Maria Callas ~ Complete Studio Recordings
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Music CD Cover
Composer: Giacomo PucciniComposer: Vincenzo Bellini
Composer: Hector Berlioz
Composer: Georges Bizet
Composer: Giuseppe Verdi
Composer: Alfredo Catalani
Composer: Gustave Charpentier
Composer: Luigi Cherubini
Composer: Francesco Cilea
Performer: Maria Callas
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown)
Format: Box set, Enhanced
CD Release Date: 2007-09-25
Music Label: EMI Classics
Free Music Notes for Maria Callas ~ Complete Studio Recordings
Free Music Review: Information
Hit: 5 Stars
Of course this is a fabulous bargain, but there is also a lot to be said against it.
Firstly, there's the issue of presentation. The 69 cds and 1 cd-rom do come in serviceable, light cardboard sleeves (and the cds do slip out, without needing to be prized out of the sleeve), but they are identified only by number and work-title. Unlike some other sets, this one does not give a track listing on each sleeve. And that's a pain: you have to turn to the minimalist booklet, which contains the track listings and--well, that's about it. One very good thing is that the cds are arranged chronologically, so that you get to follow Callas's career. The bad news is that this arrangement makes it hard to find any individual title and, frustratingly, the booklet does not contain an index of which work is on which cd. You want to find the second recording of Norma? You gotta hunt for it. At this price, you expect the documentation to be minimal, but just a little bit of effort could have made this so much more user-friendly.
Second, there's the boxing. The cd sleeves are housed in a fairly flimsy cardboard "drawer," which slides into an extremely flimsy oblong cover This cover will probably have started to disintegrate in the mail by the time you get it (mine did). Because the cd sleeves are a thin cardboard rather than paper, the whole box takes up almost 9 inches of shelf-space. (Compare this with the economical and manageable 2 inches or so that the 30cds of EMI's Elgar set, with plain paper sleeves, fit into--a less showy format, but way more serviceable.)
Third, there's the cd-rom documentation. In a word, minimalist. A few photos, and the libretti of the operas (in the format of the booklets); nothing for the recital discs.
Fourth, there's the remastering. Most of the remasterings are dated 1997, and therefore appear to belong to the "black cover" EMI issues. Some date from the early 2000's and therefore seem to be from GROC reissues. A very few seem to have been remastered for this set. However, not all previously released GROC remasterings are here. (Why not?) Identified below are the cds in the set that were NOT remastered in 1997 (15 in all). Note that it is especially (and sensibly) the earlier recordings that tend to be most recently remastered.
cd 1. Early recordings (1949)--Remastered 07 (time: 24:23)
2-4. La Gioconda (52)--R 07
5-6 Lucia (53)--R 04
10-11--Tosca (53)--R 02
12-13--Traviata (w/ Santini 53)--R 07
14-16--Norma (54)--R 03
38-39--Il barbiere di Siviglia (57)--R 07
Every time I get to compare the efforts of small companies such as Pearl with the major companies (including Naxos) I find I prefer the Pearl. And I know there are complaints on the `net about these EMI efforts. (Though I find EMI better than most of the majors at this.) So it's probably good that I don't have any comparisons for these remasterings. At times, I feel the sound has probably been smoothed out too much and deprived of life, but these are (to my ears) a vast improvement over some of the ratty old lp manifestations that are stored in my aural memories.
Fifth, there's the number of cds. 70 sounds a lot, but be warned: some of them are very short measure. The very first cd is a massive 24 minutes. And the individual opera sets, of course, often contain one cd under 50 mins.
Finally, there's the content. I have always admired Callas, but I've never been obsessed. So I wondered: do I really want 69 cds of that very distinctive voice? Especially since I already had a number of these performances in boxes with full documentation? After all (I told myself), it's not the most beautiful voice, and it did fray with the years. But, well, I figured this set would save space and fill in gaps and so forth, so I ordered it.
Then I sat down to listen to all 69 of the discs, from beginning to end. I am wary of completism, but there is something to be said for this complete set: I found it is not just a convenient way to amass a lot of individual operas featuring Callas, but that it is, somehow, a whole that is greater than its parts--a massive work, an oeuvre, that provides a context and brings a talent to life. You know how it is when you decide to listen to the whole Ring over (let's say) four days. Even if you're ambivalent about Wagner (as I am), it's an extraordinary experience. The Callas experience is amazing. I found myself listening to familiar performances that I first heard decades ago, as though hearing them for the first time. I found myself thinking that I was really appreciating her for the first time--her control, her intelligence, and, yes, her beauty.
For all the irritating inadequacies and arbitrary decisions in its presentation--and for all our frustration with EMI for finding a new way to repackage its back catalogue yet again every couple of years--this is a stunning set. So 5 stars for content, overriding (for me) the deficiencies of presentation.
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