Customer Reviews

Maria Callas, the Voice of the Century

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I bought this to find out who was "right" there have been many debates... And mind you, I'm a beauty-purist just check my nickname, but I loved this recording. To me the voice of the century might always be Gruberova but Callas definitely sang a greater variety of roles and sound stupenduos. Just magnificent!

I cannot think of a more soothing and pleasing voice to listen to on the road than the beautiful metallic tone of Maria Callas. There are none of those silly tricks and trying to sing well that you hear outta all the other sopranos. She doesn't have to try. Her singing is sure and confident and she has this endless range of even tone. Favorites on this album are the Dinorah Shadow Song, the Lakme Bell Song, Lucia, and Sonnambula. This is also I feel the best compilation album out there. It just offers so much! Two Cd's of brilliance for the price of one!

Callas lives up to her title of "La Divina" in this CD. The arias that are compiled in it are the most beautiful ever written. Callas is at times powerful, seductive, tragic. but most of all , elegant. Simply beautiful. I especially liked the songs from "CARMEN" and "FAUST" songs that she never performed on stage but recorded them in a studio. I loved it and listen to it over and over.

I assume many who are considering this recording are familiar with the artistry of Maria Callas already. This CD offers the best of Maria Callas' many legendary performances and is one of my favorite possessions.
Ms. Callas' voice was never beautiful in the classical sense. It's far too metallic to be considered "pretty". And who cares?
No performer in the world of opera has produced the passion and drama of a Callas performance. The woman single-handedly revived characterization in the world of opera, as well as reviving the Bel Canto era into modern performance.
If soothing, pretty voices provide you with all you want from the world of opera, this collection may not be for you. Go with Sutherland or ... gulp ... te Kanawa. Pretty is their thing.
However, if you appreciate drama, passion, and gut-wrenching performances in your artists, this is a must have for your collection.
In my opinion, this is the ultimate compilation album of "La Divina" -- the best of her work. The Voice of the Century.
The first CD reveals her breathtaking early soprano voice, glorious and powerful.
The second CD explores a brilliant, delicious array of her later years, predominantly Mezzo performances, with all the fire and joy and sorrow that only Mme. Callas could convey.
If you want sweet, pretty, relaxing voices...try Marilyn McCoo.
If you know and love Callas, or are pining for a more interesting, gutsy turn, this is a recording you won't regret owning.

Here we can hear some of Callas' magic..... Not the most beautiful voice of the century but the most colourful, most astonishing and most moving voice in history. After her time of technical brilliance (1949-1959) she offered some of the most shattering performances. I am not a fan of every Callas-recording but this one is GORGEOUS!

If you're a Callas fan, this CD is a must. It has an excellent selection of arias that demonstrate Callas' artistry as well as her imperfections. It is a delight to listen to again and again.

If there is, the title goes to the Prima Donna del Mondo, Maria Callas. I never understood the bashers saying her voice wasn't beautiful. It's like always eating vanilla icecream and because that tastes good, one never gives other flavors a chance. And Callas had all those flavours in her voice. Innocent light colours, jealousy, love, hatred, madness, fear, anguish... It's all there. She's not a singing machine but a human being. Art is human, not mechanic science. Why isn't she forgotten her last performance being about 40 years ago? I'll tell you why with a quote: "She, more than others, gave opera its truest meaning!" Having a nice voice isn't enough, how many pretty voices have come and gone? This compilation is a timeless masterpiece and belongs in every Opera-Collection!

My goodness, what is a non-musical person like Holly Mathews doing in this board? Do you know what other album she has reviewed? Hayley Westenra! And she's not even an opera singer! She obviously doesn't know her business! Disgraceful review! Ignore it! It obviously was not based on good judgement. I'm sure she is a pop fan who just likes tender music. Oh, her insulting language! What an ignorant Maria basher!

Anyway, this is an excellent compilation of SOME of Maria Callas' greatest arias. Although I do wish some arias like Pace Pace Mio Dio were included here, I do think it is a very good compilation all in all. Although she has many detractors, they still have to admit that Callas is the sheer embodiment of singing and drama. She was an actress...a panther on the stage. Listen to her La Mamma Morta and her Suicidio...those brought chills to my spine when I listened to them. Maria is the only singer in the history of opera besides the great Caruso-tenor Franco Corelli who touched me, moved me even. This is probably the reason why I love Maria Callas' music so much. If you want to hear Medea's anger and Norma's anguish and Butterfly's hopeful blindness, listen to Maria Callas. If you just want a golden voice, then go to Renata Tebaldi or Joan Sutherland. And don't even compare her with Charlotte Church or Hayley Westenra! The distaste of some people!

I would just like to refer to an article that was published by a German Newspaper in 1959, mentioned on the Callas Edition (CED:100342)
'...her voice is of unparalleled beauty, having an inimitable, completely own timbre of sopranos and altos...a performance of superior musical quality..a phenomenon amongst contemporary singers'
' ...One of the most spectacular Verdi arias, of Elizabeth from Don Carlo, and one, In Germany tottaly unknown, terrific scene from Bellini's opera Il Pirata were enough to enchant huge numers of television viewers, who can say at her next performance: 'we have seen La Callas''(Hamburg concert 1959)
'- from the contra-alt-f to the f - thats Callas' voice range, spanning over 37 half-tones. Callas herself has drawn the range of her voice. In her concert repertoire the contra-alt-f can be found in e.g. the aria from I Vespri Siciliani. In an aria from Rossini's opera Armida she reaches the 'F'. five half-tones above the high C. Normal voices couldnt possibly even whistle this high F. Though there are other singers, whose voices contain these three octaves - Erna Sack with her coloratura soprano, the lyrical singer Ema Berger and the dramatical singer Zinka Milanov from the New York Metropolitan Opera - simple fact is that the phenomenon Meneghini-Callas lies in her fabulous vocal versatility. She is a coloratura singer, drama-player and lyrist in one person - and an exceptionally talented ac-tress at that.'
Excuse from a journalist of the German Newspaper for the Diva :

Article Title : 'I am sorry!'

'I owe Maria Callas an apology. She is a unique vocal talent, a great artist. She is a primadonna. And she has her moods. Moods for which i ask her to forgive me. Because i misunderstood them - and many others too. That much i gathered from her latest television concert. Even in the flickering of the screen this woman's nervousness and enormous effort were visible.
La Callas is a fragile, rather shy person. Her moods are fear of failure. The moloch audience expects her to always go to any lenght, show the brilliance others just dont have. She is not allowed to get weak. Decent country singers are not decapitated for a false note. La Callas, on the other hand, is the identifying mark of the extraordinary. Even the slightest hint of a mistake would cost her her uniqueness, her stardom....a perverse triumph for all bathtube singers.
That explains her inhibitation to perform when she isnt well, her cancellations when she is not in the right mood. I understand them now. If she werent moody, she wouldnt be a primadonna, would not be La Callas.
Stars like her do not fit in our world of standards and programmed data. They pay dearly for their moods, have to put up fights and, undoubtedly, shed many a tear. So one more, my apologies, Maria Callas'
(Hans im Bild)
That's all folks!:D

This is the best Callas CD yet cause it is just jam packed with audience pleasers and personal favorites of Maria's. If you dont buy it you need a head check.

I am 14, I sing opera and Maria is my idol. I hope I can be just like her when I grow up!

Please e-mail me if you have any questions about my review! Thank you!