# Maria Callas - "Love at first listen" or "Acquired Taste"?



## Guest (Dec 10, 2017)

I've taken my first steps towards the journey that leads to Maria Callas... My story can be found here -

New MARIA CALLAS box set......

either near or at the very end of the thread...

I would be interested in hearing the personal stories of the journeys taken by others... Reading a follow-up post from DarkAngel was the inspiration for this thread and I extend my personal thanks to him...

Was it indeed "Love at first listen" or was it an "Acquired Taste"?

If it was indeed an "Acquired Taste" What was the most difficult path or paths of the journey?

What did you do to overcome discouragement and what caused you to persevere?

What was the nature of the revelation that led you to decide that this was a voice that you both wanted and needed to hear?

I would also like to hear from anyone who started but then stopped (perhaps numerous times) and what was the defining moment or moments that led you to realize that this was a voice that you no longer wanted or needed to hear...

Everyone has a story worth telling...


----------



## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Id depends on the listener.

In my case, it was love at first listen.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Love at first listen. That doesn't mean I always like the sound of the voice. But as a musician I've always found her without compare artistically, and always worth hearing.


----------



## Guest (Dec 10, 2017)

Woodduck said:


> Love at first listen. That doesn't mean I always like the sound of the voice. But as a musician I've always found her without compare artistically, and always worth hearing.


I was really quite worried about listening to the recordings and not being able to follow along with the libretti but after my reading of the 288 plus pages of the "New Callas Box Set" thread I have come to understand that with careful and considerate hearing I am hoping that I will be able to intuitively comprehend "why" she is singing "what" she is singing... I don't have the necessary musical vocabulary needed to properly express myself but I will get there some day!


----------



## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Acquired taste but baby when I finally acquired it, I ACQUIRED IT BIG TIME!!!


----------



## DarkAngel (Aug 11, 2010)

Among female opera singers instant attraction, but it took a long time from just causually listening to a couple arias from CD aria collection set to seriously listening to entire operas......for me opera videos are helpful to visually learn opera scences (recall them mentally later with CD) and learn basic italian language phrases


----------



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Definitely an acquired taste I would say. The voice does not strike you as particularly beautiful a la Tebaldi or Price. I have come to regard Callas in the same way as (say) Olivier, as an operatic chameleon. Quite incredible what she brings to each role. You have to admire it, like it or not. What, of couse, we don't get on recordings is the magnetism of her personality. Solti said that even when her voice had gone, you simply couldn't kerp your eyes off her. Must say I personally find this Callas 'worship' a bit off-putting. She was a great singing actress, not an object of worship, imo. Admire her for what she was.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

DavidA said:


> Definitely an acquired taste I would say. The voice does not strike you as particularly beautiful a la Tebaldi or Price. I have come to regard Callas in the same way as (say) Olivier, as an operatic chameleon. Quite incredible what she brings to each role. You have to admire it, like it or not. What, of couse, we don't get on recordings is the magnetism of her personality. Solti said that even when her voice had gone, you simply couldn't kerp your eyes off her. *Must say I personally find this Callas 'worship' a bit off-putting. She was a great singing actress, not an object of worship, imo. Admire her for what she was.*


The sad fact is that, although we have ample representation of her singing and musicianship, we have only snatches of what she was onstage. But those snatches are theatrical dynamite. If we admire what we have, we can only imagine how much more there was to admire. Rather than be put off by "Callas worship," we might indulge those whose behavior we find absurd and consider that they may be, essentially, right after all. Callas was possessed of an incomprehensible genius, we've seen and heard nothing to equal it, and those with youth and energy enough to dance round the maypole should have their fun.

I love these little comments by Dame Judi Dench, whom I admire immensely in her own right. It's telling, and completely charming, when she calls the immensity of Callas's gifts "grossly unfair":


----------



## Granate (Jun 25, 2016)

I don't have time to post a long tale about my experience with Callas. I posted in this forum before how Classical Music came to be after 8 years of absence (many other genres instead). Maria Callas was news in 2014 for the remastered box set I now proudly own (but so difficult to store!). I usually listened, then in 2014, to PRnB and minimalistic Rap music, together with usual indietronica and the latest pop releases (that year was surprisingly good in pop albums). I gave a go for curiosity to the three 90s recital albums (you know, the white, black and blue ones). I really liked the first album and above all, _Casta Diva._ However, it wasn't a thunderstroke. I did not listen to it insanely from now on, but my transition to classical music went slowly on the hand of HVK the following two years.

I don't think it was a love at first listen, but not an acquired taste either. I simply had no other reference, and Joan Sutherland indeed felt underwhelming compared to her when I gave her a go.

I still don't love her in all the roles she plays, but I've grown my appreciation to other not so brilliant recordings like the Studio Traviata and Turandot.


----------



## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

DavidA said:


> Definitely an acquired taste I would say. The voice does not strike you as particularly beautiful a la Tebaldi or Price. I have come to regard Callas in the same way as (say) Olivier, as an operatic chameleon. Quite incredible what she brings to each role. You have to admire it, like it or not. *What, of couse, we don't get on recordings is the magnetism of her personality.* Solti said that even when her voice had gone, you simply couldn't kerp your eyes off her. Must say I personally find this Callas 'worship' a bit off-putting. She was a great singing actress, not an object of worship, imo. Admire her for what she was.


Au contraire! Fascinating as she was in person, that charisma of her persona came right through her recordings as well.


----------



## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Intense infatuation to the point of acquiring several fistfulls of CDs in a brief time of a couple months. It wore off and now I rarely listen to her. In fact, I don't listen to her.


----------



## Guest (Dec 11, 2017)

"Rather than be put off by "Callas worship," we might indulge those whose behavior we find absurd and consider that they may be, essentially, right after all. Callas was possessed of an incomprehensible genius, we've seen and heard nothing to equal it, and those with youth and energy enough to dance round the maypole should have their fun." - (as quoted by Woodduck)


Well said, sir, my compliments... I never really understood just exactly when cheerful over-the-top enthusiasm and crazed wild-eyed excitement and the high-spirited thrill of new discoveries became something that someone had to hide and keep to themselves... Discouraging those qualities and sentiments can be disheartening and dispiriting to those who are experiencing those emotions for the first time and what exactly is the point of making someone feel that way? The question "what is it about happy people that makes unhappy people so unhappy" pretty much answers itself, eh?


----------



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

nina foresti said:


> Au contraire! Fascinating as she was in person, that charisma of her persona came right through her recordings as well.


Yes of course, but I meant the visual magnetism of her personality.


----------



## niknik (Oct 4, 2014)

I have already post it in "New Maria Callas box set" but since there is now a special thread, I post it also here.

It was back to 1977 and I was only 15 years old. On the day of Maria Callas' death, one of the two public TV channels presented as a tribute to her the 1959 Hamburg recital. I sat down to see it from simple curiosity. I have to note that I had never heard before in my life opera and I knew nothing about it, nor any member of my family or friend had such a preference. Then something magical happened.
Without understanding anything from what this woman was singing - the recital played without subtitles - i was deeply moved and deeply impressed. From that moment I wanted to know more about this woman and so began my own journey of acquaintance and love for Maria Callas. A journey that has come to make Maria the best friend in my life and the best companion both to my joys and sorrows.


----------



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Woodduck said:


> The sad fact is that, although we have ample representation of her singing and musicianship, we have only snatches of what she was onstage. But those snatches are theatrical dynamite. If we admire what we have, we can only imagine how much more there was to admire. Rather than be put off by "Callas worship," we might indulge those whose behavior we find absurd and consider that they may be, essentially, right after all. *Callas was possessed of an incomprehensible genius[, we've seen and heard nothing to equal it*, and those with youth and energy enough to dance round the maypole should have their fun.
> 
> I love these little comments by Dame Judi Dench, whom I admire immensely in her own right. It's telling, and completely charming, when she calls the immensity of Callas's gifts "grossly unfair":


I would balk at the description 'incomprehensible genius' as it's a phrase I reserve for Mozart, Bach and others who are creative genius. Yes, Callas had a genius for interpretation the works of others but so have other thespians I've seen on stage. But if you want to use that phrase, I'll indulge you, but I'm too old to dance around the maypole, I'm afraid! :lol:


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

DavidA said:


> I would balk at the description 'incomprehensible genius' as it's a phrase I reserve for Mozart, Bach and others who are creative genius. Yes, Callas had a genius for interpretation the works of others but so have other thespians I've seen on stage. But if you want to use that phrase, I'll indulge you, but I'm too old to dance around the maypole, I'm afraid! :lol:


Well, if you think _you_ can comprehend the existence in one person of an extraordinary vocal instrument, a profound musicianship, and a theatrical presence and acting ability of the highest order, my hat is off to you. If you have a better word than "genius" for the phenomenon of Callas, I'll be glad to hear it. At her level of brilliance, interpretation is a powerful act of creation; she brought into existence characters of a specificity and power unsuspected by anyone else, and not obviously implicit in the musical and dramatic material she was working with. It isn't hyperbole to say that Lucia or Medea as realized by Callas are beings greater than those created by Donizetti and Cherubini. Operatic characters are generally pretty one-dimensional; the genius of Callas added the other two dimensions - plus an inexplicable fourth: _genius!_

Originally, "genius" referred to a spirit by which a person was possessed and thereby enabled to perform acts beyond the normal and known boundaries of human capacity. Artists often speak of feeling as if they are instruments being used by a higher power, their work guided by an unseen and irresistible intelligence. This was surely the experience of that dumpy, pimply, myopic kid from Manhattan, insecure all her life, who got up on stage and became La Divina, a being greater than Maria whose demands Maria could hardly bear and for whom she gave her life.

I don't know why some people are so hostile to the idea of genius. I guess you either have the ability to know it when you're in its presence, or you don't.


----------



## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Woodduck said:


> Well, if you think _you_ can comprehend the existence in one person of an extraordinary vocal instrument, a profound musicianship, and a theatrical presence and acting ability of the highest order, my hat is off to you. If you have a better word than "genius" for the phenomenon of Callas, I'll be glad to hear it. At her level of brilliance, interpretation is a powerful act of creation; she brought into existence characters of a specificity and power unsuspected by anyone else, and not obviously implicit in the musical and dramatic material she was working with. It isn't hyperbole to say that Lucia or Medea as realized by Callas are beings greater than those created by Donizetti and Cherubini. Operatic characters are generally pretty one-dimensional; the genius of Callas added the other two.
> 
> Originally, "genius" referred to a spirit by which a person was possessed and thereby enabled to perform acts beyond the normal and known boundaries of human capacity. Artists often speak of feeling as if they are instruments being used by a higher power, their work guided by an unseen and irresistible intelligence. *This was surely the experience of that dumpy, pimply, myopic kid from Manhattan, insecure all her life, who got up on stage and became La Divina, a being greater than Maria whose demands she could hardly bear and for whom she gave her life.
> 
> I don't know why some people are so hostile to the idea of genius. I guess you either have the ability to know it when you're in its presence, or you don't*.


A more perfect description of Maria has never been wrought, and after I clear the lump in my throat sir, I will applaud you.


----------



## Guest (Dec 12, 2017)

Woodduck said:


> I don't know why some people are so hostile to the idea of genius. I guess you either have the ability to know it when you're in its presence, or you don't.


I just may use this as my signature! Except I would add the line..."by the way...you're in its presence" -

:lol:


----------



## gellio (Nov 7, 2013)

I've posted this story on this forum before, but I love it - so I will post it again. My first opera recordings were _Boheme_ and _Traviata_, but as much as I loved classical music at the time, I couldn't really get into opera. Then I saw the move Amadeus (this was 1996 - long after its release). So, I started making my way through Mozart's mature operas, so I knew the names Sutherland, Pavarotti, Solti, Schwarzkopf, Gobbi and other Mozartians. Mozart's operas turned opera into a passion for me, so it was time to explore others.

The Barnes & Noble in downtown Minneapolis was right across from my office. They had a great classical music section. There was a worker there who steered me through the many different choices with the Mozart opera recordings. I had grown to really value and trust his opinion. I wanted to try Carmen. I came in was looking at the Carmen section and picked up the Solti. I was holding it and reading the back. He came over and said, "No, not that one" and grabbed the Callas off the shelf and said, "This one." I said no because I knew Solti and his was 3 CDs versus Callas's on 2 CD (I had thought 2CDs meant there was cuts - naive - and I had never heard of her at that point anyway). He told me he would absolutely not sell me any other Carmen than the Callas. He said I haven't heard anything like her, and there would never again be anyone like her. He went on and on and on about how great this Callas was. So, whatever, I got tired of arguing and bought it.

When I got home I put it in and began listening to it, in the background, while cleaning. The second I heard her voice, I froze. He was right, I had heard nothing like her. I didn't know what to think at first. Is this voice ugly? Is it magnificent? Is it beautiful? These are thoughts that ran through my head as I was listening to her. I didn't know the answers at that moment, but I knew I was transfixed by that voice, whether it was ugly or not. I listened to that recording all night. I had to hear more.

I went back the next day and he sold me the '52 Gioconda and it was all over from there. Her Suicidio on that recording is to me the single greatest moment on the 200+ opera recordings i have. What an utter triumph.

What I love most about her is her uniqueness. You know the second she starts singing it's her - nobody can double Callas. You can feel what her character is feeling through her voice.

I've grown to love many more singers, conductors and orchestras, but Callas will go down as one of the greatest surprises of my life, and I am so thankful he refused to sell me any other Carmen. I am certain I would have eventually found her, but I am so grateful it was sooner rather than later.


----------



## gellio (Nov 7, 2013)

nina foresti said:


> A more perfect description of Maria has never been wrought, and after I clear the lump in my throat sir, I will applaud you.


I second this. She was a genius. No doubt.


----------



## gellio (Nov 7, 2013)

Nudge and a Wink said:


> I was really quite worried about listening to the recordings and not being able to follow along with the libretti but after my reading of the 288 plus pages of the "New Callas Box Set" thread I have come to understand that with careful and considerate hearing I am hoping that I will be able to intuitively comprehend "why" she is singing "what" she is singing... I don't have the necessary musical vocabulary needed to properly express myself but I will get there some day!


I still don't have it, but I can tell the emotion her character is feeling through her voice.


----------



## gellio (Nov 7, 2013)

niknik said:


> I have already post it in "New Maria Callas box set" but since there is now a special thread, I post it also here.
> 
> It was back to 1977 and I was only 15 years old. On the day of Maria Callas' death, one of the two public TV channels presented as a tribute to her the 1959 Hamburg recital. I sat down to see it from simple curiosity. I have to note that I had never heard before in my life opera and I knew nothing about it, nor any member of my family or friend had such a preference. Then something magical happened.
> Without understanding anything from what this woman was singing - the recital played without subtitles - i was deeply moved and deeply impressed. From that moment I wanted to know more about this woman and so began my own journey of acquaintance and love for Maria Callas. A journey that has come to make Maria the best friend in my life and the best companion both to my joys and sorrows.


What a wonderful store. Thank you for sharing. I can relate. Our generation (I'm 47) or those after ours will never hear anything like her. I can also say that about Nilsson. I was watching her sing the Liebestod at a concert, on YouTube, and I sat there thinking how blessed those people were to hear such utter greatness. A greatness I will never know what is like to experience.


----------



## Guest (Dec 12, 2017)

gellio said:


> I've posted this story on this forum before, but I love it - so I will post it again. My first opera recordings were _Boheme_ and _Traviata_, but as much as I loved classical music at the time, I couldn't really get into opera. Then I saw the move Amadeus (this was 1996 - long after its release). So, I started making my way through Mozart's mature operas, so I knew the names Sutherland, Pavarotti, Solti, Schwarzkopf, Gobbi and other Mozartians. Mozart's operas turned opera into a passion for me, so it was time to explore others.
> 
> The Barnes & Noble in downtown Minneapolis was right across from my office. They had a great classical music section. There was a worker there who steered me through the many different choices with the Mozart opera recordings. I had grown to really value and trust his opinion. I wanted to try Carmen. I came in was looking at the Carmen section and picked up the Solti. I was holding it and reading the back. He came over and said, "No, not that one" and grabbed the Callas off the shelf and said, "This one." I said no because I knew Solti and his was 3 CDs versus Callas's on 2 CD (I had thought 2CDs meant there was cuts - naive - and I had never heard of her at that point anyway). He told me he would absolutely not sell me any other Carmen than the Callas. He said I haven't heard anything like her, and there would never again be anyone like her. He went on and on and on about how great this Callas was. So, whatever, I got tired of arguing and bought it.
> 
> ...


Wow... really first-rate post - my compliments! These posts have been enormously helpful as I begin my Callas journey and I will always be grateful to all who have participated...

At some point, knowing me all too well, my complete inability to restrain my cheerful over-the-top enthusiasm and crazed wild-eyed excitement will inevitably make everyone regret that they made the mistake of encouraging me in the first place but until that moment arrives I will continue to bounce off the walls of the forum in the high-spirited thrill of new discoveries!

Callas, nous voilà!


----------



## gellio (Nov 7, 2013)

Nudge and a Wink said:


> Wow... really first-rate post - my compliments! These posts have been enormously helpful as I begin my Callas journey and I will always be grateful to all who have participated...
> 
> At some point, knowing me all too well, my complete inability to restrain my cheerful over-the-top enthusiasm and crazed wild-eyed excitement will inevitably make everyone regret that they made the mistake of encouraging me in the first place but until that moment arrives I will continue to bounce off the walls of the forum in the high-spirited thrill of new discoveries!
> 
> Callas, nous voilà!


Thanks for the compliment. Bounce, Bounce, Bounce! It's amazing. It's amazing to find something you love so much. For me my three big loves are Beethoven, Mozart, and Callas. It's wonderful to have these experiences.

Vienna is my favorite city. I've been six times and have decided to go every summer since 2015 (my first trip back in 9 years - I vowed never to let more than a year pass without going there). Anyway. the first time I was there was in 2000. I went to the Central Cemetery and saw the composers graves, including Beethoven. At that time, I hadn't explored Beethoven's music - I was all about Mozart. I hadn't gone back to the Central Cemetery on my next four visits. Seeing Beethoven's grave was really no big deal.

Last summer, I took my mom to Vienna and we went to the Central Cemetery. She really wanted to see it. Me not so much. By this time, Beethoven had become my #1. His music moves me like no other, even Mozart. I had seen his grave before, no big deal. So I thought. Thank God I had sunglasses on, because the second I saw his grave I started crying. It was so weird. So unexpected. I had no control over it. It was like all his music just welled up inside me, or something. I had to walk away. All I wanted to do was sit down, be by myself, and just weep. I had never expected I would have such a reaction. I stood there rapidly blinking my eyes to try and make it go away. It took a while. I will now visit his grave every time I go back there, preferably alone.

I guess we can't explain some things, but if music makes us bounce off the walls or makes us lose control over our feelings, we have been SO BLESSED to find it. I cannot imagine my life without this music, and I think it's the thing I'm most grateful for.

Love being here and sharing with all of you.


----------



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Woodduck said:


> Well, if you think _you_ can comprehend the existence in one person of an extraordinary vocal instrument, a profound musicianship, and a theatrical presence and acting ability of the highest order, my hat is off to you. If you have a better word than "genius" for the phenomenon of Callas, I'll be glad to hear it. At her level of brilliance, interpretation is a powerful act of creation; she brought into existence characters of a specificity and power unsuspected by anyone else, and not obviously implicit in the musical and dramatic material she was working with. It isn't hyperbole to say that Lucia or Medea as realized by Callas are beings greater than those created by Donizetti and Cherubini. Operatic characters are generally pretty one-dimensional; the genius of Callas added the other two dimensions - plus an inexplicable fourth: _genius!_
> 
> Originally, "genius" referred to a spirit by which a person was possessed and thereby enabled to perform acts beyond the normal and known boundaries of human capacity. Artists often speak of feeling as if they are instruments being used by a higher power, their work guided by an unseen and irresistible intelligence. This was surely the experience of that dumpy, pimply, myopic kid from Manhattan, insecure all her life, who got up on stage and became La Divina, a being greater than Maria whose demands Maria could hardly bear and for whom she gave her life.
> 
> I don't know why some people are so hostile to the idea of genius. I guess you either have the ability to know it when you're in its presence, or you don't.


... if you had read what I put instead of constantly putting your own interpretation on it you know I'm not hostile at all to the idea of genius. It is just that I tend to reserve it for people who are creative not interpretive.. If you want to do different that's fine. 
As for her feeling that they are instruments of a higher power, where do you get that from? Did Callas feel that? She was a thespian who spent her life in a fictional world. She did not perform beyond the bounds of normal unknown boundaries of human capacity as she was a thespian singer. That is not to decry her incredible talent for interpretation of roles but it does allow us perspective. To say she 'gave her life' is not correct. She could not cope with the life she led so fell into the arms of a rich tycoon as she said wanted to be a woman rather than a singer. Sadly she was hugely betrayed by the man who she trusted and it destroyed her.
If you read the life of Elvis Presley you will find exactly the same issues cropping up. Someone who had a genius for stage performance but couldn't cope with the life it gave him. There are quite striking parallels. The tragedy is quite incredible of someone who was an incredibly successful artist - adored by millions - yet far less successful as a person. 
Does any of this take away from the talent of Presley or Callas? Not at all. I can still enjoy their recordings but I simply don't falling for this 'worship' or mystique some people feel they must tag on. I don't have this mistake about artists - to me they are just people with more talent than most of us.
And just in case you haven't got the point, I am a Callas admirer and have quite a number of her recordings in my collection. I'm just not a worshipper


----------



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Deleted post".......


----------



## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Woodduck said:


> I love these little comments by Dame Judi Dench, whom I admire immensely in her own right. It's telling, and completely charming, when she calls the immensity of Callas's gifts "grossly unfair":


I'm sure this wasn't her intention (or yours), but, to be honest, I've always felt it was more dismissive than complimentary to refer to someone's abilities as "gifts" rather than "aptitude", "achievements", etc. There was some talent there, sure, but it was maybe 5% talent and 95% busting her **** like a workhorse.
Edit: oh come on.....even when I spell it like an Irishman it's bleebed out? y'all are so vanilla XD


----------



## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

DavidA said:


> This sort of stuff is typical of what I am talking about. If someone doesn't fall into line with your worship of this performer then of course it's their fault that they don't have the ability or they are hostile to the idea of genius. Of course if you had read what I put instead of constantly putting your own interpretation on it you know I'm not hostile at all to the idea of genius. It is just that I tend to reserve it for people who are creative not interpretive.. If you want to do different that's fine.
> As for her feeling that they are instruments of a higher power, where do you get that from? Did Callas feel that? She was a thespian who spent her life in a fictional world. She did not perform beyond the bounds of normal unknown boundaries of human capacity as she was a thespian singer. That is not to decry her incredible talent for interpretation of roles but it does allow us perspective. To say she 'gave her life' is not correct. She could not cope with the life she led so fell into the arms of a rich tycoon as she said wanted to be a woman rather than a singer. Sadly she was hugely betrayed by the man who she trusted and it destroyed her.
> If you read the life of Elvis Presley you will find exactly the same issues cropping up. Someone who had a genius for stage performance but couldn't cope with the life it gave him. There are quite striking parallels. The tragedy is quite incredible of someone who was an incredibly successful artist - adored by millions - yet far less successful as a person.
> Does any of this take away from the talent of Presley or Callas? Not at all. I can still enjoy their recordings but I simply don't falling for this 'worship' or mystique some people feel they must tag on. I don't have this mistake about artists - to me they are just people with more talent than most of us.
> And just in case you haven't got the point, I am a Callas admirer and have quite a number of her recordings in my collection. I'm just not a worshipper


Not sure whether Woodduck's excellent response was deleted by him or the mods, but, David, really, why do you take such pleasure from raining on other people's parades?


----------



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

GregMitchell said:


> Not sure whether Woodduck's excellent response was deleted by him or the mods, but, David, really, why do you take such pleasure from *raining on other people's parades?*


Sorry but just loom at the question posted by the OP. That surely allows a response such as I have given without the accusation of 'raining on other people's parades.' Or don't you believe there should be any differences of opinion on TC


----------



## Guest (Dec 12, 2017)

Yikes!... This might be the ideal time for me to lighten things up a bit, eh?...

"At some point, knowing me all too well, my complete inability to restrain my cheerful over-the-top enthusiasm and crazed wild-eyed excitement will inevitably make everyone regret that they made the mistake of encouraging me in the first place but until that moment arrives I will continue to bounce off the walls of the forum in the high-spirited thrill of new discoveries!"

I'm starting to sound really scary again and I fear becoming as wild and unpredictable as my slap shot (more on that later)... The part of my mind that will be focusing intently on my Maria Callas studies has taken out a restraining order on my "sense of humour" and consequently said "sense of humour" cannot come within one hundred feet of the part of my mind which will be focusing intently on my Maria Callas studies... And so with that in mind...

The serious part of the post: 

Resolutions made - 

1.) Talk less, listen more...

2.) Talk less, read more...

3.) Just talk less in general... consider taking a "vow of silence" ( a vaguely insulting long-time request made 
frequently by my mom... and my six kid sisters...and quite frankly everyone else who makes 
the mistake of engaging me in conversation...)

With those resolutions in mind I have done the following -

Purchased - 1.) Maria Callas Remastered: The Complete Studio Recordings (1949-1969)

 2.) Maria Callas – Live Remastered Recordings 1949–1964

3.) Maria Callas Edition

Purchased - 1.) "Opera 101: A Complete Guide to Learning and Loving Opera" by Fred Plotkin

2.) "A History of Opera" by Carolyn Abbate

3.) "The Grove Book of Operas" by Stanley Sadie

And now on to the cheerful high-spirited nonsense...

I was trying to imagine what my mom's reaction would be when I grandly announced (note: I never seem to just "announce" anything it's always "grandly announced" which helps to explain why I'm frequently asked to take a "vow of silence") that I was going to study the works of Maria Callas...I was expecting her (at the very least) to say "I am so very proud of you"...

Now, it's important at this point to know that the ratio of times in which my mom has said "I am so very disappointed in you" to "I am so very proud of you" is approximately 1000 to 1 and even that 1 is hotly disputed by all six of my sisters who claim that mom was being "sardonic" at the time...

And so I tell my mom about my intended Maria Callas journey while she's prepping dinner and showing off these crazy-good knife skills...(I need to pause here yet again because it only slowly dawns on me that my mom is wielding a razor sharp chef's knife and I'm about to tell her something that just may push her over the edge and so I slowly and carefully back away from the prep island in the kitchen)...and my mom...my mom...doesn't even look up... she just says "Yeah, right"...

My mom and all six of my kid sisters have developed and perfected into an art form an identical way of expressing their contemptuous dismissive disdain for most everything that I say or do... and it's all contained in a tidy little two word phrase..."yeah, right"... Now most (if not all) things that my mom says to me are vaguely insulting but I've noticed lately that my mom and my six kid sisters and most everyone else is skipping the "vaguely" part of the phrase and going straight to "insulting"... which to me, quite frankly has become...has become....well...I guess "insulting" is the word I'm looking for...

Knowing in advance that my mom (and my six kid sisters and most everyone else come to think of it) would not believe me I brought along the Presto Classical and Amazon receipts to show her... My mom (thankfully) puts down the razor sharp chef's knife and I notice that the blood is draining from her face...she actually staggers a little bit before grabbing onto the countertop to steady herself... Even I couldn't describe the look of disbelief that she gave me so you'll have to use your imagination but trust me she skipped "vaguely" and went right for "insulting"...

After taking a moment to collect herself... my mom...get this and by "this" you will understand everything that you will ever need to know about my mom and her relationship with me... The first thing and I literally mean the first thing my mom says is "If you're going to do this the right way you'll need to learn Italian"...(This is the point where the blood drained from my face, I staggered and needed to grab onto the countertop to steady myself)...Upon hearing this the first thought that pops into my head is "I may no longer be the member of our family that everyone not-so-secretly suspects is actually and literally crazy"...

Once I regained my equilibrium I immediately replied "You listen to opera all the time and you didn't have to learn Italian so why do I have to?"...This wasn't quite as snappy a comeback as I was hoping for but I was still lightheaded from the "having to learn Italian" portion of her response...She immediately and I'm being serious about this - she immediately starts fluently rattling off something or other in Italian for FIVE NONSTOP MINUTES... The part of me that was expressing amazement and puzzlement over my mom's previous unknown (at least to me...my sister Janie claims that everyone in the family knew that mom could speak Italian and my not knowing that is further proof (if more was needed which it's not) that I am in fact "a self-centered clueless idiot who's even dumber than he looks")...ability to speak Italian is slowly being replaced by a the dawning realization that while I do not in fact have the vaguest idea as to what my mom is saying to me in Italian I do know that somehow and in someway it is mortally insulting...(Again my kid sister Janie would pipe up with "why does it have to be "mortally" insulting? Why can't something just be "insulting"...sigh...my kid sisters...)

I immediately forget the "mortally insulting" part of what my mom is saying to me when I suddenly realize (it's as if the heavens opened, the sun started shining, and birds started to sing) that somehow I am intuitively understanding the "why", and "how", and "what" that she is saying to me in Italian even though I don't speak a word of the language and I realize with a rare moment of clear-headed insight that I may actually be able to acquire a life long passion for all things Callas because it doesn't matter if you don't understand "what" she is saying as long as you can "hear" how she uses her voice to express the emotions within her heart, mind, and soul... Magically mystically my mom has somehow transmogrified into Maria Callas!...

While I'm dwelling on the seemingly impossible transformation of my Canadian mom into a Greek-American opera singer my mind is suddenly derailed and jumps the tracks when my mom says..."I'm going to buy you the Rosetta "Learn Italian" set for Christmas!"...The first thought that came to me was "for Christmas?!" (I can't describe the horror contained within my voice - you'll have to use your imagination) but that thought was immediately replaced with the word "set"..."Set?!" I exclaimed with even more horror in my voice than I used earlier...

My mom says "I'll buy you all three modules"...At this point I have to sit at the countertop because I'm certain that my mother has suddenly become clinically insane and I should call a doctor or something but she didn't finish prepping the meal and I'm starting to get really hungry and I'm thinking "maybe I'll have her involuntarily committed into the insane asylum after dinner"...

My mom says - get this - "all you'll have to do is spend an hour a day and before you know it you'll be fluent"...I thinking "an hour a day? - who is this woman and what have they done with my mom?"...Needless to say I begin to bitterly protest the very idea of me spending an hour a day learning Italian...My mom immediately fires back "You didn't have any problems practicing your slap shot every day for two hours" and I (quite snappily I must say) fire back with... with... nothing to tell you the truth because as always my mom has just completely nailed me but good... 

I needed to practice my slap shot for two hours a day because although I could really rifle it - fast and hard - it was unbelievably wild and unpredictable...When I wound up to take that slap-shot no one... not me, not my teammates, not the opposing team and certainly not their goalie had any idea whatsoever as to where that slap-shot was going... I probably (seriously, no exaggeration) hit more of my own teammates with my shot than anyone or anything else... Christ, the grief they used to give me when I beaned them in the melon (head) or shot one right into their solar plexus which would immediately cause them to crumple to the ice in excruciating pain - I would skate by and say "get up ya c*y-b**y - compassion probably wasn't one of my strong suits back then... Slap-shots hurt like crazy when you get nailed by one and I was a virtual carpenter when it came to nailing someone...

While practicing my slap-shot I used to fire literally hundreds of pucks against the our garage door (which my dad encouraged - he actually wanted me to be a hockey player) and for hours all you would hear is "BAM", "BAM", "BAM", "BAM", "BAM", "BAM"...
I could do that because my mom was in school at the time.... If I tried to pull a stunt like that when she was home she would have probably gone through with her frequent threat to "sell me to the gypsies" which my six kid sisters still wish she would do...

The second time that we needed to replace the garage door ended my slap-shot practice without any further discussion. I blame their misplaced concern over the garage door for my wild and unpredictable slap-shot...

On a second completely irrelevant topic - my wrist shot - was responsible for breaking not one not two but three dryers... Like all Canadian kids who have a washer and dryer in their basement the first thing you need to do when working on your "wrister" is to open the door of the dryer and try to fire as many pucks into the dryer that you possibly can... The one flaw in that technique is that when you miss the open dryer door you're firing one right onto the dryer itself (and in my case the washer next to it because my "wrister" was almost as wild and unpredictable as my slap-shot) and eventually the missed shots are going to bang the bejeesus out of the dryer (and anything even vaguely near it) and it will soon be covered with hundreds and hundreds of black marks and gashes and dings and dents and scratches that the puck leaves when you sail it into the white coloured dryer (and again in my case the washer next to it)...At some point one of my wild and unpredictable "wristers" would nail the knobs of the dryer (and again in my case the washer next to it) and they would break right off which rendered them virtually useless which needless to say did not exactly lead to my mom saying "I am so very proud of you" thus accounting for the 1000 to 1 ratio discrepancy...

So now I'm getting a 3 volume Rosetta Stone "Learning Italian" for Christmas... sigh... my mom...It could have been worse...One year my Christmas present was a new washer and dryer (to replace the ones I broke with my wild and unpredictable "wrister"... 

That mom of mine sure has some sense of humour, eh?


----------



## DarkAngel (Aug 11, 2010)

^^^^ No one in my family listens to opera, so I am on my own.....good to have mom that will be source of encouragement!

That seems a bit extreme to go out and learn italian language to listen to your Callas, if you start watching subtitled opera videos and you will learn key phrases and words......many times you can't understand the words in any language because of the heavy stylistic singing of opera


----------



## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

Please keep comments focused on the thread topic and not each other. Several posts have been removed.


----------



## Guest (Dec 12, 2017)

That scrap was just too fierce for words...Best to follow the mods advice and just pick up where we left off, eh? 

Although I would slightly alter the mods comments to recommend that everyone keep their comments focused on my comments rather than on the thread itself or each other...

We're all going to be cool now, eh? -


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> I'm sure this wasn't her intention (or yours), but, to be honest, I've always felt it was more dismissive than complimentary to refer to someone's abilities as "gifts" rather than "aptitude", "achievements", etc. There was some talent there, sure, but it was maybe 5% talent and 95% busting her **** like a workhorse.
> Edit: oh come on.....even when I spell it like an Irishman it's bleebed out? y'all are so vanilla XD


Of course Callas worked very hard to achieve what she did. But that reminds me of what Bach said when someone praised his work: "I've been obliged to work hard. Anyone who works as hard will do as well."

Sure they will.

(BTW, references to body parts are strictly verboten. The kiddies who hang out here in such numbers should not be reminded that certain appendages and crevices exist, lest their little minds be distracted from the dignified contemplation of art.)


----------



## Guest (Dec 12, 2017)

DarkAngel said:


> ^^^^ No one in my family listens to opera, so I am on my own.....good to have mom that will be source of encouragement!
> 
> That seems a bit extreme to go out and learn italian language to listen to your Callas, if you start watching subtitled opera videos and you will learn key phrases and words......many times you can't understand the words in any language because of the heavy stylistic singing of opera


You hit on one of the most difficult aspects that I've encountered whilst trying to both listen to the opera itself and follow along (as best as I can) with the libretto... Some of those spectacular vocal gymnastics while sonically thrilling tend to inevitably cause me to lose my way and before too long I'm as lost in the woods as Hansel and Gretel...


----------



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Woodduck said:


> *Of course Callas worked very hard to achieve what she did. *But that reminds me of what Bach said when someone praised his work: "I've been obliged to work hard. Anyone who works as hard will do as well."
> 
> Sure they will.
> 
> (BTW, references to body parts are strictly verboten. The kiddies who hang out here in such numbers should not be reminded that certain appendages and crevices exist, lest their little minds be distracted from the dignified contemplation of art.)


it was quite phenomenal. I often wonder whether she didn't take heavy parts too early and that's why the voice didn't last. What do you think?


----------



## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

It never ceases to amaze me how the name Maria Callas can elicit such passionate, angry, knowledgeable and dichotomous opinions.
David A: Although I find that most times we are rarely on the same page in most things operatic, and the fact that I am in the Calla-as-seen-as-genius-in-her-division camp, I do see what you are trying to say about whether or not she belongs in the same space as, say, a composer or writer, etc. And you do have a point.

However, there is one thing missing in your otherwise understandable post, and it is something that you probably will never get because it is something that is almost intangible -- a thing that you either "get" immediately or it flies right by you. So you don't "get it". So what? There are plenty who feel as you do and that's fine as we all have our personal opinions. 
But the truth of the matter is I doubt very much that anyone is going to jump from one camp to the other.
Fortunately, this a good thing. Just think how boring these threads would be if we all thought exactly alike.


----------



## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Arguably the more significant contribution of Maria Callas during her career, was the recovery of a long lost vocality, the 'soprano sfogato or soprano assoluto'. 

Roles like Norma, written by Bellini for the great Giuditta Pasta, are examples of this vocality. Listening to Callas, one could pretend to close his eyes, and transport himself to Italy, in the 1830s. 

If we read the description of Pasta's voice given by her contemporaries, we can apply them almost verbatim to Callas. Exactly like the way the voice of both singers deteriorated after an intense, but rather short career.

Don't be fooled by that. Callas's career lasted only a few years, but we will remember her during an eternity. Other singers had a seemingly eternal career, but will stay only a few years in our memory.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

nina foresti said:


> It never ceases to amaze me how the name Maria Callas can elicit such passionate, angry, knowledgeable and dichotomous opinions...Just think how boring these threads would be if we all thought exactly alike.


There's no possibility that we will all think alike, especially with regard to a phenomenon like Callas. But there's nothing in anyone's singing to arouse anyone's anger. People get angry, needlessly, when the objects of their musical passions and pleasures are disparaged by others, but more justifiably when they feel themselves disparaged for having those passions and pleasures. Regardless of what we think of Callas as an artist or as a person, or how we feel about the extraordinary intensity of the feelings she generates in some, we should observe the difference between criticizing the artist and criticizing her fans. Doing the former can be constructive; doing the latter is out of bounds.

Fans of musicians and other famous public figures may strike those who don't share their particular enthusiasms as slightly insane. I could never comprehend my schoolmates shrieking and fainting over the Beatles when they could have been listening to _Parsifal_! But how is it my place to criticize or condemn anyone else's harmless enjoyment? And really, why would I want to? We've probably all rolled our eyes at people who adore what we don't, and caught ourselves making assumptions about those weirdos and cultists who really ought to get a life. But if we have more than fleeting thoughts of this kind, or feel compelled to tell those silly fans what's wrong with them, it's time to take serious stock of our motives, and maybe even ask ourselves what we ourselves might be missing out on.

On a personal note, I don't think of myself a "fan" of anyone, though if someone should want to call me a "Callas fan" or a "Wagner fan," I would not object very strenuously. I don't collect memorabilia, I don't have posters on my wall, I don't talk friends' ears off about my passions (unless they share them), I don't spend myself into penury to have the latest and best-sounding recording of every note a singer ever uttered, and I don't take offense whenever what I love is fairly criticized from a position of sound knowledge, or simple lack of knowledge. But as far as Callas is concerned, I'm firm in the knowledge that there is no singer whose art is more worthy of respect, and none to whom I have been more grateful for showing me what music can mean when we get beyond the notes on the page. Recognizing her vocal flaws, I nevertheless don't hesitate to call her the greatest operatic artist of my lifetime and of the era of recorded music, insofar as I'm acquainted with it, and to do so even given the paucity of visual documentation of her stage career.

My estimate of Callas is personal, but it's informed by a musical understanding cultivated over a lifetime of experience as singer, pianist, composer and music lover. Not all of Callas's admirers are musicians; most probably are not. There will be people of all sorts who, coming upon her unsuspecting, will be stunned and changed by the encounter with her uniqueness, and they may become passionately devoted and seek to express their enthusiasm in ways that do justice to an object that seems to defy the possibility of that. At the other extreme there will be those who are put off by the unusual timbre of her voice and will never succeed in getting beyond that visceral dislike to an appreciation of her art. I know those people are missing out on something unique and marvelous, but I don't disrespect them. Callas will always be there if and when they're ready for her.

I say to her most devoted fans: carry on! She lives on in recordings that will forever stand as monuments to the art of music, and she lives on in you.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

schigolch said:


> Callas's career lasted only a few years, but we will remember her during an eternity. Other singers had a seemingly eternal career, but will stay only a few years in our memory.


Her career was actually longer than many realize. Her professional debut occurred in 1941, she first sang Tosca the next year, and her last performance in an opera was 24 years later, in 1965.


----------



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

nina foresti said:


> It never ceases to amaze me how the name Maria Callas can elicit such passionate, angry, knowledgeable and dichotomous opinions.
> David A: Although I find that most times we are rarely on the same page in most things operatic, and the fact that I am in the Calla-as-seen-as-genius-in-her-division camp, I do see what you are trying to say about whether or not she belongs in the same space as, say, a composer or writer, etc. And you do have a point.
> 
> However, there is one thing missing in your otherwise understandable post, and it is something that you probably will never get because it is something that is almost intangible -- a thing that you either "get" immediately or it flies right by you. *So you don't "get it". So what? *There are plenty who feel as you do and that's fine as we all have our personal opinions.
> ...


Looking at the posts, the angry responses appear to come from those who are defending Callas not the other way! I am puzzled when you say I don't 'get it'. What is there to 'get'? I think that Callas was a great singing actress - OK? I have quite a few of her recordings. OK? ...They are people who deal in fictional representation on stage not reality. I reserve deep personal admiration for people (say) who run orphanages for children of AIDS victims in some of the poorest places in the world, not people who act on stage. I admire the latter's talent but leave it at the theatre or on the disc.


----------



## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

DavidA said:


> Looking at the posts, the angry responses appear to come from those who are defending Callas not the other way! I am puzzled when you say I don't 'get it'. What is there to 'get'? I think that Callas was a great singing actress - OK? I have quite a few of her recordings. OK? I don't fall at Callas' feet to worship her but then I don't do that with any thespian. They are people who deal in fictional representation on stage not reality. I reserve deep personal admiration for people (say) who run orphanages for children of AIDS victims in some of the poorest places in the world, not people who act on stage. I admire the latter's talent but leave it at the theatre or on the disc.


----------



## Guest (Dec 13, 2017)

schigolch said:


> Arguably the more significant contribution of Maria Callas during her career, was the recovery of a long lost vocality, the 'soprano sfogato or soprano assoluto'.
> 
> Roles like Norma, written by Bellini for the great Giuditta Pasta, are examples of this vocality. Listening to Callas, one could pretend to close his eyes, and transport himself to Italy, in the 1830s.
> 
> ...


I have to be completely honest...I don't have the vaguest idea as to what this poster is talking about but when I saw the well-regarded and highly respected member names "Becca" and "Woodduck" had given this post "Likes" I realized that this was a perfect opportunity for me to jump on the bandwagon (destination unknown to once again be quite honest) and thus solidify my status as one of the forum's "Great Minds"...

Now if I can just get DarkAngel or The Conte or Rossiniano or Nina Foresti to add their names my day would be made...


----------



## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

A 'soprano sfogato' is basically a singer able to get a potent, heavy low register, while at the same time she can sing in the traditional soprano range, and manage well coloratura.

Most of the roles are coming from Italian belcanto period: Norma, Anna Bolena, Abigaille, Armida... We are talking the very great divas of the 19th century, women like Giuditta Pasta, María Malibrán, Isabella Colbran,... Legendary stuff.

This is what Callas did, to sing in the 20th century some of these roles, the way they were conceived and performed when they were created. Including, for instance, the rescue of Amina, a role written and premiered by Giuditta Pasta, that with the passing of time was sung by very light sopranos.

Of course, this was not the only thing that Callas did. But it was very daring, and for sure the one I like the most.


----------



## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

My dear N & W:
I suspect you are confused by the terms "soprano sfogato and assoluta" -- terms one does not hear very often these days because it is an unusual sound that not many sopranos seem to have. You are likely quite familiar with terms like lyric soprano, dramatic soprano and the like, but sopranos in the sfogato/assoluta category have the ability to sing coloratura-like highs with the same comfort as a contralto-like low. You must admit that this sound is most unusual -- and intriguing.
If you are more interested in delving into this type of voice and the comparisons made between Pasta and Callas, you might want to read Ardoin/Fitzgerald's _Callas_ -- to me a must in any operatic library. 
And to make your day, I too will add my name to the "likes" in schilgoch's post which I should have done in the first place.


----------



## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Oops! Two minds with the same thought, posting at the same time!


----------



## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

And if you are really interested, this is a book devoted entirely to the 'assoluto'* voice:










* In Italian, soprano is masculine genre. We say 'il soprano'. So the correct way should be 'soprano assoluto' and not 'assoluta'. But this last term is more popular with English-speaking people.


----------



## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

schigolch said:


> And if you are really interested, this is a book devoted entirely to the 'assoluto'* voice:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


B-b-b-b-but even the title you posted above invokes the "A"!


----------



## Granate (Jun 25, 2016)

Off-topic. Moved to HWR.


----------



## Guest (Dec 13, 2017)

nina foresti said:


> My dear N & W:
> ...you might want to read Ardoin/Fitzgerald's _Callas_ -- to me a must in any operatic library.
> And to make your day, I too will add my name to the "likes" in schilgoch's post which I should have done in the first place.


My dear Nina...

Thank you for the advice and guidance... I will indeed follow up with your recommendation by adding that title to my library... This is the one subject that I do indeed intend to take seriously and I listen, respect, and pay attention to the advice and guidance that forum members have so generously and kindly provided...

I really wasn't kidding when I resolved to talk less and listen more and talk less and read more and talk less and...and... well... I reckon just talk less in general...

And as a sign of that genuine respect I refrain from engaging in my usual cheerful high-spirited nonsense when discussing this particular subject matter...which is actually a significant show of respect because it's almost impossible for me to do so and thus I hope everyone appreciates the incredible almost unbearable toll that this is taking on me...

I don't like to brag (I'm lying - I love to brag - I even do so when I don't actually have anything to brag about) but my having to restrain my sense of humour is affecting my physical and mental well-being but I have decided to sacrifice said physical and mental well-being for "_La Divina_"...

Yikes! - cheerful high-spirited nonsense decides to make an appearance after all!

Oh well, that's yet another resolution shot to hell... for a brief moment there I was trying to channel DarkAngel or Rossiniano but lacking the credentials and the credibility I don't think that I was able to quite pull it off... Maybe it's my avatar...If someone comes across a bright yellow winking emoticon with that very stylish hat worn on the really quite lovely photo of Maria Callas on DA's avatar send it along, eh? I'll try it on, see how I look, ask everyone what they think, and change it if requested to do so by popular demand...

Best wishes and once again allow me to express my gratitude to one and all... NW

and Nina you did indeed help make my day! - It's a rare day indeed (truth be told it's never actually happened before) that I find myself in such stellar company!... :tiphat:


----------



## Guest (Dec 13, 2017)

DavidA said:


> I would balk at the description 'incomprehensible genius' as it's a phrase I reserve for Mozart, Bach and others who are creative genius.


David, if you wanted to add my name to that list of "incomprehensible geniuses" I wouldn't be offended ... You have my permission so feel free to do so as I would be quite flattered...but maybe lose the "incomprehensible" part, eh? I don't know if it's just me but it sounds vaguely insulting... "Incomprehensible genius"?...Nah... Maybe just go with "genius" when you're referring to Mozart, Bach, myself, and the others who are creative geniuses from now on, okay?... Thanks! :tiphat:


----------



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Nudge and a Wink said:


> David, if you wanted to add my name to that list of "incomprehensible geniuses" I wouldn't be offended ... You have my permission so feel free to do so as I would be quite flattered...but maybe lose the "incomprehensible" part, eh? I don't know if it's just me but it sounds vaguely insulting... "Incomprehensible genius"?...Nah... Maybe just go with "genius" when you're referring to Mozart, Bach, myself, and the others who are creative geniuses from now on, okay?... Thanks! :tiphat:


The word 'incomprehensible' when applied to genius means that you just cannot understand how they do it. I mean, how could Mozart produce the amount of music of that quality in a few years? How can Bach write a piece for solo violin like the Chaconne and produce so much emotion to it? How did Newton figure out his Philosophiæ Naturalis Principe Mathematica given the knowledge that was around at the time? How could Einstein play mind games with himself to produce the Special Theory of Relativity? To an ordinary mortal like me these things are incomprehensible.
With singers like Callas or actors like Olivier I can see the genius but it's somehow more within the comprehension (although not within the reach) of ordinary mortals like myself.


----------



## Granate (Jun 25, 2016)

Nudge and a Wink said:


> Oh well, that's yet another resolution shot to hell... for a brief moment there I was trying to channel DarkAngel or Rossiniano but lacking the credentials and the credibility I don't think that I was able to quite pull it off... *Maybe it's my avatar...If someone comes across a bright yellow winking emoticon with that very stylish hat worn on the really quite lovely photo of Maria Callas on DA's avatar send it along, eh? I'll try it on, see how I look, ask everyone what they think, and change it if requested to do so by popular demand...*


N&W, I've been with my Samurai-Jackish avatar since I logged in here and I never notice anyone to back down. You should keep the emoji, but maybe find a better design, or wait until your birthday when I send you a re-design as a gift!


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

To say that someone possesses "incomprehensible genius" is merely rhetorical redundancy. There's no sense in debating it as if it were a scientific proposition. But if we have to be literal about it, I fail to see how _any_ genius is comprehensible.

There's been a thread going for some time "Genius" in which people have been arguing about what genius is and who possesses it. I guess that's an interesting question, but in the last analysis it comes down to our ability to recognize the truly remarkable in human achievement. Quibbling about whether certain individuals qualify for the honor is silly, and if we've time to indulge in that we might better consider getting a job or, if retired, taking up a hobby (listening to music, say).

Speaking for myself, I can't comprehend genius in any form (despite the fact that I've been accused more than once of possessing it). I can't comprehend, for instance, how Maria Callas, in recording a role she had never sung before, could create a characterization in the studio more distinctive and vivid than that of any other known singer, even one with years of experience singing and acting the role in the opera house. Recall, if you will, what an operatic role consists of before a performer opens her mouth in the recording studio. All there is, all she has to work with, is a bunch of notes on a staff, a synopsis of the plot, maybe some general acting directions, and her own memory of what other singers have done. I think its safe to say that most performances we hear on recordings give us, more or less, all of the above in recognizable form, and if the singer has good musicianship and something distinctive in her voice and personality we'll get an enjoyable recording that seems to do justice to her role. But what we get from Callas is much more than that. From her we get an act of continuous creativity which seems to read between the lines of the score, extract ideas about her character which are as true to the music and text as they are original and revelatory, and which she is able, somehow, to convey through the most precise and subtle musical and vocal inflections, illuminating simultaneously both the shape of the music and the psychology of the role. We can hear Callas perform this uncanny feat again and again in her recordings. We cannot now, except in fragments of film and still photographs, see her marry this unequaled musical insight with physical action onstage. But we know that she was able to do exactly that, and that the effect was overwhelming and unforgettable to people who witnessed it.

No one - not you or I, not Callas herself - "comprehends" a phenomenon like this. And to call it "incomprehensible genius" is not to invite senseless debate but to pay a wholly deserved tribute to greatness.


----------



## Guest (Dec 13, 2017)

Granate said:


> N&W, I've been with my Samurai-Jackish avatar since I logged in here and I never notice anyone to back down. You should keep the emoji, but maybe find a better design, or wait until your birthday when I send you a re-design as a gift!


As always you have my profound gratitude for your very many kindnesses but the more I think about it the more convinced I am that the reason why people don't speak of me and my work in the same way that they do that of DarkAngel and Rossiniano (overlooking for the sake of argument that I possess neither the credibility nor the credentials of either one) is that my avatar needs to incorporate some Maria Callas-like element... like that very stylish hat worn on the really quite lovely photo of Maria Callas on DA's avatar... If only my avatar had a very stylish hat...to paraphrase Richard III in Act-V, Scene IV - "A hat! A hat! My kingdom for a hat! But not just any old hat! It must be... It must be - stylish!"

Note: I added a little something to that line I nicked from Shakespeare's _Richard III_... I think you'll agree that my version is quite a bit more humourous than his... If anyone is interested I've re-written the entire Shakespeare canon but my versions all take place in Canada instead of Britain, France, Italy, the forest of Arden, Elsinore, Athens, and the Sea; afterwards an island... When you change the locales to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan and Medicine Hat, Alberta and Kamloops, British Columbia you're placing the play in a locale that people have actually heard of... I mean, seriously, just exactly where is "the forest of Arden" or "Elsinore"? Note: don't actually answer that question as I'm merely being "rhetorical"...

And one last thing that may or may not be of any significance to you depending on how much you get hung up on concepts like "veracity" or "authenticity"... I've inserted myself as a character into all of his plays, all of them, every single one, all 37 of them... I play the role of the wise-cracking side-kick (in all 37 plays - same role - different plays) who always gets the laughs but never gets the girl... I found that Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, Othello, Antony, and Cleopatra, in particular all benefited enormously from having a wise-cracking side-kick hanging around to lighten things up... If you're interested send me PM and I'll send you a link...

Now if this doesn't prove once and for all that I am indeed an "incomprehensible genius" than nothing will...


----------



## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

I realise that the thread has drifted somewhat (and what a wonderful thread it is), but I would like to go back to the OP and share my Callas journey.

I can remember the first time I heard Callas, but in order to describe the experience I need to explain a bit about my relationship with opera at that time. I was a classical music fan and I had a series of cassette tapes with various famous classical pieces on which also had a few opera arias on. I had only heard excerpts at this stage and liked the tuneful arias from Trovatore, Carmen, Barbiere, Boheme and Faust most. One of the arias on these tapes was the Renata Tebaldi 'Un bel di' from the complete recording with Serafin and I couldn't understand why this was such a famous aria. (Butterfly was an opera that it took me a few listens to really get.)

One day I was listening to the radio and an aria came on and it stopped me in its tracks. It was Maria Callas singing 'Un bel di', but I didn't recognise it. My first thought was, "What is this?!" I didn't recognise the aria or necessarily had a reaction to the voice, but there was something about it that captivated me. At the end the radio announcer said that it was Maria Callas and I was surprised that it was 'Un bel di'.

I then borrowed a set of tapes from a relative with selections of arias mostly from the recital albums, but with some from the complete sets and I devoured them. I discovered so many wonderful arias that way (the Bolero from Vespri, the main Bellini ones and the letter scene from Werther to name just a few). I loved the dark, rich sound of the voice and although I didn't quite understand what it was at that stage, there was something about the way the music and text were articulated together that made it sound as though the arias HAD to be performed that way.

Then I remember CDs came out and I discovered a local classical music shop. My first complete opera on CD was the 1953 Tosca (I already had seen and knew the opera, but I had to hear the classic recording.) Then the 1955 live Traviata (another favourite that I was excited to find with Callas). I then took a gamble on an opera that I didn't know apart from one aria and I played the 1954 Norma back to back for months as it soon became my favourite opera up to that point. Then more of the complete studio sets followed.

So yes, it was love at first listen and the more I listened the more I came to love that voice, that artistry and yes, that genius!

N.


----------



## Guest (Dec 14, 2017)

The Conte said:


> I realise that the thread has drifted somewhat (and what a wonderful thread it is), but I would like to go back to the OP and share my Callas journey.
> 
> I can remember the first time I heard Callas, but in order to describe the experience I need to explain a bit about my relationship with opera at that time. I was a classical music fan and I had a series of cassette tapes with various famous classical pieces on which also had a few opera arias on. I had only heard excerpts at this stage and liked the tuneful arias from Trovatore, Carmen, Barbiere, Boheme and Faust most. One of the arias on these tapes was the Renata Tebaldi 'Un bel di' from the complete recording with Serafin and I couldn't understand why this was such a famous aria. (Butterfly was an opera that it took me a few listens to really get.)
> 
> ...


The Conte - thank you for sharing your story - I hope someday to be able to write one as eloquent but I fear that day is far off as it requires a long journey with many a false path but one that I eagerly look forward to taking...

Your post and those so generously provided by those who have chosen to tell their own unique stories has been of invaluable use to me...Before reaching your post, I re-read everyone's story from the beginning of the thread as a way to help me find my own way as I found that I had become hopelessly lost almost before I had even started...

I had the music ( a borrowed copy of La Gioconda) and the books and the libretti and the plot synopses and character analyses and tried to combine the use of each one simultaneously only to find myself questioning whether I had somehow developed aphasia and could no longer understand even the concept of language much less the language itself...

And so... I put away the books and the libretti and the plot synopses and character analyses and started listening to "Maria Callas Live & Alive - The Ultimate Live Collection Remastered" because that's all I have as the Callas collections have not yet arrived from the UK...

And as I listened to "Vissi d'arte" and "E non giungono" and "Come è lunga l'attesa!" from "Tosca" and continued through the selections from Lucia di Lammermoor and Anna Bolena and Aida and Norma and La Traviata and all the rest that followed... There really did come "that" moment that everyone had been rhapsodizing about in their stories in which it all magically and mystically and marvelously comes together and anything and everything clicks and somehow and in someway you can hear something with a crystal clear clarity that you had never heard or even experienced before...

To be quite honest I don't have the vaguest idea as to what those words in Italian even mean (although I probably will eventually if my mom carries through on her threat to give me all three modules of the Rosetta Stone "Learning Italian" series for Christmas...(see one of my earlier posts on this thread for clarification)... And in case anyone is wondering whether I suddenly switched to cheerful high-spirited nonsense because I was becoming embarrassed at expressing the emotions that she was bringing forth while singing you would be absolutely correct...

From this point forward I'm not going to concern myself with who or what or how or why or anything other than just simply sitting quietly and listening to her voice...that's really all that matters at this point of my journey - the voice - nothing more - just the voice...The books and the libretti and the plot synopses and character analyses are all very important but they are meant for a time that is not now...


----------



## Guest (Dec 14, 2017)

DavidA said:


> The word 'incomprehensible' when applied to genius means that you just cannot understand how they do it. I mean, how could Mozart produce the amount of music of that quality in a few years? How can Bach write a piece for solo violin like the Chaconne and produce so much emotion to it? How did Newton figure out his Philosophiæ Naturalis Principe Mathematica given the knowledge that was around at the time? How did Nudge and a Wink avoid permanent banishment despite having written over one hundred and fifty posts that haven't even mentioned anything even remotely related to classical music on a site that is dedicated to classical music? How could Einstein play mind games with himself to produce the Special Theory of Relativity? To an ordinary mortal like me these things are incomprehensible.
> With singers like Callas or actors like Olivier I can see the genius but it's somehow more within the comprehension (although not within the reach) of ordinary mortals like myself.


David... all I had to do was insert an extra example into your statement (look carefully - it's after Newton) and I think you'll be forced to admit that under the criteria that you yourself specified I am indeed "an incomprehensible genius" who is graciously (I'm lying) willing to accept third place behind Mozart and Bach on your list of "incomprehensible geniuses"...

Although to be quite honest even though it's been less than 12 hours since I've been inducted in the "Incomprehensible Geniuses" club I'm already bitterly chafing at being listed third and I am currently trying to find a way to move past Bach and into second place...Right now, I've got nothing - not even a glimmer on the horizon as to how I'm going to move Bach into third place and move myself into second...

I'm getting more and more obsessed (it really is becoming quite distracting as I can't seem to focus on anything else) about my avatar's lack of a stylish hat like the one on the really quite lovely photo of Maria Callas that DA uses as his avatar... Perhaps the acquisition of said hat may allow me to leapfrog past Bach and into second place on the list but the folks on the forum may actually want me to do something a wee bit more ambitious than acquiring a very stylish hat for my avatar in order to accept my placement after Mozart but before Bach...

And for what it's worth I don't think that anyone on this forum could successfully argue that you are in any way, shape, or form "an ordinary mortal"... I mean while you're not quite able to join Mozart, Bach, or myself in the "incomprehensible geniuses" club you definitely and inarguably are far far more than merely "ordinary"... I will indeed concede the "mortal" aspect of the phrase but "ordinary" is about as far down the list of words that I personally would choose to append to "mortal" as one could possibly be...

Maybe it's just my imagination but I kind of think I just really nailed you with this one...

One last thing...Are there any tangible benefits to actually being "an comprehensible genius" like t-shirts or coffee mugs or is it "intangible" meaning that I just acquired one more thing that I get to shamelessly brag about on the forum but nothing that I can actually hold in my hands?

And at the risk of being accused of beating a dead horse I really do wish that you would consider dropping the "incomprehensible" part of "incomprehensible geniuses" because I (and surely Mozart and Bach) find that term to somehow be vaguely insulting...Maybe try calling Mozart, Bach, and myself just "geniuses", eh?

One last note...while I can't speak for Mozart or Bach (for obvious reasons as I'm fairly certain that either one or perhaps both are actually dead - I'm too lazy to walk all the way to Wikipedia to check for sure) as the only living member of the "incomprehensible geniuses" club I'm nominating Maria Callas for membership in the club and correct me if I'm wrong but as a mere "ordinary mortal" - your words not mine - I don't think that you have any legal grounds to object and so if I say she's in - she's in - end of story!

Thanks for inviting me and Maria into the club - best wishes! NW - :tiphat:


----------



## PlaySalieri (Jun 3, 2012)

Love at first listen.

I had spent my first years listening to sutherland and a lady in a CD shop said, of tosca, once you've heard callas no one else will do. I was sceptical - until I listened. the uniqueness of the voice and the intensity conquered me from the beginning - singing like no other. Thank goodness we have the recordings. The early 50s live recordings really show what she could do when her voice was in pristine condition.
My wife hates Callas and likes Caballe. But she also dismisses Mozart as a composer for keyboard beginners so I suppose just have different tastes but it's not easy.


----------



## Star (May 27, 2017)

Must confess my admiration for Callas is an acquired taste as I tend to like beautiful voices which Callas did not have to the extent of others. The artistry is remarkable however.


----------



## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

"acquired taste". my Callas journey went something like
thinking she was decent--->gradually starting to like her more--->becoming obsessed--->dying down a bit--->someone I have to be in the mood to listen to

She will always be one of the greats, but her appeal to me is a bit more "seasonal" than voices like Sutherland, Ramey, Flagstad or Merrill whom I could drop everything and listen to at any time (about about 10 Eastern European singers).

In a sense, my tastes are, largely....somewhat shallow. My tastes in television and literature are more nuanced because I expect a story with rich complexity, portrayals of authentic characters with realistic feelings and reactions, interplays between dozens of relative causal factors, etc. Callas offers all of this, and she deserves the resulting credit, but at the end of the day, when I listen to music, I'm listening for "perfection", if you will. I don't care about the emotion. I care about the beauty of the timbre, the elegance of the phrasing, the cleanness of the runs, the authority of the declamation and power that will blow me back in my seat. As long as I like the overall "vibe" of the voice, the raw emotional expression does very little for me, which is probably why I've always had a preference of the more "clean" sound of a recording.


----------



## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

Callas was an extraordinary phenomenon. Her voice was very special, a lot of people say it was ugly but to me it was far from ugly, unconventional, yes, but not ugly. For me beauty relies entirely on the emotional affect it has on me and there was something unique about Callas's voice which, even without the stunning interpretative insight, is extremely moving and human. She was at once innocent and corrupted, noble and ignoble, bright and dark. The voice conveyed more than any other and had a bewitching beauty of it's own which was not pearly or silky but raw and alluring. 

Secondly, I cannot think of another artist who has understood music in the same way as Callas, nor one whose psychological approach to roles has been more thorough or accurate. I am not someone who loves everything she sung, for some roles I prefer a little less heat, or a different type of voice, but there are some roles which I could not think of as belonging to any other singer. For Norma, Violetta, Amina, Amelia, Medea, Lucia, Anna Bolena, Tosca, Butterfly, Lady Macbeth, Gilda and Leonora Callas has no equals. In these roles she can move me like no other.

There is also the incredible interest of her as an individual. Has any other operatic singer ever been so famous? Even in 1969, around 14 years after her prime, while introducing her on French Telvision the presenter says - "I'll let you in on a little secret first of all. You've put me in a bit of a quandry, you see. By tradition, when we start a show like this, the presenter "introduces" that week's special guest, who's usually someone famous. We use a hypocritical formula, saying, "there's no need to introduce..." while actually introducing them. But with you I didn't dare! You're one of two or three people in the world of entertainment who are so well known that even people who've never heard you sing know your name." - Surely there must have been something special, something compelling about her, that made her so famous in a field which would otherwise rarely make it into the gossip colums. In the same interview she talks about how, in 1958, the newspapers in Italy swept all important political news off the front page of the papers to report on the "Rome Walkout". What was the reason for this? She was, of course, incredibly beautiful, but so were others who never garnered the same amount of attention. There are also many others who have suffered a life of great sadness and personal tragedy but never been hounded by the press like she was. Personally I think it must have been the voice. That incredible, unique voice that is so instantly recognisable and so profoundly moving. There is little doubt that what she had was more than genius, although she certainly had that too, in bucketfuls, but a rare gift of a voice that was totally different to anyone else's and could convey all the most human aspects of art.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> "acquired taste". my Callas journey went something like
> thinking she was decent--->gradually starting to like her more--->becoming obsessed--->dying down a bit--->someone I have to be in the mood to listen to
> 
> She will always be one of the greats, but her appeal to me is a bit more "seasonal" than voices like Sutherland, Ramey, Flagstad or Merrill whom I could drop everything and listen to at any time (about about 10 Eastern European singers).
> ...


You're making it sound as if you don't find "the elegance of the phrasing, the cleanness of the runs, the authority of the declamation and power that will blow me back in my seat" in Callas's singing. Exquisite phrasing, precise execution, and commanding authority are precisely what I _do_ find, in addition to the "raw emotional power" you acknowledge. But even in that respect, her expressive subtlety is far beyond anything implied by the word "raw."


----------



## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

Woodduck said:


> You're making it sound as if you don't find "the elegance of the phrasing, the cleanness of the runs, the authority of the declamation and power that will blow me back in my seat" in Callas's singing. Exquisite phrasing, precise execution, and commanding authority are precisely what I _do_ find, in addition to the "raw emotional power" you acknowledge. But even in that respect, her expressive subtlety is far beyond anything implied by the word "raw."


Maybe that's exactly the case, that he doesn't hear it. Maybe it's in recordings he's not listening to, or maybe there's just somehow doesn't click. I don't know. But ....seriously, there is no one singer, even the best, that works for everyone. It's not a slight on Callas.


----------



## Star (May 27, 2017)

Sonata said:


> Maybe that's exactly the case, that he doesn't hear it. Maybe it's in recordings he's not listening to, or maybe there's just somehow doesn't click. I don't know. *But ....seriously, there is no one singer, even the best, that works for everyone. It's not a slight on Callas*.


Exactly! We have to realise that not every singer suits everyone. People are quite entitled to make their decisions without being thought less of. I could never see this Tebaldi / Callas / Sutherland clique mentality. Why not just enjoy them all! After all, we are not football supporters. We can cheer for everyone we fancy!


----------



## Star (May 27, 2017)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> "acquired taste". my Callas journey went something like
> thinking she was decent--->gradually starting to like her more--->becoming obsessed--->dying down a bit--->someone I have to be in the mood to listen to
> 
> She will always be one of the greats, but her appeal to me is a bit more "seasonal" than voices like Sutherland, Ramey, Flagstad or Merrill whom I could drop everything and listen to at any time (about about 10 Eastern European singers).
> ...


Your tastes are not shallow. It's just that you have different priorities from certain other people. There is nothing wrong with that. No one should force you to feel bad for preferring one thing to the other. People who look for the things you describe deserve respect as music lovers


----------



## silentio (Nov 10, 2014)

*Warning: long post ahead*

The dude introduced me to opera was a big fan of coloratura (Sutherland, Gruberova, Dessay etc). He vehemently warned me about an overhyped, Marilyn Monroe-liked "EMI milk cow" (referring to how EMI kept releasing different editions of Callas' performances), and that I should better avoid her cult.

That being said, any recordings of Callas I tried struck me with the impressions that she was much more "accurate" and "involved" with the singing more than any other (i.e. she made others sound rather sloppy and dull). I didn't know how to put these feelings into words at that time, but now that I have learned much more about opera and singing, I find this analysis of Callas' art wonderfully nails it. Much agree with the author that she:


uses scatto in an effective manner
has more accurate rhythm, and doesn't lag behind the beat
has clear dynamic contours (there is a clip showing her performing messa di voce on trills and all sort of tricks)
covers/darkens the tones to enhance expression (which Muzio and Ponselle also experienced before)
and of course, her keen sense of the text.


The Lisbon Traviata, the studio Gioconda, the 1955 Norma, the Dallas Medea, and Madama Butterfly best illustrate these points IMO. It was pretty hard for me to get a hold of these CDs at that time, but once I managed to borrow them, they converted me to a fan immediately.

*How Is Callas Different?*
by Stefan Zucker (sources: belcantosociety.org/)

Is Callas different fundamentally from other singers? Well, she is different from nearly all other recorded female singers in that she sometimes sings with scatto (punch). Tones with scatto have swift attacks. When she sings this way her tones are incisive-they reach peak volume very quickly. This quick rise time enables her to minimize loss of volume on short notes and make a great deal out of, say, the 16th note in an emphatic passage with a dotted eighth and a 16th.

Contrast Callas's attacks with, say, the slow, stately onset of Kirsten Flagstad's tones. In "Ho-jo-to-ho," in a live 1936 San Francisco Walküre, she sounds lethargic. In part the problem stems from imprecision of rhythm, in part from the sluggishness of attack. With Flagstad it takes so long for a note to reach a full volume that short notes count for very little. Her great voice soars on sustained notes in slow passages but is not all that telling on the 16th note in an emphatic passage with a dotted eighth and a 16th. In her "Ho-jo-to-ho" the short notes are disproportionately soft. They are over before they can build in volume, because of the slowness of her attack.

Callas isn't the only one to declaim with scatto. Giovanni Martinelli, Lauritz Melchior, Giacomo Lauri Volpi, Mario Del Monaco and Franco Corelli sing with it, but in general, women didn't-and don't. Notice that Callas sings with scatto without having recourse to a glottal attack, unlike Maria Farneti and, sometimes, Magda Olivero and Montserrat Caballé. (Click the product link below to see Corelli sing with scatto, on Corelli in Concert.)

Singing with scatto can be too vigorous for vocal health. One can exhaust the low middle voice and rob the entire voice of bloom. Indeed that happens a little bit in this Medea. (Olivero told me the part requires a heavier sound than Santuzza or Minnie, that it is massacrante-it butchers you.)

Never mind. Callas sings Medea with enough pathos and fury to give you the catharsis you need and deserve. (So did Olivero although her interpretation suffered from lack of chest voice.).
Both free samples, "Soffrir non posso," in particular, provide examples of Callas's scatto.
Scatto also can be abused. Think of the Bayreuth bark.

*Callas's rhythm*

Callas's rhythm is more vigorous than most other singers', and her rhythms within full measures are more accurate. In the final part measure at the end of most phrases, however, she tends to overhold and unduly accentuate the last note, where that note is the resolution of a dissonance and thereby violates phrase structure. In her Juilliard master classes, she ascribed the fault to the bad habit. In this Medea, however, there are no examples of this as flagrant as in some of her Normas.

*Her dynamic contours*

Her dynamic span within a phrase is more extensive than most others', so that when a phrase climaxes she often has prepared the climax with a louder crescendo. Many of today's singers have solid musical backgrounds. They play instruments, know music theory and sight read. But the result often is glib.

Callas, on the other hand, frequently clarify the dynamic shape of a phrase by use of crescendo. (Beverly Sills's phrases are at the opposite extreme-they are stagnant dynamically, that is to say, they lack sufficient rise and fall of dynamics. French singers also are apt to do little with dynamics, so their phrases don't sweep ahead.)

*Callas's covering*

In heavy music such as Medea, particularly in her earlier recordings, Callas covered extensively.
Sung tones come in three varieties: closed, open and covered. In spoken French, for example, there are two "ah" sounds: the "ah" in "jamais" is closed, that in "théâtre" open. Covering involves darkening the tone and modifying vowels almost as if some were schwas, like the "uh" sounds in "America." Speech in Western languages mostly is closed. Open speaking and covered speaking can sound artificial. But used judiciously open singing and covered singing can enhance expression.
Callas the tigress sang in covered tones. The other Callas's mostly sang with closed tones.

*Her interpretation of words and her tone coloring*

Most commentators have focused on Callas's interpretation of words and her tone coloring. Some other singers mined this vein of expression at least as well. Adelina Patti's "Ah, non credea mirarti" (La sonnambula) surpasses Callas's not only in vocal acting but also in the subtlety of rubato as well as in "inwardness." Iris Adami Corradetti's recordings of arias from Madama Butterfly, Francesca da Rimini, and Lodoletta are as musically expressive as Callas's best work and outshine it in vocal acting and tone coloring. I find Olivero's best vocal acting still more affecting than Callas's. The list goes on: Vera Amerighi Rutili's "Pace, pace, mio Dio!", Gilda Dalla Rizza's best, Giuseppina Finzi Magrini's few recordings, Ester Mazzoleni's best and Claudia Muzio's best come to mind. Most of these singers spent their careers in Italy and did not record extensively, so they are remembered less well. During this series we'll explore some of their work.

*She doesn't lag behind the beat*

Callas had another quality rare among singers: she didn't lag behind the beat. Faced with consonant clusters such as "str" most singers end up putting one or more consonants on the beat instead of the vowel and thereby sound late. Callas takes the time, even for consonant clusters, from the preceding beat, so that each beat coincides with the onset of a vowel. (Yes, there are counterexamples; she wasn't perfect.)


----------



## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

silentio said:


> *Warning: long post ahead*
> 
> The dude introduced me to opera was a big fan of coloratura (Sutherland, Gruberova, Dessay etc). He vehemently warned me about an overhyped, Marilyn Monroe-liked "EMI milk cow" (referring to how EMI kept releasing different editions of Callas' performances), and that I should better avoid her cult.
> 
> ...


Very interesting! Thanks for the article


----------



## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Woodduck said:


> *You're making it sound as if you don't find "the elegance of the phrasing, the cleanness of the runs, the authority of the declamation and power that will blow me back in my seat" in Callas's singing. *Exquisite phrasing, precise execution, and commanding authority are precisely what I _do_ find, in addition to the "raw emotional power" you acknowledge. But even in that respect, her expressive subtlety is far beyond anything implied by the word "raw."


I wasn't saying that. should have clarified.


----------



## gardibolt (May 22, 2015)

First listen. I'm no longer entirely sure what it was that I first heard her sing---I _think_ one of the Traviatas but have not the faintest clue which one--but I was immediately hooked. That voice was like nothing else and floored me. I am grateful we are able to accumulate so many of her recordings at a pittance these days, generally in pretty good condition, but that doesn't make me stop cursing the short-sighted folks who didn't record more of her live performances back in the day.


----------



## VitellioScarpia (Aug 27, 2017)

First listen here and very clearly on what it was: the 1952 Cetra Gioconda with the first heroine phrase "Vien, per securo tramite, da me tu sei guidata." I distinctly remember how it called my attention and how it still does to this day -- more than 40 years later. I knew immediately that I was listening to greatness. This, followed by the fiery "Al diavol vanne con la tua chitarra!" to Barnaba made me extremely receptive to Callas' musical and dramatic message. To this day, no matter how many times I listen to her records, I still find them fresh and new. I always discover a nuance that I missed or did not quite accurately remembered. Callas' may be confused with camp but even her most vehement moments are achieved subtly since I remember them as more violent or passionate than they physically are because of the impact they create in me.


----------



## Rossiniano (Jul 28, 2017)

As I have posted elsewhere here: It was a dreary day and to add insult to injury there was an eclipse of the sun. A bad omen indeed! it was her recording of _Il Turco in Italia_ on LP (five sides to boot)! So it would have been the aria "Non si da follia maggiore". I hated the voice.  Of course I was 15 and what the heck did I know?!?! I did not even care for the opera. I listened to it twice and was still quite troubled.

Of course based on my screen name and avatar I changed my mind...


----------



## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

Early Callas: "Love at First Listen"
Later Callas: "Acquired Taste."

[:drops mic:]


----------



## RES (Oct 30, 2014)

Post deleted by author


----------



## ldiat (Jan 27, 2016)




----------



## gellio (Nov 7, 2013)

Star said:


> Must confess my admiration for Callas is an acquired taste as I tend to like beautiful voices which Callas did not have to the extent of others. The artistry is remarkable however.


I get what you're saying, but beauty is relative. What I love most about Callas's voice is the sulphuric tones. I'm just awe-struck by them, and find them so beautiful in an unconventional way. It's like when I see a painting for the first time and think it is so ugly, then after I let it sink in, it becomes so beautiful. Thank God for all those great singers for the 40s - 60s. Thank God the recording age started when it did. I love it all.


----------



## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

> Maria Callas - "Love at first listen" or "Acquired Taste"?


What about the missing option: *Can Maria Callas be a dequired taste?* When I first "discovered" Callas I went nuts and bought tons of CDs over about a six-week period. Then, and I don't know if this has anything to do with it, but I contracted pneumonia and it took two rounds of antibiotics to get rid of it. I felt so bad I was note even interested in listening to music for a while. But ever since, I have lost all zeal for Callas. I recognize her great acting talent and great voice, marred by massive and sudden weight loss, but for some reason, I rarely listen to Callas anymore and would be happy to sell off my collection but for a few operas (4 La Sonnambula, Anna Bolena, Tosca, and a couple of pre-weight-loss aria sets).


----------



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

No one sings more beautifully than Callas, but I listen to her less and less as I have gotten older. I tend to listen to more beautiful voices more often now. Don't hate me. I did do 2 speeches on her on Youtube. I mostly only like her from 1954 and earlier. I probably only listen to early recordings of her 3 or 4 times a year at most now.


----------



## Sieglinde (Oct 25, 2009)

Definitely love at first listen. The De Sabata Tosca was the second ever opera I heard. I listened to it almost daily when I was a teen. Nowadays Tosca slipped off my top 10 mainly because I'm never satisfied with productions I watch.


----------



## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

I have loved Callas since I first heard her, and, if anything, my admiration, nay astonishment, at her art has only increased with age. Admittedly there are times when I find the post 1960 voice hard to take, but if I truly listen, and I mean listen with text or score in hand, then the artistry will generally overcome the vocal problems, as I feel it does in the 1960 complete *Norma*. I also find the last of her recorded Violettas (from Covent Garden in 1958) is her best and the most shatteringly intense performance of the opera I have ever come across. She may have sung the role with more ease and abandon in the eary 50s, but by 1958 the characterisation has deepened to an unprecedented level. She no longer appears to be singing the role, but living it, experiencing it, and we are taken way beyond the opera house and confronted with real life itself. This is what opera should achieve, but rarely does.

It was Callas who got me into opera, and for a long time I didn't really like more conventionally beautiful voices, particularly sopranos. They sounded artificial, manufactured, and I couldn't get on with them at all. Gradually, and probably as I began to explore repertoire outside Callas's, I found other female singers who made a similar emotional connection, but these too had, I now realise, slightly idiosyncratic voices (singers like De Los Angeles, Muzio, Schwarzkopf, Maggie Teyte, Janet Baker, Verrett). What they all had in common was uncommon musicality and specificity in their response to music by different composers.

I had, and still have, something of a love/hate relationship with undisputedly beautiful voices, and many of them (Sutherland, Tebaldi, Leontyne Price) thrill and irritate me in equal measure. They make a glorious noise, but I find little specific that connects me to the music they are singing. Take Leontyne Price's Prima Donna recitals. I had really looked forward to acquiring the box set of them on CD, but found listening to them profoundly disappointing. The range of repertoire is fantastically wide, bringing us music from the 17th to the 20th century, and composers of widely differing nationalities. Some might think it quite an achievement that she can embrace such a wide range of music, but, actually, as one aria follows another, there is little difference between her Handel and her Verdi, between her Mozart and her Britten, between her Gluck and her Wagner, and Bellini (_Casta diva_) defeats her completely (as it did Tebaldi). She rarely has anything specific to say about the music, and I quickly became bored. Callas, by comparison, can make even a disc of similar Puccini arias into a gallery of different voice characters, bringing each one vividly to life.

I realise of course that people have different priorities, and for many a similar recital by Caballé for instance will be preferable. They will be thrilled by the sheer beauty of the voice and the gorgeous melodies, and her early Puccini recital is certainly a feast of gorgeous vocalism; not that Caballé is uncommunicative, however, and, particularly in the years before she started over-exploiting her gorgeous pianissimi, she is one of those beautiful voices singers who largely escapes my opprobrium.

As I've got older, and I've been listening to Callas now for the best part of 50 years, I have never grown tired of her. It's almost as if I hear something new each time I listen; a small inflection I hadn't noticed before or a change of colour. It's actually the subtlety of her performances that often grabs me and, though vividly characterised, all her effects are achieved within the bounds of the score.

So yes, love at first listen with loyalty unwavering.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

I can't add much to what GregMitchell has said, as I agree with nearly all of it. I discovered Callas just as I was discovering opera as a teenager, in the form of excerpts from the first studio Norma, the 1949 Cetra recital, the De Sabata Tosca, and the Carmen. Although I loved the voices of many other singers I heard, it was obvious that Callas was in a class of her own as a musician and interpreter. I quickly lost interest in most singers of my own day, and in order to find singing of real interest to me I had to explore recordings from the prewar era. I inherited some 78s of Galli-Curci, found an LP collection of classic performances by Caruso, Chaliapin, Schipa, Schumann, Lotte Lehmann, Melchior, Leider, Muzio and others, bought recordings of golden age singers such as Ponselle, Schumann-Heink, Battistini and Amato, and was soon spoiled by a level of vocalism and artistry rarely or never matched in my time. Callas was the only soprano of my time I felt belonged in that company, and she is for me the last of the giants.


----------



## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

I was introduced to pre-war singers by the late, great critic John Steane. I read (and re-read) his book _The Grand Tradition_, which traced seventy years of singing on record. Most of the singers discussed in his book were just names to me and many were completely unknown, but his enthusiasm for his subject and his wonderful writing style led me to explore. My first excursion was a marvellous LP released by EMI to accompany the book.










I particularly remember Florence Austral singing a lovely aria from Sullivan's *The Golden Legend*, Nezdanova's spectacular Queen of the Night, Smirnov singing an aria from *Sorochinsky Fair* and Leider and Melchior in *Tristan*. I think the men were the greatest revelation, as I'd become unused to male singers singing with such finesse and imagination. Styles of singing from one nationality to another were much more varied then than they are now, and those differences in style further enhanced the disc. Today things are much more homogenised.


----------



## Diminuendo (May 5, 2015)

With Callas it definitely was love at first listen. Some other singers first introduced me to opera, but Callas was the one that got me hook, line and sinker. It's difficult to put into words how much she has given me. Callas really opened up opera in a whole new way. She showed me what opera at its best could be. If I listen to some aria that I haven't listened for some time, I find myself thinking how is she doing this? How it is that something which sang by another singer would just be bland, but with Callas is something otherworldly? I think that Greg put it best with the emotional connection. Our favorite singers have that something that we can connect to. Callas introduced me to singers like Di Stefano, Corelli, Del Monaco, Gobbi, Bastianini, Tebaldi, Simionato, Kraus and many others. After that it was singers like Schipa, Muzio, Thill, Melchior, Ferrier, Baker and others. Callas really started my guest to see what great singers from the past I could find. If it wasn’t for Callas I don’t know where I’d be. 

Callas brings characters to life. Her recital discs are so unbelievable. After every aria I think this is a completely different character. Her commitment to doing the best that she can really shines through. It doesn’t matter if it’s a recording, concert or a complete performance. One of my favorites is the Tu che le vanita from the Covent Garden concert. Before she starts to sing there is a one and half minute just reacting to the orchestra. To me she is able to achieve with just that more than some singers with the whole aria. Even in concerts she really becomes the character when so many just sing. 

She somehow has the ability to listen whether it is the orchestra or a singer and be able to give so much with her reactions. While watching the Covent Garden second act of Tosca I found myself thinking, why are you showing Gobbi singing and acting Scarpia so perfectly? Why don’t you show me Callas reacting to Gobbi’s singing instead? Then I came to my senses and enjoyed Gobbi’s amazing performance. This really shows the effect she has, by being able to distract me from Gobbi.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Diminuendo said:


> She somehow has the ability to listen whether it is the orchestra or a singer and be able to give so much with her reactions. While watching the Covent Garden second act of Tosca I found myself thinking, why are you showing Gobbi singing and acting Scarpia so perfectly? Why don't you show me Callas reacting to Gobbi's singing instead? Then I came to my senses and enjoyed Gobbi's amazing performance. This really shows the effect she has, by being able to distract me from Gobbi.


Haha. When the two of them were onstage, we needed eyes that could look in two directions simultaneously, like a chameleon's.

Now that I think of it, chameleon isn't a bad image for Callas as an artist, although her eyesight was terrible.


----------



## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

I have to say I pretty much agree with Greg's post above. I had a similar experience listening through the 'Prima Donna' albums, the one thing I would add is that Price seemed to have a feeling for Verdi's style and she made her name in his operas rather than those of any other composer. Could it be that her interpretations of music by different composers sound the same because she sang everything as though it were by Verdi? For example I love her recording of Desdemona's aria on her recital album as it stands out from the rest of the repertoire on that disc.

N.


----------



## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

The Conte said:


> I have to say I pretty much agree with Greg's post above. I had a similar experience listening through the 'Prima Donna' albums, the one thing I would add is that Price seemed to have a feeling for Verdi's style and she made her name in his operas rather than those of any other composer. Could it be that her interpretations of music by different composers sound the same because she sang everything as though it were by Verdi? For example I love her recording of Desdemona's aria on her recital album as it stands out from the rest of the repertoire on that disc.
> 
> N.


That's a good point. I do enjoy the Verdi items most, maybe excepting _Caro nome_ and the *Macbeth* arias.


----------



## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> Haha. When the two of them were onstage, we needed eyes that could look in two directions simultaneously, like a chameleon's.
> 
> Now that I think of it, chameleon isn't a bad image for Callas as an artist, although her eyesight was terrible.


A fine example of Callas's listening is the video of her "acting" through the long orchestral prelude to the Mad Scene from *Il Pirata*. She barely moves, but from the moment she lifts her eyes she rivets attention.


----------



## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

listening to her for the first time and she sounds OK to me  No need to acquire the taste in my case.


----------



## Diminuendo (May 5, 2015)

Woodduck said:


> Haha. When the two of them were onstage, we needed eyes that could look in two directions simultaneously, like a chameleon's.
> 
> Now that I think of it, chameleon isn't a bad image for Callas as an artist, although her eyesight was terrible.


It would have been amazing if we had had one camera always on Callas and one on Gobbi. Then show both on the screen the same time. We would have needed more advanced technology with these two. Every twitch of an eybrow matters when you're as talented as these two.


----------



## Diminuendo (May 5, 2015)

GregMitchell said:


> A fine example of Callas's listening is the video of her "acting" through the long orchestral prelude to the Mad Scene from *Il Pirata*. She barely moves, but from the moment she lifts her eyes she rivets attention.


I just love the mad scene from Il Pirata. So beautiful music throughout. The prelude is one of my favorites. The orchestra does just a great job of getting me in the right mood and when she starts singing... The studio recording of it in the mad scenes disc always gets me.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

GregMitchell said:


> A fine example of Callas's listening is the video of her "acting" through the long orchestral prelude to the Mad Scene from *Il Pirata*. She barely moves, but from the moment she lifts her eyes she rivets attention.


Who needs sets and costumes? The art and the person are one. George Balanchine said, "Ballet is woman." Here, opera is woman.


----------



## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

I recognized her greatness right away when I bought her stereo Lucia with Tagliavini.

Her range and emotional intensity were amazing.

Nowadays its De Los Angeles and Schwarzkopf I listen to most.


Callas is the greatest though.


----------



## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

I, too, had my interest in opera awakened by Callas. I‘d subscribed to the Time-Life series The Story Of Great Music. Within one of the volumes, The Romantic Era, I heard her voice: “Una macchia è qui tutt’ora; via ti dico, o maledetta!” and I was hooked. To this day that scene and the opera remain favorites. But only with her. And so it is with everything she sang; I can’t appreciate anyone else singing those roles, however beautifully (I said I was hooked, didnt I?). 

I once collected opera recordings, and attended live operas in San Francisco. We had the best of the best at the San Francisco Opera in the 1970s and 1980s; I attended every opera at least twice (as a volunteer usher) and sometimes many more times. One day I realized that I was really just looking for another Callas, but found all other sopranos wanting (in “her” operas). Sad, but true.


----------



## Jermaine (Apr 23, 2016)

Acquired taste for me. I used to dislike the harshness quality of her voice, but I have grown to love it.

I used to despise her Don Carlos so much, but now I listen to it as the preferred version.

The quality of this is bad, but this right here is mastery of one's talent. The acting comes through her singing. Truly an extraordinarily gifted singer.





​


----------

