{"product_id":"callas-puccini-madama-butterfly-1955-paco113","title":"CALLAS Puccini: Madama Butterfly (1955) - PACO113","description":"overviewfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cspan data_liveedit_tagid=\"000000000D770D90\"\u003e\u003cspan data_liveedit_tagid=\"000000000D770EC0\"\u003e\u003cspan data_liveedit_tagid=\"000000000D770FF0\"\u003e\u003cspan data_liveedit_tagid=\"000000000D771840\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003ePUCCINI \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eMadama Butterfly\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan data_liveedit_tagid=\"000000000D770D90\"\u003e\u003cspan data_liveedit_tagid=\"000000000D770EC0\"\u003e\u003cspan data_liveedit_tagid=\"000000000D770FF0\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data_liveedit_tagid=\"000000000D772E90\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"bodysmallarial\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003eStudio recording · 1955\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003eTotal duration: 2hr 18:18\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cul\u003e\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eMaria Callas\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003e - Butterfly\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eNicolai Gedda\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003e - Pinkerton\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eSoloists, Orchestra and Chorus of La Scala Milan\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eHerbert von Karajan\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003e, conductor\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"bodybigblue\" data_liveedit_tagid=\"000000000D776290\"\u003e \u003cem\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9review_titlefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fClassical CD Review review578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9review_quotefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f Andrew Rose's remastering has worked wonders on this recording made well over a half century ago578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9review_bodyfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cp\u003eThis 1953 [\u003ci\u003esic\u003c\/i\u003e] EMI recording of Puccini's \u003cem\u003eMadame Butterfly\u003c\/em\u003e is\nconsidered to be legendary. CD notes quote Alan Blythe as saying it represents\nCallas \"at the peak of her vocal powers,\" admiring that on\noccasion \"there\nare a number of technical shortcomings.\" That is putting it mild!\nAt the time, Callas \u003cem\u003eshould\u003c\/em\u003e have been at her best, but she produces\nsome incredibly ugly sounds,\nnot helped by a recording that originally had some distortion. Often\nher pitch is suspect, and it is hard to imagine that Karajan, a stickler\nfor perfection, might not have said to her, \"Maria, do you \u003cem\u003ereally\u003c\/em\u003e want\nto try that D flat at the end of Butterfly's entrance?\" She did give\nit a stab, and her wobble on that treacherous note is rather pathetic.\nNo\nquestion that dramatically she is magnificent, but for me that cannot compensate\nfor vocal defects. The remainder of the cast is superb, as is Karajan's\napproach to the music, and\nAndrew Rose's remastering has worked wonders on this recording made well\nover a half century ago. However, for a beautifully sung \u003cem\u003eButterfly\u003c\/em\u003e, there\nare dozens of superior recordings, particularly those featuring Mirella\nFreni, de los Angeles, Caballé, and Tebaldi, to mention only a few\nthat offer vocal perfection.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9main_samplefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fsamples\/PACO113.mp3578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_labelfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fProducer's Note578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_typefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcontent578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_contentfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: x-large;\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe classic Callas - Karajan Butterfly: now sounds even better!\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp align=\"center\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"Callas\nand Karajan raise what is so often a mere tear-jerker into the deep\ntragedy Puccini surely intended ... the performance is quite tremendous\" - The Gramophone\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe 1955 Callas\/Karajan EMI recording of Madama Butterfly is rightly\nregarded as one of the all-time classics. As the legendary Alan Blyth\npointed out in his 1976 review of an LP reissue, it finds Callas at\ntheir \"absolute peak of her vocal form\" with taut, through-conceived\nsupport from Karajan \"at every turn of the drama\". However, Blyth also\nnoted a number of technical short-comings: \"recorded sound that is less\nthan lustrous\", a \"confined\" acoustic, \"the occasional sound of studio\nmovement\" and \"some momentary signs of overloading\".To these I would add\ninconsistent tape speeds leading to drifting pitch, background rumble\ninterspersed with accelerating traffic, and a general sense of a thin\nveil hanging over the sound.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAll of these are as present in the most recent 24-bit Callas box set\ntransfers as they were in 1976, or in 1955 - and each has been addressed\nfor this new Pristine XR release. The enclosed acoustic has opened out\nbeautifully here, with a clarity and openness that brings new life to\nthe recording. Ambient Stereo, coupled with the lightest touch of\nconvolution reverberation, which models the real acoustic of one of the\nworld's foremost opera houses, adds a final sprinkle of magic to a sound\nthat might now indeed be called \"lustrous\". Never has this classic\nButterfly ever sounded as good! \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cem\u003eAndrew Rose\u003c\/em\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 Cast Listing578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_typefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5ftrack_listing578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_contentfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003ePUCCINI  \u003c\/b\u003eMadama Butterfly\u003cb\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: medium;\"\u003eMaria Callas - \u003cem\u003eButterfly\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: medium;\"\u003eNicolai Gedda - \u003cem\u003ePinkerton\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: medium;\"\u003eMario Borriello - \u003cem\u003eSharpless\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: medium;\"\u003eLucia Danieli - \u003cem\u003eSuzuki\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: medium;\"\u003eRenato Ercolani - \u003cem\u003eGoro\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: medium;\"\u003eMario Carlin - \u003cem\u003eYamadori\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: medium;\"\u003ePlinio Clabassi - \u003cem\u003eLo zio Bonzo\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: medium;\"\u003eEnrico Campi - \u003cem\u003eIl commissario imperiale\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: medium;\"\u003eLuisa Villa - \u003cem\u003eKate Pinkerton\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChorus and Orchestra, La Scala, Milan\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eHerbert von Karajan\u003c\/b\u003e, conductor\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRecorded Teatro alla Scala, Milan, 1-6 August, 1955\u003cbr\u003eProducer: Walter Legge\u003cbr\u003eEngineer: Robert Beckett\u003cbr\u003eOriginally issued as Columbia 33CX1296-8\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\/PACO113.jpg578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_cover_thumbnail2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_cover_download_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcovers\/PACO113.pdf578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample3_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample4_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample5_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample6_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_labelfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fHistoric Reviews578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_typefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcontent578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_contentfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cp\u003eNote: It is interesting to read these two reviews back-to-back. The\ninitial response to this Butterfly was hardly overwhelming - but two\ndecades later it was regarded as one of the highlights of the recorded\ncanon.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003eOriginal LP release, 1956\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWe\nhave by now become accustomed to the idea that Maria Callas can sing\nany soprano part she has a mind to, so that, though one might not\nconsider her a natural for the part, there is no need to be surprised\nthat she chose to sing Butterfly. There is, however, considerable matter\nfor surprise that Nicolai Gedda should have been cast for Pinkerton. It\nis perfectly clear from the moment he opens his mouth that Mr. Gedda\nwould not hurt a flea, let alone a butterfly— and above all such an\nexotic specimen as this. This considerably alters the dramatic balance\nof the opera. Those parts of the score, moreover, where full and ringing\ntones are needed to realise Puccini’s intentions considerably\noverstrain the resources of this beautiful voice: but in other parts,\nwhere tenderness and soft lyrical tone are needed, Mr. Gedda comes into\nhis own and can look any Italian tenor in the larynx! Among such\nmoments, which necessarily occur in the first act, since Pinkerton has\nto be all out nearly all the time in the last, are his conversation with\nButterfly immediately after her entrance, and his comforting “Bimba non\npiangere”, the gentle sensuousness of “Viene la sera” and “Bimba dagli\nocchi ”, later on. After this it is hard going for him and he is finally\ndefeated when Callas is in full flood at the end of the love duet. Even\nso, he is never reduced to shouting, but one does want a voice like\nStefano’s to fill out the soaring phrases with ringing tone.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eStefano\nis also more in character as the brash and cynical young lieutenant who\ntakes his fun where he finds it, without thought for anyone but\nhimself.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCampora comes vocally somewhere between these two,\ninclining in character much more towards Gedda’s gentier\ninter­pretation, and, like Gedda, paying more attention to Puccini’s\nexpression markings than Stefano does.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWe may, therefore, rate Gedda’s as a gallant performance with musical merits all too rarely found in operatic tenors.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eInghilleri\nwas a paternal consul in the Decca set, Gobbi an austere one in the\nH.M.V,—one felt his sympathy with Butterfly was very much on the\nsurface, Boriello, in the new set, though without Gobbi’s vocal\nopulence, I like best of all the three. His voice is of very pleasing\nquality and he never misses a point: he is obviously deeply sorry for\nthe deserted wife.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLucia Danieli seems also, to me, the best\nSuzuki and Renato Ercolani’s the most malicious (and salacious) Goro;\nbut these parts were well cast in the two previous issues.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI have\nwritten at some length before about Renata Tebaldi and Victoria de los\nAngeles in the part of Butterfly and now, having heard Maria Callas and\ncompared her rendering with theirs my final impres­sion, which involves\nno great powers of perception, is that Tebaldi is throughout wholly in\nthe skin of the part and in it gives her finest performance on disc. She\nalone can open out her voice to its fullest extent without loss of\nquality, can command a most lovely mezza-voce—the high B at the end of\nthe lullaby in Act 3, for example— and can the most poignantly work on\nour emotions. The only thing in her perform­ance I regret are the stagey\noutbursts of laughter, of which there are three too many. Tebaldi\nsounds, admittedly, mature and Victoria de los Angeles is certainly more\nof the “little child wife” and conveys greater charm. But her\nbeautifully sung performance, most moving where the child is concerned,\nnever really touched me deeply. It seems incredible that she should not\nhave been able to put more into the anguished words in the last act,\n“Tutto é morto per me! tutto é finito ! ah!”. The way Tebaldi and Callas\nenunciate that “ah” pierces the heart.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCallas gives consistently\nthe best sung performance I have heard from her. At her entrance she\ntakes the optional top D flat and the voice develops that slow beat\nsometimes noticed elsewhere: but this happens on no other occasion and\nshe can, like Tebaldi, give a cutting edge to her tone when that is\ndramatically called for.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThere are some points that Callas\nmisses. Tebaldi’s singing of “Dolce notte! quante stelle!” brings the\nscented, starlit night before us, but Callas puts nothing behind it at\nall and she is, for a moment, as casual in “Un bel di”, at “Chi sara”\netc. Such moments are, however, few and the only other one worth\nmentioning is when the canon is fired and she, like Los Angeles, gives\nno hint of what that means to her. Tebaldi alone registers, as she quits\nthe high G sharp, the unbearable tension of that moment.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCallas’s\nsinging of “Che tua madre”, with the cry “Ait! morta” at the end, is\nmagnificent, and so is her outburst of joy and faith after the canon is\nheard. It is wonderful, in contrast to these great outbursts, to hear\nhow she whitens her tone to suggest the youth of Butterfly.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe\ndeath scene is tremendous, a generous outpouring of tone equalled only\nby Tebaldi, and as the opera ends one is filled with the sense of having\nheard a great performance of the part.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eErede gives the most\nsensitive (and sensuous) performance of the orchestral part, Gavazzeni\nthe least sympathetic—his tempos are also sometimes too quick—but\nKarajan, in a wholly sympathetic rendering, brings out more of the\ndetail of the score than I have ever heard before, in which he is aided\nby the clearest and most vivid of the three recordings. The Decca set\nhas, unfortunately, a rather blurred orchestral part. The entrance of\nButterfly is better engineered than in the H.M.V. set, in that she does\nappear to be coming nearer all the time and not suddenly.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThere\nis a regrettable crash, after Sharpless hints that Pinkerton may never\nreturn, which sounds as if all the tea-trays in Japan bad been dropped:\nand there are moments when the orchestral tone is rather coarse. Though\nboth recordings were made in the Rome Opera House, the H.M.V. acoustic\nis slightly more spacious than the Columbia. Between sides 2 and 3 the\nbreak comes at an awkward moment, just before Butterfly runs out to get\nher child, and so the dramatic force of her cry “Ah! m’ha scordata” is\ndissipated by the ending of the side. But these are minor faults in view\nof the general excellence of this most interesting and in very many\nways splendid issue.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA. H. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Gramophone, December 1955\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview: 1976 LP reissue\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“E\nun immensa pietà” (“it’s heartbreaking”), says Sharpless near the end\nof Butterfly, and in the most direct sense those were my sentiments as I\nlistened to this set. As it progresses Callas and Karajan raise what is\nso often a mere tear-jerker into the deep tragedy Puccini surely\nintended, reminding us what a masterly score this is. Indeed my\nwell-seasoned and wary ears were quite overwhelmed by the experience. If\nI knew someone who doubted the validity of opera as music-drama I would\nsit him down to listen to the last twenty minutes of this set, text in\nhand, to receive an object-lesson in what it is all about. From the\nfalse happiness of “E qui, e qui!” through the stunned empty tone of\n“forse potrei cader morta sull’attimo” and the expansive generosity of\n“sotto il gran ponte del cielo” to the searing intensity of the suicide\nand Karajan’s heartrending last chord, the performance is quite\ntremendous.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut there is more, much more to Callas’s\ninterpretation, and I could quote enough examples of her penetrating\nvision of what Butterfly means to fill the rest of the page. Let me\nsuggest but three: the way she suggests at “Ieri son salita tutta sola\nin segrcto” (Act I) all Cio-Cio-San’s absolute faith in following her\ndestiny and forsaking her religion, the gentle simplicity of “Mio marito\nm’lia pro- mcsso” and, a little later in Act 2, at the end of “Che tua\nmadre” the impending tragedy of the repeated “Mortal”. Callas made this\nset when she was at the absolute peak of her vocal form, and she is the\nmistress of every vocal change needed to express Butterfly’s changing\nmood, even to the white, little-girl timbre she uses in the first act,\nwhich sometimes sounds too twee; that and the sour D flat at the end of\nthe Entrance are my only adverse criticisms of her interpretation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eKarajan\nsupports Callas at every turn of the drama with a tauter, more\nthrough-conceived direction than he brought to his recent Decca version\n(SET584-6, 2\/75), where the slow tempi evident here seem to my ears at\nleast to have turned to self-indulgence and rhythmic flabbi­ness, but\nfor once my heart was not in com­parative listening. Whenever I turned\naway to test reactions to other sets I longed to be back chez Callas and\nKarajan, and blow recorded sound that is less than lustrous. Even, on\nthis occasion, my old love Scotto and Barbirolli (HMV Angel SLS927,\n9\/67) could not shake my new allegiance, although Scotto comes much\nnearer to Callas’s very personal interpretation than does Freni, good as\nshe is taken in isolation too.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe young Gedda presents a\ncredibly un-caddish Pinkerton, an unthinking but hardly callous lover in\nAct I, full of real remorse in Act 3, and always singing with fresh,\neasy tone and faultless phrasing but without the ‘face’ or bright attack\nof Pavarotti for Karajan’s Decca recording. Gedda is happier in the\npart’s more lyrical moments. You could hardly have a more sympathetic\nSharpless than Borriello, or a more actively engaged Suzuki than Lucia\nDanieli. There is the occasional sound of studio movement, some\nmomentary signs of over­loading when Callas really lets go, for the\nacoustic is confined and has not been much improved by the introduction\nof electronic stereo, and there is a poor break between Sides 2 and 3,\nbut honestly these considerations pale before the kind of theatrical\ninvolvement we have on all sides, and the price is very com­petitive\nwith no recommendable bargain version available.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA.B. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGramophone, May 1976\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_cover_thumbnail1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_cover_thumbnail2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_cover_download_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_sample1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_sample2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_sample3_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_sample4_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_sample5_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_sample6_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f","brand":"Pristine Classical","offers":[{"title":"Ambient Stereo 24-bit FLAC","offer_id":44064778420314,"sku":"yff1789304771325","price":27.48,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Ambient Stereo 16-bit FLAC","offer_id":44064778453082,"sku":"deh1789304771326","price":18.13,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"320kbps Ambient Stereo MP3","offer_id":44064778485850,"sku":"opt1789304771327","price":13.58,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0726\/3807\/0874\/files\/callas-puccini-madama-butterfly-1955---paco113_1.jpg?v=1789304778","url":"https:\/\/vestorawear.shop\/products\/callas-puccini-madama-butterfly-1955-paco113","provider":"My Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}