This set has been so unanimously regarded
down the years as one of the all-time
greats of the record catalogue that
it is faintly embarrassing to have to
write about it; surely everything that
can be said has already been done so?
Well, one question
that prospective buyers will wish to
know is, can a transfer made, however
musically and intelligently, with original
LPs, match EMI’s own version(s) using
the master-tapes, to which they retain
their unique access? The answer is partly
supplied in transfer engineer Mark Obert-Thorn’s
brief note, which it is worth quoting
fairly fully.
"The original
LPs featured pitch discrepancies between
and even within sides. There were also
bad edits and sudden, obtrusive volume
fluctuations. On EMI’s three CD issues,
some of these problems were corrected
in one edition and then undone in the
next, while other, new editing errors
crept in .... The most recent GROC transfer
compounded the problems by pitching
the recording noticeably flat, an error
which, in addition to adding nearly
a minute and a half to the running time
of this relatively brief opera, also
affects the listener’s perception of
tempo and vocal timbres.
"For the present
transfer, I assembled no fewer than
ten LP copies of the set, and spent
the greater part of eight weeks transferring,
listening, comparing and re-doing the
project until I was satisfied with the
results".
The question of pitch
is obviously of considerable importance
and my only query is that Obert-Thorn’s
version may still be very fractionally
low. I have no very sophisticated instruments
to hand and base myself on the consideration
that I know my domestic piano has slipped
just slightly from the 440’ currently
used in Italy to about 438’, and most
recordings, including an Italian EMI
LP pressing of extracts from this recording,
sound just fractionally sharp of my
piano. This recording sounds in tune
with it!
However, this begs
all sorts of questions. For one thing,
LP turntables sometimes varied a little
between each other, or even fluctuated
slightly while playing. They also had
a tendency to play a fraction faster
when they got older, as the mechanism
that clawed back the motor got old.
I’m not for a moment suggesting that
Obert-Thorn would use anything other
than highly sophisticated and constantly
checked equipment, but this might be
the problem with mine, although I don’t
normally notice a particular difference
when I compare the same recording in
LP and CD formats.
But another question
is, did La Scala use 440’ back in 1953
or something slightly lower? Is c.438’
actually right? Did the EMI engineer
who transferred the GROC version at
a lower pitch still have historical
evidence for doing so? Just to compound
the mystery, the Garzanti Enciclopedia
della Musica (in Italian) states that
the 440’ standard was set at the Congress
of London in 1939, well before this
recording (but would Mussolini’s Italy
of 1939 have paid heed?) while the Grove
Concise Dictionary says it was decided
by the International Organization for
Standardisation in 1955, which would
leave open the possibility that La Scala
was still using something lower in 1953.
I also note that the 1956 Cetra set
under Basile, recorded in Turin, plays
at the same pitch as Obert-Thorn’s transfer
of the present set, suggesting that
he is right and pitch in Italy did remain
fractionally low in those years. As
I happen to live in Milan I will try
to make enquiries, but it’s amazing
how some things can sink without trace.
Need the general listener
care a hoot? Well, even the minute dichotomy
between my LP and the CDs alters our
perceptions; the CDs have a warmer,
less strained sound, generally with
a fine body to it and only minimal distortion
at strenuous moments. The acoustics
of La Scala were less sympathetic than
those of Rome’s Santa Cecilia which
Decca were using at the same period
and that cannot be changed, but all
things considered there seems no reason
why anyone who doesn’t have this performance
yet should pay more than Naxos’s rock-bottom
price.
But what about the
performance? It was a pace-setter in
many ways. For one thing, Italian operas
in those days were invariably recorded
under the baton of an "Italian
operatic conductor", a soundly
trained gentleman who knew the ins and
outs of the repertoire, understood the
human voice and was respected by singers
because he "let them breathe"
(which could be a synonym for "let
them do what they liked"). I don’t
want to knock the talents of such capable
artists as Serafin, Votto, Erede, Molinari-Pradelli,
Capuana, Basile, Previtali et al,
or to suggest that they were all on
an equal level, but it is odd that during
Toscanini’s reign at La Scala HMV recorded
a long series of operas there, but under
Carlo Sabajno; another great conductor,
Vittorio Gui, got to record a few operas
thanks to his Glyndebourne associations,
Antonio Guarnieri none at all. Victor
De Sabata, in his only studio opera
recording (a few live performances have
turned up), was therefore the first
Italian conductor recognised internationally
as a "great conductor" to
record Puccini in Italy (Toscanini’s
late New York performance of "La
Bohème" preceded this).
After this came the Karajan/Callas "Butterfly"
and the Beecham "Bohème"
and the pendulum went too far the other
way, leading to personalised interpretations
by the likes of Sinopoli and Bernstein
with the result that the work of the
"Italian operatic conductor"
needs reassessing for its enshrinement
of a lost tradition.
De Sabata’s contribution
to this "Tosca" cannot be
overestimated, for the performance is
totally integrated. After so many Callas
sets where the diva shines, the others
do what they can and the conductor follows
along, here she is obviously happy to
collaborate with an artist of her own
stature. This is a "Tosca"
of seething tension and menace (surpassed
in my experience only by a short video
extract under Mitropoulos) in which
every note falls into place in the overall
drama. Callas, who was still notable
in 1953 for sheer vocal beauty as well
as gut conviction, gives so much more
than in, for example, the (too-) often
re-released video of Act 2 from Covent
Garden under the noisy, messy Carlo
Felice Cillario, and Giuseppe Di Stefano,
an inconsistent artist, gives of his
very best as Cavaradossi. Tito Gobbi’s
celebrated Scarpia is a non-pareil
of slimy nastiness. Nobody else
much matters in this opera, but they
are all good, an unattractive shepherd
apart.
In short, the mythical
set lives up to its reputation and those
who do not have it should set this to
rights. The presentation is consistent
with this series: good notes and detailed
synopsis but no libretto, which you
can get from Internet easily enough.
Will Naxos and others please get it
into their heads that "De"
and "Di" in Italian names,
unlike equivalent words in virtually
every language, have capital letters
because they are an integral part of
the surname and you look upDe Sabata
and Di Stefano in the encyclopedia under
"D" not "S".
Christopher Howell
See further
discussion of the EMI transfer by Chris
Howell
In his review of the
Naxos release of "Tosca" with
Callas, Christopher Howell claims that
I have pitched the recording at A=438
because it seems to be in tune with
his piano, which he knows to be slightly
flat. In actuality, I used a precision
instrument (a Korg Autochromatic Tuner)
in order to check my pitch when transferring
this recording, and I pitched it at
A=440. The EMI "Great Recordings
of the Century" CD and their new
budget "twofer" which was
sonically cloned from it both start
out at A=436 -- much lower than any
major orchestra would have tuned in
1953, and lower than EMI themselves
pitched the recording in their first
two CD traversals. The original LPs
start at about A=441 but vary thereafter,
going down considerably in pitch during
the end of Side 2 (the first part of
Act II). I selected A=440 as a conservative
choice supported by international standards
of the time.
As to the issue of whether the "di"
and "de" in the names of the
principal tenor and conductor of this
set should be capitalized, it is worth
noting that EMI themselves use lower
case in the listings for their GROC
CD edition. While that doesn't necessarily
make it right, I also would note that
on his own "GDS" label LPs,
the tenor's autograph as reproduced
on the album covers appears to show
him signing his own name as "di
Stefano," rather than "Di
Stefano."
Mark Obert-Thorn
Mr Obert-Thorn, whose transfer of the
Callas/Di Stefano/De Sabata Tosca I
basically much admired, raises two points
about my review.
As regards the pitching of the recording
I have to bow to the judgement of the
piece of technical equipment he refers
to, and would only add that if this
recording really does run at 440 then
most others in my collection run slightly
above. Is it possible that CD players
vary a hertz or two between themselves?
I'll come back on this if I find any
technically supported evidence.
But as for Di Stefano or di Stefano
(and De Sabata or de Sabata), Mr Obert-Thorn
really should not try to brush me off
as an ignoramus when I have been living
in Italy for 28 years, have dual British-Italian
nationality and an Italian wife who
is a stickler for correct Italian.
In any case, if he wishes to pretend
expertise over a matter which every
Italian child learns at elementary school,
he is going to get egg over his face.
So let it be clear once again, Italian
surnames beginning with Di or De have
a capital D (Di Stefano, De Sabata)and
the ONLY exception to this is when a
noble title is followed by a locality,
which is not actually a name (Principe
di Savoia, Duca d'Aosta etc).
I can't answer for what the British
wing of EMI does, when there was an
EMI Italiana with a measure of autonomy
they were always scrupulous over the
matter. If Mr Obert-Thorn thinks he
has seen evidence that Di Stefano bends
the rules to suit himself, then as the
gentleman in question is still alive
I suggest he asks him to clear the matter
up.
Christopher Howell
I did not mean to suggest that Mr.
Howell is "an ignoramus" nor
that he is wrong in his assertion that
the "D's" ought to be capitalized.
As I stated in my reply, the fact that
EMI listed the tenor's name with a small
"d" does not make it correct.
When I put the discographic information
together for the Naxos booklet, I followed
their spelling. For future releases,
I will heed Mr. Howell's advice.
Mark Obert-Thorn
From Robert E. Seletsky
I should preface my remarks by saying
that I wrote a commentary published
in the booklet accompanying this Naxos
set. I am the author of "Callas
at EMI: Remastering and Perception,"
_The Opera Quarterly_ (OUP, Spring 2000).
I just read Christopher Howell's review
of the TOSCA and engineer Mark Obert-Thorn's
responses. Mr. Howell implies that the
standard of a=440 Hz was standardized
in 1936 (or 1955) to bring pitch *up.*
In actuality, it was an effort toward
bringing pitch *down,* as "a"
was always creeping up, sometimes nearly
as far as 450 Hz, especially in Italian
opera houses; indeed in 1896, there
was a previous unsuccessful attempt.
Mr. Howell says that most of his old
opera records seem sharp when compared
with his piano, and he assumes that
his piano is flat; and because the Naxos
TOSCA matches his piano, he deduces
that it must therefore be flat as well.
He will be happy to know that if it
matches the Naxos TOSCA, his piano is
accurate. Most of the original Columbia/Angel
EMI releases (and other Italian recordings)
were actually sharp, either because
of recording equipment, LP mastering
decisions, or simple day-to-day pitch
inconsistencies at opera houses.
The 1953 TOSCA, as played on the original
LPs at 33.3 RPM, beginning at a=440/1,
is among the lowest-pitched of that
epoch's Italian operatic recordings.
Throughout the recording, however, the
pitch deviates from the first measurement.
Mr. Obert-Thorn's painstaking, minute
corrections to solidify pitch at a=440
Hz throughout TOSCA, about which he
and I had much discussion, is actually
a first. It is doubtful that the oboe
gave the same "a" at every
recording session, but by making the
entire recording consistent at the standard
modern "a," Mr. Obert-Thorn
has, at least, minimized the rather
extreme variations throughout the recording
that probably don't reflect the sessions
as much as speed drift in 1950s recording
equipment. That EMI never addressed
the issue throughout their various TOSCA
incarnations, all made with the luxury
of the original tapes, is inexcusable.
As noted, the 2002 EMI incarnation in
the "Great Recordings of the Century"
series, and its recently released, cheaply
packaged twofer version, is the latest
irresponsible act: beginning almost
a quarter-tone low, the speed drift
from the old tapes played on new equipment
yields pitch levels that not only start
very flat, but vary so wildly throughout
as to make one blush. Clearly EMI now
treats Callas as nothing more than a
commodity, undeserving of such simple
artistic courtesies as the correct or
consistent pitching of her work.
While transfers made from original
tapes have the possibility of yielding
purer results, EMI's generally poor
treatment of source material for Callas'
oeuvre since 1997, with regard to pitch
and overall sonic accuracy, stands in
sharp contrast to the care taken in
these first legitimate LP transfers
which, despite the limits of the LP
and LP transfer technology, ironically
come closer to the originally envisioned
result than EMI's careless tape transfers.
Chris Howell adds:
Len, here are some more considerations
if you want to add them to the review
with the others,
chris
This is all getting curiouser and curiouser.
Recently a friend brought round a reasonably
sophisticated pitch detector and according
to this, my piano is even lower than
I feared (436 - but a very wet day may
have brought it down from the 438 I
believed it to be) and a test on Vissi
d'arte and Recondita armonia from the
Naxos Tosca transfer revealed a pitch
of 444-445, not the 440 claimed. An
EMI transfer of Vissi d'Arte in a Callas
compilation (no way of knowing which
of their transfers was drawn on) proved
about the same, as did the Frazzoni/Basile
Cetra set made in Turin not much later.
According to Mr. Seletsky this would
not be surprising for recordings made
in Italy in those days, except that
it does not square with the claim that
the recording has been transferred at
440. Either my friend's equipment was
wrong (in which case my piano is flatter
still which seems unlikely since my
friend is a singer, she sang with the
piano that same day and, faced with
anything approaching a quarter of a
tone down she immediately notices because
it affects the position of her passaggi,
and I also note immediately that her
voice takes on a different timbre),
or Mr. Obert-Thorn's is (which I virtually
rule out since I am sure he would have
used state-of-the-art and regularly
tested equipment), or there is variation
between CD players. I'm no technician;
I know that LP turntables were sometimes
at variance between each other and similarly
cassette recorders. Can CD players vary
in the same way?
There is another explanation for the
variable pitch during the recording.
If an orchestra is asked to tune to
a slightly lower A than usual, after
about half-an-hour they tend to drift
back to their normal pitch. I have it
on the word of a member of La Scala
chorus that this actually happened a
few years ago when, for a production
of Otello, they were asked to tune to
the "original Paris pitch",
about a quarter of a tone down, ostensibly
for musicological reasons but also,
it was suggested, to ease the famous
tenor's top notes; by about halfway
through each act they had pretty well
got back to normal pitch again! So if
for these Tosca sessions a deliberate
attempt was made (by De Sabata? Legge?)
to impose a 440 pitch (Mr. Seletsky
tells us the LPs start at this pitch)
then the original tapes may document
a continual tussle between retuning
and drifting back upwards. So far I
have not located anyone in Milan with
memories that go far enough back to
tell me what pitch was adopted in those
days and when (if) it was changed so
this is all surmise.
I hope all this correspondence will
not obscure the fact that I recommended
readers to buy the Naxos transfer!
Chorus and Orchestra of Teatro alla Scala, Milan/Victor
De Sabata 