Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
You Must Own this, 11 Mar 2002
This is the first time this title has been available at mid-price in the 50 years the recording has been available. Ask anyone and they will tell you this is the Tosca to have. Sure, Callas' voice had a short life in the 50's before the tell tale wobble and steely edge set in from the early 60's. This however is bang in the middle of her Glory years and what years they were. Not only is her voice in fine condition here but I defy you to hear a more exciting drama-filled Tosca anywhere. Her colleagues, Gobbi and DeStefano are also on fine form on this disk- The fact that they worked together often shows in the sleekness of their on-stage relationship. This is the one to have- even if you only buy one opera record in your life ever. You may find it converts you. Take the risk - at this price you cant go wrong but hurry - there is a limited edition run with a free Callas booklet and Postcards. But even without the freebies this is an extraordinary set.
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50 of 51 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Treasure that will never lose its value., 28 Jul 2002
There could be no justification for failing to award five stars or refusing to pay the high prices sometimes required to buy this classic recording of "La Tosca". The opera itself, already more than 100 years old, is one of the best we have, with three-dimensional characters involved in various levels of conflict, and with a great Puccini score. Walter Legge was in charge of this production. This "studio" recording was made at La Scala, Milan in the early 1950s. The sometimes-ungrateful acoustics of that renowned theatre have never been heard to better advantage. Just listen to the opening orchestral flourish! Giuseppe di Stefano is vocally very much at home in the role of Cavaradossi, the ardent young painter who is sympathetic to an escaped political prisoner. During his first aria, the comments of the sacristan are not allowed to turn it into a duet. In glorious voice for once, Callas immediately establishes the character of Tosca - imperious, suspicious, and jealous, but at the same time vulnerable and full of longing for the time when she and Cavaradossi can be together after her opera performance of that night. Tito Gobbi too, as Scarpia, is well in command of the vocal range of his part, even the difficult high end, and manages to humanize his role as the manipulative, lustful, and ruthless chief of police. One does not usually go home after a "Tosca" performance full of admiration for the conductor. The success of this recording, however, is very largely due to the superb drive, thrust and textural clarity achieved by the conductor Victor de Sabata. If any one passage is likely to outlast all others in your memory, it is few minutes before the end of the opera. How that "firing squad" theme seems to shriek here! How proud Tosca seems to sound, now that her successful ruse for faking Cavaradossi's death appears to have succeeded! Unforgettable moments like this, and invaluable recordings like this, make us grateful to be able to treasure them forever.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
definative, 21 April 2009
Why did I wait so long to buy this performance. None of the singers are at their best but they are not very far off it. Callas, in spite of that cheek sound she makes, is simply breathtaking in the subtleties of tone she brings to the part. Was there a better Tosca? Oliviera maybe.
Gobbi made this role his many years ago, and again a definative performance.
DiStefano is an exasperating tenor, in the 1950s he had the potential to be The tenor of the 20th century, but too many heavy roles and open top notes spoiled a glorious voice. Here he still shows what a magnificent singer of Puccini he was and one simply marvels at his amazing diction.
Sabata runs the opera at a glorious pace and provides us with a masterpiece
It is my opinion that this is the only complete opera recording I would not have wished for at least one principal to have been changed.
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