faithful to the timbre of the voices. It is for Corelli's part in the opera, as much as for Callas's that the recording will be valued. This was her return to the La Scala opera after two years, and here at the end the audience gave her a great ovation. The rumours about her voice problems were stilled.PUCCINI. TOSCA: (1964) Gobbi, Cioni. Royal Opera House Cond Cillario. This is remastering in its truest form in this recording.MARIA CALLAS in Concert. Designed for worldwide play back. Stereo and 5.0 DTS-HD Master Audio. Made for a small screen. Paris 1958. ACT 2 of Puccini's Tosca with Gobbi in costumes National l' opera de Paris.. Hamburg 1958 Symphonie Orchester NDR Cond Resicgno. and March 1962. Cond Pretre. London November 1962. Orch royal opera House cond Pretre. 1964. Puccini Tosca Act 2 Royal opera house. Orch Royal opera house cond Cillario. Black and White. I prefer the 1964 Act 2, Tosca, where the camera work goes in closer then the 1958 Paris version. Gobbi is a marvellous actor singer, and Callas is well Callas. The 1962 Hamburg concert, Massenet Le Cid aria, De cet affreux combat.. does rather bring to the forefront not only Callas's singing methods, but how they sometimes relate to her private life.. These live Bluray's do show us Callas's art in the flesh and the sound is better then on DVD. I wished they had used colour, but TV was not at that point filming live events in that medium.I hope you enjoy this set as much as I did. I bought this box set, for the Live Rigoletto, Norma, Andrea Chenier, La traviata with Ghione, Il Pirata and Poliuto which I did not own. Long time collectors can seem strange to others, in that they will buy a 50 CD box simply to hear 14 CD's. This is how obsessed Classical collectors are.

Brilliant

No merece la pena ponerle palabras pudiendo porner los oídos. Adictivo.

Superb quality. Perfect selection. Quasi-vinyl sound

Ottimo cofanetto di incisioni dal vivo che integra il cofanotto che comprendeva le registrazioni in studio.

Ce coffret qui regroupe les plus célèbres interprétations "live" de Maria Callas a été un évènement à sa sortie car très attendu suite à l'intégrale studio de 2014. Possédant déjà la plupart de ces enregistrements sous différents labels, j'apprécie la nette amélioration du son pour nombre d'entre eux. Le fait d'avoir rassemblé ces prestations "live" d'anthologie dans un même coffret donne une idée de l'immense répertoire de la "Divina" et, côté pratique, facilite la recherche d'un opéra en particulier. Pour tous les admirateurs de Maria Callas comme moi ce coffret s'impose en attendant de nouvelles découvertes d'enregistrements "live" restés dans les tiroirs.

I can't picture anyone giving this set less than 5-stars. I've been looking forward to Warner putting the Callas live recordings together since they released their complete Callas studio recordings but feared they were going to just re-release the bland blue-boxed nightmare. Well, not so. Since my box arrived late the only thing I could do is sample a few of the sets. The LUCIA first of course. I'm am totally amazed....no, on cloud nine! I don't know how many transfers I've heard of this marvelous performance but this transfer is STUPENDOUS! No other word for it. Yes, it always sounded pretty good except for the blue box EMI release where they snipped out the sextet encore even. As one reviewer pointed out some of these sets have always sounded good. The BALLO, TOSCA, LUCIA, and a few others. BUT NOT LIKE THIS. The only problem I had from this LUCIA transfer was the clipping of the applause...but then again it would probably push this performance into a 3-disc set so that is fine with me. I for one like the applause left in to add to the 'theatrical thrill' of it all.We focus our attention on Callas on these new transfers of course but Di Stefano and Gobbi benefit in this collection (and on the earlier Warner Complete Studio Recordings) as well. The orchestra has never sounded better on many of these recordings I have sampled.. Now on to the rest of the sets for a complete listening. I have my eye on MACBETH and NABUCCO next. Hopefully the last few minutes ofAct 1 in MACBETH will have Callas rather than Gencer finished it off. Recent transfers, notably Myto, have found new sources forMACBETH that do include Callas at the end of Act 1 and the sound has been improved a great deal.The presentation of this set is excellent. A sturdy box that matches the Callas Complete Studio Recordings perfectly except for a cover to protect the treasures within. It is a tight squeeze though returning the recordings to their proper space. An excellent thick soft-cover booklet full of stage performance pictures and writings. Perfect folders with the CDs and Blu-Ray discs securely protected on plastic inserts. Noreaching into folders or cardboard envelopes. Excellent pictures from the stage productions on front of each folder in glorious black-&-white (sorry, I had to.) I don't think it could have been put together any better than this. Now on to my Callas adventure with the other CDs and Blu-Rays. I can't put this set aside until all is listened to. Thank you Warner..you made my Callas day, night and dreams come true...so far.As a next day update, I am very pleased with this set. Different people have different tastes and these recordings will never sound modern and perfect. Some will always retain their 'primitive recording' status no matter how much tinkering is done by the engineers.You can only do so much with some of these tapes. I have to say the worst sounding selected recordings like NABUCCO in this set are barely 'listenable yet important to the Callas legacy of performances. By the way, this is the best transfer of NABUCCO I've ever heard. Callas comes across loud and clear along with what sounds like AM radio 'hum.' But highly recognizable and clear. An outstanding performance.I've also noticed a few negative reviews coming out about this set. Again, do not expect a divine revelation from these transfers. They are excellent in my books and I have been collecting Callas and old broascast recordings for years and years and years. I've heard them all. If nothing else it is great having all these Callas treasures under one roof for a change instead of being scattered from label to label on the selves. If you love Callas this is a must set for you. This is it, folks. Go for it..