La Divina - Complete
In case there was a moment in your life
when your suspected that Maria Callas was not a driving force
in opera in the last half of this century, pick up this set.
Apparently unable to give a dull performance, here we get Callas
in La Divina as Rossini's flirty Rosina; Verdi's emotion-torn
Aida; Catalani's unbelievably sad Wally (a classic performance,
by which all others are measured); Bellini's Norma (ditto); Puccini's
lovely, youthful Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi; the same composer's
frigid, furious Turandot as well as his confused, desparate Manon
Lescaut; Verdi's Loenoras--each noble; Meyerbeer's ditzy Dinorah
and Delibes's loco Lakme (in some fabulous, high-flying coloratura
singing); and at least a dozen more roles. While it's true that
Callas control over her voice varies--the French coloratura arias,
from Gounod and Thomas operas, can be pretty acidic--there's
never an uninterested reading, never a once-over read-through.
You'll get to know the characters as well as their music by hearing
Callas as each heroine--indeed, this collection is like a who's
who in opera. No music lover should be without it. --Robert Levine |
