{"product_id":"callas-puccini-tosca-1953-paco080","title":"CALLAS Puccini: Tosca (1953) - PACO080","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;\"\u003eTosca \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\u003cp\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, 1953 \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003eTotal duration: 1hr 47:58\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cspan data_liveedit_tagid=\"000000000D775470\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eMaria Callas \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eTosca\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan data_liveedit_tagid=\"000000000D775470\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eGiuseppe di Stefano \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eCavaradossi\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan data_liveedit_tagid=\"000000000D775470\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eTito Gobbi \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eScarpia\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan data_liveedit_tagid=\"000000000D775470\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eChorus and Orchestra of La Scala, Milan\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan data_liveedit_tagid=\"000000000D775470\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eConductor\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003e Victor de Sabata\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9review_titlefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fFanfare Review578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9review_quotefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fShe really was the greatest singing actress of her time578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9review_bodyfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cp class=\"B\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003ePuccini’s \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMESi\"\u003eTosca\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003e\nhas been described as a “shabby, little shocker” but the public and\nperformers have made it one of opera’s biggest hits and the recordings\nkeep coming out. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMESi\"\u003eTosca \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003eisn’t \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMESi\"\u003eSalome\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003e but I can imagine that the audiences of a century or so ago might have been a little uncomfortable with Sardou’s play, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMESi\"\u003eLa Tosca\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003e,\nand the opera Puccini and his librettists fashioned from it. After all,\nafter exulting about the joys of taking women by force, the principal\nvillain attempts to rape the star soprano right up there on stage. There\nare many who consider this particular performance to be the greatest\nopera recording ever made. I might not go that far but I do believe it’s\nthe greatest recording of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMESi\"\u003eTosca \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003eand\nhas remained so for more than 50 years despite some impressive\nchallenges, the most formidable of which comes from a Decca recording\nthat was originally issued here on LP by RCA Victor. Imaginatively\nproduced (John Culshaw), beautifully played (the Vienna Philharmonic),\ndramatically conducted (Herbert Von Karajan), and splendidly sung\n(Leontyne Price, Giuseppe di Stefano, Giuseppe Taddei), it compensates\nin dramatic power for what it lacks in white heat. If it falls just\nshort of this classic EMI recording, it’s because of Maria Callas. First\nof all, I don’t see how Andrew Rose has managed, without access to\nEMI’s master tape, to give the original a slightly fuller sound and\nseemingly pull the voices just a bit closer than they were on my EMI\nCDs. If it should turn up in a used CD bin, avoid the EMI set with the\nclose-up of Callas’s face on the cover, which lacked interior cueing!\nThe later issues almost certainly do have it but, given this excellent\nPristine release, maybe the point is moot. My Pristine CDs came in a\nnarrow double jewel box that has no accompanying libretto but I imagine\nmost likely purchasers won’t need one. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"B\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003eI have, at times, suggested that, if a\nsoprano can convey three emotions: “I am happy” (without laughing), “I\nam sad” (without sobbing), and “I am angry” (without shouting), she will\nbe accounted a great singing actress. Price, with her beautiful voice\n(Karajan once said it gave him goose pimples!) could convey these\nemotions. Callas, with her flawed but flexible voice, could convey\nnuances like “I am suspicious,” “I am indifferent,” “I am nervous,” and\nso on. Looking at my score of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMESi\"\u003eTosca\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003e,\njust in act II, I see directions like “pretending calm,” “with\nsimulated indifference,” “with conviction,” “desperately,” “warmly,”\n“full of hatred and contempt,” “in despair,” and “humbly.” Granted,\nthese directions may come from an editor, rather than Puccini, but they\nare appropriate and she pretty much nails them. She really \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMESi\"\u003ewas\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003e\nthe greatest singing actress of her time. Since I’m in act II, I might\nas well mention that de Sabata, like most of his colleagues, cuts the\nthree bars that immediately follow “Vissi d’arte” (Scarpia says “Your\nanswer?” She replies “On my knees I beg for mercy.” I have no idea why\nit gets cut). Di Stefano, as one might expect, is a spirited,\nimpassioned Cavaradossi—there were signs that vocal problems were\nbrewing but, at this stage, they hardly detract from his performance. On\nthe later Karajan recording, his top notes have hardened and have\nlittle ring to them but he has the role down pat and most of the di\nStefano charm still comes through. De Sabata’s Scarpia, Tito Gobbi was,\nby acclamation, the world’s champion Scarpia for most of his career. In\naddition to his intelligence, his lack of a conventionally beautiful\nsound was probably a contributing factor; the voice was sizeable and\ndark, with a rough edge to it but he could, when necessary, modulate it\nand sound ingratiating. At last I get a chance to write something other\nthan conventional wisdom: I think Karajan’s Giuseppe Taddei matches\nhim—he’s just as slimy and menacing but is capable of more smoothness\nand has adequate power when he needs it and was, himself, an\nimaginative, versatile performer. Karajan paces the music more slowly\nthan the more volatile de Sabata but \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMESi\"\u003epunctuates\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003e—it’s not a mere reading, and the production, with the usual Culshaw bells and whistles, really \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMESi\"\u003edoes\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003e\nenhance the performance. It’s “staged,” almost as if it’s taking place\nright before your eyes. You really couldn’t go wrong with either\nrecording or with \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMESi\"\u003eboth\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003e of them, for that matter. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"B\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003eThere are other worthy recordings too,\nincluding an inevitable stereo remake by Callas and Gobbi, with Carlo\nBergonzi and Georges Prêtre replacing di Stefano and de Sabata. Their\nrenditions have coarsened a bit, probably due to some vocal\nwear-and-tear but Callas and Gobbi operating at 90 percent are nothing\nto sneeze at and Bergonzi, if he lacks Di Stefano’s charisma,\nnevertheless sings quite beautifully and Prêtre, if he’s no de Sabata,\nhas the measure of the score. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"Br\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003eFrancesco Molinari-Pradelli leads the\nalmost inevitable Renata Tebaldi\/Mario del Monaco recording. It’s well\nrecorded if not as imaginatively as the Culshaw production. Tebaldi is\nnot a strong Tosca (more of a vulnerable one) but her singing was more\nabout making beautiful sounds than projecting character and at that\nstage of her career, she could still do it—it’s a gorgeous piece of\nsinging, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMESi\"\u003eper se\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003e.\nThe producer seems to have kept Del Monaco a bit of a distance from the\nmicrophones much of the time—a good decision since, up close, his\nsinging could take on a hectoring quality. He sounds more like a warrior\nthan a painter since, when in doubt, he simply turns up the volume as\nfew contemporaries could. With his ringing trumpet of a voice, he was\nmore effective in person but he certainly has his good moments here.\nUnfortunately, with his imposing stage presence, George London was a\nsinger who had to be seen as well as heard, as Scarpia or just about\nanything else this versatile bass\/baritone performed. The possessor of a\nbig, dark, somewhat unwieldy voice, he’s terrific when Scarpia is at\nhis most menacing, which, granted, is a good bit of the time, but he’s\nless successful at turning on the charm—we hear the wolf but can’t see\nthe sheep’s clothing. I also have some affection for the 1938 Rome \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMESi\"\u003eTosca\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003e\nof Maria Caniglia, Beniamino Gigli, and Armando Borgioli, led with\nauthority by Oliviero de Fabritiis. It gives “routine” a good name.\nThese people know what they’re doing and, basically, deliver the goods.\nIf the result isn’t especially notable for imaginative singing, it’s\nstill a satisfying piece of pour-it-on \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMESi\"\u003everismo \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"TIMES\"\u003eand Gigli can still utter some ravishing sounds. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"TIMESb\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eJames Miller\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003eThis article originally appeared in Issue 36:3 (Jan\/Feb 2013) of Fanfare Magazine.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9main_samplefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fsamples\/PACO080.mp3578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_labelfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fProducer's Note578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_typefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcontent578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_contentfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: x-large;\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe legendary 1953 Maria Callas recording of Puccini's Tosca\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp align=\"center\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eTremendous improvements in sound quality lift this landmark recording into a new realm\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"body\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis recording has been issued and reissued so many\ntimes and on so many labels that it seemed futile to begin another\ntransfer unless something really special and new could be brought to it,\nsomething to distinguish it clearly and dramatically from all that have\ngone before. I believe that has been accomplished. Working from mint\nFrench LP pressings, Pristine's 32-bit XR remastering process has lifted\nthe veil of nearly 60 years to bring a dramatic new life and clarity to\nthe sound quality familiar to so many for so long.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"body\"\u003eThe result of this process is truly astonishing to hear,\nand the sound quality revealed is ravishing. In its recommended Ambient\nStereo incarnation there's a real sense of space around the performers\nas well. Finally, analysis of electrical hum buried in the original\nrecording indicates an original performance pitch of A=444.78Hz, which\nhas been preserved for this release.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"body\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eAndrew Rose\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\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 class=\"bodybigblue\"\u003e\u003cb\u003ePUCCINI \u003c\/b\u003eTosca\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cspan class=\"bodymidarial\"\u003e Text: Luigi Illica \u0026amp; Guiseppe Giacosa from La Tosca by Victorien Sardou \u003cbr\u003e Producer: Walter Legge \u003cbr\u003e Engineer: Robert Beckett \u003cbr\u003e Recorded 10-21 August, 1953 Teatro alla Scala, Milan\u003cbr\u003e Transfers from EMI box set 2 C 163-000410\/1 \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan class=\"body\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan class=\"body\"\u003eTHE CAST\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eMaria Callas\u003c\/b\u003e - Tosca\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eGiuseppe di Stefano\u003c\/b\u003e - Cavaradossi\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eTito Gobbi\u003c\/b\u003e - Scarpia\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eFranco Calabrese\u003c\/b\u003e - Angelotti\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eAngelo Mercuriali\u003c\/b\u003e - Spoletta\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eMelchiorre Luise\u003c\/b\u003e - Sacrestan\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eDario Caselli\u003c\/b\u003e - Sciarrone\/Gaoler\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eAlvaro Cordova\u003c\/b\u003e - Shepherd\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Chorus and Orchestra of La Scala, Milan \u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/b\u003eChorus Master \u003cb\u003eVittore Veneziani \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"body\"\u003eConductor\u003cb\u003e Victor de Sabata \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\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\/PACO080.jpg578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_cover_thumbnail2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_cover_download_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcovers\/PACO080.pdf578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample3_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample4_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample5_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample6_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_labelfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fAdditional Notes578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_typefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcontent578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_contentfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cp class=\"bodybigblue\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e ARTICLE - \u003c\/b\u003eCallas - The Tosca Sessions (excerpt)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis Tosca was always different; headstrong and full-blooded both\nwhen the red recording light was on and when it was off. Truly dramma\nper musica. Her co-star, the great baritone Tito Gobbi, called it \"one\nof the finest recordings [I] had participated in and one of [my] best\nexperiences of this kind\". Sixteen years after the sessions in August\n1953, the Svengali-like Walter Legge listened again to the Tosca he had\nproduced for EMI. They had \"made immortal contributions through records\nto the artistic history of our time,\" he wrote to his heroine, Callas,\nwho was by now living in semi-retirement in Paris. The two had become\nestranged, and it was, wrote Legge, when he relistened to their Tosca\nthat he realised how trivial their disagreements were in the face of\nwhat they had together achieved (the letter worked: the producer and his\nTosca were reconciled).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eArt had begun as commerce, as is usual with the record business. In\nthe early 1950s, Legge and EMI faced a problem. They were about to\nlaunch their own label in the United States, HMV Angel, rather than rely\non American companies such as CBS for distribution. To run the new\noperation they had cunningly poached the formidable husband-and-wife\nteam of Dario and Dorle Soria from Cetra records. EMI knew that Italian\nopera was a big seller across the Atlantic and the Sorias, according to\nEMI music consultant Tony Locantro, \"were skilled at marketing and\npromotion and knew the American market very well. Certainly Callas to\nthem looked like an extremely promising and exciting artist who would\nadd lustre to the new Angel catalogue\".\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs Legge wrote later: \"I was rather late on the Callas bus. Italy was\nnot officially my territory.\" He felt more at home north of the Alps,\nwith Mozart and Herbert von Karajan in particular, but business was\nbusiness and was, as ever, driven by talent — and the talent who had\neveryone talking was Callas. \"At long last, a really exciting Italian\nsoprano!\" wrote Legge. \"My appetite was further whetted when one of her\nfamous male colleagues described her as 'not your type of singer'.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA performance of Norma in Rome in 1951 convinced the deeply\ncompetitive Legge that he had to have her for EMI, though it would be a\nyear and many meetings before he got her signature on a contract. It\nhadn't been easy, he recalled. \"She expected tribute at every meeting,\nand my arms still ache at the recollection of the pots of flowering\nshrubs and trees that Dario [Soria] lugged to the Verona apartment.\"...\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e...The last session at La Scala was on August 21. They had been\nrecording with just two free days since the 10th. All were utterly\nexhausted. Costs, as Walter Legge later grumbled to Lord Harewood, had\nspiralled as - thanks to the relentless perfectionism - the number of\nsessions needed had doubled. Wearily, Legge looked at the reels and\nreels of tape that he and his team would turn into the final product and\ninvited de Sabata to help them select the best takes. \"My work is\nfinished\", said the maestro. \"We are both artists. I give you this\ncasket of uncut jewels and leave it entirely to you to make a crown\nworthy of Puccini and my work.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor Callas, for Gobbi, for de Sabata himself, this Tosca had been\nperhaps the most intensive recording project they would ever undertake.\nAnd yet, despite the heat, despite the extended recording schedule and\nthe temperament, for once everything locked into place. Callas and her\nco-stars had set new performance standards for Puccini's opera, which\nmany feel have yet to be surpassed on record. And for the soprano's many\nfans, just about everything you need to know about her talent, her\nunique dramatic gifts and the interpretative power of a truly\nmagnificent singing actress is here on this recording.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"body\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eChristopher Cook, Gramophone\u003c\/b\u003e June 2007\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":44064779370586,"sku":"jzl1789304801781","price":23.02,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Ambient Stereo 16-bit FLAC","offer_id":44064779403354,"sku":"kho1789304801782","price":19.91,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"320kbps Ambient Stereo MP3","offer_id":44064779436122,"sku":"ehd1789304801783","price":15.88,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0726\/3807\/0874\/files\/callas-puccini-tosca-1953---paco080_1.jpg?v=1789304808","url":"https:\/\/vestorawear.shop\/products\/callas-puccini-tosca-1953-paco080","provider":"My Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}