Maria Callas – The Callas Rarities (2014) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Maria Callas – The Callas Rarities (2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:56:48 minutes | 2,08 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Warner Classics

The first two tracks heard here are tests made for the producer Walter Legge to get the feeling of working with Maria Callas in a studio and to find good microphone placings in an acoustically difficult venue for recording Lucia di Lammermoor immediately afterwards. In the mono version of the Sleepwalking Scene from Macbeth one hears the character moving off into the distance as instructed in the score, unlike the stereo take where the voice remains centre stage.

In 1960, Callas began a series of ‘working’ sessions in London under Antonio Tonini. The intention was to enable Callas retrain her voice after the vocal problems that had beset her at the end of the 1950s and in the process, produce some recordings suitable for commercial release. A substantial amount of the material included here comes from those sessions, from which the only item approved by Callas was the scene from Act I of Il pirata included in the LP Callas by Request. Most of the other arias were remade later in Paris with Rescigno for the albums Mozart, Beethoven and Weber Arias and Rossini and Donizetti Arias.
When Callas made her two recitals of French arias in Paris in 1961 and 1963, she formed a strong musical relationship with the conductor Georges Prêtre, who would go on to conduct most of her final live performances and the 1964 recordings of Carmen and Tosca. In June 1964 she and Prêtre began a recording of operatic duets with the tenor Franco Corelli, but the chemistry between Corelli and Prêtre proved explosive and the duet ‘Pur ti riveggo’ from Aida was all that could be rescued from the first and only session. The concluding part of the programme is devoted to Verdi arias recorded with Rescigno at the Paris sessions of 1964–5 and 1969 for a planned third Verdi album. These tracks, unapproved by Callas, are released because they form an important part of the recorded legacy of this unique artist. –TONY LOCANTRO, 2014

Tracklist:
01. Maria Callas – Don Giovanni, K. 527, Act 2: “Non mi dir” (Donna Anna) – Take 1 (05:22)
02. Maria Callas – Don Giovanni, K. 527, Act 2: “Non mi dir” (Donna Anna) – Take 2 (05:08)
03. Maria Callas – Macbeth, Act 4: “Una macchia è qui tuttora!” (Lady Macbeth) (11:18)
04. Maria Callas – Semiramide, Act 1: “Bel raggio lusinghier” (Semiramide) (05:40)
05. Maria Callas – I vespri siciliani, Act 4: “Arrigo! Ah, parli a un core” (Elena) (04:12)
06. Maria Callas – Lucrezia Borgia, Act 1: “Tranquillo ei posa…Com’è bello” (Lucrezia Borgia) (08:09)
07. Maria Callas – Guglielmo Tell, Act 2: “S’allontanano alfine … Selva opaca” (Mathilde) (08:31)
08. Maria Callas – Semiramide, Act 1: “Bel raggio lusinghier” (Semiramide) (05:28)
09. Maria Callas – Il pirata, Act 1: “Sorgete … Lo sognai ferito, esangue” (Imogene, Adele, Itulbo, Chorus) (09:30)
10. Maria Callas – Don Carlo, Act 4: “O don fatale” (Elisabeth of Valois) (04:35)
11. Maria Callas – La Cenerentola, Act 2: “Nacqui all’affanno e al pianto…..Non più mesta” (Angelina) (06:14)
12. Maria Callas – Oberon, Act 2: “Ozean, Du Ungeheuer” (Reiza) – Sung in English (08:13)
13. Maria Callas – Aida, Act 3: “Pur ti riveggo, mia dolce Aida” (Aida, Radamés) (09:44)
14. Maria Callas – I lombardi alla prima crociata, Act 1: “Te, Vergin santa” (Viclinda) (03:57)
15. Maria Callas – Il trovatore, Act 4: “Vanne … D’amor sull’ ali rosee” (Leonora) (06:34)
16. Maria Callas – I vespri siciliani, Act 4: “Arrigo! Ah, parli a un core” (Elena) (03:44)
17. Maria Callas – Attila, Act 1: “Liberamente or piangi … Oh! nel fuggente nuvolo” (Odabella) (04:50)
18. Maria Callas – Il corsaro, Act 2: “Verró … Ah conforto sol la speme” (Medora) (02:08)
19. Maria Callas – I lombardi alla prima crociata, Act 1: “Te, Vergin santa” (Viclinda) (03:21)

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