Covent Garden "Addio,..." Callas

[Ariadne7710]

I too went to one of these performances and as CharlotteinWeimar says. It was unforgettable & intensly moving. Callas said later that she had tried hard to find the right "dying" voice for the last scene. She was also very moving during "dite alla giovine". in Act II. Many people expect opera to be pretty crystalline notes regardless of the emotions being expressed by the text. The text and the vocal sound are meant to blend to define the character and the emotional situation at each moment.

[saverioorlando]

Verdi wrote "con un fil di voce" Opera is also theatre.Violetta is ending.I saw 2 time 55 and 56 Traviata at La Scala directed by Giulini.First act,full voice,great range for a lowe=follia.The promise to Germont,the reality of the social conventions,Amami+addio.V. seems dead.Only 1 momet of full desperate voice:gran Dio morir sì ... Strong tragic rendition,Maria never was searching only a beautiful note.Addio del p. is a waltz,very sad.Maria (better with Giulini) suits perfectly this rhythm.

[saverioorlando]

sorry,1 moment

[cmhmuscle]

um....can't everyone just admire the fact that there are wonderful differences that are perhaps equally valid in life? As someone who has coached a gaggle of sopranos through this role, one never tries to make them into another voice that is entirely not theirs. God, get a grip.

[mightythos77]

I have two versions of this performance. A bootleg with good sound and a Melodram release which I haven't yet heard in full. I always thought she cracked the last note too but on the Melodram and here in this vid you can literally hear the note die in her throat. Amazing.

[yglofmi]

If you don't like Callas, what are you doing here, Mr. Branko? There are too many people deaf in the world, like you. Callas' voice goes straight to the heart.

[branko1b]

she sounds ridiculous here - not to go further, i think even Stratas' version is more pleasing to ear - this is just freakish and awkward high notes scattered around wimpish, and rather croaky, plainly: a most unpleasant voice - it needs a real brainwashing not to hear it as such

i know that 'Callas-fans' will find this sacrilegious - but, i'm not religious, AND i'm sick of Callas-fans posting utter nonsenses in other singers videos here

[yglofmi]

If you don't like Callas why do you see her videos? Are you a masochist?

[mogly62]

:'((((  love maria

[CharlotteinWeimar]

I went to one of those performances. Her voice was very fragile, but the way she used it was all part of her conception of the role. It was unbearably moving and I remember it vividly to this day. See my version with drawings done at the time.

[tobobba]

Hi. That must have been something to remember..I wish I had seen here on stage..

[fringuelloveneto]

I don't understand you guys...What is as unfortunate final note??? Who is expecting perfection from one of the most dramatic scenes of the opera? She got the note, wright in the middle...and than she spread it like a last breath before dying...what's wrong? LIVE MARIA ALOOOONE!!!!!!

[rambo2882]

escalofriante amazing

[Jokanaan]

The final high-A is perfect just the way it is -- the last cry of a woman with nothing to live for. Callas put expression before beauty, sometimes, and that's what I love about her.

[XavierBelles]

Sorry about this but she should have turned into Schönberg instead of Verdi if this were the case. Italian opera is about beauty. Even if the female character has to go through a miserable storyline before her best arie. Dying beautifully is what Tito Gobbi did in Don Carlo when performing Rodrigo.

[yglofmi]

First you have to define what is beautiful to you. It's not the same thing to everybody. And who told you that Italian opera is about beauty? Wagner's operas are about what? And Russian operas? If you were right, the audiences in La Scala would never have accepted Callas.

[diuscorvus]

@XavierBelles I find Callas's tone quite beautiful here. And Tito Gobbi wasn't exactly renowned for possessing a beautiful voice -- like Callas, he was more admired for vocal color and dramatic nuance (although I find his voice pleasant enough).

[Faust075]

The "unfortunate" final note is done on purpose. Her voice "cracked" every night on that note, so Rescigno advised her a famous "trick" know and done by many : attack the note a little bit more "forte" and then control down a pianissimo and then she would have it but Calas just answered : " Well, Nicolaï, I can't do this. This is as it must be : I am supposed to be a dying woman so I am not supposed to be able to sing that note "forte"

[bonanplu]

The unhappy final A natural is how she sang in all her (very short) career.She never could a hit beautiful and firm high note

[maurice0773]

Pultroppo non è la migliore Callas.Anche i grandi in alcuni momenti della vita, hanno problemi tecnici.

[512gontran]

This is my favourite Callas'Traviata. About the final B flat Rescigno advised her to sing it more "forte", it would sound purest, Callas apparently agreed but finally she never could determine to do so...it had to be piano, no matter what would happen. For Callas the intention was more important than the result.

[VivaMariaCallas]

Beautiful, moving performance, despite an unfortunate final note.