Maria Callas exhibits in one night the Upper and Lower limit of her Superhuman Range (F3# to E6)

[@albertcombrink3717]

This is why Callas will always always always reign supreme. I dont care if you don't like the voice or the high notes or the chest. Listen to the rubato. She is like Rubinstein playing a Chopin Nocturne and the recording is "ruined" by a boneheaded conductor who can only plonk plonk 6 quavers down in a bar. Listen how she pulls smaller intervals closer together in time and pitch. Listen how she makes her vibrato tighter on emotional high points. Listen to her perfect legato line and still she gets every word out. Listen to the different dynamics she gives to each "io t'amo" and how she responds to the place of the word in the harmonic rhythm. Then remind yourself that while singing like this, she had the flu that night and had asked to cancel but the management would not allow her not to perform. She sings like this even when she's sick. Other sopranos sing. Some sing very well and I love many of them dearly. But Callas channels the soul of what she is singing. Every time. Without fail. Never a workmanlike note. Her heart and soul in every breath. She is the teacher of us all. Even those too boneheaded to admit it. I love all your posts on your channel. You have a beautiful soul dear Lohengrin.

[@alioffe4321]

I can't tell you how much i love that rubato after the final trill. It's like sewing on running water. It's moments like this that make you realize that she was not just a mere singer of notes, but a true artist of the highest genius.

[@manolis.799]

albert combrink hear hear!

[@albertcombrink3717]

@@alioffe4321 Incomparable

[@1stJJ]

Great comment Albert, thanks!

[@LohengrinO]

@@1stJJ ...spectacular comment, I mean, I like what he says about that Callas person but at the end he mentions the REAL legend of opera :D :D :D

[@theoperatripleaxel5417]

I love her so much... I always have fases listening to a certain singers for sometime, but i aaaalways come back for more Callas.

[@polarbear9838]

This woman never ceases to fascinate me. The beauty in her phrasing, her heavenly trills and the colors with which she paints the words ... endless pleasure I obtain when I listen to her ... nobody like her and no one will be like her either.

[@aetion]

What a marvellous singing! It's not only the astonishing exhibition of her upper and lower limits, but also the panissimi, the sentimentality, the artistry in general, that compose this unique vocal phenomenon. Thank you, dear Lohengrin O.

[@alioffe4321]

The section right after the sustained trill is marked "dolcissimo", and to create that effect, she decrescendoes on the trill (actually it's messa di voce) and sings the rest of the line mezza piano without breaking it. That is one of the most ingenius technical feats EVER for the technique itself is put to expressive means. And a hobo says that Sutherland sang it better using her regular sustained trill as proof. Callas, indeed, is an IQ test!

[@NLidar]

The greatest of all - and she is heavily sick here.

[@arnoldamaral7406]

N. Lidar She will always be Supreme. I find this rather sad 😔😟😢😭. Our Maya suffered enough. Take care. Arnold Bourbon Amaral

[@fernandorivas7419]

She is not a superhuman. She was, is and will be the only Divina for ever and ever. Thank you very much dear friend Lohengrin O. Best wishes from Santiago, Chile. Fernando Rivas-Burattini.

[@fernandorivas7419]

@@theon9575 I agree!!!

[@micaelklein1799]

Il n'y a pas de mot assez explicite pour rendre justice à son chant! Unique, magique!

[@greatmomentsofopera7170]

Had never heard this in such good sound!

[@arnoldamaral7406]

Great moments of opera I wish I never had. Very sad 😢🌧😭🌩. Arnold Bourbon Amaral

[@greatmomentsofopera7170]

Arnold Amaral it’s a different night from the famous recording it would seem. She was sick on this occasion, and not on the other one. Still much amazing singing here even if the extremes are not ideal.

[@mykelastor2159]

the point is, she lives the opera with her singing, others just sing

[@LohengrinO]

she paid one hell of a price for it... the Greeks were planning to murder her, the Italians smeared stools on the walls of her house in Milan and Onassis whom she truly loved left her for the most expensive prostitute of the 20th century

[@mykelastor2159]

​@@LohengrinO You See, Her life would have been material for an opera that only she could have sung.

[@alioffe4321]

Yes the performance is not flawless, but who else could sing a messa di voce trill in a live performance and complete the entire line on a single breath as she does here at 6:00. And to think that she was suffering from a cold that night! The sacred monster

[@LohengrinO]

well a slight glitch towards an F6 in her E6 and a little frog in her F3... but t he way she sings these incredibly difficult arias... Renee had attempted the E6 of this aria live and she had cracked it completely... Im not sure if dame Joan had sung this live with the E6

[@manolis.799]

Lohengrin O I don’t think Sutherland ever sang this complete role considering she lacked a a great lower register, which is by all means, necessary for this role. She’s recorded the bolero but took the lowest passages up the octave.

[@alioffe4321]

@@manolis.799 this role is verdi's most difficult, in terms of range. Sutherland had many great qualities, but a fully functioning three-octave range is not among them. She was wise to stay away from it, much like Macbeth and Abigaile. These two were officially offered to her. Warts and all, no one could sing this better than Callas does here. But hearing her studio Merce, i could guarantee you that sutherland could sing a live version of the bolero with ease and abundance.

[@manolis.799]

Ali Offe yes im aware that this is the widest ranging of any of Verdi’s roles, and half the canaries in opera have recorded and sang the bolero live but never touched the any other part of the role. I have no doubts that Sutherland could also sing the bolero live.

[@LohengrinO]

@@alioffe4321 ...still a sudden jump to an E6 si something that would scare even Sutherland... I wonder if there is a live Merce with dame Joan

[@jmiller05]

What I love most about this performance is the seamless transitions between lachrymose head tones into that dark, bottomless chest voice. And that low trill.... remarkable.

[@LohengrinO]

her voice is indeed very homogenous sounding here...

[@jmiller05]

@@LohengrinO Maria was 28 here!! Imagine telling a 28 year singer that she had to sing Elena nowadays- she would shit her pants!

[@LohengrinO]

@@jmiller05 she would probably sing it by cutting off all the difficulties, screaming the top notes and omitting the low notes... there was a blond soprano who had beautifuly sung Elena in the 80s... there was no single low note in her reading :D

[@philipc67]

@@LohengrinO I believe you are referring to Susan Dunn? She had a couple of good years, no more.

[@octaviohernandez18]

The art of phrasing.

[@jordipanadesribera6890]

Immortal Maria Callas. Bravissima.

[@fclpjg]

The more you post of Callas’ recordings, the more I realised what I missed growing up listening to Sutherland et al.... thanks mon ami......

[@LohengrinO]

both were Divine

[@arnoldamaral7406]

Theo N Please stop your better than that my friend. Arnold Bourbon Amaral 😘😎✌

[@arnoldamaral7406]

fclpjg I discovered our Maya when I was a kid. My Dad had all her recordings etc.Welcome to the world of LA DIVINA 👑 .MY Dad would of loved U Tube💞😍. I miss you Dad😩😫😖❤💞. Arnold Bourbon Amaral

[@arnoldamaral7406]

Lohengrin O Never to be repeated in 10,000 years. Arnold Bourbon Amaral

[@ОльгаИльина-ш5л]

Где найти такие слова которые могли бы передать впечатление от этого Божественного голоса ! Спасибо любимая!

[@nornsnornsnorns]

Thank you

[@roddierandy759]

Exceptionnelle vêpres 👑💗👑

[@tomhamilton]

Legat legato legato.

[@opera1dan2]

Wonderful of course but I think I prefer her healthy rendition. I doubt she’d have wanted this broadcast: perfectionist as she was.

[@stefanocautavera]

I agree.

[@LohengrinO]

well I thank God it exists because even with the flaws it manifests phenomenal, unrepeatable singing for those who know how to listen

[@artdanks]

@@LohengrinO So very true! Callas, above everyone else, even knew how to use her "flaws" as art, and still always turn out a masterpiece!

[@LohengrinO]

@@artdanks well the flaws u are referring (ugly timbre) are totally different that the two accidents that happen here because of her flu... but I agree in general

[@DEAM1964]

Perfection

[@marshall62020]

Por siempre viva en mi corazón

[@highbaritone]

Incredible. I love it when people ask you to put more information on your posts. You do more than enough for us without writing a book as well. Having said that. Have you written a book? ❤️👋

[@LohengrinO]

yes, its pieces are scattered in time and space and inside people's minds :D If I ever wrote a book that would be about the human soul and it would be so pessimistic and dark that not much people would actually bare read it for I sincerely believe what Ingmar Bergman had once said: Malice is the natural condition of the human soul, kindness is its extremely rare perversion

[@highbaritone]

Lohengrin O I’ve read this a few times now. We have lived after two hideous wars. I fear you are correct here. What do we do? Press on and try not to hate anyone. Listen the to most beautiful instrument created. Try and be patient with peoples stupidity. I think a little easier for me, than you for reasons spoken about before. What ever drives you to share your passion, I thank you so much. ❤️🇦🇺🇨🇦

[@nathandavis3002]

Funny she botched the lower notes here. That's not the sort of error I would ever associate with her. This is pretty spectacular nonetheless.

[@LohengrinO]

only one note the F3 and she had the flu

[@arnoldamaral7406]

Yes she sounds tired & ill. Our Mayan Divina 👑 😴😷😓😕. Arnold Bourbon Amaral

[@arnoldamaral7406]

RicharddtheStar It's very sad 😢🌧😭🌩 my friend. Arnold Bourbon Amaral

[@RWBHere]

@@RicharddtheStar The theatre would not let her decline to sing on that occasion.

[@manolis.799]

Mayan Divina?

[@irinasalauyeva8614]

La Diva..OMG..I wish I could live in that time and listen to her voice endlessly..Maria,thank you so much!!!!..So much,no words to express my admiration..THANK YOU!!!💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔

[@RWBHere]

I'm guessing that you like her voice a little, then? ;-)

[@irinasalauyeva8614]

@@RWBHere Sorry..too complicated to comprehend.. the question..Toooo wise ..😉