Search - Giacomo Puccini, Vincenzo Bellini, Hector Berlioz :: Maria Callas ~ Complete Studio Recordings

Information

John Austen | Baltimore, MD USA | 06/30/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Of course this is a fabulous bargain, but there is also a lot to be said against it.



Firstly, there's the issue of presentation. The 69 cds and 1 cd-rom do come in serviceable, light cardboard sleeves (and the cds do slip out, without needing to be prized out of the sleeve), but they are identified only by number and work-title. Unlike some other sets, this one does not give a track listing on each sleeve. And that's a pain: you have to turn to the minimalist booklet, which contains the track listings and--well, that's about it. One very good thing is that the cds are arranged chronologically, so that you get to follow Callas's career. The bad news is that this arrangement makes it hard to find any individual title and, frustratingly, the booklet does not contain an index of which work is on which cd. You want to find the second recording of Norma? You gotta hunt for it. At this price, you expect the documentation to be minimal, but just a little bit of effort could have made this so much more user-friendly.



Second, there's the boxing. The cd sleeves are housed in a fairly flimsy cardboard "drawer," which slides into an extremely flimsy oblong cover This cover will probably have started to disintegrate in the mail by the time you get it (mine did). Because the cd sleeves are a thin cardboard rather than paper, the whole box takes up almost 9 inches of shelf-space. (Compare this with the economical and manageable 2 inches or so that the 30cds of EMI's Elgar set, with plain paper sleeves, fit into--a less showy format, but way more serviceable.)



Third, there's the cd-rom documentation. In a word, minimalist. A few photos, and the libretti of the operas (in the format of the booklets); nothing for the recital discs.



Fourth, there's the remastering. Most of the remasterings are dated 1997, and therefore appear to belong to the "black cover" EMI issues. Some date from the early 2000's and therefore seem to be from GROC reissues. A very few seem to have been remastered for this set. However, not all previously released GROC remasterings are here. (Why not?) Identified below are the cds in the set that were NOT remastered in 1997 (15 in all). Note that it is especially (and sensibly) the earlier recordings that tend to be most recently remastered.



cd 1. Early recordings (1949)--Remastered 07 (time: 24:23)

2-4. La Gioconda (52)--R 07

5-6 Lucia (53)--R 04

10-11--Tosca (53)--R 02

12-13--Traviata (w/ Santini 53)--R 07

14-16--Norma (54)--R 03

38-39--Il barbiere di Siviglia (57)--R 07



Every time I get to compare the efforts of small companies such as Pearl with the major companies (including Naxos) I find I prefer the Pearl. And I know there are complaints on the `net about these EMI efforts. (Though I find EMI better than most of the majors at this.) So it's probably good that I don't have any comparisons for these remasterings. At times, I feel the sound has probably been smoothed out too much and deprived of life, but these are (to my ears) a vast improvement over some of the ratty old lp manifestations that are stored in my aural memories.



Fifth, there's the number of cds. 70 sounds a lot, but be warned: some of them are very short measure. The very first cd is a massive 24 minutes. And the individual opera sets, of course, often contain one cd under 50 mins.



Finally, there's the content. I have always admired Callas, but I've never been obsessed. So I wondered: do I really want 69 cds of that very distinctive voice? Especially since I already had a number of these performances in boxes with full documentation? After all (I told myself), it's not the most beautiful voice, and it did fray with the years. But, well, I figured this set would save space and fill in gaps and so forth, so I ordered it.



Then I sat down to listen to all 69 of the discs, from beginning to end. I am wary of completism, but there is something to be said for this complete set: I found it is not just a convenient way to amass a lot of individual operas featuring Callas, but that it is, somehow, a whole that is greater than its parts--a massive work, an oeuvre, that provides a context and brings a talent to life. You know how it is when you decide to listen to the whole Ring over (let's say) four days. Even if you're ambivalent about Wagner (as I am), it's an extraordinary experience. The Callas experience is amazing. I found myself listening to familiar performances that I first heard decades ago, as though hearing them for the first time. I found myself thinking that I was really appreciating her for the first time--her control, her intelligence, and, yes, her beauty.



For all the irritating inadequacies and arbitrary decisions in its presentation--and for all our frustration with EMI for finding a new way to repackage its back catalogue yet again every couple of years--this is a stunning set. So 5 stars for content, overriding (for me) the deficiencies of presentation."

Callas : Prima Donna Assoluta For Now And All Time

Martijn13Maart1970 | Husavik Iceland | 10/22/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"To quote Tony Locantro in the booklet, Callas is the prima donna assoluta for now and all time. Her life itself was like a great Romantic opera, he said, a story of triumph, drama, and, finally, tragedy. But her art and life are too well known to discuss here.



What is left is, apart from the legend, the voice, of which fortunately a lot is recorded. This set has all the studiorecordings she ever made with EMI. Individually these records would add up to a lot of $$ to buy, so this set is wonderful. It comes in a nice box, and in compact paper cases. Of course, EMI could have made this set look more fancy, but then this atrractive price would not be possible I guess. It is all about the music in the end, and the quality of the cd's itself is superb. This set has I believe the latest remasters from Abbey Road Studio's, so it does not get better than this. It also comes with a good booklet, and extra info in pdf format can be downloaded at callas30.com

Get this set, whether you are a fan, or just thinking about giving opera a try, since, as in art so seldom happens (apart from Shakespeare, Rembrandt, Caruso and La Callas), this is undisputed the best opera can get when it comes to a female voice. All that on 70 cds for almost nothing, what more could one want? Great EMI, hope a similar set on all live performances will follow?

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CALLAS ------ HER VALUABLE LEGACY

L. Mitnick | Chicago, Illinois United States | 11/14/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Maria Callas,thirty years after her death, refuses to be forgotten, and nor should she be, for there will never be another like her. Her artistic, musical, and dramatic attributes are entirely too vast to go into here, and besides, Callas needs no advocates ---- she's still converting people to her artistry today, and probably always will. Why is she the most revered soprano of the Twentieth Century? Much of the answer lies here on the discs including in this beautiful box. The operatic repertoire represented here is immense -- Callas covered everything from Norma and Sonnambula through Turandot and Tosca, by way of Aida, Pagliacci, Cavalleria Rusticana, Lucia, and even two Rossini comedies. She was a vocal cameleon, taking on a different voice for every role she portrayed. She had a thousand colors in her voice, and her personal magnetism infused her singing. A perfect vocal emission? Certainly not, but it was always a great instrument of expression, and sometimes, of great beauty. Callas forged an operatic path that no other soprano dared to tread, possibly because she realized that her particular vocal sound was one which needed to be studied to be appreciated. Virtually all of the Callas performances here are models of their kind. Her colleagues (di Stefano, Tucker, Monti, Gobbi, Barbieri, Gedda, etc.) all shine alongside of her, and Tullio Serafin (her mentor), Herbert von Karajan, Antonino Votto, Gavazzini, and Galleria all provide exemplary leadership. This box is a must have for those who have yet to experience the artistry of the greatest operatic artist of the last century, one whose vast legacy will live forever.











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