Che dire? Fa una tenerezza infinta. La voce non è più quella di solo pochi anni prima, si è assottigliata, il diaframma trema, gli acuti vengono emessi di testa, la linea di canto si spezza spesso, i tempi vengono affrettati e perfino la recitazione vocale (che rimane per sempre insuperabile) ne risente. Ma la si ascolta con immenso, sconfinato rispetto e amore. L'amore, quello vero, che si deve a una donna che ha incarnato l'arte, che ci ha insegnato la Lirica con L maiuscola, che ha lasciato una eredità come nessuno mai in termini di bravura, professionalità, serietà, emozioni. Soprano assoluto. Nessuno mai prima e dopo di lei. Fenomeno unico e irripetibile. Grazie, Maria❤
J'étais dans la salle le soir de sa dernière Norma complète à Garnier et j'ai enregistré toute la représentation que je garde comme un trésor fabuleux ! C'est un souvenir incroyable : le combat de Callas avec sa voix qui n'était plus ce qu'elle avait été mais qui nous offrit la vision de la grande tragédienne ASSOLUTA qu'elle fut et qui, à ce jour, reste insurpassée
antoine Selva bonsoir , vous avez eu beaucoup de chance !! Les documents disponibles de ces soirées sont malheureusement pauvres sur le plan sonore mais tellement émouvants .....
Bonsoir, envisagez-vous le dépôt à la bibliothèque musée de l'opéra ? La conservation fait la collecte des documents historiques. Fragile, xe serait l'assurance de bien conserver pour les générations futures votre précieux "pirate" ! Bien cordialement
I attended these performances, and it was so beautiful...I remember her with her blue velvet coat, in the moonlight, with long red hair, it was magic...of course that evening the poor Maria was sick, but nevertheless she was better than anybody else, in that time...and now, and forever ! Unforgettable...
solvejpeint Hello Solvepeint! I too was there! Hitch-hiked all the way to Paris (and back) from Rome for this string of performances. Smartest thing I ever did!!!! "Ah rimembranze!!"
Hello Canto in movimiento, it's nice to meet someone who was there...a long time ago ! But the memory is so deep, until now ! We were young :) Do you remember how " contested" Maria was, at that time, and now she is a legend, and now, nobody ever more contest any of the poor artist that we have...amazing, no ? Best regards Solvej
I listened to this recording with expectation that I would hear a bad rendition. It is not that true! Comparing to the young Callas, maybe yes, but comparing to the singers we hear today... still wonderful
You can definitely tell how much smaller her voice has gotten by this point. And she cuts some phrases shorter too, as if she were out of breath. But she's still more Norma than anyone since.
Callas siempre será Callas, sinónimo de bel canto, interpretación insuperable, detallista en su canto. Su fuego jamás podrá ser apagado. Ella es Norma. Viva Callas.
LA DIVINA!!!!❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ It doesn’t matter how Callas sounds, I will always support her! The best gift to the world was Maria, She Will never die! Long live LA DIVINA! When she was young she was care free, confident and so sweet and pure, her voice sounded like a flower that was blooming. In her later years as Onassis entered her voice sounded like that of a mature woman that was oppressed and abused, in Tosca it was pure sadness, it makes me cry...... but whatever stage in her life she will never die! Never forgotten! She made her mark on the world as no other soprano has ever done! And will never do! For that I will never forget this woman.
La Davina lives forever. Very brave performance using almost entirely her upper register! After the second glass of wine there's absolutely no wobble. I love you Maria. GOAT.
Canto En Movimiento, Solvejpeint I still was there that night and I dare say I actually was sicker that Maria because we felt, those who knew her at the time we were not so many, she was running to a catastrophic performance. I saw her the previous year in Tosca and Norma and she was much more better. The struggle of Maria to keep the control of her voice during this first scene was terrifying and I really thought she could not go on so badly. She did better song in the second act but things were definitely declining and she faint during the last intermezzo. I remember her beautiful figure so slim and her face becoming whiter and whiter. Those who never saw her on stage cannot understand entirely who Callas was actually. Beyond the myth itself there is the artist with her strong charismatic presence her beauty her unique chromatic tune and her exceptional technique all together making that huge magnetic personality we all know today. I would rather remember the Norma she performed with Corelli in 1964. So much more exciting ! Best regards
La Divina Callas non va solo ascoltata andrebbe anche vista...lei potrebbe cantare anche senza voce...E' una 'Farinelli ' moderna e come lui grande artista,immensa cantante e strepitosa attrice
"Infranta, si!" is where you know that you are listening to the Queen Mother of Bel Canto, adding slancio and sfumatura where lesser beings fear to tread. I have never heard a singer with such a genius for recitar cantando. This is beyond human capacity, for everyone else. To know that this was her last staged performance makes this even more thrilling. Thank you, sir, for this splendid memento. I listened to this with a bunch of opera queens after the first pirate came out a year or two later, and we couldn't stop crying.
I read one comment, I can't remember who from, saying: "There was nothing about her background to explain why she was able to sing the perfect recitative."
I had no idea that she could still sing as well as this in 1965. It is not a good recording and I can hear the occasional frailty but it is still a thrilling and magnificent performance by any standard and I do not understand all the complaining and lamentations. I wish I had been there.
She was very ill and unfortunately had to end the performance at the beginning of act 2 . My parents were there and told me that when the announcment was made , in place of grunts , there was an extraordinary ovation !
so many media said callas bad in last moment in life want earn more money from her CD and music, for me i listen her 60s to 70s record many many time, her voice still very good! just sometime need more warm up never lost her voice !
Aun hermosa voz, por momentos disminuida, un esbozo, una sombra, por momentos vibraciones dispersándose con débil voluntad por sostener. Y al final aún hermosa voz.
Even at the very end, here, she's still better than any Norma we listen to today. She lives the part and sings in the purest belcanto way and always in tune. It's actually very interesting to me to hear what singers do when the fearless voice of youth leaves them. It's then when one discovers their musical intelligence - if it's there.
Allan, non ostante tutto e' sempre l'Ah! bello a me ritorna" della Callas e anche se un po' cosi cosi e' sempre la prima in classifica.Il recitativo d'ingresso tanto non lo battera' nessuna...e purtroppo per loro, anche il resto.
Ya es la última vez que canta una ópera completa en Paris. Faltan creo las Toscas. Ya no tiene la fuerzo vocal de antaño. Ya no da tantos agudos y casi ningún sobreagudo. Es una pérdida mundial de una de las voces más importantes de la ópera. Y estaba joven, apenas 42 años. Tanta entrega, tanto fuego en el escenario mermaron su voz, pero no su fuerza sobrehumana . Valioso documento, qué pena de nuevo que no esté completamente filmado, de Nuevo pequeñas partes. Qué pérdida que no haya filmaciones completas de sus actuaciones. Así y todo siempre CALLAS DIVINA CALLAS....!!!!!!!!!!!
Wow! She's singing all in head voice!!! I've never really heard this side of her Norma and it is lovely stuff, indeed. A few notes missing. Happens all the time and to young singers, too. Get over it and enjoy. Nothing fell apart and she worked her ass off. At least the chorus is much less a mess than it was for "Callas a Paris"; they were constantly behind the beat. I think Pretre has the orchestra playing a little louder so that everyone can hear, especially so because of Callas' horrible vision. Coming from someone who has played in the orchestra of Norma for about a half dozen performances, depending on the staging, if things are not brought down stage for Casta Diva, the accompaniment is so transparent and sparse that if it is played too softly in the theater, the beat can sometimes become lost/vague by the time the performers hear it. And we can hear it definitely sounds like she and the chorus may be a considerable distance from the conductor. I remember the stage director and the conductor getting into fights over this scene in particular; Mira o Norma, as well, I recall being a challenge to coordinate.
The weight loss... No, I don't think it has to do with that. Maria was perfection, and even in this last Norma, in poor sound quality, a trained ear can hear the beautiful phrasing. We know she was not at her best here, but hey, what a performance with what she had left!
Marco Grosso A WHOLE BOOK COULD BE WRITTEN ON THIS Subject Marco! Without question one of the ingredients within the perfection of Maria's art was her priceless and unique phrasing Talking about phrasing, the way she moved her hands ( I was there) within the musical phrases was poetry into itself. Noone ever like her.
My parents were there and if my memories are correct , she was in very poor shape and had to cancel after the beginning of Act 2 but accordinng to them indeed it was an extremely emotional performance !
Spellbinding...so sad this was her last performance...to think she was sick and yet everything is there even with her 'diminished" vocal means....Callas for ever....
This was her final Norma but not her final opera appearance. She sang one Tosca at Covent Garden the following July, and that was her last full operatic performance. She appeared again in public for concerts on the tour with Di Stafano in 1969 and the early 1970's.
It's obvious from the first note that she shouldn't have attempted this performance. The voice sounds weak and much smaller than usual, and she sounds like she's struggling for breath support. She herself obviously knows things aren't right and simplifies the cabaletta. It's sad that her voice suffered this fate at an age when she should have been singing magnificently. I so wish she hadn't lost all that weight, which I believe led to her losing adequate breath support and eventually led to her vocal downfall.
Nobody knows for sure what caused her vocal decline. Great experts and great singers (such as Giulietta Simionato, Dame Joan Sutherland, Renee Fleming) have their own ideas as to what caused it. What we do know for sure is that she has secured her place and is immortalized as La Divina.
I could STRANGLE Pretre. He had the orchestra blasting away like all the bazookas of WW"2. Such insensitivity comes around once a lifetime. And people complained about Cossotto!!!!
This is the impression the recording make you feel. Remember that depending on where the recorder is (and it's pirate) it will pick up the orchestra more than anything. And she is in the back of the stage in this production. Same thing happened to a recording a friend of mine did of Elektra back in Brazil with Marilyn Zchau, Rysanek and Eva Maria Bundschuh. So... as I was present the balance was perfect but the place where the recorder was made the orchestra very loud. I was there. Same thin might have happened here. Pretre was a very sensible conductor and a great allied to Maria. He wouldn't do this to her.
tenisfin she had made it (barely) through this first stretch ( which for her was always the most difficult. With these obstacles overcome and with her voice warming up Callas USUALLY got better and better as the evening progressed. Here, however, things were quite obviously going in the wrong direction. This performance was not meant to be completed. I say this sadly, for I was there.
Sarebbe stato interessante avere il video di questa serata... (ci sono spezzoni della norma del 64 chissà se un giorno..) se devo ascoltare l'audio é chiaro che la preferisco dieci anni prima nella stupenda Norma della scala! Questa qui é la Norma con la Callas ma non della Callas....
Η παράσταση στο σύνολο της δέν συγκρίνεται με την Νόρμα στην Σκάλα ούτε καν στην Επίδαυρο, όμως , εκείνο το βράδυ , το κοινό χειροκρότησε και απεδοσε τιμή και σεβασμό στην μεγάλη Μαρία Κάλλας που , παρά την φανερή κόπωση, τους χάρισε για τελευταία φορά τή μαγεία , δεν θα την νοιώσουν ποτέ ξανά
The speed is fast making the pitch almost a half step high. This also affects the quality of the voice. It wouldn't sound quite as thin if the speed were corrected. Still, Brava Callas and thank you for this gem from Callas' last Norma.
In quegli anni non era più per lei. Voce in declino e si sente. Applausi di convenienza. Certo la Callas sarà sempre la Callas. Ma non poteva scegliere qualcosa di meno impegnativo?
Prêtre est ici une véritable honte (paix à sa noble âme): tempi saccadés, rapidité injustifiée, incohérences, fortissimi exagérés et chœur d'une nullité désespérante (prononciation impossible comme il fallait s'y attendre!) Heureusement qu'il y avait les restes crépusculaires de Callas et la fougue concurrentielle de ses partenaires. Une piètre soirée.
Maria Callas should have a second thought about her decision to retire from singing opera roles at this moment. She did not have to stop singing. She was too strict with herself.
sto ascoltando con un po' di apprensione..mi chiedo. ora che farà? ce la farà? e per ora ce l'ha sempre fatta- tanta Norme che sento oggi non sono certo più "sicure" e risonanti di lei qui!
@@fabriziogarzi9892 di An na non sono un fan,ma la sua voce over 50 con gli acuti ancora a posto e tanto volume non è male la Maria,temeraria e breve elegantissaima doveva chiudere con Poliuto e Medea.
@@saverioorlando , si, lo so...ma in queste ultime recite trovo degli accenti mai ascoltati prima...abbiamo sopportato ben altro da altre. Pero' comprendo il tuo punto di vista.
To begin with, I don't think this is pitched properly. It sounds much too high. We can only imagine the fears and struggles Callas was feeling when she sang this. Yes, she was the greatest, but this adds no cubits to her stature at all. In some spots one can still hear mastery, but one can hear a lot more of it in her other Norma recordings --- both live and studio. The Callas of ten years earlier would NOT have been happy with this.p
Larry Mitchell Callas herself was obviously not happy with this (which is why she bowed out, leaving this performance incomplete). This not only was her last Norma, but thereafter she only gave three more stage performances (all as "Tosca")
Larry Mitchell, I think you are right, it is not pitched properly, the recording I have ( bjr ) has a much better sound, and Callas sounds vocally much better. That is to say; she started suffering from stage-fright in a horrible way, also her healthcondition got worse during those performances. Her bloodpressure dropped alarmingly, only by getting injections during the intermissions was she able to more or less get through the performances. In this performance she fainted in the intermission before the last act, I believe the fact that she could not finish the performance and the knowledge that she no longer was able to do full justice to the role anymore made her decide to end her stage carreer. After the affair in Rome, and all the scandals that followed she lost the pleasure in singing in a ever bigger degree, I can understand it so well ! I think Maria got tired of all the fighting and stress , she longed for a peacefull life. For a few years she had luckely until Onassis left her, we should be thankful she had those happy years, she earned it !
It’s not terrible, hardly any wobble. Quite the contrary, the vibrato throughout sounds fast and youthful if a bit distant (probably due to quality of the recording) and , yes, the high notes were truncated or omitted. But I do wonder whether the decline was less vocal and more psychological. If so, it’s profoundly sad. There is a lot of good here.
trovo che sia come ascoltare le ultime parole di un condannato a morte................oltretutto non mi sembra assolutamente in serata ...siamo realisti, e' solo per La Norma che fu che si puo' ascoltare questa Casta Diva. Lo dice un callassiano convinto.
è sempre un modo per amarla e ricordarla come quando con mano tremate riceviamo l'ultima carezza di una mamma ricordando con quanta fermezza quella mano ci ha guidato nella vita.
Croci! E sbagli.Un callasiano convinto ascolta e tace...o vuoi ascoltare la Norma della Dessi e della Devia? Anche i condannati a morte qualche volta alzano la voce sopra quelle degli altri e ti inchiodano al muro.
fabrizio maria Garzi perche non siete capaci di leggere nella sua voce??? .LEI stava male !!!!eppure continuava a cantare!!! Mitica ,mitica , mitica !!!! Mari
callasiano qui, certo non e`la migliore esecuzione ma certamente mi piacerebbe ascoltare un'esecuzione del genere oggi, qualunque soprano cantasse cosi` Casta Diva oggi verrebbe osannato ...
Realmente fue una gran artista y creo personajes difíciles de superar como Gioconda y la misma Norma pero, creo que sus condiciones vocales estaban muy mermadas como para interpretar Norma. Esta Norma es una sombra de lo que fue y sólo en algún momento se ve lo que queda de su gran talento. No debería haberla cantado!
beh qui la maria non è certo quella di 10 anni prima . cmq tutto sommato ai nostri giorni si sente anche di peggio. :-( e l'accento la musicalità sono sempre gli stessi
I agree the diction is not clear as it in the past. However I think she sings well at this stage of her career. Can't compare to her youthful performances, but by and large quite good. Whomever recorded must not have been very close. Yikes the tempo in the cabaletta is quite fast.
Très mauvaise direction d'orchestre, lourde et martiale. Choeurs impossibles, incapables de prononcer l'italien correctement (typiquement français!), et fâchés avec le tempo. Heureusement qu'il y a Callas et ses partenaires.
No one to tell her this was "not" for her at this time. No one to tell her there were many "songs" suited for her voice in her final recitals. Maybe DiStefano but then he would have been 'out of a job'. Oh Maria, Maria. What a sad life.
Why she chose to sing Norma at this stage of her career with her voice in such a fragile state, I do not know. She could have chosen to focus her prodigious talents on a more favorable repertoire. perhaps songs. Oh, what she could have done with the Nuit d'Ete by Belioz or the Four Last Songs of Strauss. No matter, greater than her there never was or will ever be.
Dyby This question was often asked at the end of her career and alas even more after her death . I believe there is only one answer : those were all Callas' personal choices. Good or bad ?
I'm not trying to burst anyone's bubble here. I'm speaking the truth. I'm the ultimate Callas fan and I know that the Maria Callas of 1955 would have little tolerance or patience with the Maria Callas heard here. This is not Callas, and she herself must be spinning in the next world knowing that ANY of these Paris Norma performances are being heard. That her "singing" here elicits such euphoric praise is an insult to the greatest opera diva of the Twentieth Century. The fact is that she's totally burned out and is operating with the bare remnants of her once-awesome voice. She was very ill psychologically, full of anxiety and totally lacking in confidence at this late date in her career. The voice is frayed, threadbare, and even the fabled bottom chest notes are inaudible. Not even an attempt at high C, and lower harmonic alternatives are taken left and right. The long sustained lines on the top A are truncated and shortened, and the B flats collapse altogether. These performances should have never taken place, but since they were, it's a shame that they were recorded and circulated. This is most emphatically NOT the La Divina that I remember.
Your points are well made and taken. But this was her last Norma. The value historical and sentimental of this record is indisputable. The trajectory of her Greatness is tragically underrepresented in her youth and overrepresented in her decline. This is emblematic of her whole legacy.
A sad performance, I'm sorry to say. She was a superb soprano as a large woman, but not so after a dramatic weight loss in the '50's. She was certainly still very good but just not superb. I'm not sure how long she was on steroids to treat her dermatomyositis, but that certainly had to contribute to her vocal decline.
we know all the stories... and yet listening to this divine music making and repeating shallow news-reels over and over, is missing the point completely... Everybody I know would give everything to be there that evening...
Daniel Cabrera Loa And I agree totally with YOU! What kind of music lovers are these that put absolutely everything on a high note? These were called by wise music critics in Paris, at the occasion of this Norma, "the saddistic people of High Cs!" Callas herself said in an interview: "People come to the theater to hear high and loud notes. But this is neither Art nor Music: this is a circus!" So whoever may be chiefly interested in "acrobacies" should attend to trapezists' shows at the circus, not to opera performances that are (or SHOULD be) musical and artistic manifestations.please. Learn to listen and love MUSIC, ART and mainly STYLE (a thing most opera goers and even many famous singers don't know not even the meaning). That's when you will finally discover all Callas true and unique greatness. Do not trouble anymore us, who are interested on Music and on Art! Maria Callas, an absolutely complete artist and a true "Meistersängerinnen", is THE Norma of all times and the greatest artist this world has ever known. The World, Time, Music, History and Art have already judged her as such and have already given her this right and final veredict: Divine and Eternal! Just like Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, da Vinci, Michelangelo, Homero, Shakespeare, Tolstoi, Cervantes, Liszt, Paganini,Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Goya, Velazquez, Renoir, Monet, Mussorgsky, Hugo Wolf, Nijinsky, Anna Pavlova, Olga Spessivtzeva, Rudolph Nureyev, Antonio Ruiz Soler, Alicia Alonso or Greta Garbo! As figures of exception, Callas and them were recognized as manifestations of the Divine and, as such, have attained Eternity!
![Maria CALLAS - [RARE !] Interview avec M. RODRINI (1957) - Bel Canto, rivalités, ennemis...](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/VdnpIAtKCJY/mqdefault.jpg)
![Maria CALLAS - [RARE !] Interview avec M. RODRINI (1957) - Bel Canto, rivalités, ennemis...](/img/tr.png)
Che dire? Fa una tenerezza infinta. La voce non è più quella di solo pochi anni prima, si è assottigliata, il diaframma trema, gli acuti vengono emessi di testa, la linea di canto si spezza spesso, i tempi vengono affrettati e perfino la recitazione vocale (che rimane per sempre insuperabile) ne risente. Ma la si ascolta con immenso, sconfinato rispetto e amore. L'amore, quello vero, che si deve a una donna che ha incarnato l'arte, che ci ha insegnato la Lirica con L maiuscola, che ha lasciato una eredità come nessuno mai in termini di bravura, professionalità, serietà, emozioni. Soprano assoluto. Nessuno mai prima e dopo di lei. Fenomeno unico e irripetibile. Grazie, Maria❤
Aunque no es su mejor norma, daria todo por estar alli escuchandola.
Te amo Maria Callas .
J'étais dans la salle le soir de sa dernière Norma complète à Garnier et j'ai enregistré toute la représentation que je garde comme un trésor fabuleux ! C'est un souvenir incroyable : le combat de Callas avec sa voix qui n'était plus ce qu'elle avait été mais qui nous offrit la vision de la grande tragédienne ASSOLUTA qu'elle fut et qui, à ce jour, reste insurpassée
antoine Selva bonsoir , vous avez eu beaucoup de chance !! Les documents disponibles de ces soirées sont malheureusement pauvres sur le plan sonore mais tellement émouvants .....
It would be so nice from you to share it with all of us who love her....
cher monsieur, quel chanceux vous êtes, comment était-elle?
Bonsoir, envisagez-vous le dépôt à la bibliothèque musée de l'opéra ? La conservation fait la collecte des documents historiques. Fragile, xe serait l'assurance de bien conserver pour les générations futures votre précieux "pirate" ! Bien cordialement
Wondeful sound!!! Even when sick and unwell Callas gave the best of herself and was fierce!!
I attended these performances, and it was so beautiful...I remember her with her blue velvet coat, in the moonlight, with long red hair, it was magic...of course that evening the poor Maria was sick, but nevertheless she was better than anybody else, in that time...and now, and forever ! Unforgettable...
solvejpeint Hello Solvepeint! I too was there! Hitch-hiked all the way to Paris (and back) from Rome for this string of performances. Smartest thing I ever did!!!! "Ah rimembranze!!"
Hello Canto in movimiento, it's nice to meet someone who was there...a long time ago ! But the memory is so deep, until now ! We were young :) Do you remember how " contested" Maria was, at that time, and now she is a legend, and now, nobody ever more contest any of the poor artist that we have...amazing, no ? Best regards
Solvej
Thank you for the wonderful visual!
Wow! How lucky you are im 35yrs old so that eras gone now wot a pity!
Can you tell me who was the tenor for Pollione?
I listened to this recording with expectation that I would hear a bad rendition. It is not that true! Comparing to the young Callas, maybe yes, but comparing to the singers we hear today... still wonderful
You can definitely tell how much smaller her voice has gotten by this point. And she cuts some phrases shorter too, as if she were out of breath. But she's still more Norma than anyone since.
How could you EXPECT!! a bad Callas rendition?
Who are you kidding? It's doing a great artist like Callas a disseervice to pretend that this is good.
please excuse! what i really wanted to say is that, comparing to the expectation of a BAD rendition, this is not that bad- this is simple and true!
She sang until she could no longer sing.
She looks statuesque!!! Divina!!!! Total Godess!!
Callas siempre será Callas, sinónimo de bel canto, interpretación insuperable, detallista en su canto. Su fuego jamás podrá ser apagado. Ella es Norma. Viva Callas.
DIVINAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
LA DIVINA!!!!❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ It doesn’t matter how Callas sounds, I will always support her! The best gift to the world was Maria, She Will never die! Long live LA DIVINA! When she was young she was care free, confident and so sweet and pure, her voice sounded like a flower that was blooming.
In her later years as Onassis entered her voice sounded like that of a mature woman that was oppressed and abused, in Tosca it was pure sadness, it makes me cry...... but whatever stage in her life she will never die! Never forgotten! She made her mark on the world as no other soprano has ever done! And will never do! For that I will never forget this woman.
Of course it doesn't matter how Callas sounds, because she always sounds great.
La Davina lives forever. Very brave performance using almost entirely her upper register! After the second glass of wine there's absolutely no wobble. I love you Maria. GOAT.
Canto En Movimiento, Solvejpeint I still was there that night and I dare say I actually was sicker that Maria because we felt, those who knew her at the time we were not so many, she was running to a catastrophic performance. I saw her the previous year in Tosca and Norma and she was much more better. The struggle of Maria to keep the control of her voice during this first scene was terrifying and I really thought she could not go on so badly. She did better song in the second act but things were definitely declining and she faint during the last intermezzo. I remember her beautiful figure so slim and her face becoming whiter and whiter. Those who never saw her on stage cannot understand entirely who Callas was actually. Beyond the myth itself there is the artist with her strong charismatic presence her beauty her unique chromatic tune and her exceptional technique all together making that huge magnetic personality we all know today. I would rather remember the Norma she performed with Corelli in 1964. So much more exciting ! Best regards
La Divina forever!! always in our hearts.
siglinde86 aqr
Sempre Divina Callas. What a GREAT Norma!
La Divina Callas non va solo ascoltata andrebbe anche vista...lei potrebbe cantare anche senza voce...E' una 'Farinelli ' moderna e come lui grande artista,immensa cantante e strepitosa attrice
"Infranta, si!" is where you know that you are listening to the Queen Mother of Bel Canto, adding slancio and sfumatura where lesser beings fear to tread. I have never heard a singer with such a genius for recitar cantando. This is beyond human capacity, for everyone else. To know that this was her last staged performance makes this even more thrilling. Thank you, sir, for this splendid memento. I listened to this with a bunch of opera queens after the first pirate came out a year or two later, and we couldn't stop crying.
Bravo, Infrantasí!
infrantasi She sang "punirlo io PAHSSO" Even Joan Sutherland pronounced words better than that.
And I love them both.......
I read one comment, I can't remember who from, saying: "There was nothing about her background to explain why she was able to sing the perfect recitative."
george prentice We mustn't forget the famous, "O noo-mee too-tee-lar."
george prentice in her whole life couldn’t Sutherland pronounce something correctly, nor her own language, english
I had no idea that she could still sing as well as this in 1965. It is not a good recording and I can hear the occasional frailty but it is still a thrilling and magnificent performance by any standard and I do not understand all the complaining and lamentations. I wish I had been there.
w
Listen to her broadcast performance of 1965 with George Pretre, particularly "Ah Non Credea."
She was very ill and unfortunately had to end the performance at the beginning of act 2 . My parents were there and told me that when the announcment was made , in place of grunts , there was an extraordinary ovation !
crnguy1 WORD!
I was there. After the first act, she withdrew. The curtain didn't rise again.
The Shah and Fara Diba were in the audience.
so many media said callas bad in last moment in life want earn more money from her CD and music, for me i listen her 60s to 70s record many many time,
her voice still very good! just sometime need more warm up never lost her voice !
Aun hermosa voz, por momentos disminuida, un esbozo, una sombra, por momentos vibraciones dispersándose con débil voluntad por sostener. Y al final aún hermosa voz.
Even at the very end, here, she's still better than any Norma we listen to today. She lives the part and sings in the purest belcanto way and always in tune.
It's actually very interesting to me to hear what singers do when the fearless voice of youth leaves them. It's then when one discovers their musical intelligence - if it's there.
She missed a lot of high notes but I must say she still gives a solid controlled musical performance.
I admire her tremendously.....
She's magic !
Vraiment émouvant!
Allan, non ostante tutto e' sempre l'Ah! bello a me ritorna" della Callas e anche se un po' cosi cosi e' sempre la prima in classifica.Il recitativo d'ingresso tanto non lo battera' nessuna...e purtroppo per loro, anche il resto.
El ocaso de una cantante única..
R.I.P. Maestro Georges Prêtre, 1924-2017
Her voice is fine here but the recording of her singing at L'Opera de Paris in 1958 was absolutely matchless.
Ya es la última vez que canta una ópera completa en Paris. Faltan creo las Toscas. Ya no tiene la fuerzo vocal de antaño. Ya no da tantos agudos y casi ningún sobreagudo. Es una pérdida mundial de una de las voces más importantes de la ópera. Y estaba joven, apenas 42 años. Tanta entrega, tanto fuego en el escenario mermaron su voz, pero no su fuerza sobrehumana . Valioso documento, qué pena de nuevo que no esté completamente filmado, de Nuevo pequeñas partes. Qué pérdida que no haya filmaciones completas de sus actuaciones. Así y todo siempre CALLAS DIVINA CALLAS....!!!!!!!!!!!
Mitica ,mitica insuperabile ,..CI sta cantando. : ADDIO!!!!: ... Mari
Elle est l exemple meme que l AMOUR tue ..... merci Maria
I LOVE IT (and me a Ponselle fan who believes Rosa was greatest Norma who ever lived!)
Very interesting and rare, thank you! :)
Tellement émouvant
She was so beautiful , like an Angel!
Wow! She's singing all in head voice!!! I've never really heard this side of her Norma and it is lovely stuff, indeed. A few notes missing. Happens all the time and to young singers, too. Get over it and enjoy. Nothing fell apart and she worked her ass off. At least the chorus is much less a mess than it was for "Callas a Paris"; they were constantly behind the beat. I think Pretre has the orchestra playing a little louder so that everyone can hear, especially so because of Callas' horrible vision. Coming from someone who has played in the orchestra of Norma for about a half dozen performances, depending on the staging, if things are not brought down stage for Casta Diva, the accompaniment is so transparent and sparse that if it is played too softly in the theater, the beat can sometimes become lost/vague by the time the performers hear it. And we can hear it definitely sounds like she and the chorus may be a considerable distance from the conductor. I remember the stage director and the conductor getting into fights over this scene in particular; Mira o Norma, as well, I recall being a challenge to coordinate.
Thank you for sharing! What do you play? I'm a flutist myself.
very interesting indeed
It is regrettable that the long frenzied bravos given at Callas entrance and exit of scene were completely cut here.
The weight loss... No, I don't think it has to do with that. Maria was perfection, and even in this last Norma, in poor sound quality, a trained ear can hear the beautiful phrasing. We know she was not at her best here, but hey, what a performance with what she had left!
Marco Grosso A WHOLE BOOK COULD BE WRITTEN ON THIS Subject Marco! Without question one of the ingredients within the perfection of Maria's art was her priceless and unique phrasing Talking about phrasing, the way she moved her hands ( I was there) within the musical phrases was poetry into itself. Noone ever like her.
la voix est fatiguee mais elle est tojours et restera la grande Callas
OMG! Ah bello a me ritorno was good... and exciting!
Grandiosa .
My parents were there and if my memories are correct , she was in very poor shape and had to cancel after the beginning of Act 2 but accordinng to them indeed it was an extremely emotional performance !
I was there, and it was cruel to witness.
Spellbinding...so sad this was her last performance...to think she was sick and yet everything is there even with her 'diminished" vocal means....Callas for ever....
This was her final Norma but not her final opera appearance. She sang one Tosca at Covent Garden the following July, and that was her last full operatic performance. She appeared again in public for concerts on the tour with Di Stafano in 1969 and the early 1970's.
It's obvious from the first note that she shouldn't have attempted this performance. The voice sounds weak and much smaller than usual, and she sounds like she's struggling for breath support. She herself obviously knows things aren't right and simplifies the cabaletta. It's sad that her voice suffered this fate at an age when she should have been singing magnificently. I so wish she hadn't lost all that weight, which I believe led to her losing adequate breath support and eventually led to her vocal downfall.
Shahrdad w
Nobody knows for sure what caused her vocal decline. Great experts and great singers (such as Giulietta Simionato, Dame Joan Sutherland, Renee Fleming) have their own ideas as to what caused it. What we do know for sure is that she has secured her place and is immortalized as La Divina.
I could STRANGLE Pretre. He had the orchestra blasting away like all the bazookas of WW"2. Such insensitivity comes around once a lifetime. And people complained about Cossotto!!!!
This is the impression the recording make you feel. Remember that depending on where the recorder is (and it's pirate) it will pick up the orchestra more than anything. And she is in the back of the stage in this production. Same thing happened to a recording a friend of mine did of Elektra back in Brazil with Marilyn Zchau, Rysanek and Eva Maria Bundschuh. So... as I was present the balance was perfect but the place where the recorder was made the orchestra very loud. I was there. Same thin might have happened here. Pretre was a very sensible conductor and a great allied to Maria. He wouldn't do this to her.
Cossotto just took vantage on her
Prêtre was horrible here: no belcanto style (no style at all to be frank) and the chorus was just hopeless!
She certainly isn't at her best, but her voice sounds quite steady. She's obviously using it with care but it is secure.
tenisfin she had made it (barely) through this first stretch ( which for her was always the most difficult. With these obstacles overcome and with her voice warming up Callas USUALLY got better and better as the evening progressed. Here, however, things were quite obviously going in the wrong direction. This performance was not meant to be completed. I say this sadly, for I was there.
@@workinprogressmexico So was I.
divina.
Sarebbe stato interessante avere il video di questa serata... (ci sono spezzoni della norma del 64 chissà se un giorno..) se devo ascoltare l'audio é chiaro che la preferisco dieci anni prima nella stupenda Norma della scala! Questa qui é la Norma con la Callas ma non della Callas....
Andrea Lupini, la Callas e' sempre la Callas.
LA MARIA DISSE DI SE STESSA UNA VOLTA IN UNA IN UNA INTERVISTA, CHE E' BENE TUTTI TENGANO SEMPRE A MENTE : "LA CALLAS RESTA SEMPRE LA CALLAS".
la callas non era più come dieci anni prima ma rimane la più grande norma di sempre
Η παράσταση στο σύνολο της δέν συγκρίνεται με την Νόρμα στην Σκάλα ούτε καν στην Επίδαυρο, όμως , εκείνο το βράδυ , το κοινό χειροκρότησε και απεδοσε τιμή και σεβασμό στην μεγάλη Μαρία Κάλλας που , παρά την φανερή κόπωση, τους χάρισε για τελευταία φορά τή μαγεία , δεν θα την νοιώσουν ποτέ ξανά
The speed is fast making the pitch almost a half step high. This also affects the quality of the voice. It wouldn't sound quite as thin if the speed were corrected. Still, Brava Callas and thank you for this gem from Callas' last Norma.
do you have the complete extraits?..i remeber see here a long time...from the overture to "cual cor tradisti"
Even her voice is not as her prime, but her performances are still legendary and irreplaceable
..e una Divina e' Divina sempre,anche qua'. Fatevene una ragione.
fabrizio maria Garzi egr…sign.ci ritroviamo. E questa volta siamo totalmente ,totalmente d'accordo !!!con simpatia. Mari come Callas
ÚNICA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
7:20 started Casa Diva
Muzio and Callas was the best Normas in 20 century!!!!
In quegli anni non era più per lei. Voce in declino e si sente. Applausi di convenienza. Certo la Callas sarà sempre la Callas. Ma non poteva scegliere qualcosa di meno impegnativo?
che fatica però sentire queste cose......:-((((
Musica Tiranna55, e' piu' faticoso ascoltare la Norma della Dessi e della Devia e della Theodossiu....una fatica immane tanto che le eviti a priori.
Prêtre est ici une véritable honte (paix à sa noble âme): tempi saccadés, rapidité injustifiée, incohérences, fortissimi exagérés et chœur d'une nullité désespérante (prononciation impossible comme il fallait s'y attendre!) Heureusement qu'il y avait les restes crépusculaires de Callas et la fougue concurrentielle de ses partenaires. Une piètre soirée.
Maria Callas should have a second thought about her decision to retire from singing opera roles at this moment. She did not have to stop singing. She was too strict with herself.
Maybe she should have done art songs and mezzo roles like La Damnation de Faust, Werther and Samson et Dalilia.
sto ascoltando con un po' di apprensione..mi chiedo. ora che farà? ce la farà? e per ora ce l'ha sempre fatta- tanta Norme che sento oggi non sono certo più "sicure" e risonanti di lei qui!
Massimo Carli, ce la fa sempre.
Esattamente
Si tratta della Norma interrotta.......tutto ha inizio e fine
saverio orlando, se pensi tra un po la fine che fara' la Netrebko...anche nella "fine" non c'e' paragone. Cordiali saluti.
@@fabriziogarzi9892 di An na non sono un fan,ma la sua voce over 50 con gli acuti ancora a posto e tanto volume non è male la Maria,temeraria e breve elegantissaima doveva chiudere con Poliuto e Medea.
@@saverioorlando , si, lo so...ma in queste ultime recite trovo degli accenti mai ascoltati prima...abbiamo sopportato ben altro da altre. Pero' comprendo il tuo punto di vista.
Quella interrota è del 1958 a Roma
Is this from a record?
To begin with, I don't think this is pitched properly. It sounds much too high. We can only imagine the fears and struggles Callas was feeling when she sang this. Yes, she was the greatest, but this adds no cubits to her stature at all. In some spots one can still hear mastery, but one can hear a lot more of it in her other Norma recordings --- both live and studio. The Callas of ten years earlier would NOT have been happy with this.p
Larry Mitchell Callas herself was obviously not happy with this (which is why she bowed out, leaving this performance incomplete). This not only was her last Norma, but thereafter she only gave three more stage performances (all as "Tosca")
+Larry Mitchell It is because of the increased speed of the recording.
Larry Mitchell, I think you are right, it is not pitched properly, the recording I have ( bjr ) has a much better sound, and Callas sounds vocally much better. That is to say; she started suffering from stage-fright in a horrible way, also her healthcondition got worse during those performances. Her bloodpressure dropped alarmingly, only by getting injections during the intermissions was she able to more or less get through the performances. In this performance she fainted in the intermission before the last act, I believe the fact that she could not finish the performance and the knowledge that she no longer was able to do full justice to the role anymore made her decide to end her stage carreer. After the affair in Rome, and all the scandals that followed she lost the pleasure in singing in a ever bigger degree, I can understand it so well ! I think Maria got tired of all the fighting and stress , she longed for a peacefull life. For a few years she had luckely until Onassis left her, we should be thankful she had those happy years, she earned it !
@@workinprogressmexico She only gave one Tosca.
Non ostante la voce che non c'e' piu' questa e' la piu' alta interpretazione della Norma che Maria ha dato nella sua carriera e puttroppo l'ultima.
fabrizio maria Garzi quella che sentiamo d'una CALLAS sofferente ,drammatica consapevole ed allo stesso tempo più EROICA. Mari
fabrizio maria Garzi non si dimentichi che era una donna molto ,molto intelligente !!!ed anche una LEONESSA!!!!! Mari
It’s not terrible, hardly any wobble. Quite the contrary, the vibrato throughout sounds fast and youthful if a bit distant (probably due to quality of the recording) and , yes, the high notes were truncated or omitted. But I do wonder whether the decline was less vocal and more psychological. If so, it’s profoundly sad. There is a lot of good here.
It was vocal. Here, you can't hear how difficult it was for her to get through the act. She didn't come back after interval.
trovo che sia come ascoltare le ultime parole di un condannato a morte................oltretutto non mi sembra assolutamente in serata ...siamo realisti, e' solo per La Norma che fu che si puo' ascoltare questa Casta Diva. Lo dice un callassiano convinto.
è sempre un modo per amarla e ricordarla come quando con mano tremate riceviamo l'ultima carezza di una mamma ricordando con quanta fermezza quella mano ci ha guidato nella vita.
Croci! E sbagli.Un callasiano convinto ascolta e tace...o vuoi ascoltare la Norma della Dessi e della Devia? Anche i condannati a morte qualche volta alzano la voce sopra quelle degli altri e ti inchiodano al muro.
fabrizio maria Garzi perche non siete capaci di leggere nella sua voce??? .LEI stava male !!!!eppure continuava a cantare!!! Mitica ,mitica , mitica !!!! Mari
callasiano qui, certo non e`la migliore esecuzione ma certamente mi piacerebbe ascoltare un'esecuzione del genere oggi, qualunque soprano cantasse cosi` Casta Diva oggi verrebbe osannato ...
Non è vero che qualunque soprano cantasse così oggi sarebbe osannata. Era in seria difficoltà vocale, ma la amiamo comunque.
o mio dio......la maria è il meno!!! pretre dirige come se stesse zappando un orto. stessa finezza stesso risultato!! vergognosamente orribile!!!
Realmente fue una gran artista y creo personajes difíciles de superar como Gioconda y la misma Norma pero, creo que sus condiciones vocales estaban muy mermadas como para interpretar Norma. Esta Norma es una sombra de lo que fue y sólo en algún momento se ve lo que queda de su gran talento. No debería haberla cantado!
Cesar P. Eso es lo que tú crees, un respeto a la Divina, en su peor performance es mejor que cualquier otra cantante actual
:/
beh qui la maria non è certo quella di 10 anni prima . cmq tutto sommato ai nostri giorni si sente anche di peggio. :-( e l'accento la musicalità sono sempre gli stessi
+musica tiranna55 SI TRATTA DELLA RECITA INTERROTTA PER UN MALORE,......
I agree the diction is not clear as it in the past. However I think she sings well at this stage of her career. Can't compare to her youthful performances, but by and large quite good. Whomever recorded must not have been very close. Yikes the tempo in the cabaletta is quite fast.
This is supposed to be terrible??? Not to my ears.
Maria Callas should have had more confidence in her own voice. This sounds quite impeccable. To me this recording shows no frailty.
The recording doesn't show what we heard.
A very sad. Norma to listen,she is not in good voice.
Не знаю, кто дирижер, но дирижирует безобразно - так нельзя, тем более Каллас!
All the vowels are weirdly distorted.
Très mauvaise direction d'orchestre, lourde et martiale. Choeurs impossibles, incapables de prononcer l'italien correctement (typiquement français!), et fâchés avec le tempo. Heureusement qu'il y a Callas et ses partenaires.
So sad.
No one to tell her this was "not" for her at this time. No one to tell her there were many "songs" suited for her voice in her final recitals. Maybe DiStefano but then he would have been 'out of a job'. Oh Maria, Maria. What a sad life.
Why she chose to sing Norma at this stage of her career with her voice in such a fragile state, I do not know. She could have chosen to focus her prodigious talents on a more favorable repertoire. perhaps songs. Oh, what she could have done with the Nuit d'Ete by Belioz or the Four Last Songs of Strauss. No matter, greater than her there never was or will ever be.
Dyby totally in agreement, Dyby but if Callas had been sensible she wouldn't have been Callas.
Dyby Because she wasn't a concert singer.
Dyby This question was often asked at the end of her career and alas even more after her death . I believe there is only one answer : those were all Callas' personal choices. Good or bad ?
I'm not trying to burst anyone's bubble here. I'm speaking the truth. I'm the ultimate Callas fan and I know that the Maria Callas of 1955 would have little tolerance or patience with the Maria Callas heard here. This is not Callas, and she herself must be spinning in the next world knowing that ANY of these Paris Norma performances are being heard. That her "singing" here elicits such euphoric praise is an insult to the greatest opera diva of the Twentieth Century. The fact is that she's totally burned out and is operating with the bare remnants of her once-awesome voice. She was very ill psychologically, full of anxiety and totally lacking in confidence at this late date in her career. The voice is frayed, threadbare, and even the fabled bottom chest notes are inaudible. Not even an attempt at high C, and lower harmonic alternatives are taken left and right. The long sustained lines on the top A are truncated and shortened, and the B flats collapse altogether. These performances should have never taken place, but since they were, it's a shame that they were recorded and circulated. This is most emphatically NOT the La Divina that I remember.
Larry Mitchell all was inaudible, then that’s not because of her unless bad quality of recordings which recorded this one
For real fans of LA DIVINA, it’s not a shame these were recorded, you’re totally equivocated
Your points are well made and taken. But this was her last Norma. The value historical and sentimental of this record is indisputable. The trajectory of her Greatness is tragically underrepresented in her youth and overrepresented in her decline. This is emblematic of her whole legacy.
A sad performance, I'm sorry to say. She was a superb soprano as a large woman, but not so after a dramatic weight loss in the '50's. She was certainly still very good but just not superb. I'm not sure how long she was on steroids to treat her dermatomyositis, but that certainly had to contribute to her vocal decline.
we know all the stories... and yet listening to this divine music making and repeating shallow news-reels over and over, is missing the point completely...
Everybody I know would give everything to be there that evening...
MariaCaIIas i totally agree with you! Im so tired of the callas haters!!! They should get mature and learn to enjoy music
Daniel Cabrera Loa
Daniel Cabrera Loa And I agree totally with YOU! What kind of music lovers are these that put absolutely everything on a high note? These were called by wise music critics in Paris, at the occasion of this Norma, "the saddistic people of High Cs!" Callas herself said in an interview: "People come to the theater to hear high and loud notes. But this is neither Art nor Music: this is a circus!" So whoever may be chiefly interested in "acrobacies" should attend to trapezists' shows at the circus, not to opera performances that are (or SHOULD be) musical and artistic manifestations.please. Learn to listen and love MUSIC, ART and mainly STYLE (a thing most opera goers and even many famous singers don't know not even the meaning). That's when you will finally discover all Callas true and unique greatness. Do not trouble anymore us, who are interested on Music and on Art! Maria Callas, an absolutely complete artist and a true "Meistersängerinnen", is THE Norma of all times and the greatest artist this world has ever known. The World, Time, Music, History and Art have already judged her as such and have already given her this right and final veredict: Divine and Eternal! Just like Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, da Vinci, Michelangelo, Homero, Shakespeare, Tolstoi, Cervantes, Liszt, Paganini,Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Goya, Velazquez, Renoir, Monet, Mussorgsky, Hugo Wolf, Nijinsky, Anna Pavlova, Olga Spessivtzeva, Rudolph Nureyev, Antonio Ruiz Soler, Alicia Alonso or Greta Garbo! As figures of exception, Callas and them were recognized as manifestations of the Divine and, as such, have attained Eternity!
I will say this in spanish, cause i don't really find a literally translation for it
Yo amo a Callas, es mi guerrera
Her voice is not easy to listen to. In the cabaletta she screeches a lot.
Not as good as her earlier performances pre-1954. The wobble and screechiness noise are just offputting.