Maria Callas: "Ah! Non giunge uman pensiero" Sonnambula Bellini, Köln '57

[calaftheeast]

I love hearing these arias in high quality from both Sutherland and Callas. Their voices are distinctly different, which gives a particular unique character to their individual performances. The same arias sound wonderfully different than each other when handled by the two greats. So masterful.

Had they sounded similar, then there would be no way of enjoying both.

[Tenortalker]

A staggering achievement moving her large voice like a diaphenous dancer around Bellini's trills and roulades. No mere fireworks, but all at the service of expression. No wonder she triumphed. We will never see her like again. Brava Beloved Maria Callas!

[Dianaemanuel]

It's interesting that someone posted a criticism of Kathleen Battle singing this aria saying that her top notes sounded forced. Having heard Battle live I can honestly say I never thought this to be so.

I've always thought Maria Callas was not a natural soprano and that the top notes always sounded like a struggle for her. However, despite that, she was such an incredible musician so you don't really care!

[colonia3059]

So funny and so ridiculous to read a person" EXPLAINING" to as all that the tempo of the cabaletta is (apparently) slow to ACCOMMODATE Callas voice's!!!

That said of a woman who is singing life, ornamenting over two and half octaves and singing a diminuendo on an Eflat!

Callas based her extraordinary carrier exactly MOVING her huge voice through the entire range.....

Beati noi!!!!

[Corenero]

@colonia3059 Agreeee !!!!! I can't add anything, totally agree !!!

[voceangelo]

Callas had no problems moving her dramatic voice, as is evidenced by her roulade embellishment just before the choir came in on her "d'amor". If anyone else needs further proof of her ability to move her voice, please listen to her sing "D'amor al dolce impero" from Armida. Tempi choices are a CONDUCTOR'S decision. The singer and the conductor may meet at a happy medium, but ultimately, Maestro Votto had the final call on whether or not he wanted to take it a brisk Andante as he did here.

[alragarp]

Unica, insuperable.

[SilasSmith1]

Callas was a singer that had to be seen in the theater to fully appreciate her art. Recordings simply don't do her justice. I may not like everything about this recording, but there are things here that others simply couldn't do. Just enjoy it as it is.

[65attila]

This is interesting but labored and the pace so slow as to acommodate Callas'

problem moving her voice.

[belcantismo]

@65attila I don't think so. It could be a director's choice, or a singer's choice to improve her wonderful acting.

[65attila]

@belcantismo

How does a slow tempo improve one's acting, Besides. Tempo is a singer/conductor choice and I bet Callas got the tempp she wanted? Callas simply could not move her voice easily and the slow tempo allowed her to take more breaths..

[belcantismo]

@65attila Again, I don't think so. About the slow tempo improving acting, is not a matter for everyone. I am referring to Maria Callas, nobody else.

[sweetsoprano1211]

@65attila She couldn't move her voice easily? You should listen again. Her agility is amazing! Especially towards the end and during the middle cadenza. I do agree the tempo is slow and unusual, but at least it makes things interesting! The special thing about Callas was that she could do absolutely anything with her voice. Remember this is the singer who sang a Wagner role one week and then a Bellini role the next!

[kgarmaker123]

@65attila Normally, conductors speed the tempo up when the singer is having issues, and slow it down when they are in good voice.. It takes more breath to sing the phrases, when the tempo is slow.. unless the singer competely destroys the phrasing.

[kgarmaker123]

@65attila You are used to listening to Sutherland's break neck versions, designed to hide her vocal flaws... This is about the right tempo!

[gustopheles]

@65attila do you seriously think it's easier to move through fiorature in a slower tempo?

[gustopheles]

@65attila Her chromatics are perfectly corrugated; she interpolates turns and flips and staccati, tossing them around like they are nothing; the impossible diminuendo on the high E flat is astonishing. Her phrasing and her vocal acting are beyond reproach. There are many recordings documenting her "problem moving her voice", but this is a showcase of Callas in the absolute prime of her skill.

Which is to say, you obviously don't know what you're talking about.

[voizovrsn]

@65attila Yes, but its that very reason why she is so exciting!

[bellini7verdi]

ES LA UNICA VERSION QUE ACEPTO ..APARTE DE LA JOAN SUTHERLAND....CON LA SALVEDAD DE QUE SUTHERLAND ES MAS LARGA Y SOBERBIAMENTE SOBRADA....MATERIALIZANDO LAS NOTAS Y LLEVANDOSE A LA ORQUESTA POR DELANTE........

[belcunto]

better than cocaine...

[luisiege2]

OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO­OOOOOD

[amfortas1978]

this woman is not just a perfect actress, she has incredible technique....

[BelCantoFan2]

@belcantismo because she is tooperfect to be true :D

[Maggielicious21]

@BelCantoFan2 was, she was too perfect to be true :)

[Sadiesexy]

Splendid.

[MrPipposiculo]

Non riesco a non commuovermi !!

L'immedesimarsi nel personaggio, le agilità , tutto è esaltante ed unico, peccato non aver potuto godere di questi meravigliosi momenti.

[lesliecrescent]

wonderful artist a voice full of humanity.

[GylchrisSprauve]

OK...after 5 months, I'm back for more...how...Lawd, help us...HOW DOES SHE MANAGE TO PICK HIGH E-FLATS OUT OF THE SKY? I'm sorry...when I get to heaven, I wanna know...I'll be like, "Um, Ms. Callas, now, you know you messed us all up with that High E-flat decrescendo foolishness, right? Folks...no, B-B-Bel Canto Opera has not been able to walk straight since you socked it to him with that sorta vocal perfection. But lemme tell ya, I ain' mad...notattall Ms. Callas...you done us real good!!!"

[voceangelo]

@Gylchris - I almost fell out of my damn chair reading this! LOL And yes, I would love to know what her secret was too!

[GylchrisSprauve]

@voceangelo Hahahahahahaha! Glad I could put a smile on your face! I'm thankful that Youtube can bring this kind of joy to the world, 24/7. It's just amazing. I feel like I was there, 53 years ago, listening in the grateful audience.  Listen to them! She gave them her absolute best, and they gave it right back to her.

[Operalover12002]

I always come back to Callas after listening to other sopranos sing this aria.

Though they do very well in singing it, Callas tops them all the time. I wish she had sung La Sonnambula arias longer.

[IshyIMB017]

Man, this is really good, but I still like Luisa Tetrazzinni´s version way better.

[belcantismo]

@IshyIMB017

I don't like nightingale's voices, with no acting at all.

[levieuxpiano]

Il semble impossible de faire mieux. La créatrice du rôle, la Pasta elle-même, ne l'aurait sans doute pas pu compte tenu de la nature sombre de sa voix.

[gustopheles]

@belcantismo She may be an early-century nightingale, but she employs her chest register beautifully in this aria, even more than Callas. But you're right, Callas' interpretation is beyond compare.

[gspichuni]

I like Tetrazzini's 19th century style in singing this, but I felt her voice is smaller ,and certainly void of emotion.

However is through different times that the best are surviving ,and Tetrazzini is right there amongst them.

[tneprescintr]

oh this is just too good! thanks for posting

[aircat29]

divina forever and ever and ever until the end of time....

[turnipoverlord]

she's impossibly good, the complete focus of utter sublime perfection should have ripped the universe apart, but perhaps it was her devastating power which held it together, he voice like quantum stitches :)

[GylchrisSprauve]

Aw, man...I'm back again...it's moments like this one that humbles me when I think of how awesome the gift of music is, and how the human voice supercedes what any inanimate instrument can do. A disciplined singer has the power to set a standard for generations to come. Maria Callas' singing inspired me as a teenager when I was a student at the Interlochen Arts Camp, and here I am, almost 20 years later, still being inspired by her recordings. A testament to a great artist. Thanks for posting.

[luvxl]

there can't be so much perfection AND intensity at once. that's why she can't be real

[SweetFiness]

This performance makes me smile with tears in my eyes!!! SHe was just too unreal!

[UrsulanChild]

I'm sorry...this is just one recording that I find addictive...I mean, tell me...HOW???? How'd she do that? Who else can do it? Has anyone else with the same vocal weight even tried, with even moderate success??? Diminuendo on a High E-flat with a 2-octave chromatic drop in one breath without missing a beat? Is it that we're not training our singers with utmost discipline anymore, or our generation isn't talented enough? Somebody, help me understand!!! Callas is the standard. Period.

[voceangelo]

You're singin' my song. I've listened to that Eflat and two octave chromatic scale drop at least 100 times. With regard to recent singers' inability, Callas met with de Hidalgo for a lesson every single day. The voice was built slowly. That was de rigeur when she was learning. Now, once a week with a teacher is the standard, and conservatories produce the same cookie cutter results and wonder why there are no more great voices. Furthermore, most of the old bel canto methods taught...

[GylchrisSprauve]

Makes perfect sense.  Young singers of Callas' generation weren't given sufficient time away from their teachers to start wandering off in strange territory. I could imagine that their voices developed efficiently, and with rock-solid technique as witnessed in this recording. Oh, if all singers could have a lesson daily with a good teacher! There'd be a slew of singers who could sing every note in the score with every dynamic marking. Thanks for that piece of info!

[stomachpunch]

The E flat and the diminuendo that follows is phenomenal-Michael Scott quotes "unrivaled in the history of the grammaphone"-No soprano today compares-or most everything else of her recordings

[amaralsum]

its up to each individual singer to become disciplined enough to really solidify their technique but I will say that you must be born with talent as well. Maria Callas was just amazing and is difficult for anyone to top. as far as vocal weight, that differs from person to person. Some people are just light coloratura singers with not much weight and some are intense lyric sopranos with a lot of weight to their voice. Part of it is practice and part of it is just God given talent.

[pointemeout]

@UrsulanChild

ha. your comment is what goes thru my mind everyday when i listen to this. since you clearly understand good opera you must also be at least half-way addicted to her 1952 D'amore al dolce imperso from Armida.

[lemagnificat]

Truth is they are all great, every soprano listed to the right on this page, the only thing is Callas was GREATER!

The refinement of her art and sophistication of her interpretations will never be surpassed. I love you Maria Callas, you have given me so much, I am eternally grateful!

[sweetnessglyc]

wonderful pictures!!! 1:52: i don't understand how my sister can say she wasn't beautiful! She was the fairest of them all!!!

0:13, 1:13, 1:48, 1:60, 2:10, 2:15, 2:19, 2:36, 2:39, 3:24, where can I find them as portraits?

[yodavidnavarro]

I like her, Bumbry and Moffo!

[killerbunny123123]

the crowd just went frenzy!

[lapoireUS]

SHE is the one controlling everything, onstage and in the orchestra, listen to her when she's singing "ah non giunge" at 2:02 she stresses the first syllabe of "GIUnge" in rythm so that the chef d'orchestre knows when to start the orchestra again... I admire her so much...

[luvxl]

that picture at 2:40 I want it on my wall!

God I wish anyone was able to make me enjoy the ah non giunge that much nowadays

[sweetnessglyc]

I do not. I only wish Callas was still alive today, so I could live with the hope of meeting her one day. But no singer will ever replace her!!!

[vitellia]

Thank you, La Divina, for showing "THE WAY".

[garbo2210100]

Nobody can exceed her.

The victory of Callas is eternal.

[babydrane]

I keep having to replay this. During the descending scale she sounds like an actual piano. It's scary and lovely at the same time.

[Operalover12002]

We can name various coloratura sopranos these days. But no other soprano retains the talent and quality than La Callas did. Her voice is timeless and ageless. She is the best soprano to sing and play Amina. La Sonnambula is one of my favorite operas.

[eutuve]

raggiungile , forse...

superabile...impossibile

[GylchrisSprauve]

I had to come back for more...YESSAH!!!

[angalafan]

Peccato che non esiste nessun video, o almeno foto di questa serata, e perche non abbiamo potuto ci essere per sentire la più "grande" e " sensibile" interpretazione di Amina!!! Gran Dio, come si dice nell' opera, Maria sei un artista unica e lo sarà per sempre. Grazie tutto semplicemente. Te adoro!

[GylchrisSprauve]

Look-- it doesn't get better than this...THIS IS THE STUFF!!!! There are some singers from our generation who have done some fine interpretations. Église Gutierrez is wonderful, Mariella Devia, too. However, Callas dominates here. I feel that she is truly happy to be awakened from sleep...a real emotional involvement that another soprano from the same era would toss off perfectly as more of a technical feat, but plastic in terms of involvement. Thanks for schooling us with this recording!

[Shahrdad]

What she does in the cadenza alone is mind boggling. I have never heard anyone do a diminuendo on a high E-flat. Besides that, then she does a flawless two octave descending scale in her trademark "pearls falling off a string" way, and then goes back up in a series of turns, all in the same breath. And imagine that she was singing Medea, Norma, and Tosca during the same period!

[RoOodOoOloOmeg]

@Shahrdad and is not the first one =)

you can listen to another one in her sonnambula in 53, is even better.

[paddymusic]

OH MY GOD!!!!

It's heaven!

[CONTESTAR]

Operngeschichte!

[Alleeexoscm]

Gloriosa Maria Callas

Como es usual escuchar a Maria, utiliza su exquisita y deleitable coloratura. Y ni hablar de su conocida voz.

*viva la DiViNa*

"Bravo Callas"

[zurriuss]

VIVA DIVA!!!

[longlifeluke]

WOW ^_^

[ma34xl]

'.~*!+!*~.' GLORIOUS '.~*!+!*~.'

[saverioorlando]

Successo trionfale

[ioSonoCallas]

Glorieux! Merci. Glorioso! Grazie.