"How underrated this performance is!!!!!! The greatest Lucia ever recorded! I'm very happy with this performance and you'll be too! Just AMAZING!"
Unforgettable live Lucia in nice sound
Belcantista | 10/04/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"On this page you can download two nice tracks to see if the sound-quality is good enough for you, I suggest to listen to those first. ;-) In any case this Lucia from 1952 marks the rebirth of Lucia as redeemed from chirpers like Pons and Robin who had turned it into a "Listen to my hiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh notes" fest. Lucia being a DARK and dramatic character despite her innocence and her really over the top naiveté it's a character that fits Callas like a glove. Her "Regnava nel silenzio" tears off all facades of Lucia's character, here her weak mental health is clearly shown and how Callas sings it and the cabaletta afterwards! Incredible colours in the cantabile, amazing fireworks and acuti in the cabaletta. The dialogue with Enrico is spine-chilling, the madscene unsurpassable in its vocal magnitude, virtuosic bel canto and colours. To see how BEAUTIFUL young Callas could sound listen to her singing "Verranno a te..." with di Stefano as Edgardo. This Lucia is the best ever made available. Do not miss it at all costs!!!!"
Lucky Mexico City
profgv | Brooklyn, NY United States | 04/14/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Even this early in Callas' career she new what the music was about. Listen to the endless coloration in the act two scene one duet with Lucia's brother. This performance on a whole is very provincial and very exciting. It is hard to listen to others who have recorded this opera. You can listen to this Lucia a hundred times and still find something new. di Stefano too makes other tenors who sang this role sound boring. What passion, what opera!"
The only Lucia!!!!!!!
profgv | 03/10/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I got this Lucia yesterday! Finally!!!!!! After this magnificent Lucia I cannot listen to any other Lucia anymore, not even Sutherland! I'm a new Callas-Fan! So glad I bought this! Finally I understood why all opera-experts adore this woman!"
Vocally the greatest Lucia
Emma de Soleil | On a holiday In Ibiza, then back to the UK for stu | 01/30/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"In this performance from 1952 Callas sang her first Lucia. Reminding one of the days where Melba sang Lucia she guides this opera back into the tradition of a dramatic soprano d'agilita. (Before chirpers had had belittled and nearly tweeted this dramatic heroine to death) She made it possible for Sutherland, another dramatic soprano d'agilita, to sing Lucia because SHE reclaimed the part for the right voice-category. To describe her singing shortly: FLAWLESS, BEAUTIFUL AND NEVER EQUALLED. No wobbles, rock-solid high notes, mind-boggling coloratura, GORGEOUS timbre (How BEAUTIFUL young Maria sounded) and that touch of melancholy you'll hear from NO other Lucia. She SOUNDS mad in the madscene where others merely show off with their technique. (Sills being the exception) She is the only soprano who manges to combine BEAUTY with MADNESS. (Something not even she was able to repeat to 100% in the performances that followed) Di Stefano sounds incredible as Edgardo (IMHO Much better and more dramatic than for example Pavarotti)!! The sound is ok, the conducting not as great as Serafin's or von Karajan's but better than most others. A MILESTONE OF A LUCIA. A MUST FOR EVERY OPERALOVER!"