mentions:
Leonard Bernstein ~ Mass
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis - 1935
photo by David Berne
Showing posts with label Maria Callas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Maria Callas. Show all posts
July 28, 2024
November 29, 2021
January 19, 2021
December 26, 2018
March 7, 2018
March 1, 2018
February 27, 2018
Giuseppe Verdi articles/mentions
~
mentions:
Marian Anderson ~ Sings
Vessella's Italian Band ~ Lucia Sextette
Giuseppe Verdi - 1842
Portrait by Roberto Focosi
December 30, 2017
Gioachino Rossini articles/mentions
Arthur Fiedler ~ The "Pop" King
Norma ~ Maria Callas debut @ the Met
Renata Tebaldi ~ Tosca
Gioachino Antonio Rossini - c. 1865
photo by Étienne Carjat
December 30, 2016
October 29, 2016
20,000 Vinyl LPs 71: Norma ~ Maria Callas debut @ the Met
Vinyl LP box front
photo by Styrous®
Sixty years ago today, October 29, 1956, Maria Callas made her Metropolitan Opera debut in the Vincenzo Bellini opera, Norma. The performance opened the Met's seventy-second season. She was already world-famous at the time. Everyone knew who she was.
I was 16 and I remember that the event was marred by an unflattering cover story in Time magazine, which rehashed all of the Callas clichés, including her temper, her supposed rivalry with Renata Tebaldi (see link below) and her difficult relationship with her mother. Nothing's perfect!
I was 16 and I remember that the event was marred by an unflattering cover story in Time magazine, which rehashed all of the Callas clichés, including her temper, her supposed rivalry with Renata Tebaldi (see link below) and her difficult relationship with her mother. Nothing's perfect!
Time Magazine cover
October 29, 1956
She was asked to audition for Edward Johnson, the General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera. Johnson heard her and immediately offered her the leading roles in two productions of the 1946/7 season: Fidelio by Beethoven and Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini.
Maria, to Johnson's surprise, turned the roles down. She didn't want to
sing Fidelio in English and she felt that she was too heavy to portray
the young, fragile Butterfly. This story may just be a myth, though,
since the Met maintains Callas' audition was not a success and that she
was never offered a contract.
1954: The first Norma recording
photographer unknown
Her American operatic career never approached the numbers of performances she gave in Europe. She sang only 13 performances in Chicago, 21 at the Metropolitan. The last of these was a performance of Tosca in New York in March, 1965, when her partner was tenor Richard Tucker, with whom she had sung in Verona 18 years earlier.
After only two more performances in that same year, Callas called a final halt to her operatic career. But in 1973-1974, she sang in an extended concert tour with her longtime colleague, tenor Giuseppe di Stefano. That tour brougt Callas to Washington in February, 1974, for her only appearance in Constitution Hall.
Maria Callas was only 42 when she stopped singing in opera.
After only two more performances in that same year, Callas called a final halt to her operatic career. But in 1973-1974, she sang in an extended concert tour with her longtime colleague, tenor Giuseppe di Stefano. That tour brougt Callas to Washington in February, 1974, for her only appearance in Constitution Hall.
Maria Callas was only 42 when she stopped singing in opera.
Maria Callas with her teacher Elvira de Hidalgo in 1954
The press exulted in publicizing Callas's temperamental behavior, the rivalry with Renata Tebaldi and her love affair with Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis.
photographer unknown
Onassis amassed the world's largest privately owned shipping fleet and was one of the world's richest and most famous men. He was known for his business success, his great wealth and also his personal life, including his marriage to Athina Livanos, daughter of shipping tycoon Stavros G. Livanos, his affair with Maria Callas and his marriage in 1968 to Jacqueline Kennedy, the widow of the American president John F. Kennedy.
Maria Callas, Commendatore OMRI (Greek: Μαρία Κάλλας) was born, Cecilia Sophia Anna Maria Kalogeropoulos, in New York City on December 2, 1923. She was a Greek-American soprano, and one of the most renowned and influential opera singers of the 20th century. Critics praised her bel canto technique, wide-ranging voice and dramatic interpretations. Her repertoire ranged from classical opera seria to the bel canto operas of Donizetti, Bellini, Rossini, Verdi and Puccini; and, in her early career, to the music dramas of Wagner. Her musical and dramatic talents led to her being hailed as La Divina.
The soprano whose intensely dramatic portrayals on-stage and personal life off-stage made her the most exciting opera singer of her time, died of a heart attack on September 16, 1977, at her home in Paris, France. She was 53 years old.
Vinyl LP label detail
detail photo by Styrous®
Bellini*, Callas*, Filippeschi*, Stignani*, Rossi-Lemeni* – Norma
Label: Angel Recordings – 3517 C
Country: US
Released:
Genre: Classical
Tracklist:
| A | Act 1, Part 1 (Beginning) | 29:11 |
| B | Act 1, Part 1 (Continued) | 24:35 |
| C | Act 1, Part 1 (Conclusion) / Part 2 (Beginning) | 25:18 |
| D | Act 1, Part 2 (Conclusion) / Act 2, Part 1 (Beginning) | 27:30 |
| E | Act 2, Part 1 / Part 2 (Beginning) | 26:00 |
| F | Act 2, Part 2 (Conclusion) | 28:11 |
Credits:
- Chorus – La Scala Chorus*
- Chorus Master [Maestro Del Coro] – Vittore Veneziani
- Conductor [Cond.], Directed By [Maestro Direttore E Concertatore] – Tullio Serafin
- Libretto By – Felice Romani
- Orchestra – La Scala Orchestra*
- Performer [Personaggi E Interpreti, Adalgisa] – Ebe Stignani
- Performer [Personaggi E Interpreti, Clotilde] – Rina Cavallari
- Performer [Personaggi E Interpreti, Flavio] – Paolo Caroli
- Performer [Personaggi E Interpreti, Norma] – Maria Callas
- Performer [Personaggi E Interpreti, Oroveso] – Nicola Rossi-Lemeni
- Performer [Personaggi E Interpreti, Pollione] – Mario Filippeschi
Notes:
In Collaborazione Con L'Ente Autonomo Del Teatro Alla Scala
A = Record 1, Side 1
B = Record 2, Side 2
C = Record 3, Side 3
D = Record 3, Side 4
E = Record 2, Side 5
F = Record 1, Side 6
A = Record 1, Side 1
B = Record 2, Side 2
C = Record 3, Side 3
D = Record 3, Side 4
E = Record 2, Side 5
F = Record 1, Side 6
Net links:
Renata Tebaldi ~ Tosca
Metropolitan Opera Archives ~ reviews
Bellini ~ Norma: Casta Diva on YouTube
Limelight Magazine ~ Maria Callas: Her 10 Greatest Moments The Guardian ~ Maria Callas: The truth is she was far from perfect
Cmuse ~ 60 years since Maria Callas debuted at the Met
Opera News ~ Sweet Inspiration
Sopranos ~ Maria Callas
On This Day Obituary
"To sing is an expression of your being,
a being which is becoming."
-Maria Callas
Styrous® ~ Saturday, October 29, 2016
September 24, 2015
101 Reel-to-Reel Tapes 107: Renata Tebaldi is Aida
Renata Tebaldi - Aida
7½ ips reel-to-reel tape box
front cover
photo of tape box cover by Styrous®
7½ ips reel-to-reel tape box
front cover
photo of tape box cover by Styrous®
~ ~ ~
I
started the Vinyl LP series because I have a collection of over 20,000 vinyl record albums I am
selling; each blog entry is about an album from my collection. The 101 Reel-to-Reel Tapes series is an extension of that collection. Inquire
for information here.
~ ~ ~
Renata Tebaldi was an Italian lirico-spinto soprano popular in the post-World War II period. Among the most beloved opera singers, she has been said to have possessed one of the most beautiful voices of the 20th century which was focused primarily on the verismo roles of the lyric and dramatic repertoires. And what opera could possibly be more dramatic than the grandest of all grand operas, Aida?
Renata Tebaldi - Aida
7½ ips reel-to-reel tape box
back cover
photo of tape box back cover by Styrous®
7½ ips reel-to-reel tape box
back cover
photo of tape box back cover by Styrous®
Aida was the first opera I saw live; it had elephants and Leontyne Price in 1958 at the beginning of her career (link to more on Price in Aida below). l was spoiled right from the first! And as usual, I have a favorite part; Act one, scene 2 does it for me in this opera. There are two links below to this on YouTube; the costuming and dancing in part one is stunning and not to be missed.
Renata Tebaldi - Aida
7½ ips reel-to-reel tape box
back cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®
7½ ips reel-to-reel tape box
back cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®
Aida (Italian: [aˈiːda]), sometimes spelled Aïda, is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a scenario attributed to French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette. However, Verdi biographer Mary Jane Phillips-Matz has argued that the scenario was actually written by Temistocle Solera. Aida was first performed at the Khedivial Opera House in Cairo on 24 December 1871, conducted by Giovanni Bottesini. Now, how appropriate is THAT!
Contrary to popular belief, the opera was not written to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, for which Verdi had been invited to write an inaugural hymn, but had declined. Metastasio's libretto La Nitteti (1756) was a major source of the plot.
Contrary to popular belief, the opera was not written to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, for which Verdi had been invited to write an inaugural hymn, but had declined. Metastasio's libretto La Nitteti (1756) was a major source of the plot.
Renata Tebaldi - Aida
7½ ips reel-to-reel tape box spine
detail photo by Styrous®
7½ ips reel-to-reel tape box spine
detail photo by Styrous®
Verdi originally chose to write a brief orchestral prelude instead of a
full overture for the opera. He then composed an overture of the "potpourri"
variety to replace the original prelude. However, in the end he decided
not to have the overture performed because of its—his own
words—"pretentious insipidity". This overture, never used today, was
given a rare broadcast performance by Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Symphony Orchestra on 30 March 1940, but was never commercially issued.
Renata Tebaldi - Aida
7½ ips reel-to-reel tape box with libretto
photo by Styrous®
7½ ips reel-to-reel tape box with libretto
photo by Styrous®
Synopsis
Antecedent: The Egyptians have captured and enslaved Aida, an Ethiopian princess. An Egyptian military commander, Radamès, struggles to choose between his love for her and his loyalty to the Pharaoh. To complicate the story further, the Pharaoh's daughter Amneris is in love with Radamès, although he does not return her feelings.
Renata Tebaldi - Aida
7½ ips reel-to-reel tape box
photo by Styrous®
7½ ips reel-to-reel tape box
photo by Styrous®
Renata Tebaldi was born on February 1, 1922, in Langhirano, Italy. Her major breakthrough came in 1946, when she auditioned for Arturo Toscanini. Toscanini called her "voce d'angelo" (angel voice). Toscanini encouraged her to sing the role of Aida
and invited her to rehearse the role in his studio. She was of the
opinion that the role of Aida was reserved for a dramatic soprano, but
Toscanini convinced her and she made her role debut at La Scala in 1950
alongside Mario del Monaco and Fedora Barbieri in a performance conducted by Antonino Votto. This launched her international career.
Renata Tebaldi - Aida
7½ ips reel-to-reel tape detail
reel 2
photo by Styrous®
7½ ips reel-to-reel tape detail
reel 2
photo by Styrous®
There was an infamous rivalry between Tebaldi and Maria Callas so intense it was known outside the opera world (link to more about Callas below). How much of the rivalry was real, and how much whipped up by fans and the press, is open to question. Some believe the rivalry was instigated by their
respective recording companies in order to boost sales, and that they
were instructed to play along. According to Time magazine, when
Callas quit La Scala, "Tebaldi made a surprising maneuver: she announced
that she would not sing at La Scala without Callas.
'I sing only for artistic reasons; it is not my custom to sing against anybody', she said."Nevertheless, Tebaldi apparently felt that the public perception of a rivalry was ultimately good for both their careers, since it aroused so much interest in the two of them.
Renata Tebaldi - Aida
libretto
photo by Styrous®
libretto
photo by Styrous®
Tebaldi retired from the stage in 1973 and from the concert hall in
1976. By the end of her career, she had sung in 1,262 performances, 1,048 complete operas, and 214 concerts.
Tebaldi never married. In a 1995 interview with The Times, she said she had no regrets about her single life.
She spent the majority of her last days in Milan. She died on December 19, 2004, at age 82 at her home, in San Marino, Italy. She is buried in the family chapel at Mattaleto cemetery, Langhirano, Italy.
Tebaldi never married. In a 1995 interview with The Times, she said she had no regrets about her single life.
"I was in love many times," she said. "This is very good for a woman." But she added, "How could I have been a wife, a mother and a singer? Who takes care of the piccolini when you go around the world? Your children would not call you Mama, but Renata."
She spent the majority of her last days in Milan. She died on December 19, 2004, at age 82 at her home, in San Marino, Italy. She is buried in the family chapel at Mattaleto cemetery, Langhirano, Italy.
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