Maria Callas sings "Seguedille" from Bizet's Carmen

[MezzoCallas]

Wrong, she had legs like the marshmallow man from Ghostbusters!!!!

[filaredo]

It's simple! She had elephant legs!!! LOL

[larrynod]

Isn't it true that Callas never played Carmen because she'd have to show her ankles, and she thought her ankles were too fat? I seem to recall learning that in a documentary about her.

This is my favorite song from that opera, by the way. LOVE it!

[xafnndapp]

That's what it's said in that deocumentary yes, but it's nonsense.

She has played both Rosina and Fiorilla at La Scala and she showed her ankles!

[Elisabetta611]

Exactly. She never did Carmen on stage because she disliked the character. Despite her divorce and the affair with Onassis, Callas was very conservative and Carmen's nature struck her as immoral and alien. And yet she portrays Carmen like no other!

[bellafredina]

Folks, with such daily comments, the Callas fans MTNMANJT + Thugman30, they bashes Netrebko+Gheorghiu!!" What's your opinion?

"Wow, look at the way Maria? (ANNA,ANGELA) make a table dance on stage, and spreads those legs for everybody!! Yahoo, I would sure like to jam her with my Johnson. She won't even have to get the boob job, I would prefer her with a boob job, but I'll jam her the way she is. I'll pump her with my huge proboscis. I spread her ass wide and I fuck this dirty slut!!"

[damechastain]

I love how she uses her eyes!!!

[Lanark8]

Yes... such charisma. She was a genus... in the highest regard,

[halavey]

I like her very much in roles where she can use her lower voice like here, wonderful emotion and her look alone is terrific. Well Mario Del Monaco, F. Labo, De Mura all where under five eight and slim with big voices, Del Monaco was five seven and slim and De Mura was shorter and slight with a big voice, he sang in Caeuso time, little over five feet two! Tucker head a bigger voice then Pavoratti and was five seven and 180 pounds , much smaller then pav. Callas still had power in 1954, yes?

[DanyelHawkes]

saying the weight had nothing to do with it is like saying a violin would sound the same if its body doubled in size but its chord lenght stayed the same. Same goes for a singing voice. Its basic laws of accoustics. And please, dont say im wrong by re-enforcing my point. Weight loss includes both fat and musucle loss. Her muslces lost alot of their strenght/flexibility which, as you said, has an impact on the voice.

[sumalon]

how can you lose a muscle tone if you use them over and over..

which muscles you are referring to..

[MUSCLEEDDIE212]

BRAVA LA CALLAS

[shereenraks]

no one compares to her

[Claijamin37]

Waho ! What end !

[sweetnessglyc]

she seems distracted and disturbed but she's great as always! singing is so effortless with Her. I love you!!!!

[tealeh2]

Have you noticed a lot of opera singer have beautiful neck...

[stevevandien]

Indeed!

[poeticjournalism]

the best version fo sho

[stevevandien]

If Callas had only sung Carmen onstage!

[distefano13069609]

they asked her two times: one in 51, i think, in mexico and she didnt want to show her body and in 1959, for covent garden she sais : "i will never be able to dance as a gypsy!"

[stevevandien]

DAMN. Later on there was nothing un-Carmenesque about her body -- certainly by the time this was filmed. About the dancing, well, her self-confidence went up and down throughout her life. But there's plenty of evidence on film to demonstrate how expressive she could be physically as well as vocally. Indeed, she had BOTH plus that unique intensity; that's what made HER unique:). I certainly don't believe the dancing was beyond her --

[TenHanded]

Maria Callas was the greatest.

Who is that 1ntellectualProperty? What a fool who thinks he's special

[Medea59]

Maria Callas singt nicht einfach!

In dem Moment ist sie einfach Tosca, Michaela, Norma, Medea, ChoChoSan, Leonora usw.

Wirklich einzigartig!!!! Eine Gabe!!!!!

[mtnmanjt]

1ntellectual property, you are a trouble-maker. I viewed your profile, many replies against you. Too bad that we can't slap your face off.

[1ntellectualProperty]

Yeah no, you fucking idiot. Your grandparents were just worthless concert goers, moron. Mine were backstage. She lied to her fans?? GET OVER IT.

[bori90rossonero]

mAGNIFICO ! sTUPENDO ! fANTAVOLANTE!sTRABILIANTE !DA SOGNO ! NON C'è DI MEGLIO CHE VOLARE LUNGO LE LIMPIDE NOTE PRONUNCIATE DALLA DIVINA !

[mtnmanjt]

I've spent hours studying the background of Callas. I've read the professional's analysis of her work, the professional critics, and even her contemporaries. The general consensus is that Maria Callas was not good, but was of another world.

Serafin, Pavarotti, Price, Caballe...all the best in the world, say she was the greatest! How can anyone of lesser caliber even be allowed to utter one word of criticism of La Davina.....Maria Callas.

[straumeeee]

Dea! Nessuno e mai battuto! Mai! !

[Kievest]

This is behaving not acting. It is honest

and riveting!!!!!Thank you.

[nomsdufrere]

it is.now ask this same Maria Callas if she was such a wonderful acress and a person with a lot of artistic substance, why not even she thought that to be enough, but had to exert her voice to the extent of twisting it completely, and losing it in the end, all for the sake of satisfying her great desire to be a dramatic soprano. Which she was not. Half of her is her good acting the other half is ruthless ambition that made her despise her own voice.

[mtnmanjt]

nomsdufrere, why don't you get out of town, your trash talk is not appreciated or wanted here. hit the road, and don't look back. see ya', wouldn't want to be ya'.

[rootedinfaith3]

Oh my WORd...I don't know HOW she does it. xoxo Brava!!

[Brunildilla]

Perfect!!!!!!!!!! and Wonderful!!!!!!!

[pianist527]

What made her loose her voice was due primarily for loosing the love of her life, Onassis; secondly and simultaneously her tremendous loss of weight which would affect anybody let alone a soprano and what a fantastic one she was! And is true, she could sing just about anything

[1ntellectualProperty]

Onassis had a coke problem that propagated down to Callas. Shame

[pianist527]

Sorry to disagree. My parents saw her in 1958 in our Opera Theatre, talked to her and she mentioned not smoking. She never had a Coke and drug problem, that did have Onassis' daughter, that is why she was immensely fat (a different kind of fatness from Callas) which ended by killing Cristina. After loosing 70+ kilos in a very short period of time (which she never gained back contrarily to Cristina) her heart resented terribly and much more her voice, due to which she subsequently lost it

[nomsdufrere]

Didn't she lose her voice way after she had lost that weight? Come on, she was skinny for all the time of her Met carreer. That cannot be due to weight loss, unless weight loss has some magically postponed influence on one's voice.

[pianist527]

A dramatically lost of weight does affect a popular singer's voice forever and much more if you are a soprano. It may take more or less time according to one's organism, but if one looses a great quantity of kilos in a short period of time it is the end of one's career. She did loose her beautiful voice due to that enormous lost of weight.

[nomsdufrere]

I would like to be able to agree with you. Is it not more likely, though, that she lost her beautiful voice thanks to the misuse she performed on it. I don't know of any belcanto book that says one's voice ruin comes with a weight loss but with a poor technique. Why did Giuseppe di Stefano lose his voice too? Also, this aria may not be the best example, but did she not always have a very poor low register, nasal and artificial-"coloured' so to say?

[pianist527]

Thank you for your reply. Do you know Maysa Mataraso, one of the best romantic (and also most beautiful) singers of all times of Brasil? She died many years ago, some years after loosing in a short period of time about the same amount of kilos as Maria Callas did and after have lost her beautiful voice too.

Great videos you have in your channel, congratulations

[DanyelHawkes]

weight loss WAS a big part of the reason.!!!!!!! after the weight loss, Maria had a whole new instrument. So it was easier for her to confuse "artificial-coloring" with real placement of the voice etc etc.... fact of the matter is, if maria didnt loose the weight, she probably would have never built so many bad vocal habbits.

[sopranosII]

why is weight loss important for this?

[puppydawgluv]

^^it's not.

weight loss has NOTHING to do with it

[EmilyGreene1984]

Actually it is.

[ChaudeB]

You're so wrong!! I don't understand why people go on to write those things! The weight has nothing to do with the voice or the technique. one thing is, that the body looses power, because it isn't unsed to eat less. the instrument stayed the same!!!!!

[mauquim]

isn't she perfect?

[matisatiretalised]

atgentina 1 brazil 0

[acla9000]

"Prés des remparts de Séville/Chez mon ami Lillas Pastia"... The sound is a bit low, but it's wonderful anyway. Thanks for posting!

[Axel23632]

La "Carmen" más sensual. Aunque no lo haya sido en escena ni su voz sea para el rol. Creo que Bizet la imagino tal y como lo hace la Callas.

[poeticjournalism]

Maria Callas...wow. such a goddess.

[sopranoms]

She damaged her vocal chords, no soprano should be singing a heavy mezzo stuff!!!

[x4812k]

I agree with you. It's embarrassing how youtube opera commenters will put "thumbs down" to any comment they disagree with, even if it's legitimate and respectfully worded. Anyway, I totally agree-- Maria Callas should have chosen her repertoire more carefully, with attention to her fach.

[sopranoms]

I saw a clip where she sang it when she was younger and not this thin, and she sounded better.

[efilana]

I have heard it many times, from mane people. It is not disrespectful to her to note that, it is true. Whatever we all can do for love...

She was amazing opera diva.

[xafnndapp]

sorry to contradict you, but she never sang this aria in public (professionally) before 1962, which is this year.

[TedLeoAgent]

My grandfather was actually at this concert and he was fortunate enough to see. He banged her.

[1ntellectualProperty]

As I recall toward this part in her career she was severely addicted to cocaine and cigarettes. Shame so much talent went to waste she could have been a real star but she let it all goto waste because of sex and drugs.

[Elisabetta611]

Callas never smoked during her career, nor did she take cocaine. Ever.

[Elisabetta611]

Yeah, right. You know that's impossible?

[TrebleB4Mi]

I don'y mean to start an argument but I'm sure that Callas' smoking may have had something to do with the deterioration of her voice. In her day, sadly, no one knew it was bad for you. I've also heard some critics that classify Callas' voice as a "Soprano Asoluta" (sp?) which is a rare type of soprano that can sing just about anything but true heavy Dramatic Mezzo stuff. She sings coloratura remarkably well to be a true spinto. Carmen is a lyric mezzo role and not that heavy anyways.

[Corenero]

Totally agree.

[TedLeoAgent]

Though this video may seem impressive it's nothing more than a workshop in basic Opera singing 101. Even so, with my classical training I can hear when she's struggling to hit the notes she would have had no problem belting out before pressure from the general populace forced her to lose her weight. This is absolute shit, and any REAL opera fan will know this. She's the modern day equivalent of Ashley Simpson to the REAL singers in the day. Hogging up the glory with no talent to back it.

[vhennus]

you're probably deaf.. I'm also a singer.. and really can't you see her technique.. maybe this is not the best of callas, but just listen to sempre libera and compare with the version of netrebko LOOK AT HER MOUTH, AND THEN CLOSE YOUR EYES AND LISTEN TO THIS WOMAN, then listen to netrebko or whoever you like... HOW CAN YOU SAY SHE IS LIKE ASHLEE SIMPSON ....

blahh

[TedLeoAgent]

And all of you guys who are advocating this kind of music should feel guilty because that type of attitude was why Maria Callas had difficulty singing without her massive girth to back her up. Compare this to any of her early stuff and tell me it was better. This stuff is good yes, but I'm saying she was much better before idiots like you advocating beauty over art destroyed everything.

[klaaudio16]

i thought you said this was shit...

you are shit my ho'

[Telltaleheart79]

Actually i believe she lost weight because she wanted to. She wanted so badly to be beautiful. I do not believe that pubic pressure had anything to do with it.

[thecelticspirit]

Hum, I read it was because she wanted to be able to act with all her body, in all its slightest possibilities. It may be both, actually, but I rather think she did it for her art and not for her image :)

[TedLeoAgent]

I'm just commenting on her bland and generic voice. I can't imagine most of the populace had the fortune of going to different shows so they were fed this stuff by the radio. Tons of better sing singers. If you know ANYTHING about Opera you should be WEEPING because she used to sound MUUUUUCH better before she lost her weight to sell records which is ridiculous.

[ma34xl]

She was so gorgeuse :) I love Her ~ the greatest artist of all time :).

[splair]

Those eyes!

[WiseMonki]

Ha! Christ she is good. Not many can with stand this charm... (only a fool could refuse)...hehehe. great post, kindest regards

[TedLeoAgent]

Fuck is this opera bullshit lol

[andrew9994]

Ted, don't click on something called, "Maria Callas sings "Seguedille" from Bizet's Carmen

" and then complain that it's someone singing Seguedille from Bizet's Carmen.

[ma34xl]

2 da user : TedLeoAgent : the same way ya mom g0t fcuked up da azz u fuktard ~ toodles :).

[musicalsandstuff]

this is great. i like habanera but this is the first time i've heard this. This is far superior

[iwantmore81]

I love when Callas uses the lower range of her voice really shows off the emense gift and depth she had

simply one of the very best xx

[TrebleB4Mi]

I know right!!?!? They call her a soprano absoluta because she can even sing mezzo convincingly!.. a true master

[hartnell114]

at 1:34 she looses her brethe and carrys on singing,where the heck did she get the air!

[Angeltots]

omg...ur right~ :O

[Dominicano1197]

that's why opera singers are basically amazing =)

[hartnell114]

most of them =]

[MoomiaMenazes]

She was a professional, no need to think where or how she got breath to keep on singing, I guess that you, my friend hartnell were the one that lost his breath hearing this magnificent interpretation!

[hartnell114]

happily on more than one occasion! =)

[KARINADIVA]

What do you mean, lost her breath exactly, I don't think so at all, if she had she would have had to breathe and she didn't need to, and do some of you people actually sing or just watch?

[hartnell114]

lost her breath,as in it sounded like she sang so long that she couldnt have had any more air in her lungs and then just carried on like it was normal,as far as i know she wasnt a very large lady haha, i sing but,not like this! =(

[hartnell114]

some of her stares look like she is saying hello to some people and scalding the man who coughed!

[mezzocol]

THE BEST.

[beatsofsoultrain]

it's genius.Maria will be always the best female singer

[anzdf]

Maravillosa.

[franciscusliszt]

Her waist (second 2:11) is unbelievable.

[hartnell114]

a corset maybe,than again,she was not a well woman

[dellaselva1]

One of the better interpretations.I rank it second to that of Rîse Stevens

[dlacker]

that note at :29 is amazing!

[fulk10]

una semplice parola: perfetta!!!

[tchikat]

Wonderful, simply wonderful!

[franciscusliszt]

I think the smile at 1.39 means "yeah, I flipped out of my chest voice at 1.34 without losing my legato".

[KARINADIVA]

Glad you said that, someone suggested she ran out of breath, and I disagreed and I wanted to explain what it was exactly, thanks.

[mambolduc]

Ce qui me bouleverse, c'est la vulnérabilité à fleur de peau que je sens sous son immense force. Un phénomène.

[ymegzari]

magnifique...

[flipxt]

Bellísima interpretación de una de las mejores partes de esta gran ópera, Carmen de Bizet.

¡Gracias por subirlo!

[nandobleman]

La mejor con diferencia

[MUSCLEEDDIE]

bella

[sebreathnach]

She could out-carmen Carmen!

[TheMrMarilyn]

THIS is the best filmed version that Madame Callas did of Bizet's 'Habanera' from 'carmen',though this is only the 'Seguedille' (the kind of 'prologue' before the 'Habanera')!!She is still vocally equipped enough to toss this off without any seeming effort!!God,is she ever missed (by me anyway!!)A

[trousermezzo]

Habanera (L'amour est un oiseau rebelle) takes place way before this Seguedille, which is followed by Carmen and Don Jose's duet. What a wonderful performance!

[Apulia2001]

Oh my God! What a treasure to find this.

Her voice is so expressive!

[kpwsings]

Thank goodness for youtube!! I wish I could have watched these while I was in college studying opera! What a help it is to those studying it now!! Count your blessings.

[tsicilian]

Hey all you out there in computer land, do we realize how fortunate we are to see this? Excellent!!!

[FilipeBrasAlmeida]

Oh yeah. When I watch Callas videos on youtube, I often catch myself smiling ear to ear and just staring at her. Bliss.

[tsicilian]

I am in love with a woman who lived long ago, but is still with us because of this machine.

[Leonardomourao]

indeed

[mensageant]

yes, and i'm still not realizing how luky i'm... i've never found any live xpormance of her by dvd...

i love her so much... and see her acting makes me cry.... thanks so much to everyone that added her videos...

[SEBOHA]

the BEST, the artist

[mensageant]

the music

[dumn230984]

what a power of her voice in the end this is one of the best areas of maria callas

[MUSCLEEDDIE]

BRAVA!!!!

[ISwEaRImSaNe]

i used to sing to her when i was little. i was hardcore opera singer lol. i thought i was destined to sing opera but no, not anymore.

but i knew every french word by heart and had every maria callas cd

[Insanityblood]

I Fucking love Her... She is one of my Idols..

[SEF75]

For years I've dreamt with her voice and I don't care if she wasn't the best Carmen. For me she is the best.

[supermusike]

I personally never liked those Callas cross overs to "alto" territoty. She always sounded fake and gutural. I´d rather listen to her "leggiero" recordings before the "wooble" set in (after the tremendous weight reduction that made her voice crack down completely), together with the factor that she stopped studying and performing for years...

[queenspersephone]

LA REGINA!

[Kitana818]

Brilliant!!!

[daveydaveybaby]

so what's the difference between carmen the slut and violetta the whore? violetta has a good heart so its fine to play her? Doesn't matter, callas is still the greatest

[specialboy33]

I just have to say that csmjr91090 is wrong to some degree. Callas portrayed "Carmen" on several stages throughout her career. Those who choose to adhere to the "slut" point of view are completely missing the point of the opera. Perhaps it was her reservation about the role that led her to play it so splendidly -- who knows. Regardless, this is one of the best interpretations and performance of this song.

[csmjr91090]

I have to say you are completely wrong. She never performed the complete opera on stage. The "slut" thing was HER own words, this is how SHE felt. I never said it wasn't a great performance, because it is the best. If you click on my profile you can see that I adore Maria. I was only objecting to someone saying that the only reason she turned the stage role down was that she was worried about her ankles. When in fact it was not the only reason.

[katerina41704]

I dont think she had any problem with sluts, as she performed Turco in Italia and Kundry (almost naked), as far as I know, when Visconti offered her directing Carmen, she refused because she was too fat to dance as a gipsy.

[csmjr91090]

That is true but the way carmen is written is serious unlike Turco (comedy) and Kundry was not almost preformed naked as she performed it at the beginning of her career, and the only reason she performed it was it was she was new and wasn't being offered big time roles at major opera houses. It is possible that her personal opinion on the subject matter had changed as years passed, and that is why she could not portray such characters.

[csmjr91090]

I am so glad to see this back again! I am in love with this video! Maria sings this beautifully, and she looks stunningly beautiful and cute!

[ManlioGiordano]

Of course, we here again witness the work of one of the greatest geniuses of musical history (Callas). It is good that it is made available here, so that music lovers can be inspired - and perhaps new music lovers emerge, previously unaware of the great power of music, that for decades has taken a back seat in favor of superficial, so-called "technical perfection".

[ManlioGiordano]

"monteaventinoo": Perhaps you will some day discover also the emotional aspects of music, as well as start to enjoy those few singers (like Callas) that, in essence, bring forth the whole score in their performances, rather than just focuse on the technical trivia of their own part. Doubtless, this will add very much to your musical experience.

[monteaventinoo]

The voice of Maria Callas:

- Metallic voice but WITHOUT CONTROL AND TONE

- Usnteady and clumsy coloratura

- Weak and frayed high notes

- AWFUL VOICE

- Unsteady High C

- A VOICE WITH A LOT OF CHANGING VOCAL PROBLEMS

- Problematic vocal technique

- Dissapearing middle register

- DISASTROUS HIGH NOTES....ETC, ETC......

[azass93]

But very beautiful interpetations... and charism

[monteaventinoo]

......The fact is that Callas was a rather good mezzo-soprano who insisted in offering her own version of coloratura operas, such as Lucia de Lammermoor, until Dame Joan Sutherland came along and set the record straight!

[dugbin]

Dame Joan Sutherland is not capable of singing an aria such as this, or Habanera, or "Mon coeur souvre a ta voix" because she has absolutely no ability of hitting very low notes, which subtracted to her versatility. Callas, on the other hand, is able to reach F# below middle C, an advantage that enabled her to sing mezzo and contralto. Can Sutherland do that?

[operamagnus]

Sutherland did have low notes, perhaps not as strong as Callas, but she did reach G below middle C. In fact, she started out as a mezzo, and her husband said that interestingly enough, she never sang coloratura arias while at home - she would walk around singing things like "Mon coeur souvre a ta voix". But Sutherland knew her fach, and she stayed there.

[operamagnus]

There's not really any reason to compare these singers, because they both had qualities the other did not have, and are great and DIFFERENT singers.

[saverioorlando]

Elle change registre,comm'il faut,avec agilitè charmant:

[queenspersephone]

Fantastic! I'm jumping on my chair...Maria I worship you.

Suprema.

[adewoodwork]

One of my favourite Callas songs absolutely superb a true genius and beautiful to.

[mgraulau]

I never "got" Ms. Callas. There is something in her voice that every once in a while she sounds like a plucked chicken. Otherwise, however, an agile voice.

[tintorentta]

et dire que petite fille je voulais être comme elle, voire la dépasser :s et pour finir je ne chante pas, j'ai pas voulu aller au solfège ...

Je vais me cacher ...

[cattleman6420012000]

She was by far the best in this role.She was made for it.

[CrisRomeos]

Non ho parole!!! Perfetto!!! :))

[barmanjoe]

To become a seductive mezzo that sings the heated Seguedille, doesn't necessarilly requre a mezzo, but it surely requires a grand operatic communicator that was Maria Callas who proved that communication can surpass voice. Maria Callas is to opera, what Jesus Christ is to Christianity.

[aranjuez1]

She would have been the greatest Carmen ever had she decided to perform the role...Not just because of the technique, the voice and the musicianship this woman had but also because she too had the temperament of the independent, wild, female Carmen was.

[Timtalkthai]

I agree, she unfortuatly never took on the role because when she lost all that weight, there was large amounts of loose skin. She worked hard to get rid of the excesses amounts of skin and was successful except for her ankles. And if she played Carmen during Chanson Boheme she would have to show her ankles. So she never did Carmen! Sad she would have been a phenomenal Carmen!

[oOFleurDeLisOo]

Really? What a pity! I bet the crowd wouldn't have minded at all - or even noticed, they would be too stunned by the beautiful singing!

[csmjr91090]

That is part of it but Maria was a deeply religious Greek Orthodox woman, and she believed that the character of Carmen was a "slut". And she said she could never bring herself to portray a "slut" on stage. But yes she admitted that the ankles were part of it. It shows that Maria was a good woman, not the bad one that her detractors want you to believe.

[evaeke]

You are not a good woman just because you don't want to portray a "slut" on the scene and not want show your ancles. You are a good woman if you want to portray all the women's situation and walks of life so people can wake up and do something about the unjustices in the world.

But Yes, weither Callas is a "good woman" or not, I like her singing. What kind of person she were is not essential, the most important thing is what happens inside you when you listen to her singing!

[csmjr91090]

It says something about her character. knowing of her personality sheds light on her art and how she portrayed each role.

[AristonMenHudor]

"C'est Maria Callas, C'est Moi"

Who said it?

Bizet.

[apollion]

Exairetiko -Amazing !

[MAPIAKALLAS]

She is great lovely she is Carman look at her wonderful Viva la Callas