Customer Reviews

Ponchielli: La Gioconda (complete opera) with Maria Callas, Fiorenza Cossotto, Antonino Votto, Orchestra & Chorus of La Scala, Milan

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This recording was done in September, 1959, when Callas was right in the middle of the marital quadrangle with Aristotle Onasis. She had just ended her marriage and was all over the front pages of the newspapers. It is amazing, that in the midst of all of this media frenzy, Callas was able to go into La Scala and record such a performance as that heard here. Callas is in thrilling vocal condition here, and she creates a vivid and compelling characterization of the tormented street singer. There are actually a few instances when her top notes are more secure than they were on her earlier 1952 recording (!) Unfortunately, Callas had to carry much of this performance by herself. Fiorenza Cossotto, certainly a great mezzo, is heard at the very beginning of her career, and the power and authority she later acquired is not very evident here, though she certainly sings well. Also, an equally youthful Piero Cappuccilli provides a somewhat non-menacing Barnaba, though the potential of his voice is certainly obvious (like Cossotto, he also went on to a great career in Europe). Ivo Vinco is a sonorous Alvise. The real weakness in this cast, however, is the tenor Pier Miranda Ferraro, who never really "made it". His singing is merely adequate, but in the company of Callas and even the very young Cossotto and Cappuccilli, it comes off as less than even that.
The stereo sound here is very good, and the sound balances are excellent. I cannot give this recording an unqualified rave (due to the weakness of the tenor, and to a lesser extent, the work of Cossotto and Cappuccilli, both for whom the best work was still in the future), but Callas' performance is so outstanding, and her singing so persuasive that it washes away all else.

Callas, was the first and more splendid Gioconda. The role of Gioconda needs a great low notes, colorature for the last act, and great expression. In Callas all this requisites are completed. Nobody other soprano sing this role as Callas. I am really surprised for the fan of San Francisco. He is deaf ! ! ! All the passion and tragedy are insuperables with Callas. The Gioconda was not a great role of Renata Scotto (Great Lucia and Butterfly). All the musical critics in the world recognize this interpretation as the most complete. The Caballe and Milanov (great voices) had very weak low notes and low expressivity.The other singers of the cast are very suitables (in special mode Cossotto and Cappucilli). The only disaster here is the fan of San Francisco ! ! !

In 1960, I purchased this wonderful recording on vinyl. At that time, there were those that were saying Callas was "loosing her voice." In this recording Maria certainly refuted that opinion. Maria was in spectacular voice for this recording of "La Giaconda" sounding as if she had not done the huge amount of very "heavy-duty" singing she had done during the decade preceding this recording in order to establish herself as the leading Prima Donna of the age (as it turns out, of all ages). Along with being in astoundly "good voice" for this recording, her interpretive skills are at their peak! She makes the heroine a living, breathing creature NOT just an "operatic heroine". Therefore, I, in my youth, could not understand why some individuals thought that Maria Callas' art (voice) was deteriorating. Sadly, I lived through Maria's "crash and burn"-always hoping "for the miracle" that never came. Anyway this is a fantastic recording capturing "La Divina" at her very best. Perhaps this recording does indeed give credence to the saying "Before the candle flickers out, it flares for one more magnificent moment" as was so succulently phrased by a previous reviewer. Maria is truly magnificent in this recording.

After so many years, it is most moving, for me, to return to this recording in this wonderful format. EMI has done a spectacular job of restoring and/or enhancing this glorious recording. This time around, I'm just not overwhelmed with Callas alone (as previously); Cossoto and Cappuccilli are spectacular with Votto conducting the hell out of the score. Once again, this recording has "moved" me down to my soul. In retrospect along with the knowledge of what happened in the years that followed this recording, I find this recording to be one of the most emotionally moving experiences of my life.

La Gioconda was Callas' debut in Italy, back in 1947 in Verona with the then unknown Richard Tucker. It was then and there that Tullio Serafin, this greatest of all "Singer's conductors" saw the great gift behind the shy and young Maria Callas. He invited her to do thr great Wagner-roles with him in Italy and they once performed a miracle, namely that Callas sang the Wagner-Brünnhilde (Walkuere) and Elvira (I Puritani!) in the same week. It was unheard of, impossible... Yet she made it possible. Now what about La Gioconda? I remember listening to Rosa Ponselle's "Suicido" and thinking: What a voice! What an artist! (Ponselle was, in Callas' opinion, the greatest of them all!) Then I heard Callas singing the same lines with those incredible chest-notes where she sounds like a natural contralto! THEN I realised all this was about suicide, about love! Listen to her in the final act, Callas said that anyone who wanted to know what she was about should listen to this. I did. And my heart bled. Not because she wasn't wonderful but because this voice which so many had called ugly was so hauntingly beautiful. There are but a few things that I know to be true but if there's one thing I DO know is that Callas will be worshipped by generations to come.
As for Renata Scotto as Gioconda, pointed out by a horrible basher from California: Scotto becan as a light lyric, listen to her in "La Straniera" for example. Her Gilda, Lucia and Amina are as gorgeous as can be. As far as the drama goes her Adriana, Violetta, Butterfly, Desdemona, Maddalena and Tosca are great. Yet, there's something that Tebaldi disliked about her tackling roles that only spintos and dramatic sopranos can do justice to, these being Elisabetta, Gioconda, Lady Macbeth etc. Not to say that all these aren't amazing but while Callas was a "natural" in these, Scotto had to fight and strain herself to sing these roles. Yet, I love this woman in anything she does and seeing her live as Fedora was a great night, just to give you one example. Scotto called Callas her "unequalled role-model" quoting the fabulous Leonie Rysanek who said the same and who was a divine Gioconda herself.

I think that Maria Callas is the best singer of all the times when she sings this opera. This opera is worth listening again and again, because there are so many things to talk about. The singing but also the acting (the acting by the voice, that is so important), the opera itself, the dramma which lives here, in this box. Open it, put the CDs in your CD recorder, and enjoy what I think is one of the masterpieces that Callas left to us. Wonderful!

The name "La Gioconda" is a great irony, and this is a great performance throughout, peaking in the great heartfelt (but controlled) outburst of "Suicidio!" in the final act. Rosa Ponselle sang what is, in all probability, the OTHER very famous version. My vote is with La Callas, all the way. Listen to the ringing opening lines; the elegaic bel canto in the middle; the darkening down into the chest tones; the fatalistic closing lines, and the razor's edge to the diction (as usual) throughout. "Suicidio!" is a tremendous introduction to the art of Maria Callas: a distillation of her enormous power to instruct, to "storytell", and to amaze.

It has been said that this is Maria Callas's best and most insightful recording. The voice is not as rounded and secure as the one she boasted on the earlier Cetra 1952 recording (anyone curious about this artist should try to get this recording), but she is absolutely great. Her ability to convey emotions, command of text and shading of words is a lesson for any singer. The cast is rather less refined, with the exception of Cossotto and the young Cappuccilli. This recording belongs in any opera lover's shelf.
There are other excellent recordings of Gioconda out there. Renata Tebaldi recorded the rôle in 1967, and she gives an amazingly dramatic performance, singing, as usual, with golden-toned voice and secure, granitic, dark chest notes. She is well partnered by a superb cast, including the aristocratic Carlo Bergonzi and the formidable Marilyn Horne. The Anita Cerquetti recording is also well worth listening to, for a stupendous dramatic voice, although she finds less light and shadow in her characterization than Callas and Tebaldi. Mario del Monaco was her Enzo on this recording, among other famous artists including Cesare Siepi, Ettore Bastianini and Giulietta Simionato. The Caballé-Pavarotti recording has the most spectacular sound and orchestral direction. However, Caballé takes on the rôle in a rather melancholic mood, singing with heavenly pianissimos, but sounding at times rather strained, especially in the "suicidio" aria (and without the awe-inspiring chest notes of Callas, Tebaldi and Cerquetti). Pavarotti's ringing, golden voice is a treat for the ear.

This is the best recording of La Gioconda period. I just can't put into words on how I personally felt when my ears first listened to this recording. I loved it so much that I listened to it 3 times in a row during my rest day. I just can't stop. I do not need to elaborate the good points of this recording as they were already said by other reviewers. The only reason for other Callas fans not to buy this recording is price. This is an expensive set. But without hesitation I will tell anyone that this is worth it. The price you pay for the purchase is nothing compared to the enjoyment you will get after listening to this recording. In my heart The La Divina is the best no matter what other critics say. This recording is the testament to what I believe.

As I already said in the title, the tragic heroine of the opera, the tormented street singer Gioconda, is here marvellously sung by La Divina, Maria Callas. With her rich, dark, voluminous timber (combined with the marvellous coloratura technique needed at the very end of the opera)she manages to convey a really moving, believable and convincing Gioconda, with all her raging passions and delusions, offering us some genuinely desperate, dramatic moments. What stands out is her extremely movingly sung arioso from the end of Act I (Tradita...Ohime), her single musical phrase, but rich with genuine emotion (O madre mia) where she passionately proclaims how she made a tremendous sacrifice by saving Laura for Enzo (who rejected her), and whom she loves. Marvellously performed are her duets: with Laura (E un anatema!...L'amo come) with the proper mixture of desperate jealously and genuine grief, as well as the other duet with Enzo (Da te che bramo...Ridarti il sol), where she begs him to return to her, and of course, last but not the least, her extremely moving and anguished Suicidio. Callas is undoubtedly the best of the entire cast!

Other outstanding performers are Fiorenza Cossotto as Laura: she may be a beginner, but her vocal performance and interpretation are certainly artistically precious, at a high level indeed (her duets with Enzo, Gioconda and husband Alvise, together with her fervent prayer to the Virgin, Stella del marinar, could be pointed to as the examples of her passionate singing and outstanding artistry). The bass Ivo Vinco is Cossotto's husband both in real life and on stage (as Laura's cruel husband Alvise Badoero). He portrays all Badoer's cruelty and hypocrisy with his sonorous "basso profondo", espacially in his great aria from the beginning of Act III (Ca' d'oro) where he sings how he will take revenge on his wife's betrayal with Enzo, and how his honour should remain intact. La Cieca's aria of the rosary from Act I (Voce di donna) is marvellously sung by the deep, dark mezzo, almost alto, Irene Companez.

I would say that Cappuccili's Barnaba is quite convincing, even sounding appropriately nasty at moments.

However, unfortunately, the weakest part of the cast is the tenor Pier Miranda Ferraro as Enzo, his singing sounding somewhat forced and unimaginative (this being especially evident in Cielo e mar, the romantic showpiece of the opera), as well as his voice lacking resonance. (Even though, strangely enough, I find his interpretation of 1959 Pirata opposite Callas' Imogene (mind you, the same year!) outstanding, with truly resonant, ringing tone.)

The entire performance is well conducted by Antonino Votto, with good choral singing.

In short, definitely worth buying!

Callas proves again she`s got the temper and the musicianship to interpret that difficult role and to take the best out of it.Thank you Callas!