Interview to Cossotto about Norma with Callas - ENGLISH SUBTITLES

In this interview Fiorenza Cossotto defends herself from the accusations against her about the 1965 Norma in Paris with Maria Callas. Cossotto explains that she didn't intentionally drown out Callas' voice with hers, because Callas wasn't well during those performances. A listening of that infamous final of Act 1 is following.
Source: Italian radio show "La Barcaccia", Radio 3, broadcast on April 27th, 2020 (reply of April 4th, 1997 episode).

[@nenna4826]

As a professional classical musician with more than fifteen years of experience, I can safely say that there aren't many ways to "help" a colleague in trouble, other than to keep singing/playing YOUR OWN PART to the best of your abilities. And that's exactly what Ms.Cossotto did. I really don't get what she was supposed to do according to this nonsense critics, and I assume that her detractors aren't educated in the field. At all! A big shotout to Ms.Cossotto for being not only one of the greatest singers of all times, but an awesome professional as well.

[@ransomcoates546]

Cossotto is perfectly charming here, and still some claim she was a horrible person. I heard her many times beginning in the mid-60’s, and the sound was quite incredible. Her ‘O don fatale’ was some of the most exciting singing I have ever heard in my life.

[@callasiana8335]

Thank you for your testimony! 😊

[@kbhprinsesse]

If these accusations were "ignobili", why did Zeffirelli himself go backstage and swear to Cossotto never to work with her again? He said so in an interview for Ardoin's and Fitzgerald's book from 1974, "Callas". This wasn't the only time Cossotto tried to outsing a colleague - in 1969 she sang Adalgisa to Sutherland's "Norma" in Buenos Aires and tried the same tricks, though Sutherland being Sutherland didn't really notice, but others around her did, according to Norma Major's biography of her. Lord Harewood said in an interview that when Callas and Cossotto sang "Medea" together in London in 1959, when Medea has fainted and Neris sings her aria. Cossotto had placed herself on Callas' dress so Callas couldn't move - after Neris' aria, Cossotto was able to acknowledge the audience's applause but Callas was forced not to move.

[@seanbeat8661]

Callas non si puo sostituire. Finanche oggi!

[@callasiana8335]

La Callas è ineguagliabile e lo sarà per sempre!😊❤🏺

[@chapillonmaxime4886]

Cossotto n'était pas une partenaire loyale avec Callas à l'inverse de la grande mezzo Simionato. Même Georges Prêtre qui dirigeait cette fameuse Norma s'était fâché. Mais l'Histoire a retenu et placé Callas au panthéon des chanteuses , beaucoup de personnes ont découvert l'opéra grâce à Callas. Elle traverse les époques, peut on en dire autant de Cossotto, qui s'en souvient ?? Et je souligne que Cossotto est loin d'avoir les qualités de l'immense mezzo qu'était Madame Simionato. Une voix divine, un talent hors norme et la meilleure partenaire de Callas et d'autres . Ecoutez Anna Bolena, Norma......,et plein de rôle où elle brillait . En plus Simionato était une femme d'un immense gentillesse et d'une modestie inversement proportionnelle à son immense talent. Ecoutez les enregistrements de cette magnifique mezzo. Bien amicalement.

[@jamesmorrison2055]

To you Italian speakers - did Maria Callas speak Italian with a Greek accent, or were her pronunciations the same as native Italians? Just curious as a strictly English speaker.

[@callasiana8335]

Her prononciation was excellent: she sounded like an Italian from Veneto (north-east Italy), the region she lived in with Meneghini before moving to Milan. You could tell she was Italian, if it weren't for minor mistakes she made in grammar and lexical choices. 💕

[@jamesmorrison2055]

@@callasiana8335 Thanks for your detailed answer! It’s amazing how fluent she was in so many languages. She was incredibly intelligent.

[@callasiana8335]

@@jamesmorrison2055 I absolutely agree!

[@barahona68]

@@callasiana8335 She spoke 4 languages quite fluently, but remember that 2 (english and greek) were native languages. Her Italian may have been good but her French, although good, was not that of a French native.

[@callasiana8335]

@@barahona68 Yes, of course. I was just talking about how she sounded when she spoke Italian. I couldn't tell very much about her French.

[@184motard]

Cossotto is a mezzo-soprano not colorature ! Combien de Soprano se sont dérobé en portamento au cours de leur carrière : many !

[@callasiana8335]

Bien sur, Cossotto est un mezzo-soprano.

[@seanbeat8661]

we know haha

[@perrehn7192]

Cosotto is trying to save her legacy.

[@puppetoz]

She doesn't need to try - she was one of the greatest and leaves an enormous legacy of fabulous performances

[@kbhprinsesse]

@@puppetoz she's not trying to save her vocal legacy but her legacy as as good colleague.

[@MrPren]

Stinchelli spara pettegolezzi a caso.

[@seanbeat8661]

I 2 commentatori un po precari ! Haahaahahshhs

[@seanbeat8661]

Cossotto amabile

[@barbaraandreagiovanna9270]

Scarsi relatori.

[@Orfeus80]

The bitter truth is Callas was voiceless by the mid 60s. Sick or not, these gala performances were embarrassing even without the (usual for Callas) excuse of the cold. The Callas queens as always wanted to blame someone else for her failures...poverina (Onassis, Meneghini, Bing, Mozart, Tebaldi and so on) and Cossotto was the perfect victim. The total antithesis of Callas, vocally firm throughout her registers. Even in her prime Callas would have suffered from the comparison with the canon that Cossotto was. At least we have the tapes to hear for ourselves that Cossotto is respectful towards her voiceless colleague. What was she supposed to do, stop singing to support Maria? Show must go on ladies...

[@maxciprigno3286]

Exactly

[@olegvr5499]

Cossotto was not mezzo... She was dramatic soprano!!!

[@jimmyj6209]

Interviewer: ...[she] could sing also soprano roles, mainly in the studio albums, just to have some fun. 5:25 Use your mind a bit - Callas

[@aiolosgr]

She was a dramatkc mezzo and her Amneris is my most favourite. The role of Lady Macbeth though was beyond her vocal limits, as it demands a true dramatic soprano.

[@fulvioarborio9578]

She was a mezzo with very good high notes

[@jbut1208]

She could sing both sorts of roles because she was so great!

[@vanzofaust]

She was a real dramatic mezzo, but not a contralto.

[@giovanniarioli2971]

Vedi la grande come parla della collega