Maria Callas at Covent Garden 1962 & 1964
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Label: Warner
Cat No: 9037702
Format: CD + DVD
Number of Discs: 3
Genre: Opera
Release Date: 23rd September 2013
Contents
Works
NormaArtists
Maria Callas (soprano)Mirto Picchi
Ebe Stignani
Giacomo Vaghi
Joan Sutherland
Renato Cioni
Tito Gobbi
Victor Godfrey
Robert Bowman
Eric Garrett
Denis Wicks
Edgar Boniface
Royal Opera Chorus
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Conductors
Vittorio GuiGeorges Pretre
Carlo Felice Cillario
Works
NormaArtists
Maria Callas (soprano)Mirto Picchi
Ebe Stignani
Giacomo Vaghi
Joan Sutherland
Renato Cioni
Tito Gobbi
Victor Godfrey
Robert Bowman
Eric Garrett
Denis Wicks
Edgar Boniface
Royal Opera Chorus
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Conductors
Vittorio GuiGeorges Pretre
Carlo Felice Cillario
About
In the pantheon of operatic divas of the 20th century, the name of Maria Callas stands supreme even though it is now many years since the end of her spectacular, if surprisingly brief, career on the operatic stage. It is also somewhat surprising that so few of her performances were filmed. This makes all the more precious the material that we do have, including her contributions to two gala concerts recorded at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in 1962 and 1964 and contained in the DVD part of this release.
It was a matter of some excitement when Maria Callas turned up unexpectedly as a surprise participant at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, on 4 November 1962 in a live television transmission of a gala concert with a number of other performers. She was in excellent vocal condition, and her assured singing of the extended dramatic scene ‘Tu che le vanità’ from the last act of Verdi’s Don Carlo largely dispelled the growing rumours about her voice. She then changed the mood completely and took on the character of a flirtatious gypsy girl in the Habanera and the Séguedille from the first act of Bizet’s Carmen. In these two cameos, Callas was bewitching and gave a tantalizing glimpse of what she might have done in this role that she never played on stage, despite much urging from her fans and the opera houses of the world.
Throughout 1963 Callas gave several more concerts and continued recording sporadically for EMI in Paris, but her relationship with Onassis was coming under strain and she welcomed the opportunity to return to the operatic stage in a new production of Puccini’s Tosca at Covent Garden early in 1964. This was to prove her last great triumph. The Norma in Paris later in 1964 was not without its vocal problems, and by July 1965 Callas had sung for the last time on stage with one final Tosca at Covent Garden. The director of the Tosca (and the subsequent Norma) was Franco Zeffirelli, with whom Callas had worked at La Scala, and singing opposite her in the role of Scarpia was a trusted friend and long-time colleague, the baritone Tito Gobbi. Back in 1953 they had made a studio recording of Tosca that remains to this day a landmark in recording history, yet this was to be their first complete Tosca together in the opera house.
After the six performances of Tosca at the Royal Opera House in 1964, a Golden Hour TV gala was arranged at Covent Garden for the night of Sunday 9 February and it included the whole of the second act of Tosca. As the transmission was live, there was no opportunity for any editing, and in those days the camera work at such an event was still fairly basic, with the camera usually on the face of the person singing, even though this meant not seeing the reaction of Callas in certain dramatic moments. But in spite of these shortcomings, this visual record of Callas in Act 2 of Tosca is an invaluable document, preserving at least a part of that final stage triumph of the great diva, in a setting worthy of her art.
Contents:
CD 1 [78.00]
Vincenzo Bellini
Norma
ACT I
Scene 1
1. Sediziose voci (Norma/Oroveso/Chorus)
2. Casta Diva (Norma/ Chorus)
3. Fine al rito, e il sacro bosco (Norma/ Chorus)
4. Ah! bello a me ritorna (Norma/ Chorus)
Scene 2
5. Oh, rimembranza (Norma/Adalgisa)
6. Ah sì, fa core, abbracciami (Norma/Adalgisa)
7. Ma di’...l’amato giovine (Norma/Adalgisa/Pollione)
8. Oh, di qual sei tu vittima (Norma/Pollione/Adalgisa)
9. Perfido!...Or basti (Norma/Pollione/Adalgisa)
10. Vanne, sì, mi lascia, indegno (Norma/Pollione/Adalgisa/Chorus)
ACT II
Scene 1
11. Dormono entrambi! (Norma)
12. Deh! con te, con te li prendi (Norma/Adalgisa)
13. Mira, o Norma (Adalgisa/Norma)
14. Cedi...deh cedi! (Adalgisa/Norma)
15. Sì, fino all’ore estreme (Norma/Adalgisa)
Scene 2
16. Né compi il rito, o Norma? (Oroveso/Norma/Clotilde/Chorus/ Pollione)
17. In mia man alfin tu sei (Norma/Pollione)
18. Già mi pasco ne’tuoi sguardi (Norma/Pollione)
19. Dammi quel ferro! (Pollione/Norma/Chorus/Oroveso)
20. Qual cor tradisti (Norma/Pollione/Oroveso/Chorus)
21. Norma! deh! Norma, scòlpati! (Chorus/Norma/Pollione/Oroveso)
22. Deh! Non volerli vittime (Norma/Chorus/Oroveso/Pollione)
Cast:
- Norma: Maria Callas
- Pollione: Mirto Picchi
- Adalgisa: Ebe Stignani
- Oroveso: Giacomo Vaghi
- Clotilde: Joan Sutherland
Royal Opera Chorus, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House / Vittorio Gui
Recorded live: 18.XI.1952, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
CD 2 [78.00]
Giuseppe Verdi
1. Tu che le vanità (Don Carlo Act IV)
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House / Georges Prêtre
Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, 4.XI.1962
Giacomo Puccini
Tosca
ACT I
2. Mario! Mario! Mario! ... Son qui! (Tosca/Cavaradossi)
3. Or tutto è chiaro (Scarpia/Tosca/Sacristan)
ACT II
4. Ed or fra noi parliam da buon amici (Scarpia/Tosca)
5. Sciarrone: che dice il Cavalier? (Scarpia/Sciarrone/Tosca/Cavaradossi)
6. Orsù, Tosca, parlate (Scarpia/Tosca/Cavaradossi/Spoletta/Sciarrone)
7. Floria...Amore (Cavaradossi/Tosca/Scarpia/Sciarrone)
8. Nel pozzo, nel giardino. Va, Spoletta! (Scarpia/Cavaradossi/Tosca/Sciarrone)
9. L’alba vindice appar (Cavaradossi/Tosca/Scarpia)
10. La povera mia cena fu interrotta (Scarpia)
11. Quanto?...Il prezzo (Tosca/Scarpia)
12. Se la giurata fede debbo tradit (Scarpia/Tosca)
13. Come tu m’odii (Scarpia/Tosca)
14. Vissi d’arte (Tosca)
15. Vedi...le man giunte io stendo a te (Tosca/Scarpia)
16. Chi è là? (Scarpia/Spoletta/Tosca)
17. Io tenni la promessa (Scarpia/Tosca)
18. Tosca, finalmente mia! (Scarpia/Tosca)
19. Or gli perdono! (Tosca)
ACT III
20. E lucevan le stelle (Cavaradossi)
21. Ah! Franchigia a Floria Tosca (Cavaradossi/Tosca)
22. Il tuo sangue o il mio amore volea (Tosca)
23. O dolci mani, mansuete pure (Cavaradossi)
24. Senti, l’ora è vicina (Tosca)
25. Amaro sol per te m’era il morire (Cavaradossi/Tosca)
26. E non giungono (Tosca/Cavaradossi/Gaoler)
27. Come è lunga l’attesa! (Tosca)
28. Presto, su! Mario! (Tosca/Spoletta/Sciarrone/Chorus)
Cast:
- Floria Tosca: Maria Callas
- Mario Cavaradossi: Renato Cioni
- Scarpia: Tito Gobbi
- Cesare Angelotti: Victor Godfrey
- Spoletta: Robert Bowman
- Sacristan: Eric Garrett
- Sciarrone: Denis Wicks
- Gaoler: Edgar Boniface
Royal Opera Chorus, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House / Carlo Felice Cillario
Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, 24.I.1964
[ADD] MONO/STEREO
The technical imperfections of the original recordings mean that the sound quality of these live performances is not of the overall standard to be expected.
DVD
Giuseppe Verdi
Don Carlo (Act IV)
1. Tu che le vanità
Georges Bizet
Carmen
2. Prelude (Act I)
3. Habanera: L’amour est enfant de bohême (Act I)
4. Entr’acte (Act III)
5. Séguedille: Près des remparts de Séville (Act I)
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House / Georges Prêtre
Giacomo Puccini
Tosca (Act II)*
6. Ed or fra noi parliam da buon amici (Scarpia/Tosca)
7. Sciarrone: che dice il Cavalier? (Scarpia/Sciarrone/Tosca/Cavaradossi)
8. Orsù, Tosca, parlate (Scarpia/Tosca/Cavaradossi/Spoletta/Sciarrone)
9. Floria...Amore (Cavaradossi/Tosca/Scarpia/Sciarrone)
10. Nel pozzo, nel giardino. Va, Spoletta! (Scarpia/Cavaradossi/Tosca/Sciarrone)
11. L’alba vindice appar (Cavaradossi/Tosca/Scarpia)
12. La povera mia cena fu interrotta (Scarpia)
13. Quanto?...Il prezzo (Tosca/Scarpia)
14. Se la giurata fede debbo tradit (Scarpia/Tosca)
15. Come tu m’odii (Scarpia/Tosca)
16. Vissi d’arte (Tosca)
17. Vedi...le man giunte io stendo a te (Tosca/Scarpia)
18. Chi è là? (Scarpia/Spoletta/Tosca)
19. Io tenni la promessa (Scarpia/Tosca)
20. Tosca, finalmente mia! (Scarpia/Tosca)
21. Or gli perdono! (Tosca)
Cast:
- Floria Tosca: Maria Callas
- Mario Cavaradossi: Renato Cioni
- Scarpia: Tito Gobbi
- Spoletta: Robert Bowman
- Sciarrone: Denis Wicks
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House / Carlo Felice Cillario
Stage Designer and Director: Franco Zeffirelli
Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London 4.XI.1962 & *9.II.1964
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