Maria Callas - Anna Bolena "Come, innocente giovane" - Recording rehearsal 1961

Antonio Tonini (direttore)

[@SteveL2012]

OMG her voice was so beautiful when she was softly marking in the rehearsal. Wonderful insight through this unique and rare recording. ❤

[@ivanscotton6163]

Voz mágica. Entre as grandes, ela a melhor. Seu timbre sem igual.

[@BrianJosephMorgan]

We have waited so long to hear these precious relics.

[@kurtgarmaker3719]

By this time Callas was warner Brothers highest selling operatic artist. Which I read somewhere in the last couple of days that she still is number one. So letting her get her voice in order would be in the interest of all concerned . So I find these sessions totally understandable

[@ghostofyeats]

What I find most fascinating is the evident though subtle changes in phrasing she decided to implement after the 1957 live performance. The version in 1957 is already so distinctively and elegantly phrased, but some of the phrasing here is even better. I particularly love how she shapes the descending four-note scale figures in this version with more clarity, turning them into distinct gestures.

[@stefanodepeppo]

Extremely interesting document, even if quite sad….

[@marisarossi6692]

grazie Maria.

[@Matt75003]

The voice was no longer quite what it had been only three or four years previously, but this is recognizably the same Anna that so dazzled the La Scala audience, in much better (stereo) sound. I wonder what made her abandon this recording in the end, as she evidently had the vocal resources necessary to complete it.

[@OperaMyWorld]

AMAZING!!!!! THANK YOUUUUUUUUU!!!!!

[@aetion]

Amazing, as usually, although near the end (1965) of her stage career. Thank you so much.

[@stefanodepeppo]

It’s actually 1960

[@kurtgarmaker3719]

Yes it is. You know sometimes it's worth listening to recordings judged to be past her prime. Norma for instance.. the stereo 1960 recording finds Callas quite capable of singing steady high C's. I listened to it and found it quite good...much better than the 1965 recordings of Norma though some found her in decent voice , it was apparent to me that her decline came from not singing regularly. Read the insert for the 1963 recording of Tosca.. pay attention to Zefferelli's comments about Callas.. he could tell by looking at her hands and nails that she had not been singing and playing the piano .. a way she kept these many roles in her voice..she had been living the life of luxury. With Onassis.. drinking, smoking, and letting him and his son use her records as target practice ! Yes, that's how he dominated women. By humiliating then. A great artist like Callas should have never allowed it. Or stopped singing.

[@stefanodepeppo]

@@kurtgarmaker3719 well the high C’s of that Norma are a bit painful, I wouldn’t specifically call them “steady”…. Her decline started (even if of course less evidently than in 1960 and on) in 1955/56. Loosing all that weight and singing all that rep wasn’t healthy, and her voice since 1955 started to become thinner, harsher and wobblier, even if her artistry remained huge and even refined. Indeed from 1958 she became less and less busy and with Onassis less and less dedicated to the sacrifices that singing include, but blaming Onassis for her decline doesn’t make sense.

[@francoisherisson2910]

Thanks for uploading...!

[@cristinagastel9130]

Grandiosa anche durante le prove❤

[@vivianbelissima]

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@dormaus]

Wow! Where are you finding these. More! Please!!!!!

[@stefanodepeppo]

There is also Armida’s aria rehearsal, which she ends almost immediately because she can’t… 😢 Both arias in a 1960 attempt to record arias. Only a GREAT Semiramide aria is complete, the best of all her 1960s attempts.

[@asklepios6780]

Merci !!! C'est, croyons-nous, 1961 (et non 1962), mais l'intérêt reste le même...

[@stefanodepeppo]

It’s actually 1960!

[@asklepios6780]

@@stefanodepeppo En fait, cet enregistrement a été réalisé au Kingsway Hall de Londres, le 15 novembre 1961.

[@ER1CwC]

According to the Frank Hamilton archives, she recorded this during the same 1961 session when she recorded the aria from Pirata. And it's evident because the vocal approach is the same as in Pirata. She is in _much_ better voice in the aborted recording of the Armida aria. _Nonetheless,_ this aria from Bolena still suited her well.

[@Orfeus80]

I wonder how these takes were planned. Did everyone learn their music but had no clue if she would get through the sessions? Because there's an entire orchestra playing here, not a cheap project. She clearly leaves some bits and notes to record them separately. Makes you wonder how many takes the released items needed.

[@ER1CwC]

​@@Orfeus80 I wonder too. I know for a fact that the attempted Armida recording was made alongside recordings of the Bel raggio and Arrigo arias as a way to 'salvage' a cancelled recording of Traviata. (I wonder what the full cast would've been. Do you think Traviata would've been viable? Judging by the Norma from the same year, I think it could have been reasonably successful, although Sempre libera might have received an "A- for effort.") But for these other recordings (Bolena, Pirata), even Warner/EMI states that these sessions were planned to "let her work on her voice." I don't know if these were ever intended to be released actually. I guess EMI Angel had the money to spend on its star, and having a full orchestra and chorus would allow her to feel like the career was still going (?). But it's kind of revealing. I think perhaps she was trying to figure things out by listening to playbacks immediately and then making adjustments. That would mean that she was trying to act as her own vocal coach -- which, if true, would precisely be the problem, insofar as a vocal _coach_ offers short-term fixes while a good _teacher_ actually tries to address the fundamentals. Just a hypothesis.

[@Orfeus80]

@ER1CwC sure, a Traviata would have been possible in studio like the Tosca and Norma around that time. I just wonder if the artistic value of it would be higher than recording another singer who didn't have such a significant recording output.

[@ER1CwC]

​@@Orfeus80 Hm I think the Norma is of genuine value. I don't think she has to make any big interpretive compromises there, so I see the vocal issues are relatively minor blemishes. Her diction there is also still relatively untarnished. So the recording, for me, is kind of like series of beautifully written and insightful sentences with smudged punctuation marks. The Tosca of 4 years later is a completely different matter though.

[@ER1CwC]

@@Orfeus80 I think we also have to take into account the fact that the Cetra recording of Traviata (which is quite respectable) was not widely available. So I think Callas's Violetta at the time only existed in the memories of people who saw it live or heard a radio broadcast.

[@tutankamon1975]

I think if she would have record it completely it would be ok. The complete pirata is very very well untill the last high note which is week and pulsated.. perhaps the last Mi 6 or Mib 6, dont remember exacty, ever recorded in his career... living proof that the problem was in the diafragm not in the vocal cords..😢

[@silvinaprioris5207]

❤❤❤❤

[@tutankamon1975]

I have never heard these rehearsals!!! They are not in Emi rarities..😱😱😱

[@512gontran]

They come from the new centenary Warner (EMI) luxury box.

[@ER1CwC]

​@@512gontran Quite a stupid release if I may say so. I really wonder if the Warner folks think that those of us who already have most/all the recordings or the red box set will actually shell out the dough just so that we can get these additional 'previously unreleased takes.'

[@pabloperdomo5174]

Some blemishes on her crown but still THE QUEEN!!!!

[@ThrivingJean]

Thanks a lot! Is it available on any CD? Could I contact you?

[@maxcornise-qh2jk]

This is not on pitch, the voice has a sickly sound which began right at this time, notes above the staff are under pitch, and it lacks the majesty of the live recording. However her 1962 London recital of the mad scene was brilliant and sounded much better than this.

[@nostoon4332]

This sounds like misery.