Norma

Bellini (Artist), Callas (Artist), Stignani (Artist), Gui (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 20, 1994)
• Label: Melodram
• ASIN: B000001ZPE
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #905,612 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Atto Primo: Prld - Coro E Orch Del Covent GardenVittorio Gui

2. Atto Primo: Ite Sul Collo, O Druidi - Giacomo Vaghi

3. Atto Primo: Svanir Le Voci!.. - Mirto Picchi/Paul Asciak

4. Atto Primo: Meco All'Altar Di Venere.. - Mirto Picchi

5. Atto Primo: Me Protegge, Me Difende - Mirto Picchi

6. Atto Primo: Norma Viene - Coro E Orch Del Covent Garden/Vittorio Gui

7. Atto Primo: Sediziose Voci, Voci Di Guerra - Maria Callas/Giacomo Vaghi

8. Atto Primo: Casta Diva,... - Maria Callas

9. Atto Primo: Ah! Bello A Me Ritorna... - Maria Callas

10. Atto Primo:Sgombra E La Sacra Selva;... - Ebe Stignani

See all 16 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Atto Primo: Ma Di'...L'Amato Giovane... - Ebe Stignani/Maria Callas/Mirto Picchi

2. Atto Primo: Oh! Di Qual Sei Tu Vittima... - Maria Callas/Ebe Stignani/Mirot Picchi

3. Atto Primo: Perfido!...Or Basti... - Maria Callas/Mirto Picchi/Ebe Stignani

4. Atto Secondo: Intro - Coro E Orch Del Covent GardenVittorio Gui

5. Atto Secondo: Dormono Entrambi... - Maria Callas/Joan Sutherland

6. Atto Secondo: Me Chiami, O Norma? - Ebe Stignani/Maria Callas

7. Atto Secondo: Deh! Con Te, Con Te Li Prendi... - Maria Callas/Ebe Stignani

8. Atto Secondo: Mira, O Norma,... - Ebe Stignani/Maria Callas

9. Atto Secondo: Si, Fino All'Ore Estreme... - Maira Callas/Ebe Stignani

10. Atto Secondo: Non Parti?... - Coro E Orch Del Covent GardenVittorio Gui

See all 21 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Please don't go insulting Maria Callas' voice, August 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Norma (Audio CD)

It's true that Maria Callas didn't have a classically beautiful voice, the kind of voice that Joan Sutherland and others posess, but I would rather listen to Callas over Sutherland any day because Callas is entertaining, Callas is exciting, Callas is raw, emotional, and extremely musical. Callas sends shivers up my spine while Sutherland and other "beautiful" voices merely cause me to remark, "well, that was nice." I am a person who believes that beauty also lies in strength and personality, and in this area Callas was the most beautiful singer ever. I personally find her voice far from ugly, but I can understand why others have different opinions from mine in this matter. And by the way, I am also a singer.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Callas' most satisfying Norma, March 26, 2008

By 

Ralph Moore "Ralph operaphile" (Bishop's Stortford, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Norma (Audio CD)

While the mono sound on this issue isn't the best, it's perfectly listenable and one soon forgets the hiss and distortion once one is drawn into the stellar characterisations by four artists all in their prime. I still would not dispense with the 1960 studio recording in favour of this, as Callas' singing there is almost as good technically despite some flap in the top notes and there are many compensating subtleties of inflection plus the advantages of excellent stereo sound, Corelli's thrilling Pollione, Ludwig's glamorous Adalgisa, the same sonorous Oroveso from Zaccaria and experienced, sympatheic direction from Serafin. Similarly, I very much enjoy the live RAI broadcast (from the same year as this Milan performance, also with Del Monaco in sterling form and directed by Serafin) which is in marginally clearer, cleaner sound. So, I'm greedy; I want to have all three and find different virtues in them all. Having said that, this performance probably enshrines the best of all Callas' many assumptions of this role and Simionato's Adalgisa, in particular, is a performance to treasure. Del Monaco is a real helden-Pollione but not brutal or insensitive, nor necessarily inferior to Corelli's equally virile Roman in the studio recording. Votto is a relaxed, pliant accompanist, reluctant to impose himself upon four such experienced and musical soloists (and the supporting roles are well taken, too). In the end, there's no complete recorded performance - not Sutherland, not Caballe, good as they are - to touch Callas', and you must have one or two of the three under discussion here. (The first Cetra Callas "Norma" sees her partnered by indifferent singers and she has yet to deepen her characterisation.)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wondrous Norma!, March 6, 2005

By 

The Cultural Observer - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Norma (Audio CD)

If you think the 1955 Scala Norma with del Monaco and Simionato was legendary, wait until you hear this! This is Norma like it has never been sung before! At 1952, Callas was still the heavyset woman that she was during the earlier part of her career. And during this time, her voice was still a large, brilliant column of sound that could easily overpower the orchestra and her fellow singers without difficulty. And what is truly amazing is this performance with Vittorio Gui (later to conduct her legendary La Scala Traviata) in the pit, a better-sounding Ebi Stignani, and an amazing tenor with the name of Mirto Picchi. Callas was the legendary dramatic coloratura d'agilita that most people fantasized her to be during this night, and none of her notes resembled the voice which would soon arouse controversy amongst her many detractors years later. Her interpretation was as always, the greatest, and since the power of her voice had not yet diminished, her fury duets beginning with "Ma di l'amato giovane...Oh non tremare" to "Oh di qual sei tu vittima" and "Perfido...Vanne,si,mi lascia indegno" are simply mind blowing. Her first recitatives, aria, and cavatinas are sung with seamless legato, and the final scene is as what most Italians would call (in reference to operatic perfection), Pace Verdi. And oh, did I mention Joan Sutherland's brief appearance as Clotilde in this performance? Too bad they didn't cast her as Adalgisa, otherwise this would be the greatest Norma of recording history! I just wish Dame Joan would have learned more about drama from Callas, otherwise her Norma would have been truly the greatest after La Divina. But no complaints about her Adalgisa, as Stignani sounded fresh and dramatically convincing as Adalgisa in this record. Mirto Picchi may not have the instant heroic timbre of Corelli and del Monaco, but he proved to be Callas' dramatic equal in that night's performance...a fine Pollione as I would say. Listen to the last act, and you would understand why Callas' Norma will always hold supreme over other Normas, even Ponselle, who was famous for triumphing in that role only half a century earlier.