Maria Callas
Kingsway Hall, London 25 Sep 1958
Studio Remastered 2014
CD 0825646340149 - LP Vinyl 0190295736019 - DIGITAL
Mad Scenes
Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus
Nicola Rescigno
Callas did not make complete recordings of Donizetti’s Anna Bolena and Bellini’s Il pirata, though, as the queen of La Scala, she enjoyed triumphs in both roles in 1957–1958. The vocally and dramatically demanding final scenes of both operas feature in this recital with Ophélie’s mad scene from Ambroise Thomas’s Hamlet, another coloratura extravaganza. When this recital first appeared in 1959, Gramophone wrote: ‘This is a most remarkable record, not only for its material … but for its astonishing vividness and dramatic poetry … It has been a thing of much wonder for me.’
| Donizetti: Anna Bolena 1. Piangete voi?...Al dolce guidami castel natio (Act II) Monica Sinclair contralto – John Lanigan tenor – Joseph Rouleau bass – Duncan Robertson tenor |
| Thomas: Hamlet 2. À vos jeux…Partagez-vous mes fleurs…Et maintenant, écoutez ma chanson (Act IV) |
| Bellini: Il pirata 3. Oh! S’io potessi…Col sorriso d’innocenza (Act II) |
| Maria Callas soprano |