Customer Reviews

Cherubini: Medea (complete opera live 1953) with Maria Callas, Fedora Barbieri, Leonard Bernstein, Orchestra & Chorus of La Scala, Milan

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Unlike the 1955 "Andrea Chenier" and the same year's "La Sonnambula", this Callas performance, which came a year and a half before (all three are being reissued on EMI in the current
Callas Edition series), also at La Scala, sounds quite listenable. There is none of the disfiguring distortion on loud notes that is encountered on the "Andrea Chenier" and, to a lesser extent, on the "Sonnambula".
Callas' Medea, as heard on this performance, is a Godzilla-like predator. The voice was in its most spectacular condition --- very large, powerful, and venemous. After listening to what Callas accomplishes here, one realizes why these Cherubini opera is no longer in the repertoire today. Plainly and simply, there is no one around today who could even come remotely close to what Callas brings off here. This may also be the best conducted of all the Callas Medea performances, with Leonard Bernstein's pacing and exciting tempi.
This is a performance well worth owning, and the sound is certainly one of the better Callas-live recordings. What a shame that some of the other performances issued in this series (most notably the "Andrea Chenier", "Sonnambula", and "Traviata" ---------all from La Scala in 1955, could not sound as good as this "Medea" does.

This EMI recording will never dare get out of print. Recorded at La Scala in the 50's it finds Maria Callas in her prime, singing with bite, feral power and dramatic commitment in a role that equalled her greater performance as Bellini's Norma. This would be her second greatest role. The rest of the cast sings well and supports her with harmonic and dramatic integrity, particularly Fedora Barbieri, one of the few mezzo-sopranos who could raise her chest voice above the orchestra. Leonard Bernstein, ranking high in the list of quality conductors of the 20th century, takes the baton in a powerful, visceral interpretation of Cherubini's originally classical/Gluckian score. Bernstein was the one conductor who stood out by pulling out all the stops and delivering tricks that were innovative. His conducting was bombastic and modern and usually strayed from the mainstream, orthodox, old-school way of conducting that such famous names as Toscanini, Stokowski and Karajan conducted. Bernstein works well with Callas, bringing out more passion and dynamics than even De Sabata or Tullio Serafin, her champion conductors, ever did. Bernstein knows that Callas was at this time at the top of the opera scene and he wholly supports her temperament and bravura in a sublime performance. Medea is based on the old Greek legend of the wife of Jason, leader of the Golden Fleece-searching Argonauts. When Jason was unfaithful, Medea became crazed with jealousy and even murders her own children. The intensity of the opera lies in Medea's emotional downward spiral, which Callas, with terrific musicianship and vocal ability gets into easily. This is a must have for fans of the diva and while I don't much care for all her roles I think that Norma, Medea and Tosca are his best roles.

Artists: Maria Callas, Gino Penno, Fedora Barbieri, Maria Luisa Nache et al.

Maria Callas' approach to Medea changed somewhat through her career. Here, her Medea, much like her Norma at Covent Garden in 1952, is of greater elemental strength than later in her career, compared with her portrayal at Dallas in 1958 for example, although not quite so complete. At Dallas, her voice was no longer the same dramatic soprano that graced the stage in 1953; instead, the voice is even finer on the coloratura high notes, if less secure than before, and Medea becomes less of a tigress and more `human'. However, her Medea remains remarkable at La Scala.
Gino Penno, an exciting singer, is a fine partner - he was at home in the heavier Italian repertoire e.g. Pollione (Norma), Manrico (Il Trovatore) and Ernani - several excellent "live" recordings and broadcasts of his exist; the Ernani with Cetra was particularly great.
Maria Luisa Nache was a quality singer and makes Glauce seem interesting.
Leonard Bernstein's conducting remains somewhat controversial but the result is extremely exciting and potent.
The sound is average - the chorus is tarnished by distortion and swamps just about everything else - soloists and orchestra - when at full pelt. The sound is usually adequate, if rather murky - excluding some high-notes and occasionally overpowering bass.

Recommended
D. Bennett

As is often the case with me, this Medea is my favorite but not my first. I purchased the Serafin Medea (Picchi + Scotto) just in time for summer break. I became very, very closely acquainted with a very, very traditional version of the opera. Then, a month later, intrigued, I purchased this one. I was completely blown away! This recording is one of the few Callas recordings where no one in the cast is bad. Everyone (especially, as Berger puts it, "good old Gino Penno") sings wonderfully, and Callas provides a stunning example of what she dubbed in her later years as "bloody miraculous" singing. The dramatic aspects of her voice are completely overshadowed by the fact that she sang OUT! Callas herself said that Medea is "a role for moderation". As is stated in the libretto, if this recording has been somehow moderated or toned down, it makes one wonder what an UN-moderated performance might sound like. This thrilling Medea has certainly earned its five stars!

Greek Maria Callas was and is the greatest Medea to be listened to on a recording of Cherubini's masterpiece. She has it all. A ravishing dark voice, all the colours of melancholy, sadness, hatred, madness and so forth being part of her singing. In this live-performance from 1953 her genius shines in its fullest glory. There's little I can add to the reviews already posted here. A miracle of a recording!

I saw her live in this role.... Just for the tenderness in "cari figli" and the BEAUTY in her youthful voice... Yet she always found the darkest colours for this tormented woman... The ONLY Medea!!! Jones, Galvany, Caballe etc. etc. not even understood this role!

Medea is perhaps the most complex (anti-) heroine in all operatic history. A woman who betrayed her country, butchered her brother to pieces and became the wife of the enemy, all this before the opera begins. (What a pre-setting!) Medea, the proud princess from Kolchis who gave the golden fleece to her husband Giason, only to be treated horribly by her husband's home-town, king and people. With time her weak but ambitious husband begins to loathe her and decides to forsake his wife and children to marry the king's daughter Glauce. Medea's children are to remain with their father but Medea is to be sent into exile. Medea, forsaken, alone, desperate and furious tries once more to beg her husband to stay with her but is rebuked harshly. The king also refuses her a home but allows her to stay another day to see her children. Enough time for Medea to take revenge. She sends a poisoned gown to Glauce and her father and decides to kill her children to wound Giason to the heart. And this is where this role turns into a "killer". Callas, in her vocal prime then, sings like a goddess. The "Del tuoi figli la madre" is a killer-aria, it demands endless breath, incredible legato and the darkest of colours. How she phrases "Ho dato tutto a te!" (I gave you everything!) will break your heart. An outcry for pity, a plea for mercy! After being rebuked Callas raises to new heights! "Nemici senza cor!..." Singing "Heartless enemies! My vile rival! All of you want to torture me!" Not only is it a fiery outcry and oath of vengeance but fabulous, flawless singing. The tender moments with her children... Calling them "Cari figli" (Beloved children) and then "lontan serpenti!" (Vile serpents!) only a moment later! How she brings Medea's tortured soul to life! "Morir dovram!....Il cor di madre batte nel mio petto!" (They must die!....A mother's heart is beating in my breast!) My God, she is torturing herself! In the finale there is a phrase "Come mai tu pensar d'esser madre?" (How can you ever think of yourself as a mother?) filled with so much despair by Callas, it's heartbreaking! The joy over Glauce's death, the fury in the end as she does kill her children and tell Giason she'll await him at the river Styx... There is no other recording in all opera as haunting, breathtaking and overwhelming as this final act of Callas' Medea! Buring with this "sacred fuoco" (As a famous conductor called it) she delivers a performance defying nature, death and life. She gives so much of herself, it's suicidal. This recording will take your breath away. Medea, the ancient princess is portrayed to perfection by opera's reigning prima donna assoluta (Since this term has been misused many times: It means a soprano who is supreme in belcanto, lyric and dramatic repertoire) And Callas is the only one after Lehmann and Easton who triumphed in Belcanto (Bellini, Rossini, Donizetti, Cherubini, Spontini, Mozart, Haydn), lyric and spinto (Verdi, Puccini etc.) and the highly dramatic repertoire (Wagner, Turandot by Puccini, Ponchielli etc.). One of La Divina's greatest performances. That she sang Donizetti's fragile Lucia, Verdi's lunatic Lady Macbeth and Bellini's sublime Norma at the same time (A feat no other soprano achieved) is absolutely miraculous.

4 stars only because of the sound; otherwise, 5 stars. I love this recording and it shows why Callas was such an exciting artist, even without our being able to see her [and when one could both see *and* hear her? words fail - and I saw her in "Medea" and remember it 44 years later]. The other reviews, I think, are fair - which means, I suppose, that I agree with them! I would like to call listeners attention to two other live performances by Callas which they might not know about, unless they've been hooked already and search out everything available. Both are available at Amazon. Probably the best extant performance is the Dallas 1958 performance, available on a cleaned-up issue by Gala - at *very* low price. The fire and venom of the characterization surpass the EMI La Scala re-issue, and as well the characterization is more suble [and perhaps more devious]. Perhaps Medea still has some hope when she arrives in Corinth in the Dallas version? Milan finds her with both barrels blazing from the moment she's on-stage: not much chance of reconciliaton in the air, and the lady's out for blood. The Dallas performance also has more tenderness, so the contrasts of the character are more fully realized. The sound is perhaps not as good as the EMI Milan set, but it is a splendid performance. And you have the plus of Nicola Zaccaria as Creon, Teresa Berganza as Neris and Jon Vickers as Jason. The Gala "Medea" also has a cleaned-up Act 3 from the 1953 Florence May Festival - her first performances of the role in which she sings as though she's known it for a decade. The sound is, I think, the equal of the Dallas and the Milan performances; but I'm perhaps fairly tolerant. [The full performance is also availalbe, but I haven't heard the pressing on offer at Amazon.] You'll also have some of Medea's music which was almost always edited out in later revivals for the sake of dramatic directness. All in all, all three performances are must-have's for a Callas fan: nothing is lacking, and they reveal both her interpretive consistency and also her deepening subtlety. - And, if you want to compare someone else in the role - which can be revealing - Amazon also offers the re-issue of Sylvia Sass's Medea on the Hungaroton label. There are also performances by Rysanek and Inge Borkh, but I doubt if anyone except Olivero has ever been a real challenge to Callas - and I don't think there is an Olivero performance available, alas. Which to buy, EMI/La Scala or Gala/Dallas? Both!

Medea is perhaps the most complex (anti-) heroine in all operatic history. A woman who betrayed her country, butchered her brother to pieces and became the wife of the enemy, all this before the opera begins. (What a pre-setting!) Medea, the proud princess from Kolchis who gave the golden fleece to her husband Giason, only to be treated horribly by her husband's home-town, king and people. With time her weak but ambitious husband begins to loathe her and decides to forsake his wife and children to marry the king's daughter Glauce. Medea's children are to remain with their father but Medea is to be sent into exile. Medea, forsaken, alone, desperate and furious tries once more to beg her husband to stay with her but is rebuked harshly. The king also refuses her a home but allows her to stay another day to see her children. Enough time for Medea to take revenge. She sends a poisoned gown to Glauce and her father and decides to kill her children to wound Giason to the heart. And this is where this role turns into a "killer". Callas, in her vocal prime then, sings like a goddess. The "Del tuoi figli la madre" is a killer-aria, it demands endless breath, incredible legato and the darkest of colours. How she phrases "Ho dato tutto a te!" (I gave you everything!) will break your heart. An outcry for pity, a plea for mercy! After being rebuked Callas raises to new heights! "Nemici senza cor!..." Singing "Heartless enemies! My vile rival! All of you want to torture me!" Not only is it a fiery outcry and oath of vengeance but fabulous, flawless singing. The tender moments with her children... Calling them "Cari figli" (Beloved children) and then "lontan serpenti!" (Vile serpents!) only a moment later! How she brings Medea's tortured soul to life! "Morir dovram!....Il cor di madre batte nel mio petto!" (They must die!....A mother's heart is beating in my breast!) My God, she is torturing herself! In the finale there is a phrase "Come mai tu pensar d'esser madre?" (How can you ever think of yourself as a mother?) filled with so much despair by Callas, it's heartbreaking! The joy over Glauce's death, the fury in the end as she does kill her children and tell Giason she'll await him at the river Styx... There is no other recording in all opera as haunting, breathtaking and overwhelming as this final act of Callas' Medea! Buring with this "sacred fuoco" (As a famous conductor called it) she delivers a performance defying nature, death and life. She gives so much of herself, it's suicidal. This recording will take your breath away. Medea, the ancient princess is portrayed to perfection by opera's reigning prima donna assoluta (Since this term has been misused many times: It means a soprano who is supreme in belcanto, lyric and dramatic repertoire) And Callas is the only one after Lehmann and Easton who triumphed in Belcanto (Bellini, Rossini, Donizetti, Cherubini, Spontini, Mozart, Haydn), lyric and spinto (Verdi, Puccini etc.) and the highly dramatic repertoire (Wagner, Turandot by Puccini, Ponchielli etc.). One of La Divina's greatest performances. That she sang Donizetti's fragile Lucia, Verdi's lunatic Lady Macbeth and Bellini's sublime Norma at the same time (A feat no other soprano achieved) is absolutely miraculous.

This is a live mono recording from the early 50's so you get what you expect in terms of reproduction quality. The sound is flat & reedy & there are plenty of extraneous noises - coughing, shuffling, prompting. The bass doesn't reproduce as well as the treble so turn off any bass enhancement you may have on your CD player. While average, the sound remains consistant & doesn't deteriorate like the 1955 Traviata does in the 3rd act so dramatically & disappointingly.

The above caution given, Callas sounds great and is in terrific form both vocally & dramatically. Listening to this earlyish performance where she is untroubled by any vocal limitations makes one realise exactly how skillful she was later on when she didn't have quite the same weapon. The strings sound great too - I have always loved the Overture of Medea - before anyone has opened their mouth I have goosebumps.

If both were available I would recommend the Studio version first, simply because of the much superior sound quality. You may be able to find a copy & I am hopeful that it will take it's rightful place in the catalogue sometime in the future. However, this is a wonderful set too even if I feel it should play a supporting role to the studio set. Buy this and enjoy but as soon as you spot a copy of the later 1957 studio set, pounce, & buy it too.