Puccini- Arias & Duets by Maria Callas -EMI's Great Artist

The Very Best of Maria Callas	Lyric & Coloratura Arias by Maria Callas (EMI's Great Recordings of the Century)	Maria Callas - La Callas... Toujours The career of Maria Callas was just a bit too early and too brief to receive full and satisfying video documentation like that now being accorded to such singers as Renée Fleming and Luciano Pavarotti. This black-and-white televised recital (Callas's Paris debut) took place a...	Maria Callas - At Covent Garden 1962 and 1964 The second half of this recording is an important item in the too-scanty video discography of Maria Callas. Matched with another great singing actor, Tito Gobbi as the lecherous, hypocritical Scarpia, she participates in a textbook demonstration of how Act II of Tosca should b...	The Ultimate Puccini Collection Ordinarily, it pays to be wary of collections such as these, which often promise a lot but deliver a mishmash of disconnected excerpts. This disc, however, is something of an exception: you really do get just about all of Puccini's best arias, which is possible, because he didn't...
Puccini: Arias Though Puccini is one of the composers most associated with Callas, he was not the one closest to her heart. Even the title role of Tosca that showcased her talents so brilliantly (including during her vocal decline) didn't figure among her favorites. You'd never know, though, fr...	Callas: Complete Studio Recordings	Puccini - Madama Butterfly Of all Puccini's major operas, the intimate tragedy of Madama Butterfly is least in need of elaborate staging and might therefore benefit most from the close scrutiny of film. The story is domestic, the setting Spartan, the incidental characters kept to a minimum. This 1974 versi...	100 Great Operas And Their Stories: Act-By-Act Synopses An invaluable guide for both casual opera fans and afficionados, this volume contains act-by-act descriptions of operatic works ranging from the early seventeenth century masterworks of Monteverdi and Purcell to the modern classics of Menotti and Britten. Written in a lively anec...	The Most Famous Opera Arias

The Best
This is a truly beautiful program of Puccini arias sung by the legendary Maria Callas.

Callas shines in Puccini
It's already been said, this is one of the best Puccini aria recitals. Callas adopts just the right colour for each of the characters she undertakes in this recital. That said, the selections on this disc are mostly the same as those found in her "Puccini Arias" recital, and the masters in that disc are the ones utilized here. In addition to those arias, "Vissi d'arte" and the duet "Non la sospiri" from Tosca (2002 remstering), "O soave fanciulla" from La Boheme, and "Vogliatemi bene" from M.Butterfly (1997 remastering) are also included, though the duet from Tosca doesn't end naturally in my opinion, because it's just a part taken from the entire love duet from Act I. The performances themselves are highly commendable, and thus make this (or the previously released "Puccini Arias") a must have CD.

The greatest Puccini-Recital in history
This remastering by Callas' first ever recital for EMI is absolutely divine. In even better sound (It is a studio-recording) and stunning presence we can hear Callas' voice as well as never before. The highlights are definitely Manon's "Sola, perduta...", Butterfly's suicide, Tosca's prayer, Turandots "In questa reggia", Lius "Tu che di gel sei cinta", the love-duet from Tosca etc. I believe Callas'first "Sola, perduta..." is absolutely ravishing. Young Callas had such a rich, glorious sound! But not only that, listen how she phrases "No! Non voglio morir!" And "Tutto e finito!" with so much morbidezza and drama! Absolutely sublime! As Butterfly she is more the loving mother than any other Butterfly I've heard before or since, listen to how she phrases "Guardami! Amore addio, addio piccolo amor!". This would melt a heart of stone! I'm also totally floored by her "In questa reggia", this shows why Italy adored her as Turandot in the late forties. She triumphed as Turandot and Norma (!) in the same week at the Teatro Colon! Imagine Nilsson, Turner or Marton doing Norma! Impossible? Well, Callas made it possible. I could go on and on but you get the idea. This his the finest Puccini-Recital ever recorded. And to those who think that Callas lacked the warmth necessary for Puccini's heroines: Listen to the duet from La Boheme, Callas' voice is glowing there, like velvet!