Recommended Recordings

The following list is the result of voting which took place in the alt.fan.maria-callas and rec.music.opera newsgroups. Other votes have been sent to me via e-mail. I have included some of the reviews that were sent along with the recommendations. Feel free to send in your own opinions. This page will be updated whenever possible.

The entries include the number of votes received for each recording, followed by title, year, venue or recording company, and conductor.

For more information, consult The Callas Legacy by John Ardoin.

See also Henry Fogel's essential Callas recordings (below) and Marion Lignana Rosenberg's A Callas Primer for more recommendations.

• 6 - Lucia di Lammermoor - 1955 - La Scala (Berlin) - Karajan
  • "This is the finest Lucia on record and a veritable textbook on combining dramatic impact with the bel canto style. Callas (and Di Stefano) never sang better!" Larry Victor
  • "The Callas recording of 'Lucia' is not just her best recording, it's the best recording of 'Lucia' ever, and beyond that, it's the greatest recording OF ANY KIND IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD (and yes, I do include recordings made during the reign of the Incas)!" Chris Ryan
• 3 - I puritani - 1953 - EMI - Serafin
• 2 - Il trovatore - 1956 - EMI - Karajan
• 2 - Tosca - 1953 - EMI - de Sabata
• 2 - Norma - 1954 - EMI - Serafin
• 2 - Norma - 1952 - London - Gui
• 1 - La Gioconda - 1952 - RAI, Turin - Votto
• 1 - La Gioconda - 1960 - EMI - Votto
• 1 - Carmen - 1964 - EMI - Pretre
• 1 - La Traviata - 1955 - La Scala - Giulini
• 1 - Manon Lescaut - 1957 - EMI - Serafin
• 1 - Rigoletto - 1955 - EMI - Serafin
  • "The studio recording of Barbiere di Siviglia is also a treasure, and she was in perfect voice for this recording." Steven Gorney
• 1 - Norma - 1955 - La Scala - Votto
  • "My favorite. Del Monaco is not boorish, but more like a Helden-Pollione. Simionato is wonderful, as usual. La Divina is nobility, fury, sorrow, etc etc by turns, or all together. Sound is like a '50s broadcast, definitely listenable. Votto....well, I guess he gave a good downbeat, but what he lacked in excitement, the singers provided in very stirring performances." Steve Gaspar
  • "It is terrific. And a bargain, too. Buy it." Mitchell Weitz
• 1 - La traviata - 1958 - London - Resigno

with honorable mention going to

• Parsifal - 1950 - RAI, Rome - Gui
  • "...which is delightful, though in Italian." Hugh N. Fryer
  • "Apparently, Callas was amazed by the quality of her singing on hearing this particular pirate." Peter Warhit
• Macbeth - 1952 - La Scala - de Sabata
• Madama Butterfly - 1955 - EMI - Karajan
  •  
  • "I find her 'Butterfly' the most consistently rewarding." Lorne Anderson
• Norma - 1960 - EMI - Serafin
• Anna Bolena - 1957 - La Scala - Gavazzeni

Henry Fogel's essential Callas recordings

For me, the essential Callas collection would have to include the following, some rare, some not. (These are in no particular order - they are all, IMHO, essential):

1. PUCCINI - Tosca - the first EMI recording, with DiStefano and Gobbi, and conducted by Victor De Sabata.
2. BELLINI - Norma - Here I would go for one of two particular live performances, both with much greatness to offer. The first is her Covent Garden debut, conducted by Vittorio Gui, with Mirto Picchi (tenor) and Ebe Stignani, from 1952, available on Melodram and other labels. The alternative is the Dec 7, 1955 La Scala performance with Del Monaco, Simionato, and Votto conducting (available on Hunt and Arkadia). She's in stupendous voice here.
3. VERDI - La Traviata - There are a few great live Traviata performances, but I truly believe the finest all around one is the Covent Garden from 1958, with Rescigno conducting. Valletti is a lovely Alfredo, and Zanasi a far more sensitive Germont than Bastianini who bulls his way through the part on the famed 1955 Scala performance conducted by Giulini. The Covent Gardens one has the best overall cast, decent sound (better than EMI's harsh transfer of the 1955 Scala), and best chemistry between all singers including Callas. Available on Melodram.
4. CHERUBINI - Medea - A Callas Classic role, with many good performances. But the best performance (Dallas) has the worst sound and cannot be recommended because of that. The next best choice, a terrific performance and decent mono broadcast sound is the 1953 Scala, conducted by Leonard Bernstein. (She and Bernstein are an "on-fire" combination). Best transfer I've heard is on Melodram.
5. BELLINI - La Sonnambula - This is one worth seeking out for the same reason as Medea - the Bernstein/Callas combination, utterly remarkable in the inspiration they each gave the other. This 1955 Scala performance is on Myto.
6. DONIZETTI - Lucia di Lamermoor - Another Callas classic role - finest performance is the live one with Scala on Tour, in Berlin, in 1955, with the Berlin Radio (RIAS) orchestra, Karajan conducting. DiStefano sings beautifully; Avoid the EMI transfer (very fierce and bright * ), go instead for the Virtuoso release, or other small label releases.

This is only a beginning -- there is much more Callas worth collecting. Some of the recital discs are fabulous, as are things like the 1951 Aida with Del Monaco, Taddei, and DeFabrittiis conducting, the 1952 Scala Macbeth, the 1947 Nabucco, and on and on -- but if you start with the above you will have the greatest of Callas.
Henry Fogel

* Henry Fogel had this to say about the new EMI remastering of the Berlin Lucia:

"EMI has finally gotten its transfer process right. The famed 1955 Berlin performance of Lucia, with Callas, DiStefano, and Panerai, conducted by Karajan, has until now sounded better on most "pirate" labels than on EMI's previous transfer, which was hard-edged from an excess of high frequencies. I am listening to the new EMI transfer (5 66441 2), part of their comprehensive new reissue of Callas' recordings, and boy is it an improvement. Not only over EMI's prior travesty, but over all other editions of this performance I have heard (which include a number on LP as well as CD). It has more clarity and presence than the Virtuoso CDs, previously my favorite transfer, but without the unpleasant edge of EMI's (and Angel's) earlier version. This is one of the great Lucia di Lammermoor performances ever recorded, and one of Callas' greatest performances to be captured by microphones. Finally, we can hear it in decent sound."

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