Maria Callas Birthday-Palooza! Part 2 | Opera Singer Reacts
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 ธ.ค. 2024
- Part 2 of Maria Callas's Birthday-Palooza is here! Drop your favorite Callas recordings in the comments!
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In 2008 she was selling more records than the next three sopranos combined. Today she remains the only recording artist whose record sales have not declined post mortem. And there will be a huge spike on the release of the new film, 'Maria'.
I got interested in opera when I was in high school. I checked out about 10 opera albums from my local library. Most of them did nothing for me. Fortunately, two of the recordings I checked out were two Callas recordings - the 1953 EMI Tosca and the 1954 EMI Norma. There was just something about that voice that just grabbed me. I soon started buying all of her recordings. I now have every studio recording and every private label recording. My top 6 recordings are her 1953 EMI Tosca, 1955 La Scala Sonnambula, 1955 La Scala Traviata, 1955 Berlin Lucia, 1955 La Scala Norma, and the 1957 La Scala Anna Bolena.
A suggestion for the future is her 1957 studio recording of the Sleepwalking scene from Macbeth. According to John Ardoin, "It is more than one of the most descriptive moments of singing ever captured on record; it is a summary of Callas' unparalleled power to give words shape and dimension through vocal colorations. "
As a young opera enthusiast, I didn't appreciate Callas at all, as I thought her sound wasn't "beautiful." As I matured, I found the layers of wonderfulness in her artistry, and I have come to think of her as one of the greatest who ever lived. This was a beautiful tribute to her. Thank you.
callas travata in london 1958 is the most incredable recording i have heard,and i have listen to opera for 60+yrs
It's unique ❤
Callas recorded a selection of Mozart arias late in her carreer. Her voice was no longer what it once was, but even when singing with a battered instrument she is still capable of making it worth listening to and sometimes convey some magic. She was not only a great artist, she was one of a kind.
I love her Mozart, which is funny because she often said she didn’t enjoy his music. She really could sing anything!
Suggestion: If you ever make another video about Callas (which I really hope you do) I suggest you include her Violetta, Lucia and Aida as they were #2, 3 and 5 of her most performed roles - Aida being placed so high might be a surprise to some people as she isn't as identified with the part today as with her more "typical" roles, but she sang a lot of performances of it in her early days, both in Italy, South America and even in London in 1953 (with Joan Sutherland as the priestess). Another suggestion: Include her Leonora in "Il trovatore" - I think her singing of this part is absolutely divine and TOTALLY underrated. What other recorded Leonora had such a voluptuous big, dark voice, such a powerful chest voice AND matchless coloratura?
Callas is difficult for me. There are hundreds of Moments when i think omg this is miraculous. And then there are Moments when i think oh dear that Hurts my ear.
But i will forever stand behind this Statement:
Callas in her Prime around 1950 was beyond miraculous. What this Woman could do was a miracle. There is No recorded Singer i ever Heard of that sung on that level. Not a single one.
And There is this never Ending comparison between Callas and Sutherland.
But for me, they both embody Something entirely different and i Love and Need both.
For me, Callas will always embody what opera should be. From the time of Monteverdi, opera was a sung drama, performers were singing actors. Callas is this in spades. A consummate musician, capable of bringing the libretto to life. Her characterisations became real people, Norma, Violetta, Medea and Tosca. There are undeniably more beautiful voices (Sutherland & Caballe) but the drama and pathos from Callas are unmatched. For me Callas and Dame Janet Baker are unmatched and cut from the same cloth. Also, I never saw Callas live, she died long before I came to opera but her stage presence is hypnotic. Watch the 1964 Tosca from Covent Garden, you cannot take your eyes off her, even when Gobbi is Scarpia😉.
@@alanhadley1286 i am mostly burning for the singing. generally.i enjoy an opera most, if its either a brilliantly sung performance with acting, or a concert opera without acting at all. i would actually prefer opera performances without acting. as blasphemous as it may sound. and a charismatic singer doesn't need to actively act while singing to catch you and transmit a message or emotion. the acting has to happen in the singing mostly in my view. behind the 15th row, nobody can see any facial expression of yours. in the back people can hardly see any gestures. but the sound travels all the way. for me, an opera has to work with closed eyes. i need to hear it. beauty, love, revenge, grief, shock, joy. it has to be there acoustically. the overall stage design underlines that, in good cases. but acting... acting rarely ever gives me anything in music.
saying this doesn't mean ofc, that callas didn't have it. ofc she had it.
but what she also had was a sometimes overly sobby, exaggerated acting style, for me at least.
but that view is also stained by my general dislike for sobby, dramatic love stories and melodramatic things.
yet again, every good singer offers something unique. all the singers in my highest regards give me something unique. classical and contemporay ones.
maria callas, joan sutherland, ingeborg hallstein, renee fleming, elisabeth schwarzkopf, edda moser, floor jansen, florence welch, sharon den adel, susanne sundfor, angela gossow, lisa gerrard, few more.
each one being unique. if maria callas tried to sing like floor jansen it would be disastrous. if angela gossow tried to sing like edda moser it would be bizarre. each singer embodies something that no other can. and i love that variety.
this monotonic and endlessly repeated lore of callas being the one and ultimate absolut best singer ever no matter what bores me.
she was unique and incomparable. but certainly not perfect. her technique was as close as one can get to being perfect. precise, skilled, versatile, accurate. it was spectacular at times. but not very nice sounding. although i can never tell how she sounded in natura. and if the acting is nice or too much depends on personal taste.
joan sutherland for example bathed in vocal glory having the most massive high range ever, while having a mushy diction and not being overly theatrically gifted.
etc etc.
perfection is boring. and doesnt exist in humans. some are closer to it than others. agreed. but its difficult to point out one definite best. its always subjective. some aspects can be agreed on as bad or good vocal qualities. but the rest is personal preference.
and regarding callas as your own personal best singer ever, its not bad taste. i just dont agree with calling here the general, objectively measured absolute best.
@@schneevongestern9898 you’re absolutely correct, it really is down to personal taste. I have several recordings of the same opera with different casts and studio vs live performances. Each situation can deliver different results. What we each want from the music and interpretation is very personal, as such we have our preferences. The important thing is to simply enjoy the performance and appreciate the artistry.
Psst: that descending run near the end is my favourite, too!
One thing about Callas: if you follow with a score, she never fudged anything. She fully realizes that music without imposing external elements on it. She was not a verismo singer. As Oltrabella said, in verismo one must often create a character and atmosphere on top of or even apart from the score.
Excellent comments!! I enjoyed so much you appreciating the accuracy and emotion of The DIVA!!❤❤❤
SO cool to hear the Weber...she was killin' it! The leaps are very characteristic of his instrumental writing (I'm also a clarinetist, and have played all his solo work for us.....always jumping around). Of course, it's easier to do that on a clarinet than with the voice. The Bellini arias are so beautifully and faithfully sung....everything on the page is sung (that perfect chromatic scale in the cadenza!), and her line is just beyond! The "ah, non credea" was my favorite aria for competitions for a long time, and of course, she was a model for me. Thanks for sharing!
Please do part 3 🤣🤣🤣, I cant stop listening to La Divina and watching your reaction
I admire the way you look for the great in each singer you wish happy birthday to. Wonderful.
This was SOOO GOOD, that it literally brought tears to my eyes!!! You couldn't have picked a better contrast of arias, to show La Divina's wide spectrum of expression!! Going from Ah Non Credea to Ocean Thou Might Monster, and then Casta Diva was ingenious! Going from the sublime, to the majestic, to the exquisite!!! And the great love and admiration you personally show for Callas is so wonderful and appreciated! I see it on your face and hear it in your voice! Having been a Callas fan for over 50 years, it's always so heart warming for me to see that her art is still loved by the younger generations!
Possible contrasts for future videos: the florid and delicate coloratura Callas (i.e. Caro Nome, Sempre Libera, etc), vs. the gutsy dramatic soprano Callas (i.e. Medea, or Lady Macbeth).
Thank you for sharing this with us!!! 😁👏
Callas is the best!
Thank you so much for your analysis, it is great. For part 3 I would kindly suggest to discuss one of her French recordings of the "Callas à Paris" set from the early 60s. I find, for example, that her "Printemps qui Commence" is the most refined and beautiful ever recorded. Charlotte's aria is also a favorite of mine, only equal to Crespin's IMO.
Great selection, she was truly involved by the spirit of music ,great technical command .for me her suicidio1952 is the best ever heard,her traviata act second duet with germont 1955and tosca act two de sabata.qui la voce from i puritani,ls mamma morta from Andrea chenier the Anna bolena duet with the mezzo and tenor are mesmering. Lucia mad scene with karajan and la luce largue with the sabata, between many others too.the list would be endless
Please! Review of the Lucia's mad scene in Mexico! They are A-MA-ZING!
We need a part 3!!!!!! Please please please! Also Maria totally sacrificed herself for the music. However, she also had a disease called dermatomyositis - a disease that causes a failure of the muscles and tissues, including the larynx and diaphragm.
She did? Never heard that before.
@@highbaritone most people haven’t. But there have been many studies after her autopsy and due to the medications she was taking and how her death was described and many other factors, it is without question that she had it. Many scientists have confirmed this after the first study came out.
@@Vik2312 I don’t believe so. How about a link to authoritative source.
@@liedersanger1 th-cam.com/video/Tjr4UfZdvY4/w-d-xo.html
Congratulations 👏👏👏
In her early career in Italy, because of her dark, metallic timbre, it was assumed she was a dramatic soprano. She sang Turandot, Isolde, and Brunnhilde. Her assoluta voice that could also sing I Puritani and Lucia was discovered by Serafin but to get work in Italy she had to sing the heavy stuff. Norma was then the province of dramatics who fudged the colorstura, which is why her Norma was revelatory. Augusta Oltrabella a verismo specialist thought Callas damaged her voice by singing the heavy stuff, as did Callas' former mentor/coach Louise Caselotti. The wobble was always there from the outset; de Hidalgo who also may have realized Callas was an assoluta managed to get it under control. But it wasn't just a case of too much, too soon. She was always insecure about her talent and the mind does affect the voice as well. But one must admit the voice does sound different after the weight loss, but she used this difference to refine her art as she sang more of the roles previously sung by the light and pretty voices of the interwar years. .
Actually, Caselotti thought she hurt her voice singing the light stuff. I think they were both wrong. She damaged the voice by losing a third of her body mass , which affected her breath support. Until she began to reduce, recorded evidence shows a voice that is unscathed, and if anything, has gotten better and better. And then suddenly we have a thinner body and a thinner voice which is more metallic on top, less powerful, and with more effortful super high notes. And the decline continued after that. She herself said in the 1970s that she lost strength in her diaphragm, which is jargon for breath support. You can actually SEE her struggling for support in her late videos, with sinking chest and shoulders that slump forward.
Let’s look at the finale of Anna Bolena, Violetta singing Amami Alfredo ad finally O rendetemi from I Puritani
Yes, more Maria reactions please.
Here's some of my favorites:
Ones that have video:
- Près des remparts de Séville: th-cam.com/video/2W6ZoXowXNE/w-d-xo.html
- Ah bello a me ritorna: th-cam.com/video/dsBt7dIdAB4/w-d-xo.html
- Una voce poco fa: th-cam.com/video/Zofnaz2kNvA/w-d-xo.html
Audio only:
- D'amore al dolce impero (1954): th-cam.com/video/pqgtyGvct7A/w-d-xo.html
- Suicidio (1952): th-cam.com/video/cN3cxQJX-wc/w-d-xo.html
- Anch'io dischiuso un giorno: th-cam.com/video/G3Z9nEdVViE/w-d-xo.html
Great selections!
Where is Neal?
We announced Neal’s departure in the Sutherland video. 😁
@@operatictrash owwww That is so Sad.I really Enjoy watching Your uploaded videos You and Neal.
@@operatictrash Very nice of you to Reply.I sing but not professional I watch TH-cam opera then I hit those notes...for 20 years plus I'm lucky none of my neighbors throw me Rocks or Vegies.
I was about to send you a message about when you were dropping the video. lol
Thank you for your patience! 😅
You are such a sweet girl! love your videos, i am a Caballé and Callas fan.
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Dimash is on the list. 😁
What started her decline was the tremendous amount of weightloss. She wiped out like 3/4 of her voice and was only left with 1/4. Cause when she was big she never pushed. She started pushing after she became skinny.
Please review Dame Janet Baker. Quite simply the best singing actress there was and a supreme musical artist.
She’s on the list! 😁
@@operatictrash you must include Dido’s lament from Glyndebourne in the 60’s. Breathtakingly beautiful.
@@operatictrash new to your channel and loving it😁
The only two opera singers I listen to are Pavarotti and her.
Good choices!
copia iniqua from anna bolenaa . no one sings it like madame callas. also suicidio where she is using her low notes to stunning effect
Ooo, love her “Suicidio!”