Added: 4 years ago
From: Homoclassicus
Views: 107,169
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  • Heard this over 13 years ago and still my favorite rendition of La Sonnambula . Magnificent.

  • La Divina ...

    incredible beauty of the voice !!!

    Maria  Callas LOVE you ! you are divine...

  • <3

  • She is the best singer of all time.

  • what a wonderful singer never tire of such a great voice

  • Eternal!

  • Haunting

  • sono un fan di Montsy ma mi inchino davanti alla perfezione!

    C.

  • Maria Callas has made her place in musical history . Among the great sopranos, she must be right at the top....but only for you who love her extraordinary style...There will never be another Maria Callas, so we should enjoy the fine qualities that she certainly had. For me, I actually liked her voice for the first two thirds of this piece.I liked that p register, but when she goes to fff i turn my ears off. She is another soprano with a very sad demise. Thanks for posting.

  • and also a little thanks to Bellini .. ..

  • Ah,non credea mirarti si presto estinto, o fiore; passasti al par d'amore, che un giorno sol(o) duro. Potria novel vigore il pianto mio recarti ma ravvivar l'amore il pianto mio, ah no, non puo. Ah, non giunge uman pensiero al contento ond'io son piena: a miei sensi io credo appena; tu m'affida o mio tesor. Ah, mi abbraccia, e sempre insieme, sempre uniti in una speme, della terra, in cui viviamo ci formiamo un ciel d'amor.
  • grandissima diva

  • I wouldn't call it her death...I'd say her APOTHEOSIS. True divas...are immortal.

  • Today I was lucky to stumble upon it on City University's channel and it was Maria Callas. I got goosebumps all over my body and tears in my eyes. Let alone that her stage presence is so authentic and non-theatrical at all (which means she is actually living the role not just acting it, like Cecilia Bartoli does) and her singing looks effortless. Her voice has an effect no other singer's has had on me.

  • ugh. i just finished listening to this opera in it's entirety from 1955 with Cesare Valletti as Elvino and I must say that I'm truly baffled as to how she owns "Ah non giunge"

    the best things in life.....

  • @pointemeout

    It's a view through rose-colored Callas-glasses!

    What you describe is her technique, diligence and perfection but you forgot her ugly voice, metallic screaming. It sounds like a musical clock from the 20s.

  • @vahisern

    if you don't like it, don't listen darling.

  • Callas perfection and Vittoria ? (sp) d'Angelis Elisabeth Schwartskorpf another was Nellie Melba - but we will never hear her truly. Sutherland and her range and on and on each suited to her own interpretation of exquisite music . Beauty is in the eyes of the listener thank you for that - purity plus - Deanna Durbin American actress in her youth also in a different light surprised me

  • wow. precision will never be so precise again!

    thanks for uploading!

  • The beauty lies in the ears of the listener, my friends !

  • OMG! She died exactly 15 years before I be born!

    O.O

  • Spellbinding video. Congrats. 

  • brava divine monster

  • brava divine monster you are the best and you still are brava

  • Great Callas in her prime. I love another renditions too, here in youtube, as Renee Fleming´s and Adelaida Negri´s (maybe the most authentic one together with Callas, because she is a sfogato soprano, as the original, Pasta)

  • Thank you, Homoclassicus, for this wonderful tribute to the great Maria Callas.

  • La Divina

  • Un tributo bellísimo. Muchas gracias.

  • "Ah, non credea mirarti si presto estinto, o fiore" is inscribed on Bellini's tomb in the Cathedral of Catania, Sicily.

  • NADIE después de usted maestra.

  • Ah,non credea mirarti

    si presto estinto, o fiore;

    passasti al par d'amore,

    che un giorno sol(o) duro.

    Potria novel vigore

    il pianto mio recarti

    ma ravvivar l'amore

    il pianto mio, ah no, non puo.

  • Ah, non giunge uman pensiero

    al contento ond'io son piena:

    a miei sensi io credo appena;

    tu m'affida o mio tesor.

    Ah, mi abbraccia, e sempre insieme,

    sempre uniti in una speme,

    della terra, in cui viviamo

    ci formiamo un ciel d'amor.

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  • beautiful!

  • die

  • she dead non una bella voce forse ma degna del rispetto dell enorme espressivita

  • I don't speak your language imbecil!

  • Merci . Merveilleux

  • Voce potente ed espressiva al massimo.

  • Il piu grande di sempre, in termini di interpretazione, partecipazione emotiva e teatralita.

  • The voice that has every feeling.

  • Callas forever!

  • It's fun to read all the comments, the eternal battle between the Callas admirers and detractors. It's more than ridiculous but great fun to observe.

  • @pianosinger745 I just find it a shame that they pollute the site...

  • I agree.

  • Indeed it is.

    I personally like her, but a woman of such powers, such a femme fatale, easily arouses controversy.

    RIP La Divina.

  • Actually, hat record probably went to Caballé, who was much more famous for that. Of course, the media talked much more about Callas' cancellations, but media coverage isn't factual truth. I can't see why you say she had a popera singer's dynamic range, since she was reknown for the opposite even among detractors. And being fat isn't anyone's inherent quality (she became very thin still young) - and definitely not a flaw. Perhaps your Neanderthal senses can't notice what Homo sapiens can. :-)

  • @Homoclassicus

    it's ironic you say that, as several scientists speculate that neanderthals actually communicated via singing because they lacked the power the enunciate consonants well.

    PS: lol anyway, Callas is fabulous as always. I can't help but think she sounds more "natural" than usual here. most of her other lighter repertoire sounds a little constrained

  • @gandor1337 Netrebko has a good lyric voice.She is not a coloratura, and one thing for sure, she is NOT a musician. She cannot hold a candle to Callas. What a dummy ..!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • @kgarmaker123 I wish that one day you would gain enough intelligence to see that with these sort of statements you put yourself down and not anybody else.

  • @wetering777 LOL I am correct.. I love Netrebko's voice, but her musicianship has oft been criticized by many musicians and experts... and frankly it is obvious to me that she lacks in that area... Just follow her with a score in hand. When you criticize a statement from me, that is so obvious it is you that looks like an ignorant fool. Now go do something constructive.

  • i have heard many different singers sing/attempt this; maria's voice is enchanting, and it brought me right into her world. all of the people who decry technique are listening to opera for the wrong reason anyway - ms. Callas' voice is tremendous - she is a singer "for the people!"

  • WOW!!!!!!! RIP Maria

  • nobody is better Callas lol

  • jmahlon

    it's original from me, but before she lost her voice Aliberti was better as Callas in belcanto!

  • Lucia Aliberti was the BETTER Callas.

  • Lucia would prefer that you enjoy her performance and appreciate the unique performances by other artists as well. If all you can say to an artist's work is so n so is better, than you've never really appreciated opera at all.

  • lol I just read this exact same comment from another user on a Lucia Aliberti video of Ah non giunge. This wasnt an actual original thought from you...you just got sand in your vagina and decided to take it out on Callas...

  • @vandrops What an idiot.. Callas had better piani than any of the dramatic coloraturas.. She had control of her voice from soft to loud and in between and a complete ability to crescendo and decrescendo.. something totally lacking in 99.9 percent of all singers.. Faulty training.

  • the best at her best!!! no sleep walking in this voice

  • Now, don't call me names, but who is the opposite singer that preformed with her in this recording? I just want to make sure.

  • His name is Nicola Monti, who also recorded the same opera with Joan Sutherland a little later (1962). And I give you that information without calling you names. :-D

  • Oh, thank you! I don't have any knowledge of male singers these days but he sounded a bit familiar and I didn't know his name. Thank you!

  • @Homoclassicus You could have called him 'inquisitive' and I bet he would not have minded.

  • stunning.

    absolutely stunning.

    i've never been a great fan of callas' voice in her very late years (here her voice is fresh and lovely), though i have always, ALWAYS admired her incredibly dramatic and enchanting approach to each aria she sang. she could do anything.

    i also love how you can hear slight resemblances to verdi's 'eh strano..sempre libera'!!! bellini's influence on verdi, particularly within these two arias is obvious.

  • @wonderloly

    sono d'accordo con te: ascoltare e godere della bellezza, solo questo basta.

    La musica non è come una partita di calcio...!

  • eddiealle, you are wrong!

    In europe the opera houses are full of young audiences! And for example in Germany you can see and hear opera live in every little town!

    It gives 120 very good Orchestras, a lot of concerti and lieder recitals.

    The hype begins with Anna Netrebko's debut in Salzbourg.

  • my worry is that the newer generations are not listening to classical music and Opera as before...we must try harder to get the younger ones affected to this music and aart.

  • Thank you Homoclassicus.

  • Those who say that Maria Callas is forgotten must be insane. Callas overestimated? Pure nonsense. MARIA CALLAS IS A TRUE ONE-OF-A-KIND OPERA DIVA WITH A DIVINE VOICE! Who cares, that maybe technically she wasn't always perfect. What really counts is the emotion in her voice which makes her unique. It's not possible to mistake her with someone else. CALLAS WAS MUSIC ITSELF! What would opera be without her?! For me she is the best, no matter what other say.

  • Like every singers of the past? That may be only if you yourself forget every singers of the past, because AFAIK singers like Ponselle, Galli-Curci or even older singers like Patti and Tetrazzini are still much remembered and admired. Callas' operatic career ended 44 years and there's still no sign of people forgetting her.

  • You're absolutely right and if we do not want to look very far for a proof, then 35.417 views only of this video is enough to show that she was not forgotten.

  • As I said before, this is as if God had felt compassion for humankind, and sent to Earth an angel to sing to us so that we could have a glimpse of what heavenly glory and greatness are, and maybe, allow life to be more bearable......this Divine Angel is Maria, La Divina.

    Thank you God...thank you Maria!

  • @isabellamatisse Now, you're talkin'!!!

  • @isabellamatisse ... And I thank you! For you`ve said what I feel.

    Best regards. 

  • @isabellamatisse

    Grazie anche a te per le parole così belle!

  • @angelamaria1944 Mi rendo conto. Benedizioni!

  • @Neanderthalgirl Do you know what a metaphor is? and yes, applying the same metaphor, I agree, Anna Moffo sang as an angel as well ! ...I believe both singers are equally great, each one with their own style. I am no judge of people's lives, and neither can I tell if anyone is actually burning in hell, that is for our Creator to decide. We don't know for certain if she repented before her death or not, only God knows that. And by the way...no need for insults. Blessings!

  • Don't look into your mirror!! Hope this helps minger!!

  • HAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!! I can't stop laughing!!!

  • Then you don't like Bel Canto at all. I mean, the Bel Canto operas are especially known because many of them - if not most of them - were composed for great divas according to their particular qualities. The title roles are mostly women, and the composers intended 99.9% of the female roles to be sung by women (and even in travesty roles). I find it difficult for someone who thinks women scream to like Bel Canto, for the simple reason the divas ruled in this repertoire.

  • @Neanderthalgirl

    That's one of the stupist things I've read online lately

  • Heavenly? Nuts!

    Perhaps nice - but no more!

    Belcanto isn't for women and only acceptable for castratoes. For belcanto you need definitely a male voice, otherwise it is only SQUEAK!!!

  • I guess you're kidding. I mean, castratos were common in Baroque opera, but during the Bel Canto era (thought as a musical period and not as technique) there were very few castratos and the vast majority of the roles, even male roles for mezzo, were sung by women.

  • Heavenly!

  • Yeah, it's a tough love. I've gone between listening to no one else to scorn and back again. I have most of the Angel box sets. I saw her in 1958 in SF in concert, and again in LA at the end of her career with di Stefano. Although I got to go back stage and pay my respects, it was a tragic performance.

    Someone must have the MRF 1958 Mexico City performance- supposed to be definitive. But I remain in awe how she brought back bel canto with performances like this one you share with us.

  • "a mezzo like Callas"?! people, when will you understand that Callas was no mezzo at all?! have you ever heard a mezzo singing a high f? she was undoubtedly a soprano. very dark, yes. but still a soprano. there is no doubt about that.

  • she never had an f

  • Superba voce, bella donna, meravigliosa interprete... in una parola: INIMITABILE.

    Brava, brava Maria, GRAZIE.

  • Where are the pigs, Bellafredina/Filaredo?

  • stupenda!!!

  • Maravillosa!!! Definitiva!!! LA DIVINA!!!

  • Bellafredina/Filaredo, doesn't every Callas video just make you suck more shit, with her greatness? HA! HA! you suck-mouths, the scums of Youtube with your idiotic comments against The Great Callas. Suck dog-shit into your mouths.

  • do you really think immature coments like this one appropriate for a page featuring beautiful music performed by a divine singer? Or on any classical music page? Anywhere at all? Please don't do this - you pollute this site

  • 47 viviane, no they are not appropriate for a great singer like Callas. However Filaredo/Bellafredina have made vile comments against Callas for months. I'm only fighting fire, with fire. Whatever it takes to shut them up, I will do it. You should e-mail them and tell them how much you hate them. Don't tell me to stop, they started it. I'm here to defend Callas, any way I can.

  • mtnmanjit, if others do show neither manners, knowledge, taste or style it doesn't help but only makes matters worse when someone (you in this case) ADDS to it by using foul language and insults - that never stops but ADDS TO IT! Plus it spoils this page for people who love and enjoy music and are able to tolerate other's taste. And - by the way - saying: he started it - is the epitaph of childish, you can choose how to react.

    And - last not least - I don't HATE people for immature comments

  • 47 Viviane, I respect your opinion, however these sluts Bellafredina/Filaredo have made vile comments against La Divina for months, and have not abated, one iota, no matter how many people have tried to rationally discuss this with them. Why don't you listen to me when I tell you they are bastards, and need e-mails from all Callas fans telling them what bastards they are. They hate Callas, show them how much we hate them. I would smash their faces if I could. Tell them they are bastard bitches.

  • I give up, obviously you are one lucky guy who has no REAL problems to be obsessed by equally fanatics in cyberspace - one last comment though: a site for classical music = beauty is not the place to start a "Holy War" and turn joy and light into negative energy

  • mtnmanjit, 47viviane is absolutely right. IGNORE these people. That's what I'll do from now on. They want attention, nothing more.

  • No please don't! Stay and fight them, to the death, if necessary. They don't want attention, they hate Callas. This is no joke, trust me, I know what I'm talking about. It has nothing to do with opera, because everybody knows Callas is generally considered the greatest soprano of all time. Even with her voice imperfection, she is still considered the greatest of all time. They hate her for personal reasons. I hope you stay and fight them, but if you can't, OK. I'll fight them forever.

  • Ok, you could fight them, but you also must know fights against this kind of people (who do want attention, that's why they've "chosen" to hate someone who is most universally acclaimed, and not another diva) distract other people from commenting and appreaciating Callas' artistry, turning the comment board more into a battlefield than a place for analysing and commenting on the performance. I agree with 47viviane: those are the fanatics, and to disagree with them we mustn't become like them.

  • Well said. I agree. There are people with informed opinions, and then there are people who are so utterly miserable, their only delight is to try to steal others' joy. In simple fact, nothing anyone can say will ever change the importance of Maria Callas' contribution to opera. Sublime artistic genius. The absolute zenith of what opera can be. Brava, Callas. La Divina.

  • I TOTALLY agree with '47viviane'!!Such epithets,when used in such an unimaginative manner are not only the highest form of insult to Maria (who could not TOLERATE 'bad' language or ANY form of crude or crass behavior)!!There are ALWAYS going to be ignorant people saying their opinions...but that (in a way) is fanTAStic,because of the fact we are allowed to have an opinion AND free to voice it/them too!!Writing such posts as this of yours does NOBODY any 'favors'!!Just confirming negative aspects

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  • Ή Υπνοβάτις μέ τήν Μαρία Κάλλας.

    k-skiadas.c om

  • Did she do also the tenor's part in this record?

  • Oh, no... That's tenor Nicola Monti. :-)

  • He has a very light voice!!! I'm speaking about timbre

  • No, and the soprano part sings a double!

  • And what does it means??

  • O.K. THIS IS ACCEPTABLE.

  • Ugly the shit!!!!!-sorry maria if I use some bad words- SHE'S BEAUTYFULL!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Beatiful, yes-GORGEOUS voice and interpretation! God, was she great!! She gave this charachter the simplicity it needed, and believe me with that voice she could easily showed off all the time.

  • absolutely breathtaking, it gives me goose bumps! This singing, these emotions aren't from this world! A Viva to our beloved and admired ONE AND ONLY PRIMADONNA ASSOLUTA FOREVER !

  • No other words to describe this except amazing and pleasing to the ear.

  • Never strikes the high notes? She hit plenty in her early years, unlike SOME of the sopranos you mention, who can barely hit a D or scream the Eb. Callas' voice wasn't all that pretty, but the emotion it carried with it was phenomenal. Opera is a mix - from scenery, lighting, to orchestra, voice and acting. Don't get me wrong, I love a beautiful voice when I hear one, but I hate it when opera singers don't play the part. PS - isn't that an Eb diminuendo at 6:33? (name one singer who can do that)

  • Actually, I must again reinforce that vocal beauty is a strictly personal matter, and for many people Callas isn't judged on the "great artist but not very beautiful voice" manner, but rather I and many other people do think Callas' voice was very beautiful. I find her multiple colors, her plaintive, somewhat tearful, light yet a little acid timbre form one of the most distinctive - and beautiful - combinations a voice could have.

  • yes but have you heard Dessay, Sumi Jo, or Gruberova go the extra limit and put dims on the E naturals in the Bell Song from Lakme? All of whom great singers but still not Callas. Oh, and Dessay in her new Italian Opera Arias album she crescendos on the Eb in 'Vien diletto in ciel la luna'

  • How can you possibly compare Dessay and Sumi Jo to Callas!? You might as well compare a sparrow to a swan. She has more depth and power - and more soul!

  • as mekarts2 said: Never strikes the high notes?

    listen to her 1952 Armida from Florence and then say something like that.

    and she may have not had the most beautiful voice, but she gave herself entirely to the performance and to the character, which is something that cannot be said about today's 'sopranos'.

    and by the way, the beauty of the voice LEFT after Callas, Sills, and Sutherland were done singing, and has not been brought back by those poor excuses for singers.

  • Maria Callas was, is and will be the best opera singer. New singers are trying to improve their voices all time, but they haven't enough talent, energy and emotion. Maria you are the best, tank you for giving us your soul. I love you...

  • BRava Maria!  You will never be forgotten. Love you always dear Maria.

  • hey guys its simple: Maria Callas is just the best opera singer ever!!!!!!!!!

  • Callas is generally considered by the professionals, and the critics, to be the greatest singer of all time. Why then is she also the most negatively criticized on Youtube? Is this just a way for a bunch of cyber-punks to get their kicks, or is it jealousy?

  • As far as I'm concerned, Callas is indeed passionate and what is opera if not passionate. To me she is the true overall coloratura, warts and all!!

  • Rattywotin, I have never noticed any warts on any of Callas' pictures. But even if she did have warts, why in God's name would

    you mention something like that? Do you believe she is the greatest Soprano, in all of humanity?

  • "Warts and all" is a general expression meaning good points and bad points, it isn't meant to mean she litterally has warts!! She was actually I think a very beatiful lady.

  • I have a theory on your thoughts and questions. I think her voice is damn-near flawless at times but, she is not considered the "best voice" to ever hit opera. As I read, and is evident on videos on youtube, here performances of these operas were breath taking. So when people hear her today all they here is the voice as to the audiences of the 50s & 60s saw the greatest opera star ever.

  • She lived her life to the fullest..... and then she had time to make all these recordings for humanity to enjoy forever. We Thank You, Maria Callas.

  • prodigieux

  • It's not really a 'Mad Scene'...she's just asleep!

  • You're right. But I mean Mad Scene in its general sense, i.e. the traditional way Bel Canto found to express the character's most intimate emotions through the loss of the conscience. She's asleep, but also kind of unconscious. However, you're right: technically, this is a Sleepwalking Scene, but it's traditionally included in the row of great Mad Scenes (in CD albums, for instance).

  • Her singing is so ethereal, so celestial and moving! She IS a real, innocent Amina! OUT OF THIS WORLD! I have this CD recording from 1957 with her and Nicola Monti.

  • What is the note she sings at 6:32, people deem her a mezzo, but with notes like that, Idk...

  • I high E Flat, that she does a decrescendo on.. The aria is full of High C's too. And several High E Flat's

    She had real control of the dynamics.. crescendos and decrescendos and there are idiots on you tube who say she did not have technique! What garbage.

  • Kgar... agree. Callas had perfect technique especially on her downward runs. Insane how people keep saying she has pitch problems. The tambre may not be the chirpy birdlike. But Callas could sound like the prettiest soprano if she so wanted to.

  • Its wonderful to watch opera on Youtube, the quality of the comments differ somewhat from say...Drunk guy falls over part two.

  • thank you for posting and the wonderful photos! Callas forever!

  • I've been fascinated with this woman my entire life. She's one of the reasons I'm a classical singer in the first place. Viva la Callas!

  • This is not a voice of a man, but the voice of Callas ?

  • What? I didn't understand your question, if it is a question indeed, I mean. :-)