Callas' 1952 live Lucia - the unknown 4th night
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- čas přidán 23. 08. 2024
- Highlighted comments from the commenters below:
-From Roberto AZZALI:
When i hear people say that Maria Callas had a poor technique, i do get the shivers up my spine ! You've got to be completely deaf. Her repertory spans over 3 centuries of the greatest musical production ever... there was not a single trick or firework she could not perform: appoggiatura, acciaccatura, picchettato, messa di voce, glissando (on eflats in alto)... her breath was fully and perfectly sustained, her scales (ascending, descending, diatoniques and so forth) were absolutely amazingly perfect. She performed every single note which was written in the score and with the perfect tempo and pitch. And she never tricked, she always sang in the original key.
Therefore, whether you like it or not, in spite of your respectable taste, Maria Callas was the greatest soprano of all time. And to this day, she is the one who has sold the most records (and still is) and all the greatest sopranos ever since, before they approach any role, they listen to what Callas did.
And she is the ONE who we still talk about and take her as a reference after 40 years she passed away.
Get over it, there was one and only one !
And once again, Schwarzkopf (among others) said, referring to Callas: "that woman is a miracle".
Kabaivanska (500 Tosca and 400 Butterfly) said: "Artists like Callas, you find one over a century and in this case, i don't think we will ever see anyone like her ever again!"
This is why you should all shut up, once and for all !
Enjoy the genious and be humble in front of it
-From jmiller05:
Those half-trills on the staccato are mind-blowing! 10:16
-From Luc Justin:
Toutes les qualités que l'on sait, et toujours cette intelligence remarquable des vocalises qui leurs donne enfin du sens, mais aussi et particulièrement ce soir-là, très en forme, 'une longueur du souffle incroyable, jamais égalée. Sublime : un témoignage historique.
Disclaimer - I own nothing
There is only ONE Callas,only ONE Sviatoslav Richter under pianists respectivly...I can not belive someone put in question Callas tehnique abilities...This person must be mad narcistic,or simply does not hear how perfect the music controlled in her voice expression everything possible.
I agree on both--Callas and Richter are at the top of the pile, by a mile. There really is no competition, and once you hear either of them perform something exceptional, no other version will do.
Richter is a SEMI German'' bulldog'' in IMXO. CALLAS IS ON, THE OTHER HAND, IS SIMPLY SUPERB IN HER BEST TIMES
I ADHERE TO YOUR COMMENT ,BESIDES YOU ALSO SEEM TO BE A FAN OF S. RICHTER! LIKE ME.....;
Richter is high, Rudy Serkin is higher.
Maria Callas has special characteristics in her voice.....
I once had a boyfriend, a singer in a choir, who astonishingly said he didn't like Callas as a singer because she was too emotional.!!!!! Unsurprisingly that romance didn't last that much longer.
😂😂
😂
Should've ended it that day
I don't see negative comments, who in their right mind, after listening to this miracle, would dare to criticize Callas' technique? This woman was out of this world!!!
there are always negative comments... I just delete the ones that are incredibly stupid and full of malice
Lohengrin O GOOD FOR TOU
Thank You Lohengrin (sp?) 😘
@@LohengrinO thank you so much for doing so
This is heaven. The technique, the effortlessness. The voice so big but light as a feather. It's like the music is already there and flows through her and she just lets it. She made me cry again.
as someone else wrote... u hear a 16 wheeler running and taking turns like a Ferrari
durcheinander indeed
There's no one like her and never will be again. Unique and truly La Divina.
Sutherland said "Anyone who heard Callas after '55 never heard the Callas voice". These early years were astonishing in their magnificence - the greatest voice to grace the Opera stage. That's the greatest few minutes of Lucia I have ever, ever heard. La Divina
Arnaud dufrasne: Je crois que Dame Sutherland est sévère.Callas a encore chanté admirablement après 1955 ,n'oublions pas Anna Bolena en 1958 et il Pirata de 1959. C'était encore sublime.Arnaud Dufrasne
I don t agree with this. Callas' voice became after 55 more agil and silvery..
@@arnauddufrasne8323 D'accord.
Why?... Oh why am I here listening to an old, ultra-low fidelity scratchy recording with such enchantment, such undivided attention, with such devotion and inner fulfillment, such admiration and attachment?!?!...
Can it be... Maria Callas?...
Thank you, my friend, for sharing this and many other jewels!...
Maria Callas non cantava solo la Lucia ma era Lucia. E in questo modo cantava e viveva per davvero ogni personaggio che interpretava sulla scena. Era unica. Divina Maria.
for me Callas is an acquired taste in my mature life. now i am addicted. thank you Maria!!!
took my 1+ year to get addicted... I was 17
At 17 I discovered Sutherland in Traviatta with Bergonzi. I am 42 now and I have two addictions. I confess
What a voice.............listen to her for hours.............brilliant technique that mastered the intricacies of musicianship with pure emotional imagination..........unique..........not every moment of every aria works but she gives 1000 percent every time...........bravo MARIA
God! it gives me goosebumps! She is so tragic and sweet! I feel the craziness that immense pain gives in her voice! I will not say the best Lucia ever...It's the only Lucia!!!!Bravooooo!!!!!
At last -- a comment that I can relate to -- I think it hinges on the word 'pain': the tragic expression of brokenness that seeps under the skin & never leaves you.....
I saw Netrebko as Lucia
-- here we have a magnificent staircase that is used as a prop: here's a very pretty Lucia -- not in the least rabid -- here's her wedding veil, floating down from the landing
...... it's all so lovely to look at, & Lucia is so prettily vacant & gentle as she glides up & down the magnificent staircase.......
As a refugee from Catatonia, she comes across OK; only, there's no despair, no sense of a young woman totally torn apart by her betrayers -- is it really only about design, direction, image -- what we 'see' later in the mind's eye?.....I'm seeing it now.....!
With this not-perfect recording from Callas, I not only 'see' Lucia, I feel her desolation.....I shiver with cold -- her cold -- she is beside herself, as in a waking dream; or a nightmare;
& it all sounds so spookily wonderful.....I never want it to end 💔
'Siempre Maria'
from Lockdown Brighton UK 🌈
🙏🏼🌹🙏🏽. -- be well y'all!
Callas is the only one that brings tears to my eyes in this aria! And it is solely because of her ability to bring Lucia to life, and show her full anguish that has caused this dementia! My tears are not over the beautiful, incredible, and amazing performance (although it certainly IS ALL of those things, and more), but over the plight and emotion of Lucia's life, which is so perfectly portrayed here by Callas.
All of the other sopranos that I admire as Lucia, I admire for their singing, and sometimes even for their acting as well (particularly Sills). But even when I'm impressed with their acting, it is THEIR acting I'm impressed with. Not Lucia's emotional and mental state. But Callas takes me beyond her amazing singing and acting abilities, and takes me to the horror of that night, and the misery of that poor girl, Lucia! THAT was the magic of Callas!
although my most favorite of Callas' Lucias is her least known.. :D her 1957 Roma Lucia is my personal favorite
@@LohengrinO I don't think I've ever heard it. I will look to see if its on You Tube. It will be interesting, because my least favorite of her Lucias was her second studio recording, which was either 58 or 59 (can't remember which). The only reason I don't care for it as much is because of how the upper register sounds. (Still an overall amazing performance, and better than ANYONE else today!)
If I remember correctly, it wasn't too long after making this recording that she no longer performed Lucia. Is that correct? How does her upper register in the 57 Rome performance compare? Just curious.
@@LohengrinO I think my favorite (not that it really matters, as Callas is always magnificent) was the Berlin performance in 1955.
Art Danks I agree. She's totally in character voice and all!!!
Ela consegue “viver” qualquer emoção com profundidade, seja expressando a fragilidade de Lúcia, seja a implacabilidade de Lady Macbeth. Me apaixonei por Maria aos 7 anos de idade, ela simplesmente me tocou a alma! Tenho 74 e ela continua insuperável para mim.
The fluidity and "lightness" of the coloratura is truly astonishing, given the massive size of that heroic voice. I always found her voice too strident and steely, but here it can be called beautiful. Who else really knocked the sh*t out this aria?! This is epic.
Callas was the only one to sound completely haunting during the mad scene. I mean we cant see her and we can still hear the expression, thats amazing. Its always amazed me how little footage we have of Callas and yet shes still popular because she knew how to put all the emotions into the music.
This is by far her best live Lucia...it has always been my favorite performance because she did nailed every single note of it. The trill here is perfection and faster than Sutherland's.
What a wonder!!!... she's the only one I never get tired of listening to her voice. Bravissima!... thanks for posting!
Same here! As much as I love Sutherland's voice, after a while I'm ready to move on. But this has never been the case with Callas. I could listen to her forever and never tire of hearing her.
Personne - personne - ne chantera jamais Lucia comme ici. C'est tout simplement merveilleux, c'est techniquement inapprochable et ça fait presque mal tellement c'est beau.
MERCI, Lohengrin.
14:20 impressive how she turns a perfectly well sung note into Lucia's yelling. What a pwerful effect. No singers today will attempt this beause they just cannot handle these notes with this ease.
She was the most famous singer of the last century and had the widest range and did sing just about everything written for the Soprano operatic voice. She was unique there is little question about it. She changed our idea of what bel canto singing should be. One of the 3 or 4 greatest singers in the last 250 years.
I've just been left totally misty eyed with this indescribable rendition of this aria by THE ONE AND ONLY MARIA CALLAS! What a talent that once existed. Thank you La Divina and may you Rest in perfect peace, evermore. ❤️❤️❤️
She is the best of all time !Her tecnique ,voice and interprete all the time top.
She goes beyond amazing technique. Callas sings with an intense emotional connection that takes us into the heart and mind of Lucia.
Maria, you have been with me and gone for such a long time, and here you are again, mesmerizing me, there is NOBODY and there will be NOBODY like you, even if all glaciers of the Earth melt.
She takes your heart and tears it apart.
❤️🎶💔
I long time ago when I was around 18, I had to go to the emergency room. In the room next to me there was a man who was having a mental health emergency. A complete psychotic breakdown. He started out normally, then talking about things that made no sense and finally just laughing. I will never forget that laugh. It was an empty, hollow, disturbing laugh, the sound of sheer madness.Combined with that thousand yard stare was among the scariest things I ever saw but it's that laugh that still bothers me.
The reason I say all of this is when she starts Il Dolce Suono I hear that laugh again.
Wonderful! A unique voice! A unique interpretation !! His telluric voice capable of expressing all human emotions, yearnings and feelings. A voice that is a gift from God!
Yes, this is perfect. Why isn't it more well known? The high notes are beautifully easy and ringing, and the characterization has much more of the inwardness that would become the basis for her interpretation, her "discovery" of the character. Fascinating how different this is from the performances she gave earlier in the same run; and yet, the changes themselves are minor. Her art was indeed subtle!
+ghostofyeats it is much less known because of the over-"promotion" of the Callas Karajan 1955 Lucia in Berlin because of the stupendous sound that recording had... but of course the fat Callas was always technically far superior to the early thin Callas (but not always interpretively superior - the subtlety of Callas' late Lucias is Dreamy! especially her 1957 Roma Lucia is a Dream)
I don't think I've ever heard a more thrilling performance of Lucia than La Callas! Personally, I wish that she' d never lost weight. She was gorgeous at any weight!
In terms of interpretation I do prefer her thin Lucias.. they are more eerie and dreamy.. she herself had said: The first Lucias were indeed wonderful regarding the top notes and all but the role grew later on
Many feel that dieting precipitated her vocal decline. I cannot imagine the pressure she felt as a star and public figure to make her external self over. The artist is all that matters, but I have to say that her appearance probably was a stepping stone to the super stardom she enjoyed later in her career. It's a foolish old world, concerned with appearances instead of the miracle of her talent.
She was not only a singer but also a musician.
Absolutely!
Callas chantait en une seule année ce que d'innombrables soprani faisaient - ou font - en une seule vie. Alors : comment parler de déclin vocal ? Callas a eu une longévité vocale phénoménale.
MERCI Lohengrin pour ce foudroyant témoignage.
my absolute favorite photo of her. the look on her face is so captivating. what a force of nature. i love you maria.
A music critic friend of mine once said: "Some of the operas that Callas performed should be banned from other singers." Perhaps this is said too categorically, but there is something in it.
I can not to hear other performers in Norma, Medea, Lucia, Nabucco and others.
L'eredità musicale della Callas è vasta e ricca di meravigliose interpretazioni. Tra queste, spiccano gioielli ancora oggi impossibili da replicare: Puritani, Lucia e Medea. Se in molte altre opere Maria è stata clamorosa, in quelle tre ha messo nero su bianco in maniera eterna come vanno cantate. E non c'è scampo per nessuna, né del suo periodo né dopo. ❤️
Callas was soprano assoluta and her haunting voice can be heard by me even when i am not listening to her. Her rendition of "O Mio Babbino Caro" still brings tears to my eyes whenever i listen to it. She set the standard and all others are somewhere below her in spite of the fact there were many great voices in her day. The closest to her in my opinion was the much msligned Crisitna Deutekom.
Those half-trills on the staccato are mind-blowing! 10:16
+jmiller05 Ι hadnt noticed them.. omg thank you so much...!!
You can find so many new revelations in Callas's singing after each listen. Her art was like a science with limitless discovery.
+jmiller05 a Universe :p
+jmiller05 Technically it's an acciaccatura!!!
+Francesco Rolli Thanks!
The caption is everything. The ones who disliked this must not appreciate the full artistic interpretation of La Callas' performance. She is the only Lucia I listen to, and will ever listen to until the day I die. 🥰
Completely jaw dropping--Who can possibly compare to this vocal genius and apparently a pirate recording-Good God
When you consider the interpretation and the stunning singing with such musicianship, I am quite sure that on that night she was a singer never equaled before or since and I love Galli-Curci and many others who are able to sing with great beauty but not with the emotional content Calles is showing us here. She was so inspired that evening and I do hope the audience realized that they could live another 70 years and still not hear this aria sung as well.
Há quem diga que Maria Callas se irritava quando as coisas não eram como queria!Como não se irritar quando via que ninguém se esforçava tanto como ela que dava tudo de si!A perfeição era o seu lema, mas ninguem compreendia...
No parece posible tanta perfección, tanto fuego, tanto arte verdadero así, directamente, en vivo, naciendo desde una tremenda profunda verdad interior de esta mujer maravillosa. Y sí, lo es.
profunda verdad interior, exactamente eso
Superbe!! Sans mots capable de descrire une sublime interpretation avec une voix telurique ... inimitable...
Are there such people...who say she had poor technique ????? They must be the ones who know NOTHING ABOUT SINGING OR TECHNIQUE...she had amazing technique...which I don't have to expound upon for the conoscenti ! Live performance..with the prompter.....lovely !! How beautiful !
I love listening to her live performances! She is so raw and powerful on the stage. Some people are born for this reason. She is one of them.The electricity is palpable here. What a treasure!
Nessun commento e'sufficiente a declamare la grandezza di questo duetto fra maria e gli strumenti,sembra un colloquio fra angeli.Soltanto la sensibilità e la dolcezza d'animo di quanti apprezzano Maria possono essere testimoni del valore di questa ineguagliabile artista.
I am weeping......the beauty of the voice and emotion X x
She brings tears in my eyes every time I listen to that Lucia. I love the aria from Vitas and from Sutherland but only Maria makes me live the scene
unreal, again... tears! who else does it like this? no one!!!
ofc no one... NOT ONE :D... that is why all the Bitches hated her guts as if she had killed their mother :D
did they really? I can understand a little what a terrible burden it was actually to have this ability...Freddy Mercury, from the other side of the world, has this effect on me also, and also terrible life... they pay a very high price.
while she was in Greece she was on the Communist List to be executed, that is why she left.. :D and while she was working in the National Greek Lyric Opera, her two rivals (two Nobodies) had used their political connections to bring a petition to the Greek Parliament to fire her from the Opera House as extremely untalented :D.. in her case it wasn't just a huge price, they almost murdered her in Greece.. and later on in Italy.. the Bulgarian Soprano, the little Italian sopranos... hatred :p We admire these Geniuses but it was extremely difficult for them...
it must be very difficult, knowing that no matter how much you work, you'll never be as good as this other person who has talent from God :D
..and that's a reason to hate her/his guts to murdering levels? a Fight between the Idiots (The many) and the Geniuses (the very few) this world is
She makes this masterpiece when she was 29. 😟. There is no word!!!
more like 198 years old she was here...
DIVIN Dumnezeu să vă binecuvânteze pentru atâta frumusete vocea inegalabila a Mariei
Toutes les qualités que l'on sait, et toujours cette intelligence remarquable des vocalises qui leurs donne enfin du sens, mais aussi et particulièrement ce soir-là, très en forme, 'une longueur du souffle incroyable, jamais égalée. Sublime : un témoignage historique.
I placed your comment on the description above
Thank You for her
Roberto AZZALI'S COMMENT IS THE PERFECT ONE !
omg. simply perfect. I'd have fallen dead If I heard this live.
+Joaquin Swanigan Callas was fat when she sang this.. if I could choose one Lucia she sang to see live that would be her 1954 La Scala Karajan Lucia... she had it all that night... if a Time Machine could ever be invented I would wanna see Callas' performances...
+Lohengrin O ï know she was fat. I'd still have knelt at her feet. cried. and praised her.
Joaquin Swanigan oh stop
This is exactly what SCOTTO tried to copy, and that's what KILLED her voice. No wonder. Callas was the ONLY one to sing this tessitura with full voice, authority and magnificent expression. There is only one Callas.
and she lost her voice as well ;)
@@balletfanRGA Except Lucia clearly didn't kill Callas's voice.
@@PhilosophicalDance ah you mean this recording is the proof .... Hahaha no worries everything else did
Scotto's high notes are awful.
Samuel Pedrosa Alley 🐱 poor dear lady. Trying to compete with LA DIVINA INDEED. That's called madness/ sadness. Arnold Bourbon Amaral
La mejor voz que nos dió la ópera. Grande por siempre La Callas.
There were only three nights of the Callas run of Lucia in Mexico City in 1952 (her only Lucias that year). The mistaken notion that this recording is an unknown 4th night comes from a CD titled "Le 4 Pazzi da Lucia di Lammermoor di Cittá del Messico 1952" on which there are 4 Mad Scenes from that run. The first is from the June 10 performance, the second is the ENCORE of the entire Mad Scene from that same night. The third one is from June 14 and the fourth one is from June 26. If the track listing and the accompanying booklet are not read closely, the mistake can be made that the fourth track is from a fourth night instead of from the third and last (June 26). This CZcams recording is the June 26 performance.
It's important to be accurate. Thanks for the correction.
But it's still true that few people know there are recordings of four performances of the Mad Scene from Mexico City in 1952. And imagine singing an encore of the Mad Scene. Is there any wonder why Maria's candle burned out too soon? She gave 100% from the beginning--a fact which shames most singers today. We (listeners) are the beneficiaries of her effort and self-sacrifice.
20 years from the age of 16 to the age of 36 singing the heaviest most difficult repertoire is not too soon it is phenomenally long... Callas didnt begin singing difficult roles at the age of 35 like ALL the rest... by the age of 35 she had finished singing them all...
Lohengrin O HELLO!!!
thanks
Lohengrin O : indeed
Je ne sais plus quel chef d'orchestre disait qu'elle chantait les notes en 3D. En écoutant ce morceau, on comprend tout à fait ce qu'il voulait dire. C'est ciselé et doux à la fois, c'est Callas!
As I wrote in eralier comments , for me tthe 1953 studio recording Under Serafin was 'and still is) the utmost Lucia's mad scene but I must admit I am stunned withh this posting and indeed what a pity we do not have (to the best of my knowledge) any video or whatever the techniques of the time of Callas' acting this crucial part ...
czcams.com/video/hmpSkVjLHJs/video.html when she was fat the body did not help to create the immense acting we see in later years...
immensa Maria. Musicalmente INCARNATA IN LUCIA! CHE GRANDEZZA DI INTENTI!
The last Eb I can feel ricocheting off my eardrums.... literally
Her 2nd commercial recording may have been done in the last quarter of her career, but to me, it's even more expressive.
many people WORSHIP her second studio Lucia... it is Gorgeous!!!
THIS PHANTASTIC VOICE DESERVE THIS MORE THAN PHANTOMIC INTERPRETATION!
Magnifica Aria, y Maria Callas, magistral.
Merveilleuse Maria !
Agree , such stage presence also, great actor. You couldn't take you eyes off of her.
Remarkable! Simply remarkable!
How fortunate those who were present in the Palacio de Bellas Artes that evening! I wonder if any of them are still alive?
I don't really like the mad scene sang by anyone other than Callas, it sounds superfluous somehow. Callas however creates such a profound portrait of madness.
The hallucinatory effects of Callas' messa di voce are simply supernatural.
+jmiller05 no one else ever managed to Interpret Lucia... Sutherland sang it fabulously from a technical point of view.. but this is beyond imagination
You must be joking about the latter. Sutherland couldn't even interpret a menu.
Very rightly said. Wonderful voice, but no interpretation. I like both but Callas's Lucia is eternal.
You're welcome.
how can I actually block someone and he can still write his mentally ill shit in my channel ? :D
FANTASTIQUE !
Excellent- she is to be revered!
la très belle Lucia de Callas dirigée par Karajan en 1955 Remasterisée, doit sortir le 15 septembre 2017, indispensable pour les fans de la divine!
Always perfect… beautiful, touching, beyond words to describe her art!❤️
TY FOR posting my friend. 👱👴🌝🌏🌎🌍🇮🇹🇪🇸🇫🇷🇺🇸🇯🇵🇨🇳🇩🇪🇬🇧🇷🇺💛😳
SONO D'ACCORDO CENTO PERCENTO. CALLAS ERA L'UNICA ED E ANCORA L'UNICA. UNA DEA.
There is a reason her ascending and descending chromatic scales are known as the "Callas string of pearls"; each and every note is perfectly matched, delineated and frankly always astonishing. No, we will never see or hear another. Thank heaven we have these wonderful recordings (live and studio). I urge everyone to read The Callas Legacy by Dallas Morning News Music Critic John Ardoin. Written in the late '70s, it is a summation and review of every known (then) scrap of La Divina on record and makes fascinating reading. Check it out. Ciao!
Divina... incomparável....sempre que a ouço, não consigo conter as lágrimas....um canto cheio de emoção...... inolvidável.....!!!
Estoy oyendo una grabación de la CALLAS del año 1.952. IMPRESIONANTE¡¡¡¡¡
Simply AMAZING!!!
Truly astounding. Stopped me in my tracks.
This is amazing . All her Lucias have something special in them . She IS Lucia ! Happy New year Lohengrin O.
Why are there so many toxic , idiotic morons in the comment section ?? So rude and disrespectful towards Callas and you ... If they like Miss. No vowels so much , why don't they go and listen to her ? Leave Divina alone..
You mean astroboy royale? he is Coloraturafan :D Callas had murdered his great grand mother when she was a Nazzi Spy :D
LOL . Your sense of humour is always wicked .
I feel like chanelling my inner Ronda Rousey and beating his ass so bad that he will never type crap like that.. If it's a valid criticism , it's fine.. he just spews garbage.. Like is he 3 years old ?
What Callas does here is miraculous .. only idiots like him can criticise this monumental achievement.
EXELLENT!PHANTASTIC!SUPERNATURAL! I'M LOVING HER!
Colossal Callas stands far above all others!
I HAVE A DREAM! CALALS STILL ALIVE! 1952 WAS SUCH A TOP PERFORMANCE (ANY OF THEM WAS UNIQUE !)
Simplemente maravilloso
Ciertamente la Callas era una artista ya en su momento insuperable, en la actualidad es la soprano de sopranos, nadie como ella. Su Lucia nos llevaba a esos espacios de la sin razón, a la demencia desde lo alto. Callas eterna. He de decir que ella nunca canto 4 noches Lucia en México, pero si hizo algo que nunca hacia y fue hacer un bis encore de la escena de la locura y tuvieron los mexicanos ese privilegio. De paso cantaba el papel por vez primera en dicho país, aunque la escena de la locura lo había ya interpretado en Italia. Amo a esta mujer.
Wonderful !
Touché!
Maravillosa!!!! Por eso es la Divina!!!
You said it all Roberto Azzali
Musical and dramatic genius
Superhuman Callas!!!
I listen to other, "great" singers.. do the very same rep as CAllas and always come back to her to hear it the way it should be sung... Callas technique was exceptional, especially as a younger singer.. at least through 1955.. No one can compare. at any age.
czcams.com/video/Ap4u2wXGFcg/video.html
I like these early Lucias better than the famous 1955 Berlin one. I'm not sure why, but I hear much more heart in the way she sang it back in these days. 1955 sounds to my ears overly pretentious and contrived, like she forgot that the emotions that Donizetti wanted are inherently in the piece if you just sing it and do justice to it like she does here. here i hear a heartbroken girl who has lost her way. so completely and believably. beautiful
Listen to her 1957 Roma Lucia... her greatest interpretation on the role along with her 1959 studio Lucia
Yes those versions are more polished in terms of musicianship. i just listened to the 1957 again. it's very good. beautiful in terms of voice too and exquisitely done all around. I prefer it to the 1955. BUT what I like about this version is how simply the amplitude of her voice cuts through to the soul. She is filling the entire sound with the whole breath (from a technical standpoint) which imo brings out a deeper emotion within her as a singer. She doesn't have to try and show the character through refinement of phrasing. She just simply states it and it is more moving to me. the later versions make me marvel at her control and ingenious, but this one makes me cry.
in her own words: yes the first Lucias were very well done, the high notes etc but the role matured later... in her 1957 Roma Lucia you can hear the "Dream effect" of her "distant melancholy" enhanced to extreme levels.. she is a girl lost in another world, her world... and that is being done by singing it relaxed and with an indeed beautiful vocal timbre... but the first Lucias are vocally unchallenged... especially her first studio Lucia where she sings the high notes so naturally as if she speaks (C6s, D6s, Eb6s natural as speaking voice and with the thick column of sound of her middle voice = Vocal Miracle)
I've heard that interview with her but I have to disagree with her. For me it's not a matter of maturity (which she did improve on). I read another interview with her from I think 1961 where she did say that the biggest mistake she ever made was intellectualizing her voice. That she had gotten to a point so bad that she could barely sing any more even though she was practicing 7-8 hours a day. She said that she had an animal instinct that she should have just left it. Who knows, interviews are taken at random points in time and don't necessarily have anything to do with reality.
With that being said I do tend to prefer skinny Callas to early Callas. i.e. Anna Bolena :)
Until about 1955, her voice spoke for itself. After that years some imperfections arose, but it's effect remained overwhelming. Hoomeyow!!
its
I see no effect at all in her final after 1970 performances... people keep posting them because they hate her guts!!
Listen to her masterclasses. All on CZcams
Wow Wow Wow!!!
excelente
Este fue uno de las óperas que reivindicó la Callas, como también Il Pirata, Medea, La Vestale…le faltó tiempo a la divina….para resucitar más óperas que hoy siguen en el olvido.
La cantante que más transmite !
Callas voice deteriorated when she tried to lose weight to have a slim figure. It was mentioned in one of the biographies written about her. But no doubt she was the the best soprano of all time!
She is the best
tutte le altre diciamo cosi ..cantanti..le ha da sempre asfaltate . persino nelle sere no era ed e la piu grande.
Many years ago I did a detailed comparison on the erroneously titled "le quattro pazzie" ... it's 3 mad scenes and 1 repeated (there's a noise identical on 2 of the versions)