Verdi: Aida (1955 - Serafin) - Callas Remastered Maria Callas

• Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901): Aida
• 1Prelude03:47
• Aida, Act 1
• 2Si, corre voce che I'Etiope ardisca (Ramfis, Radamès)01:33
• 3Se quel gerriero io fossil! (Radamès)01:00
• 4Celeste Aida (Radamès)03:29
• 5Quale insolita gioia nel tuo sguardo! (Amneris, Radamès)03:26
• 6Vieni, o diletta appressati (Amneris, Aida, Radamès)02:56
• 7Alta cagion v'aduna (King, Messenger, Aida, Radamès, Amneris, Ministers, Captains)03:16
• 8Su! del Nilo al sacro lido (King, Ramfis, Ministers, Captains, Aida, Radamès, Amneris, Priests, Messenger)02:57
• 9Ritorna vincitor! (Aida)06:43
• 10Possente Ftha...Tu che dal nulla hai Tratto! (Priestess, Ramfis, Priests)03:09
• 11Immenso Ftha...Mortal, diletto ai Numi (Priestess, Ramfiss, Priests)02:59
• 12Nume, custode e vindice (Ramfis, Radamès, Priests, Priestess)03:56
• Aida, Act 2
• 13Chi mai fra gl'inni e i plausi (Slave Girls, Amneris)03:01
• 14Dance of the Moorish slaves01:31
• 15Vieni, sul crin ti piovano (Slave Girls, Amneris)01:40
• 16Fu la sorte dell'ammi a'tuoi funesta (Amneris, Aida)05:33
• 17Pieta ti prenda del mio dolor (Aida, Chorus, Amneris)01:50
• 18Su! del Nilo al sacro lido...Numi, Pieta (Chorus, Aida, Amneris)02:36
• 19Gloria all'Egitto, ad Iside (People, Priests)03:24
• 20Triumphal march01:39
• 21Ballet04:19
• 22Vieni, o guerriero vindice (People, Priests)02:12
• 23Salvator della patria (King, Radamès, Ramfis, Priests)02:08
• 24Che veggo! Egli? Mio padre!....Anch'io pugnai...Ma tu, Re, Tu signore possente (Aida, Slave Girls, Prisoners, Ramfis, Priests, Amonasro, King, People)03:25
• 25Il dolor che in quel volto favella (All)02:13
• 26O Re, Pei sacri Numi....Gloria all'Egitto (All)05:19
• Aida, Act 3
• 27O tu che sei d'Osiride (Chorus, Ramfis, Amneris)02:28
• 28Vieni d'Iside al tempio (Chorus, Ramfis, Amneris)02:16
• 29Qui Radamès verr? (Aida)01:38
• 30O patria mia (Aida)05:24
• 31Ciel! mio padre! (Aida, Amonasro)01:09
• 32Rivedrai le foreste imbalsamate (Aida, Amonasro)06:57
• 33Pur ti riveggo, mia dolce Aida (Aida, Radamès)01:23
• 34Nel fiero anelito di nuova guerra (Radamès, Aida)01:41
• 35Fuggiam gli ardori inospiti...La, tra forests vergini (Radamès, Aida)06:17
• 36Ma dimmi; per qual via (Aida, Radamès, Amonasro, Amneris, Ramfis)03:16
• Aida, Act 4
• 37L'abborrita rivale a me sfuggia (Amneris)03:08
• 38Gia i sacerdoti adunansi (Amneris, Radamès)06:37
• 39Ohime! morir mi sento! (Amneris, Amonasro, Chorus)02:31
• 40Spirto del nume (Amneris, Ramfis)05:35
• 41A lui vivo, la tomba!...Sacerdoti: compiste un delitto! (Amneris, Ramfis, Priests)03:21
• 42La fatal pietra sovra me si chiuse (Radamès, Aida, Priestess, Priests)04:22
• 43Vedi? Di morte I'angelo...Immenso Ftha (Radamès, Aida, Priestess, Priests)01:42
• 44O terra addio (Aida, Radamès, Chorus, Amneris)04:56
• Total Runtime02:24:42

Info for Verdi: Aida (1955 - Serafin) - Callas Remastered

One of the legendary moments in Callas’ career came in 1950 in Mexico City, when she interpolated a stupendous top E flat at the end of the Triumphal Scene in Act II of Aida. In this recording under Serafin she abided by the score, but still prompted Gramophone to speak of her ‘fascinating art and prodigious personality’, observing the way she was ‘rapt in imaginative intensity in the significance of the words’.

Nobody disputes that the voice of Maria Callas is one of the great instruments of our time, and here is the proof. EMI's remastered recording of this 1955 performance of Verdi's 'Aida' testifies to her genius as a performer and a star.

Callas and 'Aida' had enjoyed a five-year relationship leading up to this recording. Callas was praised for her dynamic portrayal of Aida's rapidly changing emotions, and criticized for the sustained lament required in 'O patria mia.' At any rate, Callas captured the imagination of opera-goers across the globe with her powerful voice, and drew them in with the strength of her personality.

Recorded in Milan at Teatro alla Scala with the house orchestra conducted by Tullio Serafin, these CDs recapture the warmth, vibrancy, and clarity of the original performance. Verdi's masterwork in the hands of a timeless artiste makes for enjoyable listening and fascinating discussion, both today and in future years.

Maria Callas, soprano (Aida)
Richard Tucker, tenor (Radamès)
Fedora Barbieri, mezzo-soprano (Amneris)
Tito Gobbi, baritone (Amonasro)
Giuseppe Modesti, bass (Ramfis)
Orchestra and Chorus of La Scala Milan
Tullio Serafin, conductor

Digitally remastered

Maria Callas
was born to a Greek family in New York in 1923. Her vocal training took place in Athens, where her teacher was the coloratura soprano Elvira de Hidalgo, who had sung with Enrico Caruso and Feodor Chaliapin. After early performances in Greece, Callas’s international career was launched in 1947 when she performed the title role in Ponchielli’s La Gioconda at the Arena di Verona in Italy.

Her voice defied simple classification and her artistic range was extraordinary. In her early twenties she sang such heavy dramatic roles as Gioconda, Turandot, Brünnhilde and Isolde, but over the course of her career her most famous roles came to be: Bellini’s Norma and Amina (La sonnambula); Verdi’s Violetta (La traviata); Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor and Anna Bolena, Cherubini’s Medea and Puccini’s Tosca. Though her timbre was not always conventionally beautiful, Callas’s musicianship and phrasing were in a class of their own. She brought characters to vivid life with her skill in colouring her tone and making insightful use of the text.

She is credited with changing the history of opera: by placing a perhaps unprecedented emphasis on musical integrity and dramatic truth, and by transforming perceptions – and reviving the fortunes – of the bel canto repertoire, particularly Bellini and Donizetti.

The 1950s marked the height of Callas’s career. Its base lay in the opera houses of Italy, and she became the prima donna assoluta of Milan’s legendary La Scala – notably in the productions of Luchino Visconti – but her operatic appearances also encompassed London’s Royal Opera House, the New York Metropolitan Opera, Paris Opéra, the Vienna State Opera, and the opera houses of Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Lisbon, and, in the early 1950s, Mexico City, São Paolo and Rio de Janeiro.

From 1959, when she started a life-changing love affair with the Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, her performing career slowed down and her voice became more fragile. Her final stage performances came in 1965, when she was only 42.

There were many plans for a return to the stage – and for further complete recordings – but they never reached fruition, though in 1974 she gave a series of concerts in Europe, North America and Japan with the tenor Giuseppe di Stefano; he had partnered her frequently in the opera house and in the studio, not least in the 1953 La Scala Tosca under Victor de Sabata, considered a landmark in recording history. Callas died alone in her Paris apartment in September 1977.

Booklet for Verdi: Aida (1955 - Serafin) - Callas Remastered