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Maria Callas - Sings Operatic Arias by Puccini (1954/2014) [Official Digital Download 24-bit/96kHz]

Posted By: HDV
Maria Callas - Sings Operatic Arias by Puccini (1954/2014) [Official Digital Download 24-bit/96kHz]

Maria Callas - Sings Operatic Arias by Puccini (1954) [Remastered 2014]
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Time - 45:00 minutes | 484 MB
Studio Master, Official Digital Download | Artwork: Digital booklet

Although Maria Callas considered herself a bel canto and Verdi soprano, through recordings and video documents her name is inextricably linked with that of Puccini. This extraordinary album of Puccini arias was aptly named Puccini Heroines, as it is indeed a collection of portraits of many of the composer’s powerful creations for soprano. By September 1954, Callas had reinvented herself as a slim, elegant diva; the weight loss brought a new slenderness to the voice as well, while the instrument retained flexibility and plushness.

Listening to this disc 60 years on, one is struck immediately by the sheer beauty in much of the singing. Callas’s bel canto skills, combined with her musical genius, add a host of ravishing touches: perfectly weighted portamentos, exquisite melismas, stunning diminuendos – all essential ingredients for Puccini, often omitted by singers less gifted, all used here for expression.

Callas offers a gallery of characters, each with her own voice – an effect never accomplished in an applied manner, always organic-sounding. One senses Manon’s pampered melancholy in ‘In quelle trine morbide’, and her exhausted desperation in ‘Sola, perduta, abbandonata’. Brilliant storytelling and keen observation of Puccini’s markings make the familiar ‘Un bel dì vedremo’ anything but routine. Going from Butterfly’s death to Mimì’s narrative is akin to a splash of cold water on the listener’s face, so profound is the change. Callas balances perfectly the parlando and legato in both arias from La bohème, while ‘Senza mamma’ is as extraordinary for its sense of loss as ‘O mio babbino caro’ is for its directness. And what other soprano could so fully capture both Liù and Turandot? But then, this is what makes Callas… Callas.

Tracklist:

01 - Manon Lescaut: Act 2: "In quelle trine morbide" (Manon Lescaut)
02 - Manon Lescaut: Act 4: "Sola, perduta, abbandonata" (Manon Lescaut)
03 - Madama Butterfly: Act 2: "Un bel dì vedremo" (Madama Butterfly)
04 - Madama Butterfly: Act 2: "Con onor muore" (Madama Butterfly)
05 - La Bohème: Act 1: "Sì. Mi chiamano Mimì" (Mimì)
06 - La Bohème: Act 3: "Donde lieta uscì" (Mimì)
07 - Suor Angelica: "Senza mamma" (Sister Angelica)
08 - Gianni Schicchi: Act 1: "O mio babbino caro" (Lauretta)
09 - Turandot: Act 1: "Signore, ascolta!" (Turandot)
10 - Turandot: Act 2: "In questa reggia" (Turandot)
11 - Turandot: Act 3: "Tu, che di gel sei cinta" (Turandot)

Recorded: September 15–18, 20–21, 1954 at Watford Town Hall, Hertfordshire, U.K.
Newly Remastered from the Original Master tapes at Abbey Road Studios, London, U.K.

Performers:
Maria Callas - soprano
Philharmonia Orchestra. Conducted by Tullio Serafin.

Analyzed: Maria Callas, Philharmonia Orchestra, Tullio Serafin / Maria Callas sings Operatic Arias by Puccini
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

DR Peak RMS Duration Track
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR12 -3.05 dB -21.72 dB 2:55 01-Manon Lescaut: Act 2: "In quelle trine morbide" (Manon Lescaut)
DR11 -1.05 dB -18.04 dB 5:52 02-Manon Lescaut: Act 4: "Sola, perduta, abbandonata" (Manon Lescaut)
DR10 -2.04 dB -19.27 dB 4:34 03-Madama Butterfly: Act 2: "Un bel dì vedremo" (Madama Butterfly)
DR11 -0.71 dB -15.55 dB 3:43 04-Madama Butterfly: Act 2: "Con onor muore" (Madama Butterfly)
DR11 -1.58 dB -20.40 dB 4:49 05-La Bohème: Act 1: "Sì. Mi chiamano Mimì" (Mimì)
DR12 -2.67 dB -21.58 dB 3:20 06-La Bohème: Act 3: "Donde lieta uscì" (Mimì)
DR12 -2.79 dB -20.08 dB 5:33 07-Suor Angelica: "Senza mamma" (Sister Angelica)
DR11 -4.06 dB -20.06 dB 2:35 08-Gianni Schicchi: Act 1: "O mio babbino caro" (Lauretta)
DR9 -2.50 dB -16.77 dB 2:29 09-Turandot: Act 1: "Signore, ascolta!" (Turandot)
DR10 -0.17 dB -15.36 dB 6:24 10-Turandot: Act 2: "In questa reggia" (Turandot)
DR11 -0.83 dB -17.27 dB 2:45 11-Turandot: Act 3: "Tu, che di gel sei cinta" (Turandot)
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Number of tracks: 11
Official DR value: DR11

Samplerate: 96000 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 24
Bitrate: 1483 kbps
Codec: FLAC
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