Wgnaer and Rossini are now in heaven telling Callas, as she sits in the throne as the opera goddess, that this is how it had to be sung and what they wanted and that no one else was able to do so!
She was a very good Kundry, but her Fiorilla was a unique achivement—especially in 1950, when the opera was largely forgotten and there was no reliable edition of the score. Here, she literally reinvents the part, adding a dazzling cadenza of which, sadly, there is no trace in the 1954 studio recording.
It's breaking my heart to hear the sweetness of tone, supported sound and ease of singing here, especially compared to the hard color, strangled sound and wobble in the upper register she developed. (although she did not lose her portamenti, coloratura and pitch) I think her weight loss affected her voice badly. It's so sad -- She was a disciplined a musician and wonderful actress, and somewhere along the way her technique got way off track, robbing her of years of good singing.
I'm looking at the two last photos on this video-posting, and she is a very beautiful woman in those pictures. She's voluptuous and statuesque, but she's not what I would ever call "very fat" or "obese." In the last photo, she looks almost like a belly dancer. I don't think even at her fattest she weighed any more than 220lb, and she was thin compared to a lot of the singers on the stage now, or for that matter, compared to a lot of people on the streets in the USA.
That is precisely why Callas became what she became. NOt only did she do these two roles, but she did them REALLY WELL!.. What a sensation.. I too hold out hope that we can hear her Wagnerian roles.
operagoddess, thou art a harsh judge but a just one. Maria's early Isolde is in fact something to marvel at. Too bad she lost all that nice tone molding weight. I don't like skinny women, especially sopranos...
It's interesting how in those years E flat was a natural in her throat!
In Turco she ends teh aria with an interpolated E flat, in Parsifal when she screams she hits an E flat, and in Mexico in the same year when she discovers that mario is dead in the 3rd Act she screams an E flat!! :)
Since no one has commented on it - what the hell is she doing singing these two very different vocal roles? I mean who the hell sings wagner and then dusts off their voice for the runs, roulades and trills in Rossini? Ridiculous - in a good way!
Well, I suspect the Wagner was because she was relatively unknown in the later forties, probably accepted this role, because she needed to work. The coloratura stuff was her fach.
Ridiculous for a limited voice. But Callas was an assoluta, a unique vocal fach that means someone who can alternate between high soprano and dramatic mezzo, sing poweful and dramatically, sing the most intricate coloratura both lirically and heroically with a range of at least low Bb to high Db.
she had a UNIQUE voice!!!!!!!, cant catagorize it, insome roles she was incomprable..in some didn;t work to well, but overall KISS!!!!!!!!!!!! bravisamima!
GEEE the screaming now i see why Callas once say i hated the screaming in Kundry but what a voice interesting first time i hear this aria well dueto BRAVA CALLAS
Wgnaer and Rossini are now in heaven telling Callas, as she sits in the throne as the opera goddess, that this is how it had to be sung and what they wanted and that no one else was able to do so!
NEBESHIKU 10 months ago
MARIA CALLAS- " The Greatest Soprano Of All Time ", the BBC, 2007.
hammer55292 10 months ago
@hammer55292 My farts make better notes than this shit
mainah7910 2 weeks ago
@mainah7910 You breath is a fart, like the rest of that KID-KILLER STATE OF MAINE!
hammer55292 2 weeks ago
Magnífico!!! bueno...es María Callas....no es para menos...
CNoeliaSoprano 1 year ago
She was a very good Kundry, but her Fiorilla was a unique achivement—especially in 1950, when the opera was largely forgotten and there was no reliable edition of the score. Here, she literally reinvents the part, adding a dazzling cadenza of which, sadly, there is no trace in the 1954 studio recording.
Matt75003 1 year ago
It's breaking my heart to hear the sweetness of tone, supported sound and ease of singing here, especially compared to the hard color, strangled sound and wobble in the upper register she developed. (although she did not lose her portamenti, coloratura and pitch) I think her weight loss affected her voice badly. It's so sad -- She was a disciplined a musician and wonderful actress, and somewhere along the way her technique got way off track, robbing her of years of good singing.
sopranosd 1 year ago
she is so cute on kundry screaming i remember seeing one of her interviews and she say she hate it the screaming
MAPIAKALLAS 1 year ago
I'm looking at the two last photos on this video-posting, and she is a very beautiful woman in those pictures. She's voluptuous and statuesque, but she's not what I would ever call "very fat" or "obese." In the last photo, she looks almost like a belly dancer. I don't think even at her fattest she weighed any more than 220lb, and she was thin compared to a lot of the singers on the stage now, or for that matter, compared to a lot of people on the streets in the USA.
Shahrdad 1 year ago 3
huy que volumen distorciono el sonido
rhapsodyaaa 1 year ago
Magnificent!!!
Divina126 2 years ago
That is precisely why Callas became what she became. NOt only did she do these two roles, but she did them REALLY WELL!.. What a sensation.. I too hold out hope that we can hear her Wagnerian roles.
kgarmaker123 2 years ago 6
I think it's very difficult that a live Turco with Callas will come off.....
ArcanaMundi81 2 years ago
Lilli Lehmann?
AuthenticFeirce 2 years ago
C'è da chiedersi perché a te non sia ancòra successo.
anfiosso 2 years ago
operagoddess, thou art a harsh judge but a just one. Maria's early Isolde is in fact something to marvel at. Too bad she lost all that nice tone molding weight. I don't like skinny women, especially sopranos...
glummdelclitch 2 years ago
It would be marvellous if a complete Turco in Italia LIVE would be exist!!!!
ArcanaMundi81 3 years ago
What wonderful videos and useful too. They really show Marias extraordinary vocal ability. She was/is a phenomenon.
Thanks for posting.
Aetion 3 years ago 4
This is singing not like this awful Bartolichicken!
BRAVA LA DIVINA!
Bartoli have to sing for people without ears..this would be enough....
Heraopera 3 years ago
Bartoli's coloratura virtuosismo is incredible though, you can't deny her gift.
primohomme 3 years ago
Amazing! Brava Callas You're one of my two favorites sopranos ever!
yodavidnavarro 3 years ago
It's interesting how in those years E flat was a natural in her throat!
In Turco she ends teh aria with an interpolated E flat, in Parsifal when she screams she hits an E flat, and in Mexico in the same year when she discovers that mario is dead in the 3rd Act she screams an E flat!! :)
xafnndapp 3 years ago 3
It's like letting Bartoli try Kundry and Meier do Fiorilla today...ridiculous....Callas had both roles in her throat. What a miracle!
Elisabetta611 3 years ago 3
Since no one has commented on it - what the hell is she doing singing these two very different vocal roles? I mean who the hell sings wagner and then dusts off their voice for the runs, roulades and trills in Rossini? Ridiculous - in a good way!
babydrane 3 years ago 4
Well, I suspect the Wagner was because she was relatively unknown in the later forties, probably accepted this role, because she needed to work. The coloratura stuff was her fach.
kgarmaker123 3 years ago
Ridiculous for a limited voice. But Callas was an assoluta, a unique vocal fach that means someone who can alternate between high soprano and dramatic mezzo, sing poweful and dramatically, sing the most intricate coloratura both lirically and heroically with a range of at least low Bb to high Db.
primohomme 3 years ago 13
she had a UNIQUE voice!!!!!!!, cant catagorize it, insome roles she was incomprable..in some didn;t work to well, but overall KISS!!!!!!!!!!!! bravisamima!
lefemmerachael 4 years ago
GEEE the screaming now i see why Callas once say i hated the screaming in Kundry but what a voice interesting first time i hear this aria well dueto BRAVA CALLAS
MAPIAKALLAS 4 years ago
Many people would say that Maria wasn't good enough etc,but I think she was unique and love most of her performances.
FerocityQueen 4 years ago 2
Wow. I have never heard her Kundry before. It is phenomenal!
jjcbss 4 years ago 4
Thanks again for all of your great postings.
Your commentaries for most informative!
kbattleman 4 years ago 2
It was just like that in the fifties, you were singing in the country's language. Don Carlo in German was a classic until the 70s.
foropera 4 years ago
Parsifal in Italian? :) It sounds funny, bo I prefer the original version.
Brunnhilda 4 years ago