# Single Round: Dei tuoi figli. Farrell and Callas



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

We discussed this during the week in Sondra's Medea thread and I thought we might compare probably the two greatest Medeas in this marvelous scene. Woodduck found the Farrell live performance earlier in the week. I have the studio Farrell pristine LP which was given to me and I listen to a lot. This aria is a real earworm maker for me!!!!!!!!!! I thought a live performance comparison might be a good discussion starter as they are very different singers and especially with Maria she was more exciting live. Many of you likely went right to Callas and never heard anyone else in the role as she was so fantastic. Callas will win but we might have some good critiques here. They were singing this around the same time and apparently Callas thought highly of Farrell's performance. I think it was one of the best roles for Farrell. Callas of course is renowned for her Medea. It is a pity they couldn't film it like they did of her doing the play in a movie so splendidly.
Since I wanted to include the dramatic recitative I did this from complete recordings and my times are approximate but fairly close. Callas starts at 44:50 and Farrell at 40:30. I hope you enjoy this. I am going to make this anonymous in case anyone wants to vote for Farrell and doesn't want to incur wrath LOL


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## ALT (Mar 1, 2021)

It becomes all too obvious from the get go that it is Callas. While in better voice, Farrell simply can’t compete because she lacks soul and the dramatic instincts required to bring the piece to life. Farrell only sings the notes (and some barely). That said, yikes!, that pinched, vinegary, wobbly upper register of Callas’! (The wobbling then turning into a full fledged flap, which would become unbearably more notorious than heard here).


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

I know we've been praising Farrell a lot on these pages recently and there is no doubt she was a very fine singer. The voice is firm, perfectly supported and rather beautiful, but, for me, there is no comparison. Farrell's singing is extremely musical and she makes some nice contrasts between half voice and full voice. Nor does her voice sound under stress at any point throughout this difficult aria with its angular contours, but she doesn't make the aria or the character live the way Callas does. 1958 was quite late for Callas (though her voice was in wonderful shape here) and the top is possibly a little strident, though not intrusively so, but the range of expression, the range of colour is staggering. At one point Medea sings _Il cor non sapea le orrende passione _(My heart did not know terrible passions) and I'm tempted to say that the wholesome Farrell never did.

Let me just add the text to the aria. I advise anyone to follow along as they sing. You cannot fail to notice the difference.

Dei tuoi figli la madre tu vedi
vinta e afflitta,
fatta trista per te,
e pur da te proscritta.
Tu lo sai quanto un giorno t’amò, crudel,
a te fu cara un dì, crudel! ecc
Sola qui, senza amor, scacciata, dolorosa,
se mai mi fossi apparso,
io sarei buona ancora, ecc.
sarei pietosa!
Il cor non sapea le orrende passioni;
scorrea la notte in sogni buoni,
splendeva a me sereno il dì.
Ero felice allor,
avevo un padre, un nido,
ho dato tutto a te;
torna sposo per me!
Crudel! Io non voglio che te,
Medea t’implora qui,
Medea ai piedi tuoi starà!
Pietà! per tanto amor che volli a te.
Torna a me! Torna sposo per me! ecc.
Torna ancor! Pietà!

And in English
The mother of your children you see
defeated and distressed,
made wretched by you,
yet rejected by you.
You know how much she loved you once, cruel one,
she was once dear to you, cruel man, etc.
Alone here, unloved, cast out, sorrowful,
if you had come to me
I would be kind again, etc.
I would be compassionate!
My heart did not know terrible passions;
I passed the night in sweet dreams.
Day shone serenely upon me.
I was happy then,
I had a father, a cosy home,
I gave everything up for you.
Come back as my husband!
Cruel one, I want only you,
Medea is begging you here,
Medea will kneel at your feet!
Have pity! For all the love I bore you.
Come back to me, come back as my husband, etc.
Come back again! Have pity!

I'll say it again. Callas was a genius.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

At first I thought a trick was being played on me. I could not equate the first part of the aria with Callas (whose voice I thought I could identify amost anywhere) but when the second part came on, there she was in all her glory. and I then realized that what I was hearing was another character singing. 
Because I am completely unfamiliar with the opera (until that changes on October 26th) I didn't realize that another character was singing.
Anyway, my vote simply stays with Callas even though Farrell was, as usual, wonderful, but there is something about Maria's voice that has a sensitivity that Farrell's lacks and even though Farrell packs a good punch, the uniqueness of the Callas sound is stamped in my brain as special.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

nina foresti said:


> At first I thought a trick was being played on me. I could not equate the first part of the aria with Callas (whose voice I thought I could identify amost anywhere) but when the second part came on, there she was in all her glory. and I then realized that what I was hearing was another character singing.
> Because I am completely unfamiliar with the opera (until that changes on October 26th) I didn't realize that another character was singing.
> Anyway, my vote simply stays with Callas even though Farrell was, as usual, wonderful, but there is something about Maria's voice that has a sensitivity that Farrell's lacks and even though Farrell packs a good punch, the uniqueness of the Callas sound is stamped in my brain as special.


If nothing else it gives people a way to elaborate on Callas' great art. You go gurl.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

I've only recently become aware that anyone but Callas sang this role during that time. The sound in the Farrell tape is distorted in an odd way, and I'm not sure how much it affects what we're hearing. Farrell's soft singing loses presence at times, and I'm not sure how much to blame the sound. That said, she sings this rather well, though I suspect she would have tightened up her shaping of the aria after longer experience wih the role. Callas, of course, sings it better than rather well, and I must say she sounds in great voice given the year. Just now, and in the appreciative present company, I don't feel a need to analyze the remarkable qualities of her interpretation. Suffice to say that it represents one of the most perfect matches of performer and role any of us will ever witness. She is so vivid and specific vocally that I can't help but imagine her physical presence before me. Don't I wish...

Dallas was extremely lucky to get Callas and Vickers for this production. I just can't help pointing out the absurd difference beween Jon Vickers' Giasone here and Matthew Polenzani's in the current Met production. Who are they kidding? Do they think we can't buy recordings?


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

No contest.


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

On the Farrell selection, if you click on "Watch on YouTube" on the far left bottom, you'll be taken to the original page with comments written below. One of them reads - "According to Farrell's autobiography , Callas attended this performance! Imagine singing Medea for a young Callas who had just triumphed with Medea in Italy. But Farrell certainly pulled it off! She rocked"

And most of the comments which follow are some variation of "Farrell is my favorite after Callas".

And this comment which I lack the expertise to render judgement upon although I do know enough to disagree with the general sentiment - "I love Farrell and this was an interesting listen- and it made one thing very clear: contrary to what we usually read about Farrell, this clearly shows she was not a dramatic soprano, but a spinto at best. A very musical and vocally gifted spinto, but in climaxes she just does not have the required steel in the voice, like e.g. Nilson or Eva Marton. Nevertheless a great accomplishment by Farrell !"


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> Dallas was extremely lucky to get Callas and Vickers for this production. I just can't help pointing out the absurd difference beween Jon Vickers' Giasone here and Matthew Polenzani's in the current Met production. Who are they kidding? Do they think we can't buy recordings?


Not only Callas and Vickers but the young Teresa Berganza, making her US debut. Furthermore, it was directed by Alexis Minotis, actor and director at the National Theatre of Greece, and husband of classical Greek actress Katina Paxinou, with designs by Greek artist Yiannis Tsarouchis. Dallas really did score quite a coup.


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

My own choice - Maria Callas - went with "artistry" rather than "craft" - Her voice was "word perfect" with Farrell being "note perfect"


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Shaughnessy said:


> On the Farrell selection, if you click on "Watch on YouTube" on the far left bottom, you'll be taken to the original page with comments written below. One of them reads - "According to Farrell's autobiography , Callas attended this performance! Imagine singing Medea for a young Callas who had just triumphed with Medea in Italy. But Farrell certainly pulled it off! She rocked"
> 
> And most of the comments which follow are some variation of "Farrell is my favorite after Callas".
> 
> And this comment which I lack the expertise to render judgement upon although I do know enough to disagree - "I love Farrell and this was an interesting listen- and it made one thing very clear: contrary to what we usually read about Farrell, this clearly shows she was not a dramatic soprano, but a spinto at best. A very musical and vocally gifted spinto, but in climaxes she just does not have the required steel in the voice, like e.g. Nilson or Eva Marton. Nevertheless a great accomplishment by Farrell !"


I keep reading this story about Callas being at the Farrell performance, but if it was November 8, 1955, Callas was singing Leonora in *Il Trovatore *in Chicago that night, a performance documented in Frank Hamilton's Maria Callas Performance Annals.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Shaughnessy said:


> And this comment which I lack the expertise to render judgement upon - "I love Farrell and this was an interesting listen- and it made one thing very clear: contrary to what we usually read about Farrell, this clearly shows she was not a dramatic soprano, but a spinto at best. A very musical and vocally gifted spinto, but in climaxes she just does not have the required steel in the voice, like e.g. Nilson or Eva Marton. Nevertheless a great accomplishment by Farrell !"


I hate hairsplitting debates about who is and isn't a dramatic, spinto, lirico-spinto, what have you. Is the "required steel in the voice" specified somewhere in the Constitution, the Torah, the Kama Sutra, or Betty Crocker's Book of Lost Recipes?


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Tsaraslondon said:


> Not only Callas and Vickers but the young Teresa Berganza, making her US debut. Furthermore, it was directed by Alexis Minotis, actor and director at the National Theatre of Greece, and husband of classical Greek actress Katina Paxinou, with designs by Greek artist Yiannis Tsarouchis. Dallas really did score quite a coup.


Good heavens yes. My nostalgia guage is threatening to explode.


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

Tsaraslondon said:


> I keep reading this story about Callas being at the Farrell performance, but if it was November 8, 1955, Callas was singing Leonora in *Il Trovatore *in Chicago that night, a performance documented in Frank Hamilton's Maria Callas Performance Annals.


What if the date is changed to the American way of expression and 08/11/1955- was actually August 11, 1955?

Turns out that it doesn't matter if the dates were switched -

10–24 August 1955
Callas records Aida at La Scala, Milan, under Tullio Serafin with a cast including Richard Tucker, Fedora Barbieri and Tito Gobbi.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

I will have to go back and listen to the complete Farrell recording at some stage, I didn't know it existed. It will be interesting to see what the performing edition is like. It will be the Lachner, but it will be interesting to hear the cuts that Gramson makes.

I really like the opera, even when it is sung by others other than Callas and it's interesting that it hasn't disappeared from the rep with quite a few divas singing it over the years including Olivero, Jones, Sass, Antonacci and Theodossiou. Magda Olivero seems an odd choice, but she was choosen when Dallas revived the production that we hear above (she was held in high esteem there). She also sang the role in Amsterdam and Mantova and gives as frenzied a performance as you would expect from her.

I have a number of the Callas recordings and like all of them for different reasons and I also have a recording in the original French with spoken dialogue. A slightly different beast.

Farrell was a very good singer and a fine artist. However, I am always left wanting more from her and this role (like her Gioconda) stretches her too far. That said, her pianissimi are stunningly beautiful and she _is _suitably dramatic when she sings out. The artistry is without question, but I'm not getting as much emotional involvement as I would like and that I know Callas gave when she performed this.

Callas is Callas and I'm sure others will give excellent sumaries of her performance.

N.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> I've only recently become aware that anyone but Callas sang this role during that time. The sound in the Farrell tape is distorted in an odd way, and I'm not sure how much it affects what we're hearing. Farrell's soft singing loses presence at times, and I'm not sure how much to blame the sound. That said, she sings this rather well, though I suspect she would have tightened up her shaping of the aria after longer experience wih the role. Callas, of course, sings it better than rather well, and I must say she sounds in great voice given the year. Just now, and in the appreciative present company, I don't feel a need to analyze the remarkable qualities of her interpretation. Suffice to say that it represents one of the most perfect matches of performer and role any of us will ever witness. She is so vivid and specific vocally that I can't help but imagine her physical presence before me. Don't I wish...
> 
> Dallas was extremely lucky to get Callas and Vickers for this production. I just can't help pointing out the absurd difference beween Jon Vickers' Giasone here and Matthew Polenzani's in the current Met production. Who are they kidding? Do they think we can't buy recordings?


There is the studio version on Youtube which I have but I thought two live performances would be optimal, though I didn't listen all the way through Farrell's version. Callas will win anyway. Rysanek also sang it, likely with great passion, but maybe not the right style.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Shaughnessy said:


> What if the date is changed to the American way of expression and 08/11/1955- was actually August 11, 1955?


Callas was recording Aida in Milan then, so that doesn't work either.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> There is the studio version on Youtube which I have but I thought two live performances would be optimal, though I didn't listen all the way through Farrell's version. Callas will win anyway. Rysanek also sang it, *likely with great passion, but maybe not the right style.*


For me one of the greatest things about Callas is precisely her sense of style - in this case, her ability to etch the cleanest, clearest, most classical line while investing it with a passion worthy of verismo. Is it Classical singing, or Romantic...? It transcends period, and it's beyond the capacity, maybe even the imagination, of most singers.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

The Conte said:


> I will have to go back and listen to the complete Farrell recording at some stage, I didn't know it existed. It will be interesting to see what the performing edition is like. It will be the Lachner, but it will be interesting to hear the cuts that Gramson makes.
> 
> I really like the opera, even when it is sung by others other than Callas and it's interesting that it hasn't disappeared from the rep with quite a few divas singing it over the years including Olivero, Jones, Sass, Antonacci and Theodossiou. Magda Olivero seems an odd choice, but she was choosen when Dallas revived the production that we hear above (she was held in high esteem there). She also sang the role in Amsterdam and Mantova and gives as frenzied a performance as you would expect from her.
> 
> ...


Farrell’s comment when asked about singing *Medea*: “ I just open my mouth and let ‘er rip!”


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Seattleoperafan said:


> There is the studio version on Youtube which I have but I thought two live performances would be optimal, though I didn't listen all the way through Farrell's version. Callas will win anyway. Rysanek also sang it, likely with great passion, but maybe not the right style.


Rysanek is all over the place, with her usual inexact way with the notes and making strange noises to be ”dramatic.”


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> I hate hairsplitting debates about who is and isn't a dramatic, spinto, lirico-spinto, what have you. Is the "required steel in the voice" specified somewhere in the Constitution, the Torah, the Kama Sutra, or Betty Crocker's Book of Lost Recipes?





Shaughnessy said:


> On the Farrell selection, if you click on "Watch on YouTube" on the far left bottom, you'll be taken to the original page with comments written below. One of them reads - "According to Farrell's autobiography , Callas attended this performance! Imagine singing Medea for a young Callas who had just triumphed with Medea in Italy. But Farrell certainly pulled it off! She rocked"
> 
> And most of the comments which follow are some variation of "Farrell is my favorite after Callas".
> 
> And this comment which I lack the expertise to render judgement upon although I do know enough to disagree with the general sentiment - "I love Farrell and this was an interesting listen- and it made one thing very clear: contrary to what we usually read about Farrell, this clearly shows she was not a dramatic soprano, but a spinto at best. A very musical and vocally gifted spinto, but in climaxes she just does not have the required steel in the voice, like e.g. Nilson or Eva Marton. Nevertheless a great accomplishment by Farrell !"


She rarely sang out full, and particularly never never when I heard her in Jackson, MS as a youth ( but who wants to impress Jackson, right) but in an upcoming round you might change your mind about her. In Wagner her voice was likened by Bernstein to Niagara Falls. Franco Corelli who made millions singing with Nilsson said Farrell had the biggest voice he ever heard. It was one of the biggest voices of all time BUT she normally sang in what you would call the lyric/ lyric spinto genre, so I can see where you are coming from. Her voice was so ginormous that when she recorded pop, which was a lot, the mic was put 6' away from her LOL. She started with a radio program singing opera and pop and sang lots of lyric stuff like O Mio Bambino Caro and she could really sing lyric soprano arias beautifully. She was also one of those rare singers like Callas, Sutherland and Ponselle.. a dramatic soprano with agility ( I forget the Italian term) and even sang the first big scene from Norma in concert once. Someone commented on Farrell's singing that she kept holding out on her volume for the last act and forgot to sing out then.... or something to that effect. She was definitely not like Marton who always sang loud.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> For me one of the greatest things about Callas is precisely her sense of style - in this case, her ability to etch the cleanest, clearest, most classical line while investing it with a passion worthy of verismo. Is it Classical singing, or Romantic...? It transcends period, and it's beyond the capacity, maybe even the imagination, of most singers.


You know your way with words. I don't want to get on your bad side 🤪 Who knows what you could say and how you'd say it


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> You know your way with words. I don't want to get on your bad side 🤪 Who knows what you could say and how you'd say it


I have more than two sides.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Oddly enough I see that my review of the recording of the Dallas *Medea *is the most viewed post in my blog today. No idea why.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

^^^ It may have something to do with the current Met revival.


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## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

ALT said:


> It becomes all too obvious from the get go that it is Callas. While in better voice, Farrell simply can’t compete because she lacks soul and the dramatic instincts required to bring the piece to life. Farrell only sings the notes (and some barely). That said, yikes!, that pinched, vinegary, wobbly upper register of Callas’! (The wobbling then turning into a full fledged flap, which would become unbearably more notorious than heard here).


Except those upper register defects are hardly in evidence here in a performance which, although late in her career, finds her in exceptional voice. Here the voice is in fine shape and the interpretation a piece of genius. Farrell is great too, but she's not the natural Medea that Callas is.


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## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

I keep wondering, what you experts manage to catch in those bad recordings. I can only say, that the recording quality for Farrell is so bad that I can hardly hear her at times at all.


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## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

How about Denia Mazzola Gavazzeni ? At 41:00 here:


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

BBSVK said:


> I keep wondering, what you experts manage to catch in those bad recordings. I can only say, that the recording quality for Farrell is so bad that I can hardly hear her at times at all.


Soo soooo sorry. I tried to do both live but I **** ed up. Of course Callas will win anyway. Here she is beautifully recorded in a studio. Your vote for her won't make any difference really LOL I really enjoy her on my studio lp version. Should have stuck with that but Callas, who everyone loves is better live and one must play to the Callas crowd here as there are so many.


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## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

BBSVK said:


> How about Denia Mazzola Gavazzeni ? At 41:00 here:


Strange vocal production, nasal, lacking in core and colour. Doesn't do much for me.


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## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Soo soooo sorry. I tried to do both live but I **** ed up.


As you once said, there is only one rule - the contest audience needs something to complain about 🙃 .


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

BBSVK said:


> As you once said, there is only one rule - the contest audience needs something to complain about 🙃 .


My basic nature is to try to please people but in a way a bad competitor as you say gives people a chance to nitpick. I need to remember you wise words here  Thanks


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> My basic nature is to try to please people but in a way a bad competitor as you say gives people a chance to nitpick.


Nitpick? You want to take _that_ away from me? What the hell else do you think I have to do on a Sunday afternoon at the Ashley Senior Apartments in southwest Oregon, cultural hub of the universe?


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

Tsaraslondon said:


> *Callas was recording Aida in Milan then, so that doesn't work either.*


Since it's Farrell's autobiography that is being used for the basis of the "Callas at the performance" story and since "Farrell" is a very common name in Ireland, we can only assume that being true to her heritage, she was completely unable to resist telling her story without wildly embellishing it for dramatic effect. As a people, we rarely, if ever, allow the truth to interfere with the telling of a right good tale.


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

BBSVK said:


> *As you once said, there is only* *one rule - the contest audience needs something to complain about* 🙃 .





Seattleoperafan said:


> My basic nature is to try to please people but in a way a bad competitor as you say gives people a chance to nitpick.* I need to remember your wise words here*  Thanks


The first thing to remember is that I was the one who actually wrote that line -  - and it was in response to the question - "Are there any rules about posting more than one contest per day?" and the answer was =

"No, the only rule is that you must find something about the contest to complain about"

I was going to let it slide as I get plenty of laughs here but as soon as you wrote "I need to remember your wise words here", there was no way I could let it go as the word "wise" is rarely, if ever, used to describe any words that I've written and I'm not entirely certain when, if ever, it will be again thus my claim for proper attribution -


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Shaughnessy said:


> The first thing to remember is that I was the one who actually wrote that line -  - and it was in response to the question - "Are there any rules about posting more than one contest per day?" and the answer was =
> 
> "No, the only rule is that you must find something about the contest to complain about"
> 
> I was going to let it slide as I get plenty of laughs here but as soon as you wrote "I need to remember your wise words here", there was no way I could let it go as the word "wise" is rarely, if ever, used to describe any words that I've written and I'm not entirely certain when, if ever, it will be again thus my claim for proper attribution -


We are opinionated but most of us also have a good sense of humor which keeps this group fun and without strife like some other opera groups.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

16 votes for Callas? The only surprise is that 16 people showed up to vote. I didn't realize there were that many folks hanging around here. Do we need a voter registry so that we know who's lurking in the bushes?


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## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

Op.123 said:


> 16 votes for Callas? The only surprise is that 16 people showed up to vote. I didn't realize there were that many folks hanging around here. Do we need a voter registry so that we know who's lurking in the bushes?


I didn't vote. Now what ?


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

BBSVK said:


> I didn't vote. Now what ?


Do your patriotic duty.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> 16 votes for Callas? The only surprise is that 16 people showed up to vote. I didn't realize there were that many folks hanging around here. Do we need a voter registry so that we know who's lurking in the bushes?


I knew even if Farrell was lousy, which she wasn't - even in the bad recording, Callas singing Medea in this crowd would pack the seats as it were. It is such a wonderful aria, too!!!! Also I think letting the voting be anonymous got the shy people out who ordinarily watch or listen on the sidelines.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I knew even if Farrell was lousy, which she wasn't - even in the bad recording, Callas singing Medea in this crowd would pack the seats as it were. It is such a wonderful aria, too!!!! Also I think letting the voting be anonymous got the shy people out who ordinarily watch or listen on the sidelines.


One should remember that when Callas sang the role in Florence in 1953, the opera was considered a fusty, museum piece. If anyone knew it at all, it was probably only from the fact that Beethoven was said to have admired it enormously. Nobody had actually heard it! However, so successful were the Florence performances that La Scala scrapped plans for a new production of Scarlatti's *Mitridate Eupatore *with Callas and replaced it with the Cherubini opera. That production too was a triumph, totally eclipsing the new production of *La Wally *with Tebaldi that had opened the season. Thereafter it became something of a calling card for Callas and the role remained in her repertoire until the 1960s, when she sang it for the last time at La Scala. Were it not for Callas, it would probaby still be a museum piece.

The 1953 La Scala production was the one that really heralded the Callas Era there. Though not yet as slim as she was to become, she had lost a considerable amount of weight and was paying more and more attention to the dramatic side of her performances. In fact she once stated that it was during her initial performances in Cherubini's _Medea_ in May 1953 that she realized she needed a leaner face and figure to do dramatic justice to the role as well as the other roles she was undertaking. Interestingly, after opening the La Scala season in 1953, Tebaldi cut back her apperances at the theatre and didn't appear there at all between 1955, the year of Callas's greatest triumphs, and 1959 when Callas and Ghiringhellli had fallen out and Callas had departed. The Callas Era was effectively over in 1958 when she sang her last performane of *Il Pirata *there.

The two pictures below show her as Medea in Florence in May 1953 and in Milan in December of the same year. You can see just how much weight she had lost in a relatively short time.


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## ColdGenius (9 mo ago)

I didn't vote too. Yesterday I was back from "Götterdämmerung". I hadn't much time this week to listen to this all.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Tsaraslondon said:


> One should remember that when Callas sang the role in Florence in 1953, the opera was considered a fusty, museum piece. If anyone knew it at all, it was probably only from the fact that Beethoven was said to have admired it enormously. Nobody had actually heard it! However, so successful were the Florence performances that La Scala scrapped plans for a new production of Scarlatti's *Mitridate Eupatore *with Callas and replaced it with the Cherubini opera. That production too was a triumph, totally eclipsing the new production of *La Wally *with Tebaldi that had opened the season. Thereafter it became something of a calling card for Callas and the role remained in her repertoire until the 1960s, when she sang it for the last time at La Scala. Were it not for Callas, it would probaby still be a museum piece.
> 
> The 1953 La Scala production was the one that really heralded the Callas Era there. Though not yet as slim as she was to become, she had lost a considerable amount of weight and was paying more and more attention to the dramatic side of her performances. In fact she once stated that it was during her initial performances in Cherubini's _Medea_ in May 1953 that she realized she needed a leaner face and figure to do dramatic justice to the role as well as the other roles she was undertaking. Interestingly, after opening the La Scala season in 1953, Tebaldi cut back her apperances at the theatre and didn't appear there at all between 1955, the year of Callas's greatest triumphs, and 1959 when Callas and Ghiringhellli had fallen out and Callas had departed. The Callas Era was effectively over in 1958 when she sang her last performane of *Il Pirata *there.
> 
> The two pictures below show her as Medea in Florence in May 1953 and in Milan in December of the same year. You can see just how much weight she had lost in a relatively short time.


The bottom costume is worthy of the Met Gala in NYC.


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## ColdGenius (9 mo ago)

Seattleoperafan said:


> The bottom costume is worthy of the Met Gala in NYC.


Upper one too


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## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

Tsaraslondon said:


> One should remember that when Callas sang the role in Florence in 1953, the opera was considered a fusty, museum piece. If anyone knew it at all, it was probably only from the fact that Beethoven was said to have admired it enormously. Nobody had actually heard it! However, so successful were the Florence performances that La Scala scrapped plans for a new production of Scarlatti's *Mitridate Eupatore *with Callas and replaced it with the Cherubini opera. That production too was a triumph, totally eclipsing the new production of *La Wally *with Tebaldi that had opened the season. Thereafter it became something of a calling card for Callas and the role remained in her repertoire until the 1960s, when she sang it for the last time at La Scala. Were it not for Callas, it would probaby still be a museum piece.


It's a pity, she didn't also revive the Scarlatti's opera. Maybe we would know it better today.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

BBSVK said:


> It's a pity, she didn't also revive the Scarlatti's opera. Maybe we would know it better today.


Are you talking about *San Giovanni Battista*?


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## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

MAS said:


> Are you talking about *San Giovanni Battista*?


Wikipedia says: 
_*Il Mitridate Eupatore*_ (_Mithridates Eupator_) is an opera seria in five acts by the Italian composer Alessandro Scarlatti with a libretto by Girolamo Frigimelica Roberti


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

BBSVK said:


> Wikipedia says:
> _*Il Mitridate Eupatore*_ (_Mithridates Eupator_) is an opera seria in five acts by the Italian composer Alessandro Scarlatti with a libretto by Girolamo Frigimelica Roberti


Oh, I get it. The originally planned opera, which they scrapped in favor of *Medea*. I thought you were talking about Stradella‘s opera *San Giovanni Battista*, which Callas sang in Perugia in 1949.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

MAS said:


> Oh, I get it. The originally planned opera, which they scrapped in favor of *Medea*. I thought you were talking about Stradella‘s opera *San Giovanni Battista*, which Callas sang in Perugia in 1949.


Isn't that an orotorio, not an opera? It was in the Chiesa di San Pietro, and it certaily wasn't staged, though it was broadcast. No recording exists unfortunately.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Tsaraslondon said:


> Isn't that an orotorio, not an opera. It certaily wasn't staged.


Yes, the oratorio, sorry. It was broadcast from the Chiesa di San Pietro in Perugia.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

MAS said:


> Yes, the oratorio, sorry. It was broadcast from the Chiesa di San Pietro in Perugia.


According to Frank Hamilton, someone must have taped it, though none has ever come to light. According to Callas herself,
"I will tell you about the first time I heard myself, it was in Perugia. A very beautiful church. It was the first time they broadcast it on the radio. They had the tape. It was in 1949, I believe. We listened to the playback inthe intermission between the two parts of the work. You wouldn’t have an idea how hard I cried. I didn’t want to continue. I was desperate. Others were desperate, too. I am horrified by myself. I can recognise my voice among all others, the way I sing, the world I bring to the singing. I don’t like myself as a voice; it is out of question. But I don’t struggle anymore. I listen to myself with an undeceived ear."


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## ewilkros (8 mo ago)

Tsaraslondon said:


> I keep reading this story about Callas being at the Farrell performance, but if it was November 8, 1955, Callas was singing Leonora in *Il Trovatore *in Chicago that night, a performance documented in Frank Hamilton's Maria Callas Performance Annals.


There was another American Opera Society concert performance of "Medea" with Farrell in NYC (Carnegie Hall, March 10 1959) and apparently other "Medea"s in between, I assume with Farrell. Maybe Callas was at another one rather than the 1955 one?

Cooked down from Howard Taubman's full review, p. 40, NYT 3/11/1959:
CHERUBINI's "Medea" is a glorious opera — classic in breadth, noble in spirit and searing in power. The American Opera Society is lucky to have what amounts to exclusive local rights to it, since the other opera companies keep neglecting it.
The society presented the work for the first time here in November, 1955, and has returned to it on several occasions....
Medea: Eileen Farrell
Jason: Richard Lewis
Glauce: Judith Raskin
Neris: Claramae Turner
Creon: Morley Meredith
cond. Arnold Gamson, Carnegie Hall March 10, 1959 [with "On the Town" intruding through the floor from "the theater below"]
Howard Taubman, p. 40, NYT 3/11/1959


https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1959/03/11/issue.html?auth=login-smartlock



There's also a "Profile" on Farrell and Medea in the 5/23/1959 New Yorker, but I've used up my New Yorker allowance for this month already--Volunteers?


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

ewilkros said:


> There was another American Opera Society concert performance of "Medea" with Farrell in NYC (Carnegie Hall, March 10 1959) and apparently other "Medea"s in between, I assume with Farrell. Maybe Callas was at another one rather than the 1955 one?
> 
> Cooked down from Howard Taubman's full review, p. 40, NYT 3/11/1959:
> CHERUBINI's "Medea" is a glorious opera — classic in breadth, noble in spirit and searing in power. The American Opera Society is lucky to have what amounts to exclusive local rights to it, since the other opera companies keep neglecting it.
> ...


That one's more likely. She was in London recording *Lucia di Lammermoor* from March 16th. Her previous engagement had been in New York for concert performances of *Il Pirata *at Carnegie Hall in January. Maybe she stayed in New York.

Interesting footnote. Judith Raskin, who played Glauce in the above Farrell performance, was the First Handmaiden in Callas's Dallas performances.


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

Tsaraslondon said:


> According to Frank Hamilton, someone must have taped it, though none has ever come to light. According to Callas herself,
> "I will tell you about the first time I heard myself, it was in Perugia. A very beautiful church. It was the first time they broadcast it on the radio. They had the tape. It was in 1949, I believe. We listened to the playback in the intermission between the two parts of the work. *You wouldn’t have an idea how hard I cried. I didn’t want to continue. I was desperate.* Others were desperate, too. I am horrified by myself. I can recognize my voice among all others, the way I sing, the world I bring to the singing. *I don’t like myself as a voice; *it is out of question. But I don’t struggle anymore. I listen to myself with an undeceived ear."


Amazing, but also profoundly sad, story - If it wasn't actually Callas herself recounting this anecdote, one could be forgiven for thinking that it was apocryphal.


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## ColdGenius (9 mo ago)

Did I miss anything? Are those who vote for Farrell exposed to ostracism?


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I knew even if Farrell was lousy, which she wasn't - even in the bad recording, Callas singing Medea in this crowd would pack the seats as it were. It is such a wonderful aria, too!!!! Also I think letting the voting be anonymous got the shy people out who ordinarily watch or listen on the sidelines.


It seems one shy person has shown up.


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## ewilkros (8 mo ago)

Tsaraslondon said:


> That one's more likely. She was in London recording *Lucia di Lammermoor* from March 16th. Her previous engagement had been in New York for concert performances of *Il Pirata *at Carnegie Hall in January. Maybe she stayed in New York.
> 
> Interesting footnote. Judith Raskin, who played Glauce in the above Farrell performance, was the First Handmaiden in Callas's Dallas performances.


Larry Kelly was always one to cast from strength!


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