Maria Callas - La Divina

Giacomo Puccini (Composer), Vincenzo Bellini (Composer), Georges Bizet (Composer), Gioachino Rossini (Composer), Alfredo Catalani (Composer), Camille Saint-Saëns (Composer), Giuseppe Verdi (Composer), Charles Gounod (Composer), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Composer), Pietro Mascagni (Composer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Composer: Giacomo Puccini, Vincenzo Bellini, Georges Bizet, Gioachino Rossini, Alfredo Catalani, et al.
• Audio CD (September 14, 1993)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: EMI Classics
• ASIN: B000002RT6
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #93,938 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #11 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Divas > Callas, Maria

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

If you want to know the reason behind all the fuss about Maria Callas, buy this CD. Callas's great gift was not purity of tone or emission, reliability, or sheer loveliness; it was, rather, her ability to change her vocal color and style to suit not only particular periods of opera but to get under the skin of the individual characters she portrayed. Here you will hear the 18-year-old Butterfly imagining the return of her beloved; the sultry, adult Carmen seducing all around her; the youthful Wally telling her cruel father that she will go off into the cold wilderness rather than give up her boyfriend; the sly Rosina planning to outfox her guardian; the priestess Norma performing a sacred rite; Dalila wrapping Samson around her little finger and more; Gioconda contemplating suicide when all hope is gone; Gilda recalling the name of the boy she's just fallen for; and the icy princess Turandot reliving the rape of her ancestor and swearing that no man will possess her. And you'll believe them all. At times Callas's vocalism is a bit wiry (Juliette sounds stressed, for instance); but, in all, this is like a visit with 16 women, all of them interesting, and all of them great singers! --Robert Levine

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential!!, March 7, 2001

By 

"pspa" (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Maria Callas - La Divina (Audio CD)

Even if you believe (correctly) that there are sopranos with better voices, and even if you prefer modern digital recordings, if you are at all a fan of opera, you must buy at least one CD -- preferably this one -- of Maria Callas. There is something incredibly mesmerizing about her, an emotional quality and range that is unique, even if her voice does tremble in the upper register. Her La Wally is unsurpassed in my mind, the great "L'Amour est un oiseau rebelle" from Carmen is as well, and while Leontyne Price takes a backseat to noone in Puccini, Callas' versions are special as well. A wonderful cross section of 16 of the greatest arias of all time, plus the chance to hear Callas in an astonishing range of roles. Buy it.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THERE'S STILL ONLY ONE CALLAS ---AND SHE'S STILL NUMBER ONE!, July 11, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Maria Callas - La Divina (Audio CD)

I do not intend to get into a controversy with the Callas bashers (one or two of them on these pages), but as a student of music and voice, I am amazed at the range of music Callas undertook during her great career. Her musicianship, phrasing, and involvement were things that any fledging singer would wish to possess. I find Callas' voice moving, colorful, expressive, dramatic, and yes, BETTER than beautiful. Callas' voice is the voice of truth and music in it's most lofty form. Virtually every aria in this collection has the stamp of Callas ---- nothing is half-baked --- the great diva's sense of musical committment is obvious in every selection.
For those who do not like Callas --- fine, but don't bash a great artist whose particular strengths do not reach your ears. They certainly reach mine, and many others. During Callas' liftime, the multitudes listened. They are still listening!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Warm Syrup Pouring Slowly, April 20, 2003

By 

Christopher Schmitz (Rocky River, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Maria Callas - La Divina (Audio CD)

I wonder how many people got into Maria Callas because of the movie "Philadephia," which featured the aria "La Mamma Morta" (from the opera "Andrea Chenier") in a crucial scene between Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington? I wonder how many took note of her because Fernando in "Our Lady of the Assassins" finds that her soprano pierces his heart? In that film, we hear her sing a Rossini aria from "The Barber of Seville." Maybe folks encountered the reference in Camille Paglia's "Sexual Personae": "Cultishness still thrives among homosexual opera fans, whose supreme diva was tempestuous Maria Callas."

Whatever the trigger, Callas' popularity is on the rise. This disc gathers her good eggs into one basket. This is a "best of" among the arias she sang in the 1950s and 60s. My favorites include her version of Bizet's warning about ungovernable love "Habanera," Saint-Saens' meltingly lyrical "Mon Coeur S'ouvre a ta Voix," and Puccini's mournful "O Mio Babbino Caro."

Her voice isn't perfect, whatever that means. It sounds thin and syrupy at times by the standards of world class opera. But it's the best we have. She is the best ever. If you want to be wowed, her high note on Rossini's "Una Voce Poco Fa" will endanger your crystal--and that's after she effortlessly navigates its string of complex arpeggios. If you want to be charmed, listen to the words Callas as Delilah sings to Samson: "Come back to my caresses!" Though she is known more for her interpretations of Puccini and Verdi, Callas' work in the French opera "Samson and Delilah" is among her very best. The viscosity of her voice becomes an asset as it suits the honeyed words of Delilah's eye-batting seductions perfectly.
This aria is sublime, exquisite.

A creature of theater, Callas manages a unique sound for every character she voices, finding endless variations of timbre, dynamics, and phrasing. This CD is on my marooned-on-a-desert-island short list. There are actually three "La Divina" CDs, and they are all worth having. The Callas box set contains a fourth CD as well, an interview with Callas.