 | Bellini - Norma / Maria Callas, Ludwig, Corelli, Zaccaria, Teatro alla Scala, Serafin by Orchestra e Coro del Teatro alla Scala
Buy new: $32.98 / Used from: $19.99 The better of her 2 studio recordings. However the best Callas Norma is from La Scala in 1955 with Simionato and Del Monaco. Not easy to find but worth the search.
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 | Verdi: La Traviata (complete opera live 1955) with Maria Callas, Giuseppe di Stefano, Carlo Maria Giulini, Orchestra & Chorus of La Scala, Milan by Giuseppe Verdi
Buy new: $17.99 / Used from: $7.95 Callas's Violetta is unique and absolutely eseential listening. This performance is thrilling, though the Covent Garden performances from 1958 are worth seeking out.
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 | Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor / Callas, di Stefano, Panerai, Zaccaria; Karajan by Maria Callas
Buy used from: $114.41 One of the most famous live recordings of all time. After seeing Callas in Lucia, Toti Dal Monte confessed that she had never really realised what the role was about
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 | Cherubini: Medea (complete opera live 1953) with Maria Callas, Fedora Barbieri, Leonard Bernstein, Orchestra & Chorus of La Scala, Milan by Maria Callas
Buy new: $23.98 / Used from: $16.73 Medea was the other cornerstone on which Callas founded her career. This performance is thrilling but try and find the ones form Dallas as well if you can.
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 | Verdi: Il Trovatore (complete opera) with Maria Callas, Giuseppe di Stefano, Herbert von Karajan, Chorus & Orchestra of La Scala, Milan
Buy new: $32.98 / Used from: $14.95 Critics said of Callas's Leonora, that it was as if a great painting had been restored and brought to life. So much of what was in the score had been ignored by less technically well equipped sopranos
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 | Donizetti: Anna Bolena (complete opera live 1957) with Maria Callas, Gianni Raimondi, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Orchestra & Chorus of La Scala, Milan by Gaetano Donizetti
Buy new: $21.98 / Used from: $12.98 Another great night at La Scala - Callas an outstanding Anna.
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 | Bellini: La Sonnambula (complete opera live 1957) with Maria Callas, Nicola Zaccaria, Antonino Votto, Chorus & Orchestra of La Scala, Milan
Buy used from: $19.25 Bewilderingly, there are 3 Callas performances of this opera in the EMI catalogue. All are worth owning, but this performance from Cologne is probably the truest representaion of Bellini's heroine.
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 | Bellini: I Puritani / Callas, di Stefano, Rossi-Lemeni, Panerai; Serafin by Vincenzo Bellini
Buy new: $32.98 / Used from: $14.50 It was while Callas was singing Brunnhilde, that she debuted as Elvira and created the overnight sensation that sealed her career.
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 | Puccini: Tosca
Buy used from: $15.89 This justly famous recording has somewhat created the myth that Tosca was a major Callas role, when she largely ignored it til those famous final Covent Garden performances.
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 | Ponchielli: La Gioconda (complete opera) with Maria Callas, Fiorenza Cossotto, Antonino Votto, Orchestra & Chorus of La Scala, Milan
Buy new: $49.89 / Used from: $21.36 Gioconda is the role Callas made her international debut in. Both of her studio sets are worth owning, the first more thrilling, this EMI set more refined.
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 | Verdi: Un Ballo in Maschera (complete opera live 1957) with Maria Callas, Giuseppe di Stefano, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Orchestra & Chorus of La Scala, Milan by Maria Callas
Buy new: $23.98 / Used from: $11.98 2 performances on EMI again. I marginally prefer this live La Scala account, but the studio one is on no account eclipsed.
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 | Verdi: Rigoletto (Complete Opera); Maria Callas; Tito Gobbi; Giuseppe di Stefano by Giuseppe Verdi
Buy new: $32.98 / Used from: $22.99 It is a great shame Callas only sang Gilda for a few performances early in her career. Her Gilda is infinitely touching and benefits here from Gobbi's non pareil of a Rigoletto.
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 | Puccini: Madama Butterfly (complete opera) with Maria Callas, Lucia Danieli, Nicolai Gedda, Herbert von Karajan, Chorus & Orchestra of La Scala, Milan
Buy new: $29.49 / Used from: $18.89 Callas only sang a few performances of Butterfly in Chicago, but she raises the opera to the stuff of true tragedy. A great Butterfly
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 | Verdi: La Forza Del Destino (complete opera) with Maria Callas, Richard Tucker, Tullio Serafin, Chorus & Orchestra of La Scala, Milan
Buy new: $49.98 / Used from: $28.04 Callas sang this opera only rarely, but she is the most thrillingly individual Leonora on disc.
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 | Rossini: The Barber Of Seville with Maria Callas, Tito Gobbi, Alceo Galliera, Philharmonia Orchestra & Chorus by Gioachino Rossini
Buy new: $29.49 / Used from: $9.99 Comedy was not really Callas's metier, but she gives a brilliant performance in this, one of the most all round recommendable of "Barbieres" on disc.
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 | Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana & Leoncavallo: Pagliacci (2 complete operas) with Maria Callas, Giuseppe di Stefano, Tito Gobbi, Tullio Serafin, Chorus & Orchestra of La Scala, Milan
Buy new: $32.98 / Used from: $7.99 Callas only sang Santuzza as a student, and Nedda only for this recording. However, she is marvellous in both roles.
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 | Verdi: Macbeth (complete opera live 1952) with Maria Callas, Enzo Mascherini, Victor de Sabata, Orchestra & Chorus of La Scala, Milan by Giuseppe Verdi
Buy new: $21.98 / Used from: $7.00 Why EMI never saw fit to record Callas and Gobbi in this opera I will never know. In not particular tractable sound, her Lady outshies all rivals.
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 | Verdi: Aida
Buy new: $25.98 / Used from: $14.97 Callas was, in my opinion, never really a true Aida soprano, and the studio recording caught her a little late. This live performance from Covent Garden is a truer representation of her Aida.
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 | Puccini: La Boheme (complete opera) with Maria Callas, Giuseppe di Stefano, Anna Moffo, Antonino Votto, Chorus & Orchestra of La Scala, Milan by Giacomo Puccini
Buy new: $32.98 / Used from: $14.95 Callas may not seem the natural choice for Mimi, and she never performed the role on stage, but on disc at least, she is perfect for the role.
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 | Rossini: Il Turco In Italia (complete opera) with Maria Callas, Nicolai Gedda, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Chorus & Orchestra of La Scala, Milan by Gioachino Rossini
Buy used from: $10.94 Callas's only other comic role and a delight from start to finish.
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 | Bellini: Il Pirata (complete opera live 1959) with Maria Callas, Costantino Ego, Nicola Rescigno, Orchestra & Chorus of the American Opera Society
Buy used from: $13.98 This would be higher up my list had it been recorded from La Scala, but the supporting cast here leave a lot to be desired. Callas is not at her best, but is still a great Bellini stylist.
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 | Bizet: Carmen (complete opera) with Maria Callas, Nicolai Gedda, Georges Pretre, Paris Opera Orchestra by Georges Bizet
Buy new: $29.49 / Used from: $14.61 Opinions are sharply divided over Callas's Carmen. I find it fascinating, but perhaps closer to Merimee than Bizet.
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 | Puccini: Turandot (Complete Opera) Maria Callas; Elisabeth Schwarzkopf: Eugenio Fernandi; Tullio Serafin
Buy new: $32.98 / Used from: $15.94 By the time EMI recorded Callas in this opera, she had long since given up singing it. It's a fascinating portrayal, but she never really convinces that this is a natural Turandot voice.
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 | Puccini: Manon Lescaut (complete opera) with Maria Callas, Giuseppe di Stefano, Tullio Serafin, Chorus & Orchestra of La Scala, Milan by Giacomo Puccini
Buy new: $32.98 / Used from: $14.51 Manon is another studio only role. Unfortunately the rigours of the Turandot sessions are showing and she sounds tired. She still creates a wonderfully detailed and tragic Manon though.
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 | Donizetti: Poliuto (complete opera live 1960) with Maria Callas, Franco Corelli, Antonino Votto, Orchestra & Chorus of La Scala, Milan by Ettore Bastianini
Buy used from: $16.15 The role in which Callas returned to La Scala in 1960. In slightly frail voice, she is a touching Paolina to Corelli's magnificent Poliuto.
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