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Maria Callas – The One and Only
Arias from Gianni Schicchi, La Boheme, Tosca, La Wally, Adriana Lecouvreur,
Andrea Chenier, Madama Butterfly, Turandot, Rigoletto,
La Traviata, Il Trovatore, I Vespri
Siciliani, Ernani, Aida, La Sonnambula, Norma,
Lucia di Lammermoor, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Orpheo ed Eurydice, Carmen,
Romeo et Juliette, Werther, Samson et Dalila, Massenet,
Louise & Faust - see end
of review for details EMI CLASSICS 3963412 [78.35
+ 78.34]
With any new compilation of arias sung by an artist
as famous as Callas, we must ask ourselves what the point
of the compilation is; what are its aims? This new one from
EMI is called Maria Callas, the one and only.
The selection of arias casts its net quite wide but there
are some curiosities about the selection.
First some statistics, the disc contains the following:
arias from Gianni Schicchi (one), La Boheme (two), Tosca
(two), La Wally (one), Adriana Lecouvreur (two), Andrea Chenier
(one), Madama Butterfly (one), Turandot (three), Rigoletto
(one), La Traviata (one), Il Trovatore (one), I Vespri Siciliani
(one), Ernani (one), Aida (one), La Sonnambula (one), Norma
(one), Lucia di Lammermoor (one), Il barbiere di Siviglia
(one), Orpheo ed Eurydice (one), Carmen (three), Romeo et
Juliette (one), Werther (one), Samson et Dalila (one), Massenet
(one), Louise (one), Faust (one)
Anyone with any knowledge of Callas's stage career will
realise that this list contains a heavy preponderance of
roles which she either did not sing on stage or abandoned
quite early in her career. It misses out some roles which
had great significance in her career: La Gioconda in
which she made her Italian debut. Nor does it include I
Puritani which was the first bel canto opera she sang
in Italy and which led to her re-aligning her career into
bel canto. In fact, one has the suspicion that the selection
was made on the basis of what EMI had available to re-cycle.
Another feature is that the first disc in particular has
a strong emphasis on ‘little girl’ roles; the extracts from Turandot even
include two of Liu's arias … plus one of Turandot's.
Though she made some very fine recordings of complete
operas or arias, from Madama Butterfly and La Boheme,
no-one would have said that as a stage creature the roles
Madam Butterfly or Mimi displayed Callas at her very best.
For the opening arias on this disc we have slightly too many
where you are conscious of Callas the artist creating the
required little girl role, adjusting the sound of her voice
and providing a superbly crafted aural picture. But I was
also aware that this led to a degree of constraint and constriction
in the voice. In many places on these CDs you can hear Callas
singing the music on a thread of sound, something that may
only have been possible in the recording studio. This enables
her to give us the lovely semplice effects which go
so much towards the musical characterisation that makes these
performances special.
But once she opens up we get the other Callas. The one
with the big dramatic voice appears; the voice which develops
a strong vibrato - or wobbles - when put under pressure.
Those of us who love her artistry can forgive her this, but
for someone coming new - or relatively new - to her artistry
it is likely to be off-putting to hear the items on CD 1
where the voice develops a strong beat in a way that does
not happen with an artist like Mirella Freni in similar repertoire.
This is something that we must face: that to appreciate
Callas's artistry you have to forgive her the sometimes raw
and uncontrolled quality of her voice, the distinct veiled
sound which could become curdled and the sheer unpleasantness
of some of the high notes. This is remarkable because in
many ways she had such astounding control. She is notable
for the sheer degree of colour which she brings to a vocal
line; not for Callas the singing of a line in beautiful but
uniform voice. She also had the wonderful ability to vary
her tone depending on the opera. This is most noticeable
in the French items where she sounds far more French than
many of her Italian contemporaries in the same repertoire.
For me, Callas is at her best in the live recordings
where she takes a role and expresses it, come what may. We
don't get much of that here, only the Traviata extract
is live - taken from the Lisbon La Traviata. Some
of the extracts are from complete recordings, and that helps.
The French operas on CD 2 are distinctive not only for
the sound quality which Callas brings to her voice and her
diction but also for the sheer beauty of some of the singing. Ah,
Je veux vivre from Romeo et Juliette opens with
some simply lovely singing. Callas really captures the idea
of Juliette even though the piece was recorded quite late
in her career. This shows, of course, when she starts to
open up. The same can be said of Depuis le jour from Louise.
Where these French pieces also gain is in the roles
for mezzo-soprano. The Carmen extracts come from the
complete recording and are accompanied by Dalila and Charlotte.
In all of these Callas can bring her artistry to bear without
having to strain the ears with raw top notes … or is that
heresy.
I have not said much about the origins of the various
arias on this disc. That is because the CD booklet gives
virtually no information about which recording or recital
record the various arias come from. This is a great omission
and also a strong indication that the disc is intended for
first-time listeners rather than Callas enthusiasts.
There are no words included in the booklet, though the
article by Tony Locantro gives a very brief indication of
what is going on. If you have a PC then you can put disc
1 in your CD drive and go to the EMI Classics Club site.
This gives access to additional audio and video content though
it is mainly devoted to recent or new EMI releases rather
than giving additional information about the contents of
this particular set.
This disc is not an ideal survey of Callas's career,
but at under £12 for 2 well filled CDs you do get a lot of
Callas for your money. However, if it is aimed at newcomers,
then there is too much emphasis on roles which were not central
to Callas's stage career. If it is aimed at enthusiasts then
the documentation which accompanies the disc is under par.
Robert Hugill
Full track details Giacomo PUCCINI (1858–1924) Gianni Schicchi: O mio babbino caro[2:35] La Bohème: Sì. Mi chiamano Mimì [4:48], Donde
lieta uscì[3:20] Turandot: Signore, ascolta! [2:29] Tu, che
di gel sei cinta[2:48] Alfredo CATALANI (1854–1893) La Wally: Ebben?...Ne andrò lontana[4:51]
Francesco CILEA (1866–1950)
Adriana Lecouvreur: Ecco: respiro appena...Io
son l'umile ancella [3:46], Poveri fiori[3:13] Umberto GIORDANO (1867–1948) Andrea
Chenier: La mamma morta [4:52] Giuseppe VERDI (1813–1901) I vespri Siciliani: Mercè, dilette amiche [4:10]
Philharmonia Orchestra/Tullio Serafin
Giacomo PUCCINI Tosca: Vissi d'arte[3:16]
Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala di Milano/Victor de Sabata
Giacomo PUCCINI Madama Butterfly:
Un bel di vedremo[4:41] Turandot: In questa Reggia[6:25] Giuseppe VERDI Il Trovatore: D'amor sull'ali rosee [4:30]
Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala di Milano/Herbert von Karajan
Giuseppe VERDI Rigoletto: Gualtier
Maldè ...Caro nome [7:31]
Renato Ercolani (tenor), William Dickie (baritone),
Carlo Forti (bass) Vincenzo BELLINI (1801–1835) La Sonnambula: Compagne, temiri amici ....Come per me sereno[3:16] Norma: Casta Diva[5:33]
Coro e Orchestra del Teatro all Scala di Milano/Tullio
Serafin (4)
Giuseppe VERDI La
Traviata: Ah, fors'è lui[3:17]
Orquestra Sinfonica do Teatro Nacional de Sao Carlos, Lisbon/Franco
Ghione
Gaetano DONIZETTI (1797–1848) Lucia di Lammermoor: Regnava nel silenzio...Quando
rapito in estasi [8:20] (9,10)
Anna Maria Canali (mezzo)
Orchestra del Maggio Musicale
Fiorentino/Tullio Serafin
Gioachino ROSSINI (1792–1868) Il Barbiere di Siviglia: Una voce poco fa[6:20]
Philharmonia Orchestra/Alceo Galliera
Giuseppe VERDI Ernani: Surta è la notte .... Ernani! Ernani, involami[6:10]
Philharmonia Orchestra/Nicola Rescigno
Giuseppe VERDI Aida: Ritorna vincitor[7:70] Christoph Willibald GLUCK (1714–1787) Orphée et Eurydice: J'ai perdu mon Eurydice[4:24] Camille SAINT-SAËNS (1835–1921) Samson et Dalila: Printemps qui commence [5:16] Mon
coeur s'ouvre à ta voix[5:17] Gustave CHARPENTIER (1860–1956) Louise: Depuis le jour où je me suis donnée [4:42] Charles GOUNOD (1818–1893) Roméo et Juliette : Je veux vivre[3:40]
Orchestra National de la Radiodiffusion Francaise/Georges
Pretre
Georges BIZET (1838–1875) Carmen: L'amour
est un oiseau rebelle[4:19] Séguidille: Près des
ramparts de Séville[4:32]
Chanson bohème: les tringles des sistres tintaient [4:18]
Nicolai
Gedda (tenor), Nadine Sautereau (soprano),
Jane Berbié (mezzo) Choeurs René Duclos
Orchestra du Théâtre National de l'Opéra de Paris/Georges
Pretre
Jules MASSENET (1842–1912) Werther: Werther! Qui m'aurait dit la place... Des cris joyeux[7:20] Manon: Je ne suis que faiblesse....Adieu,
notre petite table[3:20] Charles GOUNOD Faust:
Un bouquet!...Ah! je ris (Jewel song) [5:30] (19)
Orchestre
de la Société de Concerts du Conservatoire/Georges Prêtre
Maria Callas (soprano)
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