Bellini: Norma Tullio Serafin, conductor (EMI Classics, 3 CDs)
Puccini: La Boheme Antonino Votto, conductor (EMI, 2 CDs)
Puccini: Tosca Victor de Sabata, conductor (EMI, 2 CDs)
All with Maria Callas, soprano
The great operatic diva Maria Callas died 20 years ago Sept. 16. To honor her, EMI this month begins reissuing her complete discography in newly remastered and repackaged editions of 20 complete opera sets, with recitals and other material to follow.
The first three operas in the series are now at hand. Each is basic to an understanding of Callas’ art. “Tosca,” recorded in 1953, is rightly considered one of the greatest operatic recordings of all time, and it has never sounded better than here. Callas’ Mimi, in “La Boheme” (recorded in 1956), also compels attention through her gift for suggesting the heroine’s simplicity and vulnerability through the most artful shaping and shading of tone. Her Rodolfo is Giuseppe di Stefano, recorded in his mid-career prime. These veteran colleagues play off one another marvelously.
Finally, there is Callas as Norma, the role in which she made her historic American debut, in Chicago, in 1954 and her signature part for the better part of her short stage career. This is the earlier of her two studio recordings and it catches her in representative vocal estate for that period. One listens through the moments of unsteady, harsh tone to thrill in the subtlety yet intensity of Callas’ characterization of the Druid priestess. The other singers are not in her league, although Serafin’s supple conducting buoys the entire enterprise along stylishly. The standard theatrical cuts are observed.
In all three sets, the freshened sound, the new essays and packaging are models of their kind. Too bad EMI did not reissue them at budget price. Callas collectors no doubt already own these famous recordings. Why oblige them to pay full-price twice?
