This disc is a compilation
of nine arias recorded separately and
originally issued as a Puccini recital-LP.
To this are added quite extensive excerpts
from the complete Madama Butterfly.
Of all these operas Callas sang only
two on stage: Turandot 25 times
in 1948-1949 and 3 performances of Madama
Butterfly in Chicago in November
1955, i.e. after this recording was
made. But hearing her in these arias
and scenes one can’t imagine that these
were merely studio creations. That was
of course one of Callas’s secrets: her
total identification with everything
she did and her ability to find the
right persona. One need only listen
to a few bars of the first Manon
Lescaut aria to hear this. Alright,
even as early as 1954 her "ugly"
vibrato is becoming more apparent but
one feels the personality, one realises
through her timbre that Manon is only
17 years old – while in the voice of
Tebaldi she is matronly and Albanese
tells us that she is approaching 50.
It is true that her acidity can be an
irritant but is compensated for by so
much involvement and by her ability
to colour the voice.
The original recital
takes us chronologically from Manon
Lescaut to Turandot and within
the operas the arias are also in chronological
order. Her Mimi is a wonder of nuances,
not as sweet as Victoria de los Angeles
but just as believable. Maybe she was
more a Musetta than a Mimi but these
two arias are also telling evidence
of her identification with a role that
wasn’t a natural for her. Suor Angelica
and Gianni Schicchi were even
less typical Callas repertoire but she
also invests these arias with her personality
– not as beautiful as some colleagues
but beauty is only a secondary quality
with Callas. Her Turandot is regal and
she has the ice as a natural ingredient
in her voice, while Liú’s arias,
especially the second one, seem like
personal confessions.
The "bonus",
which occupies approximately 50 % of
the disc, comes in the form of substantial
chunks from the complete Butterfly
recording, where Karajan leads a pathos-filled
performance from La Scala. In the great
duet ending the first act Callas is
partnered by Nicolaï Gedda, not
very Italianate in timbre but an extremely
impassioned and lyrical Pinkerton. This
recording of the duet was actually my
first contact with this opera, on an
LP entitled "Callas in Duet"
with extracts from several of her complete
sets. Today, more than forty years later,
every inflection of this reading is
so indelibly etched into my memory.
Maybe Gedda is too weak, too human a
Pinkerton and Callas too worldly-wise
a Butterfly – it should be the other
way around – but still, after so many
other outstanding versions, live or
on disc, this is my touchstone. Un
bel di, vedremo is sung with restraint
and innocence and Karajan draws sensual
playing from the La Scala forces. Callas
and Lucia Danieli blend well in the
Cherry Blossom Duet but on her own Danieli
is a bit anonymous. In Butterfly’s Con
onor muore, where all her hopes
and dreams are finally proved to be
shattered, Callas’s voice is at first
drained of all tone, but then she holds
no barriers and pours out all her despair
with an intensity that hurts and is
felt long after Pinkerton’s cries of
Butterfly - too late! - and
the last notes have died away.
All these arias, and
the scenes from Butterfly, are
of course classics and most Callas fans
probably already have them in one format
or other. Comparing this disc with my
old LP pressings there was little difference
in sound quality. This makes the CD
a good buy – and cheap – for those who
want to upgrade. Newcomers – and I hope
this species is not yet extinct – could
also with advantage start here.
Göran Forsling
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Maria Callas (soprano) 
