Maria Callas, O rendetemi la speme Qui la voce sua soave mi chiamava

[Ellevius]

Wow, she knocks the socks off every single time.

I just listened to the same of Monserrat Caballe.

It is also very beautiful, but it is a whole different class.

Maria Callas has a certain peerless strength and unerring class that defies words.

[operalover67]

she's superb...incredibly superb...

[violinovoce]

Perfect. See the cabaletta "Vien diletto" on another youtube video--it was evidently too long for inclusion. One more remark: NOT ONE of the accompanying photos show the woman who sang this. This early 1953 PURITANI was one of the few studio recordings Callas made as a heavy person, before the mid-1953 diet which altered the unearthly perfection of her voice completely and contributed to its ultimate destruction (though never her great musicianship).

[Ellevius]

Not anybody can sing this more beautifully. It is not possible.

Caballe's version is also very beautiful, but as it progresses, it is clear that she is off the Callasian spheres by far...

[Ellevius]

Speechless...................

[jonbaum]

I've just seen Netrebko on the met DVD.  Voice is glorious, but high notes are sometimes a bit flat and she doesn't live inside the role like Callas does.

[fullbuck50]

She's possessed. Genius. 

[amillia007]

oh my God,now I hear why is she the best singer ever..this is amazing...

[Acacallide]

Nessuna interpreta "Qui la voce sua soave" come Maria Callas. Quest'aria le apparterrà in eterno. Meravigliosissima!

[SweetFiness]

Ahhh Maria, is there anything you were not the best in?

She also does a beautiful Juilliard Masterclass on this aria, but unfortunately the warmth & passion of expression did not transfer into her students.

[Acacallide]

Che meraviglia! Ho la pelle d'oca e mi sono commosso. Una regina eterna da ascoltare in silenzio!

[TheLyricdoc]

I've a rare STEREO edition of I Puritani - Callas, Di Stefano - Serafin

please listen to it :)

[MsSakuraMomoko]

..... Fantastic !!!

[Pietraincatenata]

UNICA, SEMPRE!

[mozarthaydn]

not even a dull note, as if she was really mad at that time.

[Simdaperce]

What a voice! What a musician... Each time I hear Callas at her best, I really rediscover the aria. She manages to give so much depth, shades, passion into each aria into making it a pure masterpiece.

La Divina per sempre.

[operafy]

Trop beau...

[rusalkaism]

Billyguns2

My first intro to opera was Callas's Lucia.

Loved and bought all her recordings. I once read that one didn't have to know opera or explain why she moved people the way she did. It was her uniqueness and incredible voice emoting these sometimes corny opera plots that moved you to tears. No wonder she is still so popular.

[billyguns2]

This recording was my introduction to the sublime artistry of Maria Callas and Tullio Serafin; many thanks for sharing this excerpt, and in such superb sound!

[kgarmaker123]

@billyguns2 The first opera recording I purchased was Callas' studio Norma.. I was hooked.. with the drama and the voice.. The next two purchases were Lucia and Puritani from the same year 1953.. and I realized that for a few years this woman was perfect in every way, something others have yet to achieve.

[callastoujours]

LOVE HER LOVE HER LOVE HER LOVE HER

[debislo]

Is it just me or had She, at 8:43 sec, set a new record for eomtnioal intensity and TRUTH in opera? Enjoy, people, enjoy...

[Vendimi3]

Ineffabile. Come Dio.

[philipc67]

This is from the 1953 Scala recording, with di Stefano and Serafin, and the best version of her singing the Mad Scene. She is superb, with her trademark "tears in the voice", perfect legato and elegant phrasing, accurate staccati, and a huge high E-flat in the end. Other artists like Sutherland, Gruberova, Sills, Caballe, Dessay etc cannot portray the same darkness and despair while maintaining the firm vocal line, while second-rate singers like Netrebko should not even enter the discussion.

[sillyboydeux]

Well stated philipc67. Callas here sounds like Pablo Casals' cello and Heinz Holliger's oboe combined, and a very sad, oh so vulnerable child. I know that when Bernstein called her the Michelangelo of opera, he was not joking.

[TheLyricdoc]

@philipc67

I've a rare STEREO edition of these records.. :D

please listen to it in my channel.. :)

[tneprescintr]

what heroin is she portraying in the picture at 4:30?

[ThPaw]

Violetta Valéry from La Traviata

[tneprescintr]

ah, i thought so! thank you

[MPSShanahan]

The smoking comment reminds me of an American standup comedian who said "of course the tobacco companies market to kids - when was the last time a 40 year old sat around on the couch, saw a cigarette commercial, and thought, "hey, maybe I should start smoking?" Well, it does happen...

[schlusnus]

Dear Thpaw. Great thanks. Her Bellini and Donizetti are

of more interest to me, than Verdi. Her Norma and Lucia

and of course not forgetting Tosca are supreme. I still think

despite her youth her weight..just carried her voice in depth.

Photos our of a later yr. Saw Medea 22nd June 1959 C.Gdn.

[maxtanz]

il rubato è spettacolare

[lapoireUS]

By the way, could you tell me how to find this aria, I've been looking online but they won't let me buy the aria alone, they want me to buy the whole CD... could you help me ??

Thanks :)

[lapoireUS]

I still can't believe she smoked.... look at the picture at 6:30... I've even heard an audio document where you can hear her say "One last cigarette and you drive me home ?".

How could she still perform great arie such as "qui la voce" ???

This woman was amazing.

[AOG93]

She started smoking after she met Onasis. She didn't smoke when she recorded this... She started almost a decade later, sadly.

[kgarmaker123]

She was not an addicted smoker.. She smoked when she was around him. Otherwise she did not. Her servants have verified that.

[cchryssikou]

...exceptionality of a gift !!!

Thank you ThPaw :-)

[hephaitos007]

good record ! merci !

[paddyswok]

goddess