Maria Callas: The Legend

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
What's the reason for all the fuss about soprano Maria Callas, whose life story is like a study in Greek tragedy? Her great gift was not purity of tone or emission, reliability, or sheer loveliness; it was, rather, her ability to change her vocal color and style to suit not only particular periods of opera but to get under the skin of the individual characters she portrayed: Bellini's priestess Norma performing a sacred rite; Puccini's sweetly hopeful Mimí from La Bohème and his innocent Butterfly; Verdi's courtesan Violetta; Bizet's sultry, adult Carmen; Donizetti's raving Lucia, and many others--and you'll believe them all. Much--though not all--of the program is identical to the 1993 anthology La Divina, though there has been some remastering since then. It's a perfect way to sample the art of Callas and begin to understand why, decades after her death, she remains one of the opera world's most revered performers. --Robert Levine

Tracks:

Norma: Act I, Casta Diva
La Wally: Act I: Ebben? Ne Andro Lontana
Gianni Schicch: O Mio Babbino Caro
Andrean Chenier: Act III: La Momma Morta
Tosca: Act II: Vissi D'arte
Madame Butterfly: Act II: Un Bel Di Vedremo
La Boheme: Act I: Si. Mi Chiamano Mimi
La Boheme: Act III: Donde Lieta Usci
La Traviata: Act I: Ah, Fors' E Lui
La Traviata: Act III: Addio, Del Passato
Orphee Et Eurydice: Act IV: J'ai Perdu Mon Eurydice
Samson Et Delila: Act II: Mon Couer S'ouvre A Ta Voix
Carmen: Act I: L'amour Est Un Oiseau Rebelle (Habanera)
Carmen: Act I: Pres Des Remparts De Seville
Carmen: Act II: Les Tringles Des Sistres Tintaient (Chanson Boheme)
Il Barbier Di Siviglia: Act I: Une Voce Poco Fa
Lucia Di Lammermoor: Act III: Spargi D'amaro Pianto

Amazon.com

What's the reason for all the fuss about soprano Maria Callas, whose life story is like a study in Greek tragedy? Her great gift was not purity of tone or emission, reliability, or sheer loveliness; it was, rather, her ability to change her vocal color and style to suit not only particular periods of opera but to get under the skin of the individual characters she portrayed: Bellini's priestess Norma performing a sacred rite; Puccini's sweetly hopeful Mimí from La Bohème and his innocent Butterfly; Verdi's courtesan Violetta; Bizet's sultry, adult Carmen; Donizetti's raving Lucia, and many others--and you'll believe them all. Much--though not all--of the program is identical to the 1993 anthology La Divina, though there has been some remastering since then. It's a perfect way to sample the art of Callas and begin to understand why, decades after her death, she remains one of the opera world's most revered performers. --Robert Levine

Customer Reviews:

Re: The review from the preceding oddly named reviewer.......2006-05-09

He--or she, as the case may be--understands.

Get some Callas complete sets, otherwise an excellent introduction.......2006-05-04

This was my first experience to the voice of Maria Callas. Before listening to this disc, I had already read all kinds of articles and reviews hyping Callas as "the singer of the 20th century", "the goddess", "la divina"...and so on.
Right at the beginning of the first track, "Casta Diva" from Norma, I was totally knocked over. I had imagined the most famous voice of the century as an angelic, gorgeous voice. What ugly sounds I heard! Even the coloratura and phrasing did not sound even. I continued running through the whole disc and at each track could not stand for more than a minute, struck with her weird sounding instrument. The only moment that I really liked on that first listen was that glorious E flat that closes the CD, which was so powerful that I listened to it again and again.
Then, by chance, I got to borrow the recording of Tosca with that impeccable Callas-di Stefano-Gobbi-Sabata cast. It was a weekend, and I decided to give it a listen, libretto in hand.
I was totally out of words. I did not like Callas's voice at all at the beginning, but slowly warmed up to it. Her portrayal of the anguish of Tosca at the 2nd act was so terrifyingly true and alive that I was totally speechless and literally immobilized. By that knock-out aria, Vissi d'Arte, I had already conceived the voice of Maria Callas as a beautiful voice. The ending of the opera, with that wonderful acting from Callas, literally had me immobilized for 15 minutes after the final chord.
After Tosca, one by one came Callas's Violetta, Norma, Lady Macbeth, Gioconda, Lucia di Lammermoor...It is impossible for me now to tell exactly when did I start to love that "ugly" voice. I slowly understood why Callas's recordings and portrayals had that frightening ability to convince and seduce: Callas does not sacrifice the ongoing drama for a beautiful but senseless sound. She sacrifices that beauty of sound of a Tebaldi or Milanov in order to REALLY get into the character and become the character she portrays. The best way to listen to Callas is not to listen to the highlights, but to every single moment of her interpretations. She is one of the rare voices that can bring so much excitement to those recitatives and make them as worth hearing as the florid arias.
Callas's voice is so distinct and "tasty" that after her I quite can not content myself with any other voice. It is really exciting how she literally grabs you with her art and brings you to her knees. If you want to really get to know Maria Callas, get some of her complete sets of her famous roles like Tosca, Norma, Violetta and get to know why she is such a legend.

6 Stars!.......2005-04-05

Is Callas' voice per se exceptionally beautiful, bearing in mind that once upon a time the standard was gracefulness and pleasentness to the ears? Before Callas, we have Tebaldi and Schwarkopf...

Nevertheless with Callas, we surely have a most incredible voice of the century. Incredible in the sense that she could cover literally a range of 2.5 octaves with ease (not even Caballe could do that), and she could change her timbers anytime and at any register. Coupled with a profound understanding of the characters that she sings, this makes her suitable for almost all opera parts. That explains why her singing could be so moving, so powerful and so full of drama.

But Callas with really beautiful recorded sound is not easy to come by, leave alone those recorded when she was in her prime. This is exactly such an album. Furthermore, most of the arias here are from famous operas, quite a few from what people would name the "top ten" operas. Last but not the least, Alfred Brendel, one of the topmost pianists, used to listen to Callas a lot partly to see her phrasings! Highly recommended for all opera, in fact all music lovers.

Callas is Opera's Meryl Streep.......2004-08-07

This CD is a great catalogue of Callas' tremendous talent as a singer and actress.

The thing about Maria Callas is that she brings good entertainment to the stage; an aspect that has, unfortunately, often been neglected in productions. While most of us have never had the opportunity to see her perform live, and technology at the peak of her career couldn't do justice to her voice, we can still feel the essence of each character she meant to portray. Her artistic dexterity is supreme, allowing for her ability to faithfully interpret the composers' intent.

For example, through Maria you can feel extremely sympathetic to Violetta's melancholy, or Tosca's desperation. She is adorable as Mimi and graciously reverent as Bellini's Norma. She paints these different characters in your mind with the many varied colors of her voice and a thorough understanding of the whole science of music. You will be affected with each aria, and you'll fall in love with her. If you are a Callas fan, this CD should be in your collection, and if you don't know Callas yet, this is a great first CD to learn about her and maybe even a good deal about Opera. Buy it!

WOW!.......2004-07-14

Callas is the best! The greatest soprano ever. This compilation is absolutely gorgeous!