I Puritani - O Rendetemi... Qui la voce (1949 Studio)

[TheIpazia1]

Siamo su un'altro pianeta, avanti anni luce

[bodiloto]

SUBLIME!!!!!

[guglielmiable]

pour moi a chaque fois que j'entends chanter Callas......c'est le frisson assuré.

[troppofiato]

For the history books. Both vocally and musically. No one else achieves this level of musicianship and artistry in this music.

[Lakeofdespair]

Une émotion et une douceur inégalée... Love you forever Maria...

[hubertsze]

Yes, she was not perfect! But please do name a singer, for whom we could claim perfection. Like no one else before or after her, she could create a sublime atmosphere of sadness without ever being "larmoyante". The role of Elvira proves the miracles she could make come true and the emotions she could evoke only with her voice. Anyone who prefers to overemphasize her mistakes (yes, she had them too), please do so and be happy with it. I prefer to be enchanted by her imperfect yet divine voice.

[Rnfile]

How can one not marvel at the beauty of each interpretation Callas brings to her art. She was not cut from the same piece of cloth as other opera singers. She was and is the greatest, the most brilliant of all opera singers. It is so obvious. Listen for her expression. She is the epitome of "life in a song." She shares and imparts love in all she did.

[abracadabranque]

Beau...

[silpaton]

the voice of the angels! She will be always the best!

[DanyelHawkes]

@CatalinaDM56 ahmen

[bodiloto]

Insuperabile  Immortale Grazie !

[ditogam]

This is SO Delightful ...

[horowitz109]

In this aria she's truly unsurpassable for tha harrowing pathos of her singing.

[mariasarda]

Superlatif.

[31071946]

25 years old and able to sing like this!? I consider this as the birth of 'La Callas". Sublime! And she proved it in the years to come. Didn't she?

[Neanderthalgirl]

@belcunto

Your comment disqualifies you as a decent fellow. I bet, you're gay!

Yes, she was a genius, highly talented, hardworking, with a brilliant technique.

BUT

she sounds shrill, metallic, sometimes colourless and very boring. If I hear her for over 3 minutes I turn down the volume or must vomit. And in the interest of full disclosure.... it sucks!

Well, it's my opinion, my taste and I use Callas'  bad voice and timbre to compare her as EXAMPLE with beauty voices for me and my work.

[belcunto]

@Neanderthalgirl No, i am straight. But a woman like you would make me gay.

[Neanderthalgirl]

I beg to differ. Freedom is always the freedom of dissenters.

I can read and you write nonsense.

"Wagner was influenced by Verdi" why not, but Wagner make it much better.

Your opinion is based on YouTube videos and I can't take you seriously.

As far as I am concerned, was Callas a yellow press Diva and plain vanilla.

[belcunto]

Callas was a genius.

She learned the role of Elvira within ONE week that was punctuated by nightly performaces of Brunnhilde.

So.

Neanderthalgirl:

Shut your face and show some respect. My God you are an asswipe!

Merry Christmas to everybody else!

[ArcanaMundi81]

@belcunto

Please, sing your version of "Oh rendetemi la speme".

it'd be a masterwork like "Al dolce guidami" - Mad scene of Anna Bolena!!!

[belcunto]

@ArcanaMundi81

Oh dio! If i did that i would give La Divina back ache - can't you see she is already suffering in the picture? :P

[ArcanaMundi81]

@belcunto

What????? I don't understand your question!

[belcunto]

@ArcanaMundi81 ha ha ha, just come here and give me a hug! You are funny Mr Mundi XD

[ArcanaMundi81]

@belcunto

Ok, here's my hug, but please sing your version of "Oh rendetemi la speme" and I'll (and you too= enjoy a masterwork!.

[greenyblueredone]

Neanderthalgirl...basically you know that all you're saying is crap, just what you are probably...if you think that opera is Wagner...etc, then go and read about (well if you can even read) how fucking Wagner was influenced A LOT by Verdi. Yes, Verdi, an Italian...All those leitmotifs you hear in Wagner, you hear them first in Verdi. As for Callas and her voice and interpretation I can only say one thing: untouchable!!! You, neanderthalgirl go and learn a bit if you can and EAT SHIT!!!

[Neanderthalgirl]

You don't like criticism?

Better a cabaret showgirl like Netrebko as a overrated Mezzo without voice!

You live in a country of dumb and coward people why should I accept your strange thoughts!

[Operafiend22]

Well if anything...you've at least adequately named yourself

[Neanderthalgirl]

Sorry for the CRAP, but opera is Wagner, Strauss, Mozart .......... and not ONLY italian popera!!!

[Neanderthalgirl]

What would it be like if millions don't like her metallic voice?

Only in USA and Italy Callas is a reference. Here in europe are much more and better singers like Callas. In europe she is forgotten and BTW she sings only italian opera crap!

[Neanderthalgirl]

Bad interpretation. Her voice sound like a Mezzo without perfect high notes.

This is very very boring and it's time for me to go to real sopranos like Sutherland, Devia and Anna Netrebko.

[KyrahRodriguez]

Ummm...this is Maria Callas. You might not like her but she is a real soprano. DUH. Anyone who knows about opera would never ever suggest Maria Callas wasn't inadequate, so let's listen to Anna Netrebko. Different era, different technique, different take on the interpretation, different orchestra and conductors, different recording equipment...etc.

[tneprescintr]

Just so you know, this recording and the other from 1953 are widely recognized as two of the best renditions ever to be recorded of this particular aria. They have been used as reference by singing teachers ever since as the evolution of already outstanding technique and expression. You may not like it, but many better instructed people consider it priceless. How many recordings have Netrebko turned into reference?

[Faust075]

Why don't you just shut up FOREVER instead of posting the same stupid comment under each and every Callas video ?

You don't like her ? fine ... go and listen to your cabaret showgirls netrebko and friends ...

[CatalinaDM56]

News Flash: Callas had almost perfect technique. Fight me.

[skitzo429]

@CatalinaDM56 sure, if vibrato you could drive a truck though is perfect technique. dont you be naive, its common knowledge that the foundation of Callas' career lied in her skills as an actress, her astuteness as a musician, and her emotive singing, and then the quality and beauty of her voice as well as her technique were lackluster. the fact that she even pretended to front as a coloratura was a joke.

[CatalinaDM56]

@skitzo429 If you can't even listen to her PERFECT bel canto technique, and UNRIVALED legato...you clearly need to sit through a couple of voice lessons. She was a SOPRANO SFOGATO. All the great singers are controversial. Either you hate them, or you love them. .

[CatalinaDM56]

@skitzo429 I am NOT naive. Her coloratura, legato...unrivaled. You apparantly need to sit through a few more voice lessons. Her technique was near perfect. It doesn't take a psychologist to explain to you that your mental health is everything...whether you are an opera singer, doctor, athlete, garbage man...the state of your mental health is what determines your performance. She was NOT healthy mentally, or physically.

[robertdonkers]

Callas voice was so very different from all the others that comparing them seems so silly. They are all good, Devia, Sills, Sutherland etc

[preppybeast6293]

i like callas as much as the next guy, but im still a joan sutherland fan. listening to this didnt change it.....

[nichtsleezy]

This is quite wonderful!!!

[mezzo1945]

Some folks get stuck on a particular voice and thinks the rest of us do not hear

[lemagnificat]

Perfection! She said that this was one of her favorite operas. I do not want to insult anyone, but anyone who listens to this and can't hear the absolute mastery of technique and expression must be deaf. I am a Callas fan, always have been always will be, I do not like any of the others, and I don't need to waste my time running around listening to other singers and then posting how bad they are. The truth is most of them are great singer, it's just that Callas was in a league of her own!

[ilswk]

Qui piange!

[paulprocopolis]

Such singing makes one grateful to have been alive post-Callas rather than pre-Callas. This recording has everything: tragic expression, exquisite phrasing, virtuosity and, more importantly, the ability to put technical expertise totally at the service of musical and dramatic truth. When feeble words are finished, one can but listen and wonder.

[cigniselvatici]

che dolcezza. DIVINA

[scharwenka1850]

Wonderful! Thank you.

[fedtrooper]

Just the sound of the names of the singers at the premier has a musicalness to it.

[fedtrooper]

What Art this 2nd act of Puritani is if the singing is done great by everybody. After the Mad Scene comes Suoni la Tromba. What must it have been like to sit in a box and hear Grisi, Rubini, Tamburini, and Lablanche do this live.

[MarcoCallas]

This is exactly what Bellini wanted.

[lochness11]

I'm back again.I think this is Callas at her best.I can fully understand why Guiseppe di Stefano said what he said.This is Callas/music that once heard,never forgotten.

[MusicaParola]

Once you hear Callas singing anything, it is never forgotten. There have been other great sopranos; when I hear them sing something, no matter how well, I go back to Callas. In good voice, or in bad voice, she imbues every syllable with unsurpassable meaning. Qui la voce sua, soave... Indeed.

[DivaDeb1234]

This is very beautiful..

[lochness11]

Callas gives O Rendetemi a hauntingly beautiful rendition.I really can't imagine anyone else singing it--tearing at our heartstrings,we empathise with her totally in this great Bellini piece.

Guiseppe di Stefano said if he could only possess one record it would be this--he remembers sitting every evening mesmerised, in his dressing room listening to Callas singing this on stage.

[agingbeauty]

"tearing at our heartstrings" was Callas. I loved her voice. I loved her......... unconditionally......

[sicuro75]

I wish peaple would stop boring me mentioning Sutherland,this is a one diva show here no side by sides or equals in Callas's house.

[lastupidissimo]

That has got to be the most elegant pose i have ever seen. Has she got back pain?

[yes4albert]

Brilliant singing.  Divina.

[monstro007]

This is the best we can get in bel canto singing. after just Dame Joan.

Unfortunately none of them sing anymore.

[willthrillws]

Seriously remember Joan Sutherland played Maria Callas' maid and that is where she wil always stay!

[lhrlyc]

@willthrillws I am a true Callas fan ... but your statement is plain stupid! Sutherland was ALSO a great singer ... don't show REAL music lovers up with such foolish remarks.

[nichtsleezy]

Obviously, you have not heard Mariella Devia!!

[paulprocopolis]

I have now, and she's wonderful. But that doesn't change my opinion of the Callas recording.

[kgarmaker123]

I have and she sucks.

[nichtsleezy]

How does she ?

[kgarmaker123]

Devia, does not interpret music, she sings it the way she wants to, rather than observe any markings, dynamic, or otherwise of the composer .... Her voice is only OK, now that she has ventured into the dramatic coloratura repertoire, she is out of her depth.. without the voice to pulll it off.. so that she screams most of it. I cant stand the woman to be honset. When she isnt irritating me, she puts me to sleep.

[DrLohengrin]

What a foolish person you are. You found out there is another singer who can sing just as well as your diva and you are unable to accept it. You are not even ashamed of writing nonsense.

[kgarmaker123]

I am not writing nonsense. You Devia folks are VERY sensitive to factual statements about the artistry or lack therof of ms. Devia. Callas is not perfect. And there are other singers that I enjoy far more than Devia, say Sills for instance. She could sing and interpret and she was musical too.

[DrLohengrin]

I noriced I touched a nerve, here. Who is the sensitive one, I wonder. Grow up.

[skitzo429]

@kgarmaker123 "factual statements" about artistry is a ridiculous notion

[kgarmaker123]

@skitzo429 Well, some have it and some do not. Now go back under that rock you were under..

[skitzo429]

@kgarmaker123 Typical callas fan, thinking your opinion is supreme. believe it or not, she was very controversial throughtout her career, as now, and your opinion doesnt mean anything more than everyone elses, so shove the attitude up your ass

[kgarmaker123]

@skitzo429 No I do not.. but I do know that CAllas was the greatest soprano of the 20th century, and there is certainly no one to touch her now either.. When you get serious, and really listen to Callas, you realize how good she really was..... There are not many even close to her.. Ponselle.. . was.. and Sutherland, as much as I detest so many of her mannerisms,. but the woman had a voice!

[skitzo429]

@kgarmaker123 'greatest soprano of the 20th century,' aside from being fundamentally subjective, is far too complex a matter to be generalized so broadly. there are so many different things that go into making an artist, much less just a singer. Callas was a ground breaking artist, actress, and an astute musician, but most professionals agree, her voice and technique were not top quality. she was an important, influential force, but as a singer its opinion at best to call her the greatest.

[viafilodrammatici]

I daresay Devia has equalled if not surpassed Callas in Puritani.

[nichtsleezy]

Yes, I feel that Devia has surpassed Callas in technique only, espression is another issue. However, this recording is quite excellent, and Callas' voice sounds beautiful!

[viafilodrammatici]

Callas is magnificent here. And this is exactly what I mean: when her technique was still solid she could come up with subtle shaded nuances, without overemphasizing. And this is the way Devia sang Puritani for more than 20 years: nothing is forced, everything flows in a spontaneous and subtle way, without the hint of easy effects. A joy for ears and soul.

[nichtsleezy]

I completely agree!!!

[utineke]

sublime

[clasirico]

unica e irrepetible

[Glenmed]

I like shwarov's reminder of what Schopenhauer said almost as much as I love this stunning performance by ... yes ... a genius!

[shwarov]

One word Pathos.... As Schopenhauer had said:

"Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see."

[yiudiumui]

her voice is so unique

[drdesanctis]

Perfezione assoluta.Grazie!

[00ceroalaizquierda00]

Simplemente sublime!! muchísimas gracias

[Nivri80]

God, listening to her is like reading Shakespeare; there's an endless abundance of meaning in phrases. You could listen to it repeatedly and each time be surprised to discover something new.

[Lohengrin]

Indeed each time u feel something different. This is so true. She is definetely the best Elvira ever ;)

[operamagnus]

I was listening to this, and suddenly I found myself wondering who I was listening to. This voice is so unlike the later voice of Callas, it is so fresh, so young and strong, and so controlled. Here, it is really obvious she was taught in the old school of singing, and the technique is so brilliant. The young Callas was simply the best.

[decencyandpride]

this is the difference with other sopranos...Callas gave THIS to this planet...Appreciate and be humble and grateful

Genius is not someone with technical perfection(that is called a good professional or a brilliant "student")

Genius is someone with this kind of performance

[sevoflurane]

And she recorded this when she was singing Wagner roles... I mean... it is extraordinary!

[niklausse]

This is perfection! absolute perfection!A real Bel canto singer, she´s like Bellini´s muses Giuditta Pasta and Maria Malibran, vocal miracles, happening only once a century.

[gspichuni]

you know what ''her fans '' thing of you though

don't you?

[Orfeus80]

This is by far my favourite Callas moment in studio. She's absolutely sublime here. She sings gently but with a full tone that graces every note. And there is so much emotion in every phrase that makes me wonder why her fans always prefer the post 1955 Callas for characterisation.

[gspichuni]

She said once..''this is precious music''..and now i know what she meant .

I also understand how she conquered the highest peaks of art, for ever!

[dugbin]

This is the 1949 Cetra recording. This album/recording also includes "Casta Diva" from Norma, which is, arguably, the most famous aria that Callas sung; and "Dolce e calmo" or "Mild un leise" in German, from Tristan und Isolde by Wagner. Callas sounds simply MAGNIFICENT AND WONDERFUL HERE!