# Final Round: Suicidio. Callas 52 and Callas 59



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

None of you were crazy about any of my other offerings singing Suicidio so I will address the elephant in the room and compete Callas against her only worthy competition for most of you in this aria... Callas. I contemplated adding the live video of her in Japan where she was the most gorgeous of any of her tv performances.


----------



## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Well, once I got accustomed to her very 1st beginning notes where she still had some bread in her mouth, the rest of the aria was breathtakingly stunning in its passion and chest tones that were enviable and not forced.
The second recording was like an actor who has done the play for months and has finally gotten tired of it and left out all the important points like chest tones and emphasis on certain notes. Where were they? That passion was not there.


----------



## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

The Cetra recording was my first love as far as *La Gioconda *is concerned. I loved it for years, though only the highlights LP was available to me. So, while Callas refined her approach to the role in 1959, the voice was at its magnificent best in 1952 and was so much more suited to it then.


----------



## Dogville (Dec 28, 2021)

The chest notes in the 1952 version sound like they are carved out of solid granite and the voice overall has a lot more power, and I prefer the more wild approach she took as opposed to the 59 version.


----------



## Viardots (Oct 4, 2014)

For his "Aria" feature article series no. 15 published in the May/June issue of OPERA NOW, the late critic and writer on opera and vocal music *John B. Steane* did a survey of 10 recordings of "Suicidio". Just as he did in his earlier book THE GRAND TRADITION, Steane highlighted the renditions of Ponselle and Callas as the two essential versions of the aria, and in the 2005 article he expressed a clear preference for Callas's 1952 Cetra recording over her 1959 EMI stereo remake:



> ...But Callas's: they are, as ever, something else. *'Ultima voce del mio destin': she is the only one who catches, as though it were personal, the fatalism and mystery. And she does it in the earlier recording, the 1952 Cetra set, not in the 1959 EMI*. The later one is 'corrected': for instance, she no longer hammers home every syllable of the rising 'dentro l'avel' with quite that expenditure of the iron chest-voice. But *it's in the earlier recording that she most lives the aria from moment to moment*.


Meanwhile, the late critic and Callas's one-time friend *John Ardoin*, in his review of the 1959 EMI stereo remake in his book THE CALLAS LEGACY, thinks that the 1959 version of "Suicidio" is an improvement over the 1952 version in a number of places:



> The full abandon of Cetra is tempered on EMI and with more fascinating, less violent vocal emphases and a greater steadiness of approach. There are some surprises along the way, for in several instances Callas is in better control of her wayward top than she was many years and many pounds earlier. For in- stance, the pitfalls of ‘Enzo adorato’ in Act I are more skilfully skirted, and *the top B climax of ‘Suicidio’ is more certain and is bound into the overall phrase*. This is particularly impressive, as this set was made during a difficult conflict in her personal life, the separation from her husband; perhaps the Gioconda sessions were just the escape valve she needed for the pressures which were building off-stage. The glory of this set is found in the last act... The magic begins with ‘Suicidio’, and *rather than moving from one outburst to the next as she had on Cetra, Callas creates a sense of wholeness by closely linking dramatic ideas together*. What is designed as a soliloquy becomes one in reality. *Also improved over Cetra is the rising phrase ‘E un dì leggiadre’, es- pecially her floating leave-taking of the top A in the phrase. She still makes important use of her chest voice, but it is now less of a feature unto itself*.


For me each version has its own particular strengths (as pointed out astutely by Steane and Ardoin) and it's extremely difficult to decide which is better. Perhaps I may end up not voting at all. Both versions are essential for understanding Callas's evolution as an artist and musician.


----------



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Viardots said:


> For his "Aria" feature article series no. 15 published in the May/June issue of OPERA NOW, the late critic and writer on opera and vocal music *John B. Steane* did a survey of 10 recordings of "Suicidio". Just as he did in his earlier book THE GRAND TRADITION, Steane highlighted the renditions of Ponselle and Callas as the two essential versions of the aria, and in the 2005 article he expressed a clear preference for Callas's 1952 Cetra recording over her 1959 EMI stereo remake:
> 
> 
> 
> ...





Viardots said:


> For his "Aria" feature article series no. 15 published in the May/June issue of OPERA NOW, the late critic and writer on opera and vocal music *John B. Steane* did a survey of 10 recordings of "Suicidio". Just as he did in his earlier book THE GRAND TRADITION, Steane highlighted the renditions of Ponselle and Callas as the two essential versions of the aria, and in the 2005 article he expressed a clear preference for Callas's 1952 Cetra recording over her 1959 EMI stereo remake:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I assumed there would be some draws. Both have their plusses. I thought Ponselle might be able to compete with her but not in this crowd.


----------



## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I assumed there would be some draws. Both have their plusses. I thought Ponselle might be able to compete with her but not in this crowd.


Except in vocal fecundity, I always prefer Callas at her best, in terms of specificity, musicality, architecture, rhythm, flexibility, dynamics, verbal felicity, and sometimes, phrasing. We are lucky to have so much more than just arias and duet recordings from Callas.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

The '52 is everything the '59 is, but more so. Phenomenal. When I hear some of her early recordings I'm not surprised that she couldn't keep up such singing forever. Was it Mary Garden who heard her in Chicago and said "She'll never last"?


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

_"The full abandon of Cetra is tempered on EMI and with more fascinating, less violent vocal emphases and a greater steadiness of approach. There are some surprises along the way, for in several instances Callas is in better control of her wayward top than she was many years and many pounds earlier. For in- stance, the pitfalls of ‘Enzo adorato’ in Act I are more skilfully skirted, and *the top B climax of ‘Suicidio’ is more certain and is bound into the overall phrase*. This is particularly impressive, as this set was made during a difficult conflict in her personal life, the separation from her husband; perhaps the Gioconda sessions were just the escape valve she needed for the pressures which were building off-stage. The glory of this set is found in the last act... The magic begins with ‘Suicidio’, and *rather than moving from one outburst to the next as she had on Cetra, Callas creates a sense of wholeness by closely linking dramatic ideas together*. What is designed as a soliloquy becomes one in reality. *Also improved over Cetra is the rising phrase ‘E un dì leggiadre’, es- pecially her floating leave-taking of the top A in the phrase. She still makes important use of her chest voice, but it is now less of a feature unto itself*."_

Ardoin's observations here strike me as relatively trivial, and maybe even, to some extent, rationalizations.


----------



## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Woodduck said:


> The '52 is everything the '59 is, but more so. Phenomenal. When I hear some of her early recordings I'm not surprised that she couldn't keep up such singing forever. Was it Mary Garden who heard her in Chicago and said "She'll never last"?


That sounds like Garden  and that was already the thin Callas, in transition (1954). I, myself, wonder had she never lost the weight, if she could’ve sustained such singing.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

MAS said:


> That sounds like Garden  and that was already the thin Callas, in transition (1954). I, myself, wonder had she never lost the weight, if she could’ve sustained such singing.


Impossible to say what would have made possible such a combination of intensity and vocal control as she aged. Steroids, maybe....


----------



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> Impossible to say what would have made possible such a combination of intensity and vocal control as she aged. Steroids, maybe....


I am sure her good years would have lasted till she had all of her studio recordings in stereo at least. I wonder if she would have become such a mega star if she didn't go all Hollywood in looks. Impossible to say.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I am sure her good years would have lasted till she had all of her studio recordings in stereo at least. I wonder if she would have become such a mega star if she didn't go all Hollywood in looks. Impossible to say.


Callas wasn't a Hollywood starlet. Stardom in opera has never depended on looking like Audrey Hepburn. But had she been twenty pounds heavier it's conceivable that Onassis would have looked elsewhere for a woman to victimize, sparing her that distraction at least.


----------



## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Woodduck said:


> Impossible to say what would have made possible such a combination of intensity and vocal control as she aged. Steroids, maybe....


She took quite a few vitamin-B shots in her day - or so they say.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

MAS said:


> She took quite a few vitamin-B shots in her day - or so they say.


If she was living on salads and chicken to lose weight she'd have needed the shots.


----------



## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> _"The full abandon of Cetra is tempered on EMI and with more fascinating, less violent vocal emphases and a greater steadiness of approach. There are some surprises along the way, for in several instances Callas is in better control of her wayward top than she was many years and many pounds earlier. For in- stance, the pitfalls of ‘Enzo adorato’ in Act I are more skilfully skirted, and *the top B climax of ‘Suicidio’ is more certain and is bound into the overall phrase*. This is particularly impressive, as this set was made during a difficult conflict in her personal life, the separation from her husband; perhaps the Gioconda sessions were just the escape valve she needed for the pressures which were building off-stage. The glory of this set is found in the last act... The magic begins with ‘Suicidio’, and *rather than moving from one outburst to the next as she had on Cetra, Callas creates a sense of wholeness by closely linking dramatic ideas together*. What is designed as a soliloquy becomes one in reality. *Also improved over Cetra is the rising phrase ‘E un dì leggiadre’, es- pecially her floating leave-taking of the top A in the phrase. She still makes important use of her chest voice, but it is now less of a feature unto itself*."_
> 
> Ardoin's observations here strike me as relatively trivial, and maybe even, to some extent, rationalizations.


Ardoin's writing here illustrates the decline of operatic performance perfectly. It's beginning to show signs of that elitism, that want to distance opera from popular art, wanting to do away with drama and spontaneity for study and subtlety. Callas's earlier version is more alive and vocally better. The second version is very good but I prefer Callas when she is a little more wild.


----------



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> Callas wasn't a Hollywood starlet. Stardom in opera has never depended on looking like Audrey Hepburn. But had she been twenty pounds heavier it's conceivable that Onassis would have looked elsewhere for a woman to victimize, sparing her that distraction at least.


No but I thought she was Hollywood glamor beautiful to my eyes.


----------



## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

Seattleoperafan said:


> No but I thought she was Hollywood glamor beautiful to my eyes.


Very beautiful, but with more of an expressive / artistic look than was popular in Hollywood at the time.


----------



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Op.123 said:


> Very beautiful, but with more of an expressive / artistic look than was popular in Hollywood at the time.





Op.123 said:


> Very beautiful, but with more of an expressive / artistic look than was popular in Hollywood at the time.


Okay, you are right, but I think the case could be made that she became one of the most glamorous women in the world rivaling Jackie.


----------



## ColdGenius (9 mo ago)

Seattleoperafan said:


> None of you were crazy about any of my other offerings singing Suicidio so I will address the elephant in the room and compete Callas against her only worthy competition for most of you in this aria... Callas. I contemplated adding the live video of her in Japan where she was the most gorgeous of any of her tv performances.


I was crazy about Boninsegna. 😆
Why didn't you include that video? Of course, one could consider this compilation as an illustration of her vocal decline, but it would be too perfunctory. Where the voice had passed it's prime, the great intelligence remained. I can't watch it calmly, it works on me worse than movies about dogs. I can't escape the feeling that she is not only immersed in the music and lyrics, but realizes how it should be sung and is tormented. 
I can't vote, Callas couldn't be better or worse than Callas.


----------



## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

The Cetra recording was my introduction to the aria and Callas's performance knocked me for six. I had no idea that a voice, a soprano voice at that, could sing with such passion, power and such a range of different colours. All other performances of the aria I've heard since seem tame in comparison, even Ponselle's.

I haven't looked yet, but I assume that most votes will be for the 1952 performance when Callas was at the height of her vocal plenitude and I accept that absolutely. I will probably vote for it myself, but the 1959 performance has its attractions as well and she is in remarkably good voice for this time in her career, her top notes a good deal more secure than they had been for a while, and I absolutely and completely reject Nina's suggestion that she gives a routine performance. Callas was incapable of routine and to suggest that she wasn't fully committed to the task at hand is quite an insult to a great artist. I remember Janet Baker once taking a critic to task for suggesting that she sounded uninvolved at a performance he attended. "Criticisise my voice, criticise my technique, criticise my performance, but never suggest that I am anything less than 100% committed. I take performing very seriously indeed!" I paraphrase, but that was the general gist. I'm sure Callas would say the same, and in fact she did comment on the 1959 recording of *La Gioconda *saying of the last act that “It’s all there for anyone who wishes to know what I was all about.” 

I actually agree with Ardoin that she manages certain sections better in 1959 than in 1953, like the octave leap on _volavan l'ore_ and the turn that follows it, which are more gracefully managed in 1959 than in 1953. However the voice has noticeably thinned out and the 1959 recording lacks the almost primeval force of the earlier recording. No matter, it is still an extremely accomplished performance, and better than most sopranos I've heard.

In both performances I hear the details of the score. As Grace Bumbry once said about her, "If you were to write down what Callas sings, you would write exactly what the composer wrote, so closely does she follow the composer's markings." Yet, miraculously, her singing sounds totally spontaneous. If I were to vote on my favourite performance of this aria, then Callas would come in first and second.


----------



## Viardots (Oct 4, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I assumed there would be some draws. Both have their plusses. I thought Ponselle might be able to compete with her but not in this crowd.


The 1952 Cetra version is almost assured of a landslide victory here. I'll vote for the 1959 EMI remake as it deserves at least a vote for its musical and technical merits despite the fact that Callas was past her vocal prime.


----------

