Search - Giuseppe Verdi, Umberto Mugnai, Cristina Trevi :: Verdi: La Traviata

Callas IS Violetta

Emma de Soleil | On a holiday In Ibiza, then back to the UK for stu | 05/18/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This Traviata was recorded in Callas third and last season in Mexico. There are Traviatas from 1951, 52, 53, 55, 56, 58 (2) featuring Callas. This live-recording from 1952 will treat you not only with white hot topnotes (The E-flat concluding Sempre libera is s showstopper!) but a deepener portrayal of Violetta. Being in her vocal prime Callas sounds luscious, thrilling and moving throughout the opera. Di Stefano sounds awesome as her lover Alfredo, what a beautiful voice! Read my other reviews on Callas' Violetta if you want more details. This Traviata is a MUST!"

Callas in La Traviata

D. Faulk. | United States | 12/02/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Such is a wonderful thing. Callas is the only true interpreter of Violetta that I have every heard. Her voice in this recording, as well as all the others, provides even without her stellar acting, a very good sense of the donna Violetta. She brings out all aspects of the character on the stage, essentially creating the best portrayal of Violetta, and combining perfectly with Verdi's music. Di Stefano gives his best, but sadly does not live up to what one has heard in 1955 at La Scala. A very exiciting performance altogether, however. The comprimario (small) roles are sung with distinction, and the cast is better than anything I ever heard before in my life. Umberto Mugnai is a very exiciting conductor, and brings real life to the music. Very good there. The sound flaws are minimal. There are recordings that are much worse made in the middle or late '50s. Very good there as well. Callas hits two stellar E-flats, in Sempre libera, and in Di sprezzo degno se stesso rende. Very good performance, and all the performers hit the exiciting vocal heights that Mugnai's conducting gives. All around, it's a rather balanced performance. The cast is very, very balanced, and yet somehow we find ourselves focusing on Callas and di Stefano. My advice: don't steer away from any part of the recording just because it doesn't have one of those two. The entire performance is wonderful. Cinque stelle!"