Customer Reviews

Donizetti: Poliuto

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The singing by both Callas and Corelli are outstanding. Callas could always bring nuances and highlights to a role which quite overcame any vocal weaknesses, but here there are few and the result is amazing, as is Corelli's interpretation. Each far outpaces the Ricciarelli-Carreras alternative. That one has better sound and acoustics, and does not have music drowned out by the audience, but for pure excitement this one is tremendous

This recording captures the excitement of the return of Callas to La Scala on opening night 1960. She's joined by esteemed colleagues Corelli (passionateness personified), Bastianini and Zaccaria in a live performance that you'll not forget. You'll hear snatches of music in this early Donizetti opera that evoke earlier Rossini, later Donizetti and even Verdi's future Aida. This is a wonderful way to introduce a novice to the visceral thrill of live opera at its best. Its sound quality is acceptable for a live performance of this vintage.

This is truly an exciting recording, even if the opera is heavily cut and many of the arias sort of chopped up. One can't really judge the opera from this recording, as it was quite a bit longer in its original French version. It is true, Donizetti began it for Italy, but the censors wouldn't have allowed it, so he rethought the entire thing for the Grand Opera of Paris. One has to admit, this IS a tenor opera, and that is understandable, as it was created for a great, maybe the greatest tenor, of that day. However, if the truth be told, most people by this recording for Callas.

I have to state right out that the three principle singers are all wonderful, but in their own unique way. Bastianini sings divinely and makes much of his role. His baritone is actually quite beautiful, and for me, actually made me long to hear him sing. Most baritone roles don't do that for me, and his role is not that spectacular nor that well written, if the truth be told, but he makes something wonderful of it.

Corelli is incredible with all his super clarion high notes, and it seems that the power they have is equal to none, and the ring, well, one certainly seldom hears that today in the opera house. There is a great energy behind his performance, and he even manages to sing a few lines in a musical fashion. There are many places where his "standard sobbing" ruins the legato line, not to mention the musical phrase. He is often well ahead of his accompaniment (which makes things really bad when the orchestra is playing the exact line he is singing), and his bad habit of "scooping" up to high notes at times is irritating. However, that said, he is exciting and truly enjoyable to listen to.

It is Callas that everyone expects to sound horrible, brittle, and, well, way past her prime. She is past her prime in some ways, but her musicality shines through as always. Her high notes are even good, and for the most part, dead on (though in some of Pauline's very difficult arias many of the difficult runs and high C's are cut, no matter, the arias hold together well even with those cuts). It is her interpretation that leaves one in awe. Once again, Callas is able to make something of essentially a very DULL role. When one looks at the score (which I followed along with), of all the major roles in this work, Pauline's is by far the weak link. Yet, even with this "little" that Callas had to work with, she created something memorable. Her touching vulerability is enchanting, and her conversion at the end of the opera is astounding. The final duet and scene is simply moving, and I have to say, she brings things out of Corelli he doesn't normally often do -- more exactness to the written note and to the tempi of the piece. Though everyone thinks of Callas with Di Stephano, I really think Corelli was a better match for her vocally. His voice was near perfection, that is true, but he had "that special something" in his delivery, and even with the mistakes and musical lapses, it is a jewel to behold. Callas was that way all the time, and her musicality and exactness is wondrous. Her voice may have been very imperfect in quality, but she shared something with Corelli, and that is that special "ring" to the voice. There is also that important element required for all opera to work, and that is chemistry. They mesh with a oneness in their scenes that is simple breathtaking.

The real drawback with this recording, at least for me, is the sound. It is actually very good, but there are times it sounds "Boxy" and sort of mushy. Overall, though, it is well worth the money. What is really wonderful is the booklet that comes with the recording. It gives a detailed account of the opera, which is great for those who have never heard of it, and it sets the stage preparing our minds to listen and experience a wonderfully moving performance, even if that performance has its flaws. I recommend it to anyone, especially Corelli or Callas fans.

MARIA CALLAS: THE GREATEST 'DIVA' OF THEM ALL!!!!

Gaetano Donizetti(1797-1848)was born in Bergamo,Italy, a town with strong musical traditions. He was fortunate enough to study with Johannes Simon Mayr, whose operas and sacred music were at that time performed throughout Italy and beyond, and probably because of his influence, Donizetti focused his ambition on making his mark as an opera composer.

The opera "Poliuto" was based on a play 'Polyeucte' by Corneille, but when Donizetti presented it to the 'censors', the King of Naples deemed it not an appropriate subject(because it presented the martyrdom of a Christian saint upon the stage), and prohibited the production.

Therefore, Donizetti decided to go to Paris, not only because of this, but because Paris offered several advantages such as: fees were bigger, rehearsal time more generous, the censorship less restrictive, and the protection of copyright more circumspect. There is really much to be told about the overall process of getting this opera started and completed. However, suffice it to say that in 1848 the San Carlo finally welcomed 'Poliuto', restored to its original form and language; it had taken ten years for it to get there.

There is no question that the tenor (Franco Corelli) is the strong lead in this opera, but who can completely set aside the WONDERFUL, MARVELOUS performance of Callas. What a star!!! What a drama queen!!!And what a truly amazing voice!!!Past her prime???Oh yes, but even past her prime she was greater than anyone at that time in overall dramatic impression, and while all her notes were not equally PERFECT,I don't really care, because one must focus on the entire being when dealing with a talent like Callas!!!This recording is truly a treasure.

Source: "Live" recording from La Scala, Milan, 7th Dec. 1960

Artists: Franco Corelli, Maria Callas, Ettore Bastianini, Nicola Zaccaria et al.

Franco Corelli is in magnificent form - reminiscent of Lauri-Volpi in the 1920-1930s. As with his Pollione in Norma, he is the ideal exponent as Poliuto. His voice has all the power of Mario del Monaco, his rival in the dramatic repertoire, but he uses much more shading and, despite some whooping and sobbing, he has a better grasp of the bel-canto style - although he is not exactly subtle. He benefits from being heard in the theatre acoustic.

Bastianini had an exciting and often very exciting baritone that suits his role down to the ground.

Callas' role is not large - not compared to her other Donizetti roles such as Lucia di Lammermoor, Anna Bolena etc - but it proves ideal for her at this point of her career. She was at her best 'live' and she is in good form - although her high notes do not compare very well with her younger self - she is very experienced and shows it.

Nicola Zaccaria figured in Callas' second recording of Norma and is a powerful presence here as well, his excellent bass suggesting the excellent artists available for La Scala in this period and its subsequent superiority over nearly all of the lyric theatres in the world today - which could only dream of collecting a cast such as this.

Antonio Votto could be a reliable if rather heavy-handed conductor and, more often than not, appeared inferior to Serafin and several other conductors of the period. However, like her recordings of Gioconda, Callas and the cast seem to have inspired him to greater things and this is a superbly paced performance.

The sound is by no means bad for 1960 and in many ways captures the voices in a far more natural way than most recordings from this period- the sound being mono doesn't detract a jot.

Magnificent

Highly recommended

D. Bennett

all three principals sing at their best. corelli's main aria ends with a brilliant high c that takes the house down.

This Poliuto is live and has not the best sound, but it has a lot of highlights and excitements.
Callas is here moving, even if her voice is not at her zenith. Corellis` live-singing is incredible, something enormous.His voice rings out and fills up the whole house of La Scala and the audience goes crazy, they love it! Bastianini is also doing very well.
For its great highlights I recommend this live Poliuto.

Buy this CD for the performers, not for the composer, to a hear a unique live rendition of this rarely performed opera by Franco Corelli in the title role, Maria Callas, and Ettore Bastianini. It is inspired from the tragedy Polyeucte by French playwright Pierre Corneille: both the play and the opera are highly fictionalized versions of the life of a Christian martyr saint executed in the third century A.D.

The play is a classical tragedy, written in the most exquisite, elegant, and splendid French language of the 17th century, in verse. The characters are hieratic, with most of the conversions to Christianity occurring offstage, as a mystery. When he wrote his opera, Donizetti was up against the poetry of Corneille, having to replace it with his music and characterization by using the means of the Romantic melodrama. And, in spite of being a great composer, he did that unimaginatively. In the music itself, you hear no divine inspiration and little inner struggle from Poliuto, who, unlike in the play, is portrayed here as a more "human" man, still entangled in earthly passions. And Paolina's conversion is written so badly, that it is almost an anti-climax.

However. Tenor Franco Corelli gives his voice and his interpretation to the character, raging with jealousy, rising to the character's spiritual aspiration, and conveying his tender love for his wife; all this with endless voice colors and nuances and placing emphasis on the meaning of the text -- his usual. To be brief, I will only mention two instances.

In "Infiamma quest'alma," Corelli sings backstage in soft piano, reaching a climax on the words "Pei nostri nemici preghiamo, Signor" ("For our enemies we pray, Lord"): this climax is sung in the warmest, most tender pianissimo/morendo, down to a whisper. This is the way he renders the tremendous power of praying for one's enemies, which is ten times more inspiring than any fortissimo.

In his aria "Sfolgoro divino raggio," he uses fortissimo when singing about the power of Heaven "che tragge a se" ("which pulls one up to it" --, with emphasis on "a se" -- to it), accenting his new "virtude" ("virtue"). He recognizes the voice he hears as being the voice of God: "Sei tu, sei tu! Gran Dio" ("'Tis Thou, 'tis Thou, great Lord") -- there, he starts the word Dio (God) in forte, then diminishing it to the most caressing pianissimo, suggesting man's intimate relationship with the divine. He obeys the voice of Heaven, which "di perdona a me parlo" ("spoke to me of forgiveness"), with special emphasis on "perdona," forgiveness, the key word in Christianity.

Baritone Ettore Bastianini and Bass Nicola Zaccaria sing their respective very difficult roles very well throughout. As for Callas in the extremely challenging role of Paolina, she is herself, your opinion will depend on whether you are a fan or not.

The booklet that comes with the CDs is sometimes badly written, with excessive emphasis on Callas, and the English translation of the libretto is ugly and sometimes too far from the original. They even give the year when a book about Callas was published as 1878, as if she had lived in the nineteenth century. Which proves that EMI probably does not have an editor to proofread the text, or, which is worse, they may not be very keen on accuracy.

But never mind: you need to hear Corelli in this, whatever the faults of the composer and of the recording company.

I think this is a Corelli showpiece. His high C are incredibles.
The audience goes crazy many times.The entrence of Callas in the first act the audience goes crazy too. Although the sound quality is bad,if you listen this opera ,you can see the magic of the exceptional night of 7 Dec 1960 at La Scala.