{"product_id":"callas-bellini-la-sonnambula-1957-paco193","title":"CALLAS Bellini: La sonnambula (1957) - PACO193","description":"overviewfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eBELLINI \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eLa sonnambula\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003eStudio recording, 1957\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003eTotal duration: 2hr 00:32\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eMaria Callas\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003e - Amina\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eFiorenza Cossotto\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003e - Teresa\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eNicola Zaccaria\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003e - Il conte Rodolfo\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eNicola Monti\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003e - Elvino\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eEugenia Ratti \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003e- Lisa\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eGiuseppe Morresi\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003e - Alessio\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eFranco Ricciardi\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003e - Un notaro\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eChoir \u0026amp; Orchestra of Teatro Alla Scala, Milan\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eConducted by \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eAntonino Votto\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9review_titlefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9review_quotefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9review_bodyfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9main_samplefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fsamples\/PACO193.mp3578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_labelfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fProducer's Note578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_typefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcontent578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_contentfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cp style=\"margin-left: 25px;\"\u003e\n\"Many readers will have listened to \u003cem\u003eLa Sonnambula\u003c\/em\u003e broadcast from\nEdinburgh, with the same Amina, Elvino and Rodolfo. The first thing to be\nsaid is that La Divina is in far better voice on this recording than she\nwas in Scotland. There she was tired (between recording\u003cem\u003eLa Sonnambula\u003c\/em\u003e and singing it on the stage she recorded \u003cem\u003eManon Lescaut\u003c\/em\u003e, and then \u003cem\u003eTurandot\u003c\/em\u003e, which may perhaps have\nhad something to do with it). The première had uneasy moments, and by the\nthird performance, which was broadcast, almost every sustained note around\nabout G started to crack and collapse. This does not happen in the set;\nthere we hear the Amina which for two seasons has delighted audiences at La\nScala, and very wonderful it is. The voice is not perfect. There are once\nor twice hints of that second note underlying and sullying the proper one.\nThere are sharp, wobbly notes (the final one of “Come per me sereno”, for\nexample). But there is also much exquisitely beautiful singing—lovely tone,\nmovingly tender phrasing, gloriously delicate and virtuosic moments such as\nat some upward arpeggios in “Sovra il sen ”.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin-left: 25px;\"\u003e\nI have used the words “spellbinding and sublime art” about Callas’s\ninterpretation of the role. It is very intricate, and fired by poetic\nintellect. I should like to quote Felice Romani, the librettist of the\nopera, on the subject of his heroine, for all that he says is relevant to\nCallas’s performance: “The role of Amina” he wrote, “although it may seem\nat first sight easy to play, is perhaps more difficult than many others\ndeemed more important. It calls for an actress who is playful, ingenuous\nand innocent, and at the same time passionate, impetuous and affectionate;\nwho has one cry for joy and another for sorrow, different timbres for\nreproof and for pleading; who displays in every movement, in every glance,\nevery sigh, a certain stylisation mixed with realism such as we find in\nsome paintings by Albani and certain of Theocritus' idylls”.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin-left: 25px;\"\u003e\nThus, said Romani, did Giuditta Pasta create the role . . . and thus does\nMaria Callas perform it. I need hardly point out how strikingly she colours\nevery phrase, note and word. After a couple of playings, almost every line\nof recitative sticks in the mind with the exact colour and expression that\nshe gives to it; “Compagne, teneri amici”, before “Come per me”; “Il cor\nsoitano”, the only dowry she brings Elvino ; “Qui! perchi? ”, filled with\nterror and amazement as she wakes in the Count’s bedroom; “Alt ! il mio\nanello”, the cry which wrings our hearts as much as Brünnhilde’s shriek,\nand far more affectingly, when the ring is torn from her finger. Sooner or\nlater I shall have to brave the comparison with Pagliughi, so let me plunge\nin here to remark that Pagliughi sings “Qul! perchi?” with far less\ncharacter, yet is touchingly beautiful all the same; but that her “Ah! il\nmio anelio ” goes for fairly little; that she is much less passionate and\nmoving in her pleading with Elvino in the forest scene.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin-left: 25px;\"\u003e\nPagliughi is far more the “playful, ingenuous and innocent” heroine only. I\nlove her performance. The beautiful thread of tone, the notes dropped\nsweetly and truly into place, afford a kind of pleasure that Callas cannot\nprovide. Her phrasing of “Come per me”, though less intricate than\nCallas's, is also extremely beautiful. I can’t quite define why Callas’s\n“Ah, non credea” should strike me as less than satisfying; perhaps the\ntimbre is too strongly coloured for the line of the music. “Ah, non giunge”\nis relatively unaffecting because simple gaiety is not something that this\nsoprano can easily express. Welling, interior, almost unbearable joy, yes,\nbut not bright, clear happiness. Pagliughi is deliciously bouncy in this\nfinal aria; Callas turns it into a rather self-conscious and excessively\nelaborate display. The second verse can take a lot of decoration (Pagliughi\nsings only Bellini’s notes—yet how attractively), but the embellishments\nmust sound fresh, not, as here, laboured.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin-left: 25px;\"\u003e\nRomani also said that the singing of the role should be “at once simple and\nadorned, spontaneous and perfectly judged, finished but without showing the\nsigns of study”. Between them, but not separately, Callas and Pagliughi\nembody his perfect heroine. It is Pagliughi who has the cry for joy—every\ntime she sings the word “gioia”, which comes often, she gives it a little\njoyous inflexion, particularly in the final “Oh gioia” of her awakening,\nmarked by Bellini \u003cem\u003econ un pianto di contento\u003c\/em\u003e—but Callas who has the\ncry for sorrow: listen to her tone as she starts the quartet “D’un\npensiero” at the end of Act 1.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin-left: 25px;\"\u003e\nThe concerted numbers go well in the new set, especially the two\nsoprano\/tenor duets of Act 1, with limpid sixths in the second verse of\n“Prendi, Panel” and fascinating phrasing of the lovely “Son geloso del\nzeffiro”. Monti’s voice has been stepped up a little by the engineers to\nsound more robust than it does in life. He is a smooth, reliable,\nwell-tuned and tasteful singer, though a much less interesting artist than\nTagliavini, whose interpretation seems more personal, and more deeply felt.\nZaccaria too is reliable, though here not in the Siepi class: the divine\nmelody of “Vi ravviso” counts for much more in the Cetra set, and Siepi\nshows far more imagination in his utterance of the beautiful verses which\nlead into it. Ratti’s Lisa is delightful, and Cossotto brings a lovely firm\nvoice to the part of Teresa, though she tends to sing too loudly. Norberto\nMola’s Scala choir is outstanding in the chorus describing the fantasma,\nand also in the one where the villagers creep into the Count’s bedroom,\nonly to be surprised by finding a girl asleep on the bed...\"\n\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"margin-left: 25px;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eA.P. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Gramophone\u003c\/i\u003e, 1957\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis recording is unusual in that it was only the second time that Maria Callas recorded an opera with the La Scala company for EMI that was made in the Basilica di Sant'Eufemia, a late 19th century church in Milan. Ironically the previous time this location was used - normally recordings were made during the summer 'off-season' in the Teatro Alla Scala - was for a previous Bellini recording, \u003ci\u003eNorma\u003c\/i\u003e, from 1953, both recorded in mid-March at a time when, I assume, the opera house was unavailable.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs a result of this unusual acoustic, especially for opera (normally churches and opera houses are at the opposite ends of the spectrum when considering natural reverberation within the space), this remaster proved more than usually tricky. It is unfortunate also, at a time where stereo discs were only a year or so away and, in the US at least, stereo tapes were already outselling their cheaper mono versions, that EMI stuck with mono recording - despite the success of their previous outing in London with Rossini's \u003ci\u003eIl barbiere di Siviglia\u003c\/i\u003e (PACO191). \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis Ambient Stereo remaster therefore aims to manage two things at once - both to enhance and \"fix\" the sound of the original recording, and to place it in the more acoustically appropriate space of one of the world's great opera houses. I hope you will find success on both fronts.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eAndrew Rose\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_cover_thumbnail1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_cover_thumbnail2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_cover_download_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample3_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample4_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample5_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample6_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_labelfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fFull Track Listing578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_typefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5ftrack_listing578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_contentfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 24px;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eBELLINI\u003c\/b\u003e La sonnambula\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDisc One\u003c\/b\u003e (77:22)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eACT ONE\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e1. Introduction - Viva Amina  (2:18)\u003cbr\u003e2. Tutte è gioia, tutte è fiesta  (3:15)\u003cbr\u003e3. In Elvezia non v'ha rosa  (3:29)\u003cbr\u003e4. Care compagne, e voi  (7:49)\u003cbr\u003e5. Io più di tutti  (10:19)\u003cbr\u003e6. Scritti nel ciel giasono  (3:15)\u003cbr\u003e7. Domani, appena aggiorni  (6:48)\u003cbr\u003e8. Contezza del paese  (7:14)\u003cbr\u003e9. Basta così  (9:39)\u003cbr\u003e10. Davver, non mi dispiace  (10:16)\u003cbr\u003e11. Osservate: l'uscio è aperto  (13:00)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eDisc Two\u003c\/b\u003e (43:08)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eACT TWO\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e1. Qui la selva è più folta ed ambrosa  (5:51)\u003cbr\u003e2. Reggimi, o buona madre  (11:23)\u003cbr\u003e3. A fia pur vero, Elvino  (6:31)\u003cbr\u003e4. Signore! che creder deggio?  (8:28)\u003cbr\u003e5. Ah! non credea mirarti  (6:47)\u003cbr\u003e6. Ah! non giunge uman pensiero  (4:08)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCAST\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMaria Callas\u003c\/b\u003e (soprano) - Amina\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFiorenza Cossotto\u003c\/b\u003e (mezzo-soprano) - Teresa\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNicola Zaccaria\u003c\/b\u003e (bass) - Il conte Rodolfo\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNicola Monti\u003c\/b\u003e (tenor)- Elvino\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eEugenia Ratti\u003c\/b\u003e (soprano) - Lisa\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eGiuseppe Morresi \u003c\/b\u003e(bass) - Alessio\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFranco Ricciardi \u003c\/b\u003e(tenor) - Un notaro\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eChoir \u0026amp; Orchestra of Teatro Alla Scala, Milan\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eConducted by \u003cb\u003eAntonino Votto\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eChorus master: Norberto Mola\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eXR remastered by Andrew Rose\u003cbr\u003eCover Artwork based on a photograph of Maria Callas as Amina at La Scala, Milan, 1955\u003cbr\u003eRecorded at Basilica di Sant'Eufemia, Milan, 3-9 March, 1957\u003cbr\u003eProduced by Walter Legge. Engineered by Robert Beckett.\u003cbr\u003eFirst released in the UK as Columbia 33CXS1469\/70-1\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTotal duration:  2hr 00:32 \u003c\/b\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_cover_thumbnail1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_cover_thumbnail2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_cover_download_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample3_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample4_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample5_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample6_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_labelfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fCover Art578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_typefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcover_art578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_contentfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_cover_thumbnail1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcovers\/thumbs\/PACO193.jpg578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_cover_thumbnail2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_cover_download_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcovers\/PACO193.pdf578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample3_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample4_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample5_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample6_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f","brand":"Pristine Classical","offers":[{"title":"Ambient Stereo 24-bit FLAC","offer_id":55010092056942,"sku":"coy1789306633789","price":23.76,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Ambient Stereo 16-bit FLAC","offer_id":55010092089710,"sku":"bse1789306633790","price":20.42,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"320kbps Ambient Stereo MP3","offer_id":55010092122478,"sku":"kmi1789306633791","price":13.16,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0915\/3986\/5966\/files\/callas-bellini-la-sonnambula-1957---paco193_1.jpg?v=1789306640","url":"https:\/\/www.harborviewgoods.shop\/products\/callas-bellini-la-sonnambula-1957-paco193","provider":"My Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}