La Divina Complete

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
In case there was a moment in your life when your suspected that Maria Callas was not a driving force in opera in the last half of this century, pick up this set. Apparently unable to give a dull performance, here we get Callas in La Divina as Rossini's flirty Rosina; Verdi's emotion-torn Aida; Catalani's unbelievably sad Wally (a classic performance, by which all others are measured); Bellini's Norma (ditto); Puccini's lovely, youthful Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi; the same composer's frigid, furious Turandot as well as his confused, desparate Manon Lescaut; Verdi's Loenoras--each noble; Meyerbeer's ditzy Dinorah and Delibes's loco Lakme (in some fabulous, high-flying coloratura singing); and at least a dozen more roles. While it's true that her control over her voice varies--the French coloratura arias, from Gounod and Thomas operas, can be pretty acidic--there's never an uninterested reading, never a once-over read-through. You'll get to know the characters as well as their music by hearing Callas as each heroine--indeed, this collection is like a who's who in opera. No music lover should be without it. --Robert Levine

La Divina Complete, Music, Tito Gobbi, Vincenzo Bellini, Georges Bizet, Alfredo Catalani, Gustave Charpentier, Francesco Cilea, Leo Delibes, Gaetano Donizetti, Umberto Giordano, Christoph Willibald Gluck, Charles Gounod, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Pietro Mascagni, Jules Massenet, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Amilcare Ponchielli, Giacomo Puccini, Gioachino Rossini, Camille Saint-Saens, Spoken Word, Gaspare Spontini, Ambroise Thomas, Giuseppe Verdi, Alceo Galliera, Antonino Votto, Franco Ghione, Georges Prêtre, Herbert von Karajan, Nicola Rescigno, Tullio Serafin, Ebe Ticozzi, Monte Carlo Conservatory Concert Society Orchestra, France National Radio Orchestra, L'Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, L'Orchestra et Coro del Teatro alla Scala, L'Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Francaise, Lisbon Orquesta Sinfonica del Teatro Nacional de San Carlos, Orchestre National de la R.D.F., Orchestre du Théâtre National de l'Opéra de Paris, Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus, Philharmonia Orchestra of London, Rene Duclos Choir, Maria Callas, Nadine Sautereau, Alfredo Kraus, Giuseppe di Stefano

Puccini: Turandot (Complete Opera) Maria Callas; Elisabeth Schwarzkopf: Eugenio Fernandi; Tullio Serafin
Average customer rating:

Callas in Turandot

Despite fine singing, mono sound disappoints

If , and only if, you are a Callas fan: Get this!

The best Liu on disc

A great moment - a revelation

Puccini: Turandot (Complete Opera) Maria Callas; Elisabeth Schwarzkopf: Eugenio Fernandi; Tullio Serafin
Eugenio Fernandi , Giuseppe Nessi , Nicola Zaccaria , Giulio Mauri , Mario Borriello , and Milan Chorus & Orchestra of La Scala Theatre
Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Puccini: La Boheme (complete opera) with Maria Callas, Giuseppe di Stefano, Anna Moffo, Antonino Votto, Chorus & Orchestra of La Scala, Milan

Puccini: Madama Butterfly (complete opera) with Maria Callas, Lucia Danieli, Nicolai Gedda, Herbert von Karajan, Chorus & Orchestra of La Scala, Milan

Bizet: Carmen (complete opera) with Maria Callas, Nicolai Gedda, Georges Pretre, Paris Opera Orchestra

Puccini: Tosca (complete opera) with Maria Callas, Giuseppe di Stefano, Tito Gobbi, Victor de Sabata, Chorus & Orchestra of La Scala, Milan

Puccini: Manon Lescaut (complete opera) with Maria Callas, Giuseppe di Stefano, Tullio Serafin, Chorus & Orchestra of La Scala, Milan

ASIN: B000002RY0
Release Date: 1997-08-19

Tracks:

Turandot: Act One: Popolo di Pekino!
Turandot: Act One: Padre! Mio padre!
Turandot: Act One: Perduta la battaglia
Turandot: Act One: Gira la cote! Gira!
Turandot: Act One: Perche tarda la luna?
Turandot: Act One: La, sui monti dell'est
Turandot: Act One: O giovinetto!
Turandot: Act One: Figlio, che fai?
Turandot: Act One: Fermo! che fai? T'arresta!
Turandot: Act One: Silenzio, ola!
Turandot: Act One: Guardalo, Pong!
Turandot: Act One: Non indugiare!
Turandot: Act One: Signore, ascolta!
Turandot: Act One: Non piangere, Liu!
Turandot: Act One: Ah! per l'ultima volta!
Turandot: Act Two: Scene One: Ola, Pang! Ola, Pong!
Turandot: Act Two: Scene One: O Cina, o Cina
Turandot: Act Two: Scene One: Ho una casa nell'Honan
Turandot: Act Two: Scene One: O mondo, pieno di pazzi innamorati!
Turandot: Act Two: Scene One: Addio, amore!
Turandot: Act Two: Scene One: Noi si sogna
Turandot: Act Two: Scene Two: Gravi, enormi ed imponenti
Turandot: Act Two: Scene Two: Un giuramento atroce mi costringe
Turandot: Act Two: Scene Two: Diecimila anni ai nostro Imperatore!
Turandot: Act Two: Scene Two: In questa reggia
Turandot: Act Two: Scene Two: Straniero, ascolta! Nella cupa notte
Turandot: Act Two: Scene Two: Guizza al pari di fiamma
Turandot: Act Two: Scene Two: Gelo che ti da foco
Turandot: Act Two: Scene Two: Gloria, o vincitore!
Turandot: Act Two: Scene Two: Figlio del cielo!
Turandot: Act Two: Scene Two: Tre enigmi m'Hai proposto!
Turandot: Act Two: Scene Two: Ai tuoi piedi ci prostriam

Tracks:

Turandot: Act Three: Scene One: Cosi comanda Turandot
Turandot: Act Three: Scene One: Nessun dorma!
Turandot: Act Three: Scene One: Tu che guardi le stelle
Turandot: Act Three: Scene One: Principessa divina!
Turandot: Act Three: Scene One: Quel nome!
Turandot: Act Three: Scene One: L'amore? ... Tanto amore, segreto e inconfessato
Turandot: Act Three: Scene One: Tu, che di gel sei cinta
Turandot: Act Three: Scene One: Liu...bonta!
Turandot: Act Three: Scene One: Principessa di morte!
Turandot: Act Three: Scene One: Che e mai di me? Perduta!
Turandot: Act Three: Scene One: Del primo pianto, si...La mia gloria e il tuo amplesso!
Turandot: Act Three: Scene One: Diecimilla anni al nostro Imperatore!

Amazon.com

This is a would-be classic. The younger, pudgier Maria Callas sang the role of Turandot with a hurricane force that's rarely been equaled. But by 1958--when this recording was made--the slimmer, wiser Callas had less of the vocal power required by the opera's Act II shouting match (also known as "The Riddle Scene"), and the character's simplistic motivation (beheading suitors as a way of not dealing with her sexual frigidity) offered little for her sophisticated theatrical imagination. As the suitor who breaks through her barriers, tenor Eugenio Fernandi is little better than adequate. Elsewhere, there are strong pluses: In the uncharacteristic role of Liu, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf summons the honeyed tone of her earlier years as well as the dramatic specificity of her maturity. Conductor Tullio Serafin gives one of his most individualistic, dramatically memorable interpretations. He never lets you forget this is an ugly story about barbaric people, underscoring Puccini's every dissonance and inspiring a supremely vivid performance from the La Scala chorus. --David Patrick Stearns

Customer Reviews:

Callas in Turandot.......2006-12-03

I would recommend this recording to Callas lovers. It is the only true Turandot available in full form. They claim there is one from 1949 with del Monaco, but it was only partly recorded. This is Callas's only full recording of Turandot, with Serafin conducting, so I would also recommend it to people who love Turandot. Serafin gives an exciting, insightful performance (one of those we rarely get from Serafin) and is very well-done by the Teatro alla Scala's Chorus and Orchestra. This is where the glory ends. Callas's drama is almost undectable, her '47, '48, and '49 Turandots were all about vocal glory, which is something Callas by now is on her way to... redefining. So, she is conserving her voice, something one does not do and pull off a Turandot, unless one is Callas. And here, one is. This is a very good Turandot for collectors, but don't make it your first. For that I would recommend the Turandot with Nilsson and Corelli with Molinari-Pradelli conducting. Quatre stelle!

Despite fine singing, mono sound disappoints.......2006-06-02

Callas fans will want to own this, but I cannot recommend it as a first Turandot. It is an opera of lush orchestration and complex ensembles more than of melodies, and the mono recording just can't handle it; the ear struggles to pick out the different parts, and at times it is impossible even to follow along in the libretto. The chorus in particular tends to disappear in quieter passages, of which there are many. This work cries out for a lush modern stereo recording.

If , and only if, you are a Callas fan: Get this! .......2005-04-14

This recording is only for Callas-fans. Serafin is allways good, but he does nothing spesial here. Schwarzkopf is nothing more than adequat as Liù and the Calaf of Fernandi is not even that.

Even Callas - the only reason to by this set - is in unsteady voce. Here top often gets out of control, and some times it gets really ugly. Listen to the frase "quell grido e quella morte" in "In questa regga": she lacks control here!

But still: If you are - like I am - a fan of Callas, you simply must have this. She may have lost some of the brilliant voce she had before 1955 (give or take a year), but she still is an amazing acter. She colores everything so beautifully, and she gives the unhuman Turandot a human, beleveble "face".

The best Liu on disc.......2005-03-05

This may come as a surprise but I truly believe that Schwarzkopf is the most touching Liu on disc. It is also amazing to realise in this site how many people simply fail to have an opinion of their own regarding the singing and just repeat some classical reviews made by certain People in a certain Era and for certain Reasons which I care not to explain.
All you have to do is play the part where Callas sings the phrase: "Chi posa tanta forza nel tuo core?" and Elisabeth responds: "Principessa, l'amoooreeee" On the word "amore" we have one of the subtlest and most expressive pianissisimi ever made by a human throat. It can melt your heart...it is not a pianisimo made by the singer in order to sound beautiful or to sing a high note that could not be reached forte (like by Caballe whose pianissimi always served her technique and nothing else). It is a pianissimo made by the most profound musicality and the most sensitive intention towards the composer's description of Liu's character. Because Schwarzkopf as well as Callas never sang a pianissimo unless they wanted to say something with it...
This is a heart breaking Liu and I dare to say that the "Cold Diva" is a thousand times warmer and more expressive than supposedly succesful Lius on disc whose singing I find completely COLD. I also believe that this performance is the most mis-judged performance in the 20th century Anyone with a heart remains cold and unmoved by Liu when sung by Caballe or Tebaldi or Gheorghiou...but here! This is so unbelievable touching that it brings tears... The Ultimate Exmaple of Schwarzkopf's lesson in Opera: that precision, accuracy and subtle colors are sometimes enough to reveal the beauty of music.
I won;t even mention Elisabeth's "Tu che di gel" ... it is not necessairy to make my point. Just listen to that phrase:
"Principessa, l'amooooooooooooreeeeeee" and you will realise what makes the difference of a Genius singing.

Callas here sings with more passion that Nilsson did in her entire career. The only rival for this Turandot is Borkh's...

A great moment - a revelation.......2004-10-23

I read all the reviews in this page and hoped for some reason and some musical criticism but as usual with Amazon the negative "reviews" are nothing except insipid, bottom-showing crap. One even plagiarised an entire review from somebody else. One can see how much hatred great talent can provoke. Then the bashing is written in awful grammar and unmusical nonsense is sold as the "truth". If Callas' voice HAD been "weak" and "thin" she could hardly have performed Aida, Tosca, Brünnhilde, Isolde, Kundry and Turandot to great critical acclaim. This Turandor really "bursts with colour" as another reviewer wrote. Schwarzkopf, ever intelligent and idiomatic, redeemed the lovely role of Liu of all the verismo-mannerisms that had plagued it before. Callas, in 1957 her voice was in beautiful shape though not as tough as it used to be, creates the most insightful, impressive Turandot that doesn't merely blow out her guts but shows feeling and emotion to. Listen how she phrases the word "Amore" and be floored by such beauty. Fernandi might not be a Corelli but I found his Prince to be very charming and truly heart-warming. Serafin conducts Puccini to perfection, nobody ever did it as well as he, who had witnessed Puccini himself. Two thumbs up indeed!

Average customer rating:

Mesmerizing set. La Divina's gift to the world.
Breathtaking!
Callas is Still Opera's Queen
Grand
The divine Callas

Callas: La Divina [Limited Edition]

Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:

Maria Callas - Life and Art
Maria Callas Live
The Very Best Of Maria Callas

ASIN: B000002S6V
Release Date: 1995-11-14

Tracks:

Madama Butterfly, Un Bel Di Vedremo
Carmen, Lamour Est Un Oiseau Rebelle (Habanera)
La Wally, Ebben Ne Andro Lontana
Il Barbiere Di Siviglia, Una Voce Poco Fa
Norma, Casta Diva
Samson Et Dalila, Mon Coeur Souvre A Ta Voix
Rigoletto, Caro Nome
Verdi La Traviata, Sempre Libera
Romeo Et Juliette, Je Veux Vivre Dans Ce Reve
Puccini: La Boheme
Don Giovanni
Cavalleria Rusticana
La Gioconda
Puccini: Gianna Schicchi
Puccini: Turandot
Puccini: Tosca

Tracks:

Divinites Du Styx
Les Tringles Des Sistres Tintaient
Surta E La Notte
In Quelle Trine Morbido
Ritorna Vincitor
Jai Perdu Mon Eurydice
Bolero: Merce Dilette Amiche
Depuis Le Jour
Donde Lieta Usci
Ah, Pour Ce Soir
Teneste La Promessa
O Don Fatale
Printemps Qui Commence
Compagne Teneri Appena
Ecco: Respiro Appena
Spargi Damaro Pianto

Tracks:

La Mamma Morta - Andrea Chenier
O Nume Tutelar - La Vestale
Je Ne Suis Que Faiblesse - Manon
Oh, Sara La Piu Bella....Tu, Tu Amore? - Giuseppe Di Stefano (Tenor)
Pres Des Remparts De Seville (Seguedille) Acte I - Carmen
Dunque Io Son Atto - Barbiere Di Siviglia
Dov' E L'indiana Bruna? - Lakme
Qui Radames Verra!...O Patria Mia - Aida
O Soave Fanciulla - La Boheme
Signore, Ascolta! - Turandor
Qual Fiamma Avea Nel Guardo...Hui! - Pagliacci
D'amor Sull' Ali Rosee - Trovatore
Vagliatemi Bene, Un Bene Piccolino - Madama Beutterfly
Ombra Leggiera - Dinorah

Tracks:

Interview
Interview
Interview
Interview
Interview
Interview
Interview
Interview
Interview
Interview
Interview

Amazon.com

In case there was a moment in your life when your suspected that Maria Callas was not a driving force in opera in the last half of this century, pick up this set. Apparently unable to give a dull performance, here we get Callas in La Divina as Rossini's flirty Rosina; Verdi's emotion-torn Aida; Catalani's unbelievably sad Wally (a classic performance, by which all others are measured); Bellini's Norma (ditto); Puccini's lovely, youthful Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi; the same composer's frigid, furious Turandot as well as his confused, desparate Manon Lescaut; Verdi's Loenoras--each noble; Meyerbeer's ditzy Dinorah and Delibes's loco Lakme (in some fabulous, high-flying coloratura singing); and at least a dozen more roles. While it's true that her control over her voice varies--the French coloratura arias, from Gounod and Thomas operas, can be pretty acidic--there's never an uninterested reading, never a once-over read-through. You'll get to know the characters as well as their music by hearing Callas as each heroine--indeed, this collection is like a who's who in opera. No music lover should be without it. --Robert Levine

Customer Reviews:

Mesmerizing set. La Divina's gift to the world........2006-07-30

I have listened to this 4-cd set numerous times and each occasion yields an abundant harvest. Maria Callas, one of my favorites, thrills, exalts, and saddens the listener to no end. You don't have to be a classical music fan to enjoy and be moved by this music. I cannot find words to substantially explain the beauty and meaning of this set.

Thank you La Divina.

Breathtaking!.......2006-06-11

I am no expert, I just love music. I bought this set in order to get an overview of what Callas offers, boy did I get more than I bargained for. There are many wonderful sopranos, I won't say this one or that one is better... its like good wine, what you choose to drink depends on your mood. Sutherland is purity, Bartoli is sheer joy, Callas is darkness. For me she is the Schubert of the voice and she can make me weep, that is her power, pure and simple.

Callas is Still Opera's Queen.......2005-01-25

With the apparent genius embedded in Callas' singing, it is no wonder that decades after her death, her voice will still echo within the chambers of our living rooms. Her great sense of the bel canto style, combined with the empassioned soul she juxtaposed into her performances, along with her amazing control over the three hundred (acclaimed conductor Nicola Rescigno said this) voices she had, are undeniably the reason why such a controversial singer survived the passing of time with a legion of fans still eager to submit to her amazing and passionate singing. She had the ability to chop a singular, monotonic-sounding instrument to convert it into a million shades of human emotion--something that no great singer was able to do today. She was the divine goddess of opera, able to command any listener to watch and listen to her declaim her roles. It was because of this that she was called "La Divina", and then many years later as "The Voice of the Century". But what defines a Voice of the Century, you might ask? It is the ability to live the life of a character all the while singing the lines, the melodies, the trills, and the embellishments required to bring a certain degree of drama into the role. Meaning there was no need for overornamentation, or such and so. Being the Voix du Secle didn't mean that you could sing coloratura roles so efficiently. If that were so, then Lily Pons would have been the Voice of the Century. Callas did so much more than that. She breathed life into opera, and turned it into the most illustrious and the most highly celebrated of all arts. No other singer can claim to have done that, no matter how amazing the range, how great the tonal quality whatsoever. Only Callas deserves such a title...and she truly was La Divina and The Voice of the Century.

I am also a big fan of Joan Sutherland. I just don't find it right for her to be tackling overly dramatic roles such as Norma, which her middle voices couldn't support. The middle voice is required for Bellini, you know. Joan Sutherland has a perfect vocal technique, but let me let you in on something divulged to me by an authority in music: Joan Sutherland never learned to read notes. She had a perfect sense of hearing, and it was Andre Previn and not Richard Bonynge who introduced the roles to her. Andre Previn would play a note on the piano, and she would just follow by singing. Surprising isn't it that the most celebrated coloratura of our age never learned to read notes? She has a great voice anyhow, but the only other thing that bothered me is that she didn't put her soul into singing. Although her voice remained in her throat until her 60's, the only reason that happened was because she didn't pour out her soul. Callas' technique, although one of the most attractive ever to have walked this planet (she could very well sing anything and be the character), was damaging to the vocal cords. Pouring your soul into the role has a tendency to scratch your instrument. Still, she was the Divine One, and she truly places first as my favorite soprano of all time.

Grand.......2004-05-21

Why won't this Callas-Hater leave Maria alone? If he hates her so much, why did he listen to all her recordings? I doubt that he did, bashing a perfect recording like Callas' Aida shows he hasn't heard it. Even Callas' enemies were floored by her Mexican performances. This collection is absolutely magnificent. La Divina will always be La Divina and no one comes close!

The divine Callas.......2004-05-08

An awesome collection of the most supreme voice in the world! Brava La Divina!!!!!

Music Review: