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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Callas at her best?, 12 Oct 2002
By A Customer
'Norma' has been a favourite opera with me for many years, and I had heard the 1954 Callas rendition spoken of with enthusiasm. An extract on BBC Radio 3's 'Callas Night' finally prompted me to acquire a copy of the recording. It does not disappoint.The Sutherland/Caballe/Pavarotti 'Norma' (released 1987) may be a cleaner better balanced recording, with the benefit of stereo, but for emotive power the 1954 Callas is remarkable. As a 'techie' it always interests me how particular sequences of sound waves can strike an emotional response in a listener, while others do not. Following from that thought, it is even more remarkable that while one rendition of a given piece of music can evoke enjoyment and technical admiration, another performance of the same piece can move a listener to tears with its beauty and intensity. For me this recording is securely in the latter category. Serafin's pacing of the Overture seems ponderous at first, with the richness of Rossi-Lemeni's Orveso, the La Scala Chorus and supporting cast providing a build-up of anticipation for the Prima Donna's customary entrance (nearly) half-way through the first act. Immediately one is rivetted by just how spectacularly good Callas was in the prime of her career. I was doing other things in the room as I played the recording through for the first time, but her 'Casta Diva' grabbed my full attention and it was as if I was hearing that wonderful aria anew. The duet between Norma and Adalgisa (Ebe Stignani) is pleasingly balanced and their scene with the Roman Pro-Consul Pollione (Mario Filippeschi) towards the end of Act One conveys that bubbling intensity and rhythmic power which makes one feel Bellini would have been a great rock-n-roll composer had he been born 150 years later. If there's a criticism of the performance, it would be directed at the 'Guerra Guerra' chorus of Act 2, Scene 3: Yes, I know it's a war chant, and that it should pack a punch, but Serafin drives it like the Ramones 'Teenage Lobotomy' - wildly fast, fortissimo throughout. One almost wonders if it was recorded in different surroundings at a different time from the rest of the work, and then subsequently interpolated. All-in-all though a wonderful experience. If you already have a 'Norma', this one will allow you to enjoy Bellini's masterpiece afresh; if you are thinking about getting acquainted with the work, this is not the most technically polished in recording terms, but it is among very finest emotive renditions of one of the grandest operas in the repertoire. The box-set is pleasingly presented, with a libretto booklet including several interesting photographs. The distribution of the material across the disks has CD1 and CD3 with twice the playing time of CD2, but this organisation at least places the change-overs where it fits the drama at intended Act/Scene boundaries, rather than in mid-scene as is the case with other recorded versions of the work. An excellent CD set; a feast for the senses.
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