Maria Callas was one of the great singers of the 20th century. Here she produces her own unique and highly personal sound, sometimes as if she were singing into a bottle». It was her most expressive register in which she could exude the most fluid legato.
Her chromatic runs, especially down, glided smoothly along… The middle of the voice was dark and slightly shaded. Even with the most intricate fioritures she had no musical or technical problems to overcome. Callas actually had three voices, which she could colour at will: At first a high coloratura soprano, far-reaching and agile, bright and brilliant, but also, if she wanted, cloudy and opaque. The sound quality was luxurious, the technical ability phenomenal. The voice was voluminous and in the best years it had a range of almost three octaves, although the highest height was not always secured and the depth…did not have the power to hold notes. We hear how Legge and Kesting describe the voice of Maria Callas: «Maria Callas possessed the sine qua non for a great career, namely the immediately recognizable timbre. Let us go Aida and the famous O patria mia. Listen to «Deh perdona» with Maria Callas and Gino Bechi. Nabucco begs Abigail not to kill his daughter (Abigail’s sister). In this scene Abigail is at the height of her power and Nabucco is her prisoner. Although the baritone naturally possessed a powerful spatial voice and can strike a high a flat with blaring force, it is sung out by Callas: her high E flat ”pierces the room like a tracer of light and it is the burning intensity of the tone with which she overrides Bechi’s force of nature”. For whatever reason: Bechi and Callas don’t sing together, but against each other – not a duet, but a duel. Then the voices join and end with a vehement stretch. First the baritone sings a lamenting melody in F minor, to which Abigaille responds with a replica in D flat major. Let us hear Jürgen Kesting talking about this duo form Nabucco with Gino Bechi: «She goes even wilder in the duet in the third act. You’ll hear another passage you must not miss under any circumstances – one of the most famous, of the opera’s recording history. From an inconspicuous moment she makes a great moment of the opera. Tosca takes this up with the phrase «O Come la sai bene l’arte di farti amare» and suddenly the Callas sounds so intoxicated – and intoxicatingly beautiful like no other singer. Cavaradossi must appease her, and while she is still singing «quegli occhi», still thinking and again with a suppressed stream of tears, he tunes in the wonderfully flowing cantilena «Qual occhio al mondo». In sudden recognition Tosca screams that it is the Attavanti.
Cavaradossi replies with the false casualness of the man feeling guilty, that it is the Maddalena. In front of the picture of the Madonna painted by Cavaradossi, Tosca asks who the blonde woman in the picture is. Kesting comments Callas’ interpretaion Quegli occhi: «In the duet Tosca-Cavaradossi from the first act, which in its psychologically masterful structure is an eloquent example of dramatic, correct and beautiful singing, she shows what it means to sing as a performer. Her most iconic roles were in the operas Medea, Il turco in Italia, Tosca, Norma, Lucia di Lammermoor and La traviata. Due to her excellent technique and her large vocal range she was able to sing a wide repertoire. She thus laid the foundation stone for her status as a style icon of the 50s. With iron will she went through a slimming cure and lost about 30 kilograms within half a year. On the way to celebrityĬallas attracted international attention with a Mexican tour. In 1949 she married her 27 year older promotor Meneghini. Her first leading role was at the age of 19 in the National Opera of Athens with Tosca. First appearances and marriageĪt the age of 15 she had her first public appearance. There the talented Maria was trained in singing under the strict supervision of her mother.
Maria Callas, born 1923 in New York, left the United States with her mother after the divorce of her Greek-born parents for Athens. Many of her recordings have become references. Read the short biography of Maria Callas and listen to highlights of her career. Maria Callas undoubtedly belongs to the 3 most important female opera singers of the 20th century.
#MARIA CALLAS PLUS#
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