Customer Reviews

Rossini: Armida

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is perhaps the greatest display of belcanto di bravura ever recorded. Callas goes up to an F in alto, and a ROCK-SOLID one! The allure of the enchantress Armida is brought to life like never before and never after. A TOP-NIGHT for Callas who did her greatest, most astonishing belcanto singing here, an opera not even Sutherland attempted to sing! To comprehend why Callas is the queen of belcanto, listen to her "D'Amore Al Dolce Impero"!!! People say Callas wasn't ideal for Belcanto? This recording proves that this is anything but true! ENJOY THE PERFORMANCE OF A LIFETIME!

This Armida stems from the early fifties, when Rossini revival was only at its beginning. Therefore most of the singers do not have the style or coloratura ability we'd expect from modern Rossini interpreters. Futhermore, the score is heavily cut, and a better part of the famous trio for three tenors is missing (I am not sure whether this is due to the original tape or the Opera d'Oro issue). Finally, the sound is rather awful; it seems to get worse towards the end. But, this being said, this is still an essential release for any of Callas fans. She is here caught at the height of her powers, and both dramatically and vocally she will probably never be matched in this role. She throws high Ds, E-flats and even a high F (if I pitched it correctly) and "D'amore il dolce impero" is far more elaborately decorated than her later concert performance of this aria. In any case, if you can tolerate horrible sound and inadequate supporting cast, you will hear the greatest Armida ever.

Callas' Armida is the belcanto-miracle of the century. La Divina outshines them all, how amazing! Coloratura, acuti, arpeggios, roulades, scales are done to perfection. And the interpretation is BLAZING, the phrasing and diction crystal-clear and idiomatic. The only ARMIDA to buy!

Despite the rather poor sound and mediocre supporting cast, this is a legendary Callas performance, captured live in 1952 during her vocal zenith.

Maria displays a range of nearlyoctaves, from low F to high E in altissimo, endless breath control, elegant phrasing, and simply jaw-dropping coloratura. Just listen to the way she repeats the tenor's lines in the Act 1 duet Amor possente nome, which she crowns with a huge E flat, the gradually climbing stanzas of the bravura aria D'Amor al Dolce Impero, with no less than 3 high Ds, and the extraterrestrial final scene, again ending on a long, fortissimo E flat. This performance, together with the 1949 Naples NABUCCO, reveals her in pristine and unparalleled vocal form.

Such a pity that her vocal prime was so short lived. For other exciting live performances of the young Callas one should definitely look up the 1951 Naples TROVATORE, the fantastic 1951 Mexico AIDA, the 1952 Mexico LUCIA and RIGOLETTO (again, she is superb here despite a mediocre cast, and her Caro Nome is a lesson in great singing) and 1952 Scala MACBETH, finally the 1953 Scala MEDEA, probably her last completely fearless vocal performance.

There certainly are several magnificent live recordings after that, including the famous 1955 Scala Giulini/Visconti TRAVIATA, the 1955 Berlin LUCIA under Karajan (the Mad Scene is superb, a perfect combination of vocal ease and dramatic truth), the 1955 Scala NORMA (arguably her best Norma ever), the 1957 Scala ANNA BOLENA and Cologne SONNAMBULA (in Cologne the vocal control is amazing and in the final scene she sings a diminuendo high E, I haven't heard another singer do this), the 1958 Dallas MEDEA (really excellent and coming second only to her 1953 Scala performance), and finally (with some reservations) the 1959 New York PIRATA.

As a more of Maria`s roles which she had never recorded in studio /Anna Bolena, Nabucco, Macbeth and La Vestale for an example/ we are really sorry not having this Armida taken in studio too. The way how this extremly difficult and demanding part is performed here will be hardly surpased ever. Despite of the sound quality, which fortunately is worse in the choral and massed scenes, but not so bad in solo ones, we can enjoy something, what can not be heard today unfortunately.
Maria`s superhuman voice which seems to have no limits, powerful in three octave range, full of expression from love to fury and still able to take such a quick and lively coloratura. But the coloratura here is not sung in common and usual coloratura singers way, light and canary-bird, but as a dramatic means of expression. And the top high tones which end a lot of arias and finales, who can produce them so effortlessly and with such a power !? Buy it and listen at, you will not believe what could be sung and you do not have to be a Maria`s fan. The others there are really good singers too, I cannot find the tenor trio there, only its second ending part. God knows why.

I believe I should preface this with saying that I am a die-hard Beverly Sills fan (though I pretty much listen to everyone except for Gruberova and Netrebko, for obvious reasons), but even all of her live performances put together don't do for me what this recording does--not even her L'Assedio recording from '69.

This was recorded in 1952, which says a lot as it is, given that it is Maria Callas' absolute prime. It was when she not only went for, but hit all of the interpolated high notes, sans wobble. It was when she fearlessly--and dangerously--pushed her chest voice for dramatic effect.

Her flawlessly smooth coloratura technique is perfect for my tastes, and certainly is perfect for this role. Her voice shifts from terrifyingly fierce to meltingly tender, and all with the greatest of ease. Not including the quality of the sound, this is perhaps the most perfect recording of an opera I have ever come across, aside from Sills' Three Queens.

From Armida's entrance to the finale Callas keeps you on the edge of your seat and wanting more, especially when it comes to pyrotechnics. She hits--and completely nails--a high F (which actually comes out a little forced, personally, but still incredible for what her voice could(n't) do in its later years, a high E (which is one of the best high notes in the opera), no less than three high D's in "D'amore al dolce impero" (the absolute highlight of the opera), the final D of the aria being one of the most incredible notes I think I've ever heard any singer hold, and to top of the opera, a high Eb that rivals her Mexico City Aïda (the orchestration/chorus is just as thick here--if not more so--than in Aïda).

In short, if you can tolerate the sound, BUY IT. You will not be disappointed, but beware! I have never been able to listen to another Armida after hearing Maria Callas live in 1952.

Exhausted during a demanding tour of Europe, the young Callas delivered an "Armida" never before heard--then or since. Listening to this pirated edition, which opened the Florence festival on April 26, 1952, one is startled to find singing more akin to a pop concert than anything like opera. At times Callas almost seems unhinged. The top notes are often not believable, or natural, which could be due to the primitive mode of recording used on this occasion. But the result has you on the edge of your seat, despite the frustration of straining to hear Callas in the background of this muddy glory. Only the most hardened Callas fans will endure this recording for the insight it gives them into the singer's astonishing vocal range prior to losing weight and topping the charts. Yet it is also one of the treasures of the recorded repertoire. It shows what happened to opera after about 1954, when all forms of musical performance were increasingly judged by the new technological standards, listening habits, and general commercialization of recorded sound. It also reminds us just how crazy, unpredictable and spontaneous opera performances often were. If anything like this Callas "Armida" were staged live today in NYC or Vienna, it would cause a riot. So search for old ears in this musical rarity, a more visceral way of listening: it will be a revelation!

If you have been worried about the audio quality of this recording
detracting from your enjoyment of this performance, JUST BUY IT.
The price is right and you have never heard anything like this
performance by Callas.