"I was at Mexico City's Bellas Artes theater when Maria Callas sang
these five operas, and right then and there I fell in love with opera
forever. Maria had been in Mexico the two previous seasons and she
had the city at her feet. The repertoire was just right to show off
her incredible voice and supreme dramatic qualities. She and Giuseppe
di Steffano, one of the best tenors of the century, had never met or
heard each other's voices until they attended the rehearsals of Il
Puritani. A superb soprano-tenor duet was born that day. Both Maria
and Giuseppe were at the height of their voice power. She took sixteen
curtain calls after singing the third act of Lucia de Lamermoor. This
was the only time she sang the role of Rigoletto's Gilda on stage,
although she recorded it later. A local radio station recorded these
five memorable performances. Evidently the recording quality of this
CD is not what we have become used to nowadays. It is for this reason
that I do not give it a five star rating; however, if ten stars were
available to rate the singing of the whole cast I would give it the
full ten. Maria Callas never returned to Mexico. She went on to fame
and glory, to be called the Divina and to occupy her place as the
soprano assoluta of the XX century. But it was in Mexico where some of
her finest singing moments occurred and they are captured for
posterity in this CD. I recommend it without reservations as an
aesthetic and artistic experience not to be
missed.
"
An awesome collection
Emma de Soleil | On a holiday In Ibiza, then back to the UK for stu | 05/18/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Callas' seasons in Mexico City were legendary. And if you buy it you'll hear why. I already wrote detailed reviews on most of the performances. Callas in her prime --> heavenly. Ignore the ignorant basher. He posts 1-star reviews on each and every Callas-recording to upset Callas-Fans. He isn't worthy of any attention."
You had to be there
ponscaso | 01/21/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Callas was at her peak during her years in Mexico City. My mother knew her. She was also an opera singer at the Palacio de Bellas Artes. I gave these recordings as a gift to my mother recently because she kept on saying during my youth that those operas were so great. After I gave them to her, she said Callas, was not a sweet delicate singer, she was inspriational in the way she acted on stage, and the tones she used to evoke emotion in an opera. Maria was the frist to do that. The recordings are not the greatest, the positive emotion it brought my mother gives it a 4 star rating. I myself prefer the Paris Debut, Tosca portion, where I can see Maria take control of the stage, and Tito raising to her challenge. That's Opera!"
Wonderful traviata
ponscaso | 12/04/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I only know the Traviata from this set. Everyone surely knows the story: she recorded it once for Cetra in Italy (OK-ish recording, but better if it had been Tulio Serafin and EMI) and then was forbidden to record it again for any other company (in her contract) for ten years. During those ten years of course her thoughts about the role matured and her voice lost its early brilliance. So all these Traviatas are incredibly precious and fascinating. The main thing so to say about the Mexico City recordings is the sound is atrocious, but do you know what, it doesn't matter. We all know Traviata. We all have modern performances or recordings in golden 60s or 70s stereo. This recording is a historical document of a fantastically dramatic performance in (arguably) her greatest role of (arguably) the greatest opera singer...ever. Even if the sound were ten times worse you would still be able to appreciate the performance and in an odd way the terrible sound forces you to attend very closely to what is going on. Personally, I don't find it a bar to enjoyment. Overall, my favorite Callas Traviata (so far) is the London one but I'd love to hear the famously elusive set fromn Lisbon with Alfredo Kraus."
Track Listings (17) - Disc #1