# Single Round: Video Callas Against Herself in Vissi D'Arte



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

To hopefully atone for my by all accounts awful first round of Vissi d'arte ( so sorry!) I thought we would have some truly divine performances for Our Lord's Day. Judge everything. Callas was renowned both for her vocal and acting interpretations. Let your Callas mania out! We only have two in character staged video performances of La Divina and they are both of this aria.


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## ALT (Mar 1, 2021)

The Ed Sullivan, obviously. At Covent Garden, her wobbly/flappy top was so *out of tune* it is just impossible to stomach.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Yes I know, she's in better voice in the first one, but the camera work is unflattering (she looks older here than she did eight years later). And of course the circumstances of the Ed Sullivan show weren't great. I think this might have been the first time she was being filmed in costume, the score was heavily cut and not properly rehearsed, and the studio was apparently very cramped. Callas hadn't learned much about the camera. If she had, I doubt she'd have agreed to that long, badly lit close-up.

Apart from at the top of the voice, she is in remarkably good voice for 1964 in Covent Garden. Furthermore this was a filmed record of an actual production, which had been meticulously rehearsed and the camera work, though not ideal, is a good deal better. Quite honestly, I dont give a damn about a few flapping top notes. Opera is, or should be, about a lot more than beautiful top notes, and there is so much truth, so much anguish in this performance, that I find it impossible not to shed a tear. The above clip doesn't end there but continues into the next exchange with Scarpia and I just had to carry on watching and see the powerful rapport that existed between her and Gobbi, who is magnifcent, by the way. He once said that the only time his performances of Scarpia came out 100% was when he sang the role with Callas and you can see why here. Thank God we have this video of the whole of Act II. It's just a tragedy that they didn't film the whole opera.


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## Shaafee Shameem (Aug 4, 2021)

1956. She is in firmer voice, and the phrasing is very similar in both, though as Tsaraslondon notes, the camerawork is awkward. Callas’ best performances of this are however from her early live recordings from Mexico and Rio de Janeiro.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Shaafee Shameem said:


> Callas’ best performances of this are however from her early live recordings from Mexico and Rio de Janeiro.


Vocally, no doubt you're right, but the Covent Garden performance is still my favourite of all hers, despite the vocal detrioration. She doesn't so much sing the aria as experience it and I find it more moving than any of her earlier performances, even the one on the De Sabata recording. Similarly my favourite of all her recorded Violettas is the one recorded in London in 1958, not long before her final performances in the role in Dallas, where she reduces everything to essentials, the emotions so subtly underlined. You forget it is the rather artificial art form of opera and the performance becomes real life.

Of course Callas was never about the big vocal moments. A role for her was all of a piece and maybe I like the Covent Garden _Vissi d'arte_ because it is just one part of one of the most riveting operatic performances ever committed to film. When you are involved in the action the problematic high notes are easier to ignore. Incidentally, many moons ago I used to work at the Coliseum video store in London. The tiny little shop, rather like an annexe of the main shop, would become quite busy before curtain up, but whenever we played the DVD of this Covent Garden *Tosca *the shop would fill up completely as people wouldn't leave, their eyes glued to the screen.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Now just stop and think for a minute. If you were faced by a camera sticking in your face and are singing only one aria from an opera without aid from the other character next to you, how much sincere and honest emotion can you expect to deliver while still busily attempting to be aware of the proper camera angles and such? How can that performance indicate any true depth of feelings rather than just cleverly ACTING the part? I never saw her look more uncomfortable than in the Sullivan one. 
Like Tsaras, I don't give a rat's behind if she doesn't affect the high note properly (to be truthful hers was always far from my favorite when it came to that particular note, with lack of nuance on the "perches") but as anyone can see she is truly involved in her actions with Gobbi and it makes all the difference, as by that point she has clearly defined the character and is wrappped up in the moment. 
I'll take the 2nd one, thanks.


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## Shaafee Shameem (Aug 4, 2021)

Tsaraslondon said:


> Vocally, no doubt you're right, but the Covent Garden performance is still my favourite of all hers, despite the vocal detrioration. She doesn't so much sing the aria as experience it and I find it more moving than any of her earlier performances, even the one on the De Sabata recording. Similarly my favourite of all her recorded Violettas is the one recorded in London in 1958, not long before her final performances in the role in Dallas, where she reduces everything to essentials, the emotions so subtly underlined. You forget it is the rather artificial art form of opera and the performance becomes real life.
> 
> Of course Callas was never about the big vocal moments. A role for her was all of a piece and maybe I like the Covent Garden _Vissi d'arte_ because it is just one part of one of the most riveting operatic performances ever committed to film. When you are involved in the action the problematic high notes are easier to ignore. Incidentally, many moons ago I used to work at the Coliseum video store in London. The tiny little shop, rather like an annexe of the main shop, would become quite busy before curtain up, but whenever we played the DVD of this Covent Garden *Tosca *the shop would fill up completely as people wouldn't leave, their eyes glued to the screen.


I don’t deny that the performance is moving, and, I too love the film, particularly the murder scene, but I can’t agree that her performance here is better than her earlier ones. I believe that musical and dramatic effects in opera must be achieved through technical means and Callas at her best did just that. If you compare her previous versions to this one, you can see how her diminuendo on the final b flat suggests a helpless sigh, that the 1965 version with the wobble cannot in any way replicate. Also in her earlier versions, before 1953, she phrases the last line as written without taking a breath between ‘perche’ and ’signor’. She is one of the few to do it, and that’s what, in my opinion, makes Callas special in the history of opera. There were other singers who were dramatic as well, but Callas was one of the very few who were able to combine technical accuracy with sensitive musicianship and dramatic intent.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Shaafee Shameem said:


> I don’t deny that the performance is moving, and, I too love the film, particularly the murder scene, but I can’t agree that her performance here is better than her earlier ones. I believe that musical and dramatic effects in opera must be achieved through technical means and Callas at her best did just that. If you compare her previous versions to this one, you can see how her diminuendo on the final b flat suggests a helpless sigh, that the 1965 version with the wobble cannot in any way replicate. Also in her earlier versions, before 1953, she phrases the last line as written without taking a breath between ‘perche’ and ’signor’. She is one of the few to do it, and that’s what, in my opinion, makes Callas special in the history of opera. There were other singers who were dramatic as well, but Callas was one of the very few who were able to combine technical accuracy with sensitive musicianship and dramatic intent.


I didn't say t was better. I said I preferred it, which is not quite the same thing. On the one hand I agree with what you say, but on the other, being caught up in the moment, I can only say that the later one moves me more, probably because I can see her too. When I simply want to listen, I will go for one of the earlier performances, but here, when confronted with a rather poorly filmed performance, in which, as Nina said, she looks somewhat uncomfortable, with a performance in which she is fully engaged and committed, then I will always go for the latter. I've always found the heinously cut Ed Sullivan appearance totally unsatisfactory. Perhaps SOF should have included the Paris Opéra performance for further comparison.


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## Shaafee Shameem (Aug 4, 2021)

Tsaraslondon said:


> I didn't say t was better. I said I preferred it, which is not quite the same thing. On the one hand I agree with what you say, but on the other, being caught up in the moment, I can only say that the later one moves me more, probably because I can see her too. When I simply want to listen, I will go for one of the earlier performances, but here, when confronted with a rather poorly filmed performance, in which, as Nina said, she looks somewhat uncomfortable, with a performance in which she is fully engaged and committed, then I will always go for the latter. I've always found the heinously cut Ed Sullivan appearance totally unsatisfactory. Perhaps SOF should have included the Paris Opéra performance for further comparison.


I agree then, but I don’t think there’s much to act in vissi d‘arte. If it were the murder scene for instance, perhaps I too would lean more towards the filmed version. Anyways, I find it unfortunate that we have quite a few videos of Tosca and none in Norma, Medea, Bolena, Traviata or her other great roles. What I wouldn’t give to see Callas in one of those roles!


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Shaafee Shameem said:


> 1956. She is in firmer voice, and the phrasing is very similar in both, though as Tsaraslondon notes, the camerawork is awkward. Callas’ best performances of this are however from her early live recordings from Mexico and Rio de Janeiro.


You are correct but I sought advice and was told these would be the way to go. I now see someone from your country everyday now. Very tall and very nice.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

I knew I had to listen to these without watching them. I've seen the Covent Garden film a least half a dozen times and the Ed Sullivan twice, and the very different effects of the two would be bound to distract me from the vocal and musical merits of the performances and might influence how I heard them.

Callas, at any stage in her vocal career, knew how to sing this aria, with a pure line, the emotion intimate and inward, the intensity mounting gradually and inevitably, without histrionics or sentimental effects. The 1956 performance is unquestionably superior vocally (although the 1964 is quite secure except for the climax), and I'd have to call it more evenly shaped musically as well, without certain nuances generated by the singer's emotional involvement in the later, live performance. Those nuances matter, though, even absent visual correlation, and while I find no fault with the earlier performance, the Covent Garden has the power of lived experience. On a studio recording we might want singing to be more physically perfect, but at a performance event we can find the emotion of the moment transcending technical matters. I think that happens here, and I'll have to give Covent Garden my vote.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Frankly, for me, *Tosca *is one of the least desirable Callas performances to listen to, and it’s unfortunate that of all of her roles, this is what we’re left with, not one, not two, but three filmed documents of this role, in varying vocal states. A lot has already been said above and I don’t need to repeat it. Claudia Cassidy said it was “cut to ribbons,” and “a travesty” that opera was presented this way.

Nevertheless we’re lucky to have it and, like it or not, this is what posterity will judge her by, a role she herself disliked but it defined the latter part of her career because of these films. The Ed Sullivan is precious, _pace _Claudia Cassidy, as the earliest vocal-and-visual document of her caught on film and she sounds good.

The London one, thank God, has been converted to HD at Divina Records; I hope they release it at some point - it’s a valuable souvenir of a fabulous production. _Bravo _Zeffirelli and of course, _bravi _Gobbi and Callas!


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I'm so happy you guys enjoyed this. I asked Mas for guidance on what I should use and it worked out well.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

I'm going with the greater depth of expression in the 1964 version. (I only listened without watching and so am going solely on the audio performance.)

N.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Shaafee Shameem said:


> I agree then, but I don’t think there’s much to act in vissi d‘arte. If it were the murder scene for instance, perhaps I too would lean more towards the filmed version.


I'm afraid I disagree with you here as well. A role does not break down into the acting bits and the singing bits, though quite a few opera singers seem to think it does. A true actor (and there is no doubt Callas and Gobbi were actors as well as singers) sees the role as a whole. The arias are not just moments of vocal display, but are integrated into the whole drama. Callas was apparently often at her most mesmerising when she barely moved. There is a late French TV clip of her singing _Oh se una volta sola... Ah non credea _from *La Sonnambula*. She is elegantly dressed and coiffed, but, though the voice is threadbare and thin, she is still wonderfully expressive. The miracle is that, before your eyes, she simply _becomes_ the poor jilted village girl, despite her soignée appearance. For all that she is singing the aria in concert and out of costume, it is one of the most impressive pieces of operatic acting, I've seen. Her _Vissi d'arte _in this Covent Garden video is no less moving for that reason.

I love this video of Dame Judi Dench saying what it was that set Callas apart. She is of course talking from an actor's point of view, and I suppose that is the view I take as well.


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## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

Vocally 1956 is better, but I have a soft spot for the 1964 performance despite the worn out voice. Plus, why use such lighting for such a beautiful woman, she looks worse than in the video 8 years later. God forbid if anyone televised me aged 20 years by poor lighting!


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Callas' talents are in some way a product of the opera world she was part of, but unfortunately she missed out on the wonderful technology that Sutherland was able to avail herself of in many of the same roles by being around for the better technology. At least in the recitals you could see how beautiful Callas was even though these videos don't really highlight that fact.


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## vivalagentenuova (Jun 11, 2019)

It occurs to me what a difficult aria this is to sing really well. The vocal writing is very odd in places. Lines like "e diedi il canto agli astri al ciel che ne ridean piu belli" "ai santi tabernacoli sali" are apparently hard to know exactly what to do with, and as I listen to several versions I note even excellent singers have trouble with them. Sections are redolent of chant, which I think was intentional and a poignant bit of characterization on Puccini's part. I'm a fan of portamento, but for this aria I prefer a very clean rendering of the text and melody, which I see as being right at the line -- when sopranos add, it goes over. If the line isn't sung with excellent legato the aria falls apart and becomes boring and disjointed. When it is sung with poise, excellent legato and a silvery tone, it shines.

Badly filmed as it is, I preferred the earlier performance. The line was purer and less loaded down with heavy vocal coloring. Her singing of the line "agli astri al ciel che ne ridean piu belli," unlike so many renditions, was very elegant and poised and more powerful for it. Callas has excellent legato, so her versions hold together very well. Overall, she over does it a little for my taste, though. I'm not sure about her emphasizing of the word "mai" in "non feci mai male," which she does in both versions.

The Sullivan performance is excellent and one of the best renditions.

If another round of this aria is coming, I highly recommend Gabriella Tucci, who also did an excellent rendition on the Ed Sullivan Show and Kyra Vayne, who is very underrated.


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## Shaafee Shameem (Aug 4, 2021)

Tsaraslondon said:


> I'm afraid I disagree with you here as well. A role does not break down into the acting bits and the singing bits, though quite a few opera singers seem to think it does. A true actor (and there is no doubt Callas and Gobbi were actors as well as singers) sees the role as a whole. The arias are not just moments of vocal display, but are integrated into the whole drama. Callas was apparently often at her most mesmerising when she barely moved. There is a late French TV clip of her singing _Oh se una volta sola... Ah non credea _from *La Sonnambula*. She is elegantly dressed and coiffed, but, though the voice is threadbare and thin, she is still wonderfully expressive. The miracle is that, before your eyes, she simply _becomes_ the poor jilted village girl, despite her soignée appearance. For all that she is singing the aria in concert and out of costume, it is one of the most impressive pieces of operatic acting, I've seen. Her _Vissi d'arte _in this Covent Garden video is no less moving for that reason.
> 
> I love this video of Dame Judi Dench saying what it was that set Callas apart. She is of course talking from an actor's point of view, and I suppose that is the view I take as well.


I agree about the Ah non credea. It’s truly mesmerizing. I also consider her video performances of The Pirata mad scene, particularly the acting during the orchestral introduction, and Tu che invoco from La Vestale as the best operatic acting I’ve seen. I’m just not as much impressed by the Vissi d’arte.


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## Viardots (Oct 4, 2014)

It's worth noting that "Vissi d'arte" almost didn't make it into the final score as Puccini felt that the aria stalled the action when tension between Scarpia and Tosca was reaching feverish peak. But out of respect for Hariclea Daclée who created the role, Puccini chose in the end to keep it. Callas was known to have agreed with Puccini's sentiments and proposed to cut off the aria. However, since no conductor and producer dared to do it, she had to devise ways in her stage acting to try to integrate it convincingly with the dramatic actions of Act 2.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Viardots said:


> It's worth noting that "Vissi d'arte" almost didn't make it into the final score as Puccini felt that the aria stalled the action when tension between Scarpia and Tosca was reaching feverish peak. But out of respect for Hariclea Daclée who created the role, Puccini chose in the end to keep it. Callas was known to have agreed with Puccini's sentiments and proposed to cut off the aria. However, since no conductor and producer dared to do it, she had to devise ways in her stage acting to try to integrate it convincingly with the dramatic actions of Act 2.


Perhaps so, but it is to me such a gorgeous aria and the sentiments most can identify with that I can't imagine the scene without it. I love the music of this whole scene.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Post deleted


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

I thought to post this before, but didn’t want to shift the focus of the contest. There is a third film of Maria Callas is action, alas also in the same scene in *Tosca *from the 1958 Gala for the Legion d’Honneur that constituted her Paris debut. Her colleagues are Tito Gobbi and Albert Lance under the prosaic baton of Georges Sebastien. The camera work is, if anything, cruder than in 1956 with fewer extreme closeups, never good for opera singers.






The entire second Act was presented the rest is also up on YouTube.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

MAS said:


> I thought to post this before, but didn’t want to shift the focus of the contest. There is a third film of Maria Callas is action, alas also in the same scene in *Tosca *from the 1958 Gala for the Legion d’Honneur that constituted her Paris debut. Her colleagues are Tito Gobbi and Albert Lance under the prosaic baton of Georges Sebastien. The camera work is, if anything, cruder than in 1956 with fewer extreme closeups, never good for opera singers.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


According to Gobbi the Paris concert was hastily scrambled together and not well rehearsed. When he and Callas arrived at rehearsal, it was to utter confusion with nobody apparently in charge. Callas called everyone together and told them that Gobbi would therefore direct and that they should all take their orders from him, even her.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Tsaraslondon said:


> According to Gobbi the Paris concert was hastily scrambled together and not well rehearsed. When he and Callas arrived at rehearsal, it was to utter confusion with nobody apparently in charge. Callas called everyone together and told them that Gobbi would therefore direct and that they should all take their orders from him, even her.


The lack of rehearsal affected the chorus most of all. Their ragged ensemble in _“Casta Diva” _makes one cringe in shame. At one point it seems Callas is looking at them in contempt...


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

MAS said:


> The lack of rehearsal affected the chorus most of all. Their ragged ensemble in _“Casta Diva” _makes one cringe in shame. At one point it seems Callas is looking at them in contempt...


She even conducts them at one point, when they go out of time.


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