You have done an incredible job with the remaster. I'm listening to this on some Sennheiser HD800s and... wow. I would buy this from you (for personal use only) if i was able. I would give the majority of my remaining years to be able to see our Maria live. Humanity reached a peak with her art.
Great work on this historic performance. Callas was absolutely on fire that night and truly possessed by the character. Not only was the vengeful demigoddess as terrifying as ever (Medea was the granddaughter of Helios, the god of the sun), but the loving maternal side of her is even more in evidence. If there one one opera performance I could go back in time and see, it would be this. Callas is in great, late, "thin" voice, and she sings with absolute abandon. I recently saw the Met's performance of Medea with S. Radvanovsky in this role, and she did an excellent job, though was a mere shadow of the shadow of Callas's assumption of the role. No one has been able to come within a thousand miles of what Callas achieved in this role.
I'm planning to do something with her 1953 Florence recording soon and maybe the La Scala at some point. (I've been hopefully waiting for DivinaRecords to release the La Scala from the BJR tapes.)
@@matOpera You'll be waiting for quite a while for that, my friend. There's only much one can expect with the wonderful-but-painstakingly-difficult-to-produce yearly releases
I can’t imagine two personalities more different than Callas and Vickers. I wonder how they got along. (Of course, in ‘58 he was not the operatic force he was to become.)
For what reason the Dallas Medea is considered her finest performance, I will never understand. In 1953 she sang Medea in Florence with a much more stable voice, capable of an incredible resistance to the most difficult passages. In Florence she didn't need to scream as in certain points of this recording, where she almost breaks the line of singing (23:25). Anyhow, great restoration job :)
Thanks! Yes, in my opinion, her Florence Medea is in many ways her greatest performance in the role. She sang with dramatic abandonment here, but in 1953, the sheer vocal power and the passion of debuting her interpretation in a brand new role are unmatched. Thanks for your comment and insights!
I put the Florence '53 and Dallas '58 performances on equal footing. The Florence reading is monumental, with Callas in her biggest, lushest, "fattest" voice, and she sings the role as if she were born singing it. For me, it's a much more "classical" reading, with more emphasis given to the vengeful demigoddess. The Dallas performance has a certain fire that makes it unique. The voice is of course diminished (after losing 1/3 of her body mass), but she's in her best, late, "thin," voice. She had been working on this performance with the Greek theater director Alexis Minotis and his wife Katina Paxinou, the great Greek actress. Together, they had been delving into the depths of Greek theater, and this must have really spoken to Callas's Greek nature. Minotis spoke about coming to rehearsal one morning, with plans to teach Callas about a how ancient Greek actors would pound the ground to summon the gods. He walked into the theater and found her doing exactly that. When he asked her about it, she said, "it felt like the right thing to do." It just ran in her blood. In this performance, I hear not only the vengeful demigoddess, but also more of the loving mother and the wronged wife who is still madly in love her traitorous husband. And there is a sense of urgency in her performance that makes it monumental. Some of this urgency must have certainly been due having been fired from the Met by Bing earlier that day. Nicola Rescigno recalled (i'm paraphrasing), "She came into the theater looking like an empress, with a long ermine that went to the floor and every piece of jewelry she ever owned. She gathered the entire case and said, 'You all know what has happened. This is a very difficult evening for me, and I'm going to need the help of every single one of you.' She then proceeded to give a performance that was historic." Here is a little taste of what the audience must have experienced that night. I wish the entire performance were filmed. th-cam.com/video/Rs_2JOsdWx8/w-d-xo.html
IMHO, essentially overremastered. I don't feel Maria's noble tembre. Also, I think the playback speed is voluntary moderated. Overall impression is like you listen something artificial
![Callas as Lucia - Act 1 aria + duet (LIVE ‘STEREO’ Sound) [1956]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/-9l8SsaB_lQ/mqdefault.jpg)
![Signore, ascolta (Vishnevskaya) & Non piangere (Corelli) - 1964 La Scala [BEST SOUND]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/aunokYAvpwQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Support the channel by purchasing select restored recordings on Bandcamp!
matopera.bandcamp.com/
You have done an incredible job with the remaster. I'm listening to this on some Sennheiser HD800s and... wow. I would buy this from you (for personal use only) if i was able.
I would give the majority of my remaining years to be able to see our Maria live. Humanity reached a peak with her art.
Great work on this historic performance. Callas was absolutely on fire that night and truly possessed by the character. Not only was the vengeful demigoddess as terrifying as ever (Medea was the granddaughter of Helios, the god of the sun), but the loving maternal side of her is even more in evidence. If there one one opera performance I could go back in time and see, it would be this. Callas is in great, late, "thin" voice, and she sings with absolute abandon.
I recently saw the Met's performance of Medea with S. Radvanovsky in this role, and she did an excellent job, though was a mere shadow of the shadow of Callas's assumption of the role. No one has been able to come within a thousand miles of what Callas achieved in this role.
Brilliant remastering. Heartfelt thank you!!! No one, but no one could even come close to Callas in this role.
BRAVA CALLAS
Amaziiiing!!! In really Great Sound!!!
Berganza was 25 years old at the time. She praised Callas for her kindness and generosity. Vickers and Callas are magnificent.
Callas met le feu à Dallas. L' intensité de son jeu se perçoit à travers cet enregistrement et elle règne à jamais comme la plus grande Médée.
So appreciative to your hard and wonderful work.
Thank you! It’s all worth it knowing people like you are enjoying it!
Truly amazing sound. Thank you for this remastering.
My pleasure. I’m glad you’re enjoying it!
Medea is her greatest role but I prefer the 1953 recordings.
I'm planning to do something with her 1953 Florence recording soon and maybe the La Scala at some point. (I've been hopefully waiting for DivinaRecords to release the La Scala from the BJR tapes.)
@@matOpera Can't wait, I'm sure you'll do an awesome job (again)!
@@matOpera that would be great. But thank you for what you've already done!
@@francoisherisson2910 Thanks for your comment. I have to find some free time, but it would be a great little project.
@@matOpera You'll be waiting for quite a while for that, my friend.
There's only much one can expect with the wonderful-but-painstakingly-difficult-to-produce yearly releases
👏👏👏👏👏
I can’t imagine two personalities more different than Callas and Vickers. I wonder how they got along. (Of course, in ‘58 he was not the operatic force he was to become.)
He said in interviews that he adored her
For what reason the Dallas Medea is considered her finest performance, I will never understand. In 1953 she sang Medea in Florence with a much more stable voice, capable of an incredible resistance to the most difficult passages. In Florence she didn't need to scream as in certain points of this recording, where she almost breaks the line of singing (23:25). Anyhow, great restoration job :)
Thanks! Yes, in my opinion, her Florence Medea is in many ways her greatest performance in the role. She sang with dramatic abandonment here, but in 1953, the sheer vocal power and the passion of debuting her interpretation in a brand new role are unmatched.
Thanks for your comment and insights!
Thanks for all the work. Will start following you :)
I put the Florence '53 and Dallas '58 performances on equal footing. The Florence reading is monumental, with Callas in her biggest, lushest, "fattest" voice, and she sings the role as if she were born singing it. For me, it's a much more "classical" reading, with more emphasis given to the vengeful demigoddess. The Dallas performance has a certain fire that makes it unique. The voice is of course diminished (after losing 1/3 of her body mass), but she's in her best, late, "thin," voice. She had been working on this performance with the Greek theater director Alexis Minotis and his wife Katina Paxinou, the great Greek actress. Together, they had been delving into the depths of Greek theater, and this must have really spoken to Callas's Greek nature. Minotis spoke about coming to rehearsal one morning, with plans to teach Callas about a how ancient Greek actors would pound the ground to summon the gods. He walked into the theater and found her doing exactly that. When he asked her about it, she said, "it felt like the right thing to do." It just ran in her blood. In this performance, I hear not only the vengeful demigoddess, but also more of the loving mother and the wronged wife who is still madly in love her traitorous husband. And there is a sense of urgency in her performance that makes it monumental.
Some of this urgency must have certainly been due having been fired from the Met by Bing earlier that day. Nicola Rescigno recalled (i'm paraphrasing), "She came into the theater looking like an empress, with a long ermine that went to the floor and every piece of jewelry she ever owned. She gathered the entire case and said, 'You all know what has happened. This is a very difficult evening for me, and I'm going to need the help of every single one of you.' She then proceeded to give a performance that was historic." Here is a little taste of what the audience must have experienced that night. I wish the entire performance were filmed. th-cam.com/video/Rs_2JOsdWx8/w-d-xo.html
Do you have the entire performance in this remaster?
I don’t think I’ve rendered it, but I should have all the settings stored from when I made this one.
@@matOpera would love to get the whole recording in this remastering if possible, lovely work!
Es mag andere Götter geben, aber sie schwiegen hier, oder sie sprachen nur durch/ über ihre Stimme!!!
IMHO, essentially overremastered. I don't feel Maria's noble tembre. Also, I think the playback speed is voluntary moderated. Overall impression is like you listen something artificial
Wonderful, thank you! (Not important, but it’s “vengeance”, not “vengance”.)
Yes, you’re right! I’ll need to start running these through spellcheck haha.
Glad you enjoyed!
The remastering has altered her voice. Not good.
La Divina ? La Divina ? No No la Adivino
???
her voice was very tired in this recording