Verdi: La Traviata complete opera live 1955 with Maria Callas, Giuseppe di Stefano, Carlo Maria Giulini, Orchestra & Chorus of La Scala, Milan

EMI's recording of "La Traviata" with Maria Callas, Giuseppe di Stefano, and Ettore Bastianini is that of a historical production that any operaphile would want in his or her collection. It is true that the sound is not splendid, but this is to be expected from a recording that is now 50+ years old. As it stands, EMI has remastered the sound to a tolerable point, and one is fully able to capture the excitement that the audience must have felt that night at La Scala.The Germont of Ettore Bastianini is gorgeously sung. He conveys the pride of the Germont patriarch; however, his vocal shadings and introspection are illustrative of Germont's remorse. The scene between Violetta and Germont is superbly sung and acted with equal aplomb. Also, the Alfredo of di Stefano is equally magnificent. People always point to Pavarotti's Alfredo, but Pav paired with Dame Joan is simply too much to be believable. Di Stefano had the same rich, lyric tenor voice that Pavarotti had; however, his performance is tame enough to be credible yet refined, touching, and gorgeous. Towards the end of Act I, when Alfredo throws the purse of gold at Violetta, the listener can hear the anger, hurt petulance, and deep sorrow in di Stefano's voice. It's not so touching as it is heart-stopping in the immensity of torrential emotion.Then, of course, we have Callas herself. 1955 was a good year for Callas, as this recording and her live Normas also prove. There are the usual pitch problems throughout the performance, but they are minimal and do not distract from the deep commitment that Callas has given to this portrayal of Violetta. People tend to compare this recording to the 1958 recording from Lisbon, but I find Callas to be in more secure voice here; in Lisbon the end is apparent and I find Callas to be more cautious. In this recording, La Divina is rock-solid and her voice remains up to the daunting task of Violetta. Her brindisi is bright and cheery, and the scene with Germont is spectacular. However, what stands out to me is "Sempre libera" and "Addio del passato." Sempre libera portrays the Violetta attempting to be carefree but still falling for Alfredo. Callas' version is superb, and she lands on a squarely placed and secure E flat at the end that sends La Scala into a frenzy. The "Addio del passato" is equally moving for its passion and despair as Violetta lays dying. If one doesn't understand what made Callas so special, I would point to this scene for a helpful hint.The forces of La Scala are magnificent in this performance, and the conducting of Giulini is volcanic and explosive and wonderful. It's a shame that Giulini didn't record more operatic pieces, but his treatment of Verdi's score is so incisive and appropriate that is takes my breath away on more than one occasion.

If ever the was an opera recording that deserved the highest praise despite its technical deficiencies, this is it. Many reviewers below complain about this recording's sonics -- it is a live, mono recording from 1955. But focusing on sonic problems in the face of Callas's magnificent performance is like deprecating the *Mona Lisa* because there are a few cracks in the paint. Callas gives here the ultimate opera performance: she not only has complete command of the music, but she works within it to create a living, breathing character who develops during the course of, and as a result of, the drama. What she does is better than acting while singing; it is acting *by means of* singing. (And, I should add, the other principals are excellent.)If you have not yet listened to a lot of opera, or if you just want a recording that will sound pretty in the background, then you will probably not appreciate this set. As your tastes become more educated, however, return to this. You will be blown away.

I've heard all the incarnations of this incredible performance and I'm very surprised at how good it is sounding in EMI's latest remastered edition. Many praise this performance but have severe reservations about this edition and I cannot understand why. EMI's engineers have removed all the tape hiss and extraneous noise. The voices are very forward and clear for a radio broadcast of the mid 1950s. You can appreciate the placement of the singers and the orchestral details.If you MUST have perfect digital stereo, go with one of the many fine studio sets out there but if you want to hear TRAVIATA as Verdi probably envisioned it, you can't go wrong with this set. You'll never hear this opera performed in this manner today.I am really thrilled over the sound.

The Three Callas TraviatasIn Italian opera, Maria Callas was one of the greatest singing actresses of the 20th century, in spite of vocal production that consisted of a uniquely dark and distinctive timbre that was sometimes flawed by excessive vibrato and noticeable register breaks. Her deep understanding and devotion to musical scores was legendary and her performances often revelatory. However, because of growing vocal problems, her recording career of complete operas was quite short (1951-1964). One of her most important roles was Violetta in Verdi’s La Traviata (which she performed 63 times over a seven-year period). There are three commercially available recording: Rome, 1953 (Cetra and then Naxos), Milan, 1955 (EMI) and Lisbon, 1958 (EMI and then Myto).The generally accepted view of the three different recordings is that the first one (the only studio recording) was early in her career, unrefined as an interpretation, and supported by merely adequate male singers; that the second one was at the dramatic peak of her career, with a stronger male supporting cast, a better conductor, but inadequate sound; and that the third was late in her career, after the voice started to fade but the interpretation had deepened, with excellent male support but mediocre sound with annoying stage noises from a live broadcast tape.It is a misconception that the first, Cetra recording was too early in Callas’ career or that her interpretation was unrefined. By the time of this recording in 1953, Callas’ Traviata had already been the talk of the opera world. After her sensational debut as Violetta in Florence in January 1951, as Franco Zeffirelli recalled, “the audience went mad.” Later that year, Tito Gobbi recalled the Sao Paolo performance as “electrifyingly brilliant and magical.” In Parma in December, the great soprano Elizabeth Schwarzkopf went backstage to congratulate Callas and tell her that there was no point in her (Schwarzkopf) singing the role again. In Verona in August 1952 it was hailed as an unforgettable experience and the thrill of the season. And by January 1953 she performed in successfully in Rome with the conductor and cast that would make the Cetra studio recording eight months later in Turin. This can hardly be considered too early in Callas’ career or that she was not ready to give a refined interpretation. Since her first performance in Florence in January 1951, she had sung the role 28 more times under eight different conductors in ten different cities before making this first recording. And the male singers were definitely more than merely adequate. The tenor, Francesco Savarese, sang with her in the Florence premiere three times under the great conductor Tulio Serafin, then again twice in Venice and finally three times in Rome under Gabriele Santini before the recording session in Turin.It is also a misconception that the interpretation had matured by the time of the second, La Scala recording in 1955 or that she was at the peak of her career. We are talking about a period of only one year and nine months between the two recordings. In fact, she only sang Traviata two times in Chicago prior to the second recording. Her voice may have changed somewhat between September 1953 and May 1955 because she lost over 60 pounds of body weight, but not her experience of the role. The greatest difference between the two recordings is the production and the cast. The La Scala performance in 1955 was directed by the filmmaker Luchino Visconti in an interpretation so controversial that the tenor, Giuseppe Di Stefano (who had only sung the role with Callas three times previously in 1951), left the stage before the final curtain call and withdrew from all subsequent performances (as would eventually the conductor, Carlo Maria Giulini). In all, there were 21 performances of the La Scala production, but only the first night was recorded for the EMI release. This is not a question of refinement or maturity; it is merely a different production, a different conductor, and a different (and dissatisfied) cast.By the time of the third recording – Lisbon, 1958 – Callas had not sung Traviata for almost two years – with the exception of just two performances in New York in February 1958, the month before the Lisbon recording. The Lisbon Traviata was recorded from a live radio broadcast on March 27th. The conductor was Franco Ghione, the tenor was the excellent Alfredo Kraus and the baritone was a fine Mario Sereni. The Lisbon recording can be heard as evidence of a deepening of the emotional intensity of Callas’ interpretation of the role and finally, refinement and maturity after more than seven years since her Florence debut. It is also possible that the eventual deterioration of her vocal powers found its way into the interpretation of the role of a woman dying of tuberculosis. Regardless, the performance is regarded by many as one of the most poignant characterizations. There were only two performances in Lisbon and, following a difficult week in London in June and two more performances in Dallas in November, she never sang the opera again. In that sense, the Lisbon recording can be heard as somewhat valedictory.The 1953 Cetra recording has recently been re-mastered by the award-winning sound restoration engineer Ward Marston for Naxos Historical in 2005. As a studio recording, it always had the best sound of the three and the performance reveals Callas at a very strong point in her career with a fine supporting cast in Albanese and Ugo Savarese. The conductor, Gabriele Santini, was a great Verdian and made a number of definitive recordings for EMI. This deserves 4 stars.The 1955 La Scala recording was remastered by EMI in 1987 (and less satisfactorily in 1997) but has not been able to improve on the tendency for the sound to crumble at climaxes on the original master tape. Although Callas was comfortable with the Visconti production and sang well, with the conductor Giulini giving her plenty of encouragement, Di Stefano and Bastianini were not at their best. It is frustrating to listen to a great Callas interpretation in bad sound. This deserves no more than 3 stars.Finally, the 1958 Lisbon recording has recently been re-mastered in 2008 by Myto from an excellent newly discovered original broadcast master. Although there are still some stage noises (as in most any live recording), the prompter is less noticeable and the overall difference between this and the 1987 EMI remastering (and especially the weaker 1997 remastering) is considerable. Regardless of which other Callas version one might have, the Myto should now be considered the must-have version and deserves 5 stars.

Buona

このコンプリート（完全）盤にとても感動しました。㊟art処理されたＣＤです。　でも全幕聞きとおす時間がなかなか取れないのでハイライト版を購入しました。　1990年発売のartリマスター処理していないＣＤです（型番：7 644423 2）。　驚きました！声がまるっきり違いました。今まで自分の聴いてきたカラスの作品はあれは何だったのでしょう。全部、嘘だったのでしょうか。　art リマスターの方はデジタル処理加工に技術屋が出しゃばっています。art処理されていないＣＤと比べると、artリマスタリングされたＣＤではカラス女史の歌声は妙に深く濃厚です。一方でリマスターされていないカラスの声はとても自然で・天然物です。　デジタル機器であちこち小細工したのでしょう。　art 処理の小手先だけで音をいじくるのは【EMI】には止めて欲しいです。いじくり過ぎ。　だから、善良なオペラファンやクラッシク愛好家が離れてしまい、ＣＤが売れなくなった。ＣＤ不況は自業自得。実際に EMI系列のHMV が潰れた。　歴史が証明してくれている。

Bei dieser Musik kann mann die Augen schliessen und entspannen.Nach einem gestresste Tag genau das richtige. Verdi ist einfach super.

The second disc was not La Travaita it appeared to be a pop album. This leads me to the view that the product was recently manufactured and not a genuine product made by EMI

Quelle déception en écoutant ce CD! Tous les ingrédients étaient réunis pour que ce soit un vrai bonheur:la Traviata, la Callas... Et pourtant, le son (enregistrement) est de si mauvaise qualité que le sentiment dominant à l'écoute de ce CD est la frustration. On n'entend quasiment pas les voix des chanteurs par moments et même globalement, il est difficile d'apprécier tant l'enregistrement est médiocre.J'avais lu une évaluation très négative sur ce CD avant de l'acheter mais n'ai pas voulu en tenir compte. J'ai eu tort...