To die for. Unsurpassed Callas, the greatest singer ever. Her singing strikes us straight into the heart as very very few are able to do. So moving, so true, this is art at its highest possible level. Eternal and unforgettable.
the right people in the right position....Maria Callas earned every letter of the words divine soprano...she was born to be the best soprano and even today 2022 it shows that she remains the best voice and opera actor worldwide.....
@@SuperLeonardo40 they have the same complexion voice but the one signing with a soft way like the Italians signers of opera do, because this is a safe way and the other one was singing with much power and absolute control of her voice....the difficult way is to singing the hight notes with totally power and control to not fear your voice break down in those notes from this power and have the way to keep the notes clear and stable.....Maria Callas signing with a very difficult way technically totally support her voice in low and very hight notes and she have something alse she was living the parts she was not Maria she was Violetta, Carmen....she was the hero of the acts she was singing in very big range but even in this range her voice looks deep and clear.....its very difficult a voice to full up the stage and left behind the sound of the orchestra.....i thing all those are matters of quality of the voice, support of the body with breathing and excersise of the voice in time.....i remember her teacher said" Maria was able to understand and catch the notes and the way from the first time, anything i ask she made it..." Netrebko have the power to taste her limits to signing more comfortable she have a very good voice looks like Maria Callas voice but her way is different.....she must free her way to not think so much that change if you understand absolutely your voice and when you trust her totally.....
Callas is the only one who didn’t overplay or seemed overdramatic singing Tosca, she was so natural with the each gesture and reaction, so you can’t stay indifferent to her.
@@Bumblebeebeebee I’m not Callas fan at all. But Callas’s Tosca is the only one I’d prefer to others because Tosca herself is actress who always behaves a bit overdramatic and Callas portrays it perfectly.
@@Bumblebeebeebee Opera is meant to be performed onstage, in huge theatre houses: you cannot act as they were filming you in extreme close-up. If you want "reality" go watch a U.S. movie, or an opera staged in today's "realistic" acting style; let's see if you can watch "subtle" movements and "nuances" in a huge stage.
Lei, l'Unica, la Divina, è perfetta in tutto; timbro, potenza vocale, presenza scenica, dizione, mimica, intonazione, e chi più ne ha più ne metta. Nessuno la potrà mai eguagliare. Lei è una divinità.
Come vorrei come Lei Ester, conoscere la musica! Io mi baso solo sul fatto che da quando avevo 6 anni sentivo i brani alla radio e quindi posso solo ricordare come li sentivo e come li conosco .. vissi d'arte l' ho sentita da Monserrat Caballè e mi è sempre sembrata un'interpretazione accezionale ..
London Tosca 1964 takes it to another level, the night she sang her way to immortality after having been written off as having lost her powers, her Vissi that night, which was filmed and is here for everybody to see, was the greatest Vissi ever sang, nobody comes close. The critics learned a valuable lesson that night in 1964, which was underestimate the greatest voice in recording history at your peril.
I will agree with you up to a point. This Ed Sullivan 1956 clip was edited for TV during her first Met season and looks a bit clumsy. The 1964 ROH Tosca is legendary in its dramatic impact but her voice was definitely in decline. I would refer to the December 1958 Paris Opera gala which included the whole of Act 2 and which is superb. Her Vissi d'Arte there is sublime, the singing like cascading black diamonds, the admirable economy of movement, those hands and eyes...what do you think dear Mark?
@@philipc67 I my goodness I never even knew that existed, if I have watched the correct clip, 1958 vissi darte in Paris, filmed live I assume. I have just watched and listened and it is perfection and sublime as you say, the crescendo is so smooth. The one difference that stands out for me, having just listened to the 1964 performance also, is that in the 1964 version her big note at the start of the crescendo is held for a a good second or two longer than the Paris masterclass, which gives it that extra something, yes there is a more noticed warble in 1964 in the crescendo, but I don't mind that, there is a desperation in her delivery, she is singing as if her life depends on it, every ounce of her being is channelled, like she's singing from the soul of humanity itself. Her first big note in the 1964 crescendo is almost as if she found the power from somewhere to be able to project and hold that immense first note for twenty seconds had she wanted to, but had to reign it in to fit the score of what she was singing. But in terms of quality of sound then yes I hear the difference with her 6 year earlier Paris performance. Truly beautiful.
@@philipc67 Both the Paris and London performances of Vissi are far superior to this 1956 performance, where the longevity of her crescendo's note holding is off.
Sorry to be so offtopic but does anyone know a trick to get back into an instagram account..? I somehow lost my password. I would love any tricks you can offer me.
Weeping.... Unexpectedly... My God!!! Maria Callas fuses the beauty of the Voice, the meaning of the text, the music as a consummate musician, the most truthful acting into One fluid, living, eternal piece of Art and the best of humanity. I am speechless. I know her work well, and am trained in Bel Canto, but I have never seen this footage. This is a testimony to the most sublime of all the Arts, she served with her whole self and an acumen that is as demanding as it is spiritual. Her work defends her to those puny little wretched souls who attempt to detract from her. She set the bar higher than any singer that has lived. She has elevated the singer to the level of the great composers, like Bach, Beethoven, Bellini, Puccini, Wagner... No other singer has done this. She is the highest. The truest. Incomprehensible really. The ancient Greeks believed that if one accomplished their live’s task, mission, they would become a god in the afterlife. Certainly, she has, and even more; for she elevated us all who allow her into our hearts. Tears. Gratitude. Thank you, Maria. Thank you. 🙏🏻🕊
So Scarpia was the Harvey Weinstein of his day! Well played, Mr London. You even hold the stage, almost, with the greatest singing actress we’ve ever had on this earth! 👏🤩👏🤩👏
Amazing that Sullivan would present 15 minute segments of operas, Broadway shows, everything-in a 1 hour weekly program. Sullivan was also there for the birth of Rock and Roll, The Beatles, hundreds of rock performers, popular singers. I don't know how much of the Sullivan show is still available for viewing, but nearly the entire history of popular, and classical, culture was captured on Sullivan's weekly show. And almost every show was live, with Sullivan insisting on "live" singing-there was no lip-syncing on his program. When Sullivan's heirs decide there is no more money to be made on excerpts from these shows, perhaps the rest of us can enjoy this treasure trove of cultural history.
a friend of mine owns the entire Ed Sullivan library. And he has put out a DVD of the best opera performances that took place on Ed Sullivan. He was a real maestro of talent that he put on view Sunday nights, which much of the country watched.
Maria Callas in her absolute prime. With the magnificent George London (born in Montreal) as Scarpia. Incredible singing such as doesn't exist anymore. Plus the marvellous Dmitri Mitropolous in the pit! Three of the "greats" of that era, along with a brief appearance by the Met's GD of the day, Rudolf Bing. Wonderful to see this historic tv event, thanks for a thrilling experience.
Gran actriz, lo demuestra esta dificilísima escena. Pero lo que abruma es su fantástica voz, y el absoluto dominio de su técnica como cantante de coloratura. Fue genial. Agradezco esta publicación. María Callas fue prodigiosa.
Che dire... La Callas non cantava, viveva la musica. Non interpretava Tosca, la faceva vivere in ogni nota che eseguiva con tecnica impareggiabile. La Callas è la più grande di sempre.
When I was a kid (one year old when this was presented) the networks paid homage to the arts. I mean, my first exposure to the arts was on the Ed Sullivan show, and Bugs Bunny of course. Thank God my parents were open to the arts.
Wow. The drama in her voice, it is as if she is living every moment of it. Amazing to think that she had bad eyesight and couldn't see very far at all, it must have made everything so hard for her. Thanks for posting this.
I was 5 years old where this was shown on the Ed Sullivan Show. I remember this so well. I had forgotten this footage existed. I started developing a deep love 4 Opera at about this age. Thank you for posting it is much appreciated sincerely Arnold Bourbon Amaral
This must be my first conscious memory of opera. I was about seven years old. My family always watched the Ed Sullivan Show. I had never seen opera before and I vividly remember the murder and the ritual of placing the candles. It must have been a powerful experience but I had no idea then what an important part this opera would come to play in my life.
This staging omitted Tosca's desperate search for the permit, and then her terror at taking it off the corpse. The final orchestral crash always makes one nearly jump out of one's skin! There was no comparison with Gobbi's thrilling authority, but to see La Callas in any version is to be devoutly grateful.
@@thomasdeansfineart149 A crucial observation! But there is more to performance art than a fine voice. Callas and Gobbi dedicated their lives to establishing that fact, much to the enrichment of operatic production.
At first, looking at the thumbnail I thought Fischer-Dieskau was Scarpia. It was a nice surprise to find it was London, of whom far less footage survives than of F-D. And what a pleasure to see Callas' Tosca in close-up and relatively good quality video! I'd no idea this clip existed. A valuable document. And with Mitropoulos conducting!
Fischer-Dieskau did do one Scarpia in 1966 with Corelli and Nilsson. It is a commercial recording. Lorin Maazel conducts the orchestra of Santa Cecilia.
In this 1956 performance she was 'Tosca in training' for her definitive 'TOSCA' in 1964. No comparison to the greatness of 1964. Here she is Tosca. In 1964 at Covent Gardens she was TOSCA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
To Gorka Martinez and especially Casimir Alexander: I totally agree with you. No one but Callas ever. Tito Gobbi has always been my favorite Scarpia but George London is wonderful: vain, menacing, evil. This is one of my favorite scenes in opera. Imagine any family in the US could have seen this incredible performance just by tuning into their favorite family TV program.
And remember - this is the Ed Sullivan show of the mid 1950's - most of America was watching this on network TV. The highest level of artistic expression of a popular TV show. Now we have Drunk History instead...
The same in Italy. People that had very little literacy would watch on the only state channels the best of cultural programs, opera, poems, science... and now... dreadful programs, people doing and saying the worst..commercial television is an evil thing
My first experience with opera! I was only 7 years old but I remember it vividly. We never missed the Ed Sullivan Show when Was a kid, whether it was Señor Winces, Topo Giggio or Maria Callas.
e pensare che avremmo potuto avere tanti altri video di Lei se solo qualcuno fosse stato piu intelligente nel capirne la grandezza e l'unicità dell'artista.
This set in a tv studio was very small and cramped. During a rehearsal London fell dead in a position that made it impossible for her to move around him. She burst out laughing and said 'There are too many legs around here!' Even in this performance you can see how she has to awkwardly step over his legs.
Circles under her eyes, so thin, yet alive to such an extent that she could grip into the soil with power, pathos and truth. Bless you great American treasure. The babe first cradled on 135th Street in Harlem went around the world spreading excellence even to the end when the voice could not sing freely from within.
Callas detestaba el personaje y la música de Tosca, al menos así lo dijo varias veces, prefería el bel canto del cual fue una reina. Lastimosamente hay sólo tres filmaciones del segundo acto de Tosca, dos con Gobbi, otro genio de la actuación y una, La que se ve aquí con London. En todas la Callas es una actriz formidable, digna de oscares y todos lis premios de actuación posibles. Es sobre todo, muy medida, muy meticulosa, todo en el tiempo exacto, sin atrasarse o adelantarse jamás. Sin lugar a dudas ella vivía en el escenario. Nunca ninguna otra , ha actuado como ella este segundo acto de Tosca, ejemplo de acoso sexual, que ha habido y siempre habrá en todos lis tiempos. El poderoso aprovechando su poder, porque se cree Dios por unos instantes. Callas, inigualable, qué pena que no haya documentos completos de su paso por este mundo, me refiero a filmaciones completas de todas sus óperas. Qué pena, el dinero, el marido, lo directores de los teatros, ella misma, egoístas todos con nosotros y la posteridad. Qué pena, cuánto me lamento, porque no hay otra como la Callas ni la habrá....!
I am so sad there is no video recording of a full opera with Callas. I can't understand how this was possible. We have old recording with operas, but none with Callas. Que pena! (Entiendo espagnol pero no hablo muy bien.)
A young man was interviewed standing overnight to buy tickets for a Callas concert. He said, "Only for her." Her heart matched her glorious voice elevating her to the very heavens above.
l'arte scenica della Callas era intrinseca nella sua personalità di cantante e di musicista..i gesti le espressioni ed i movimenti sono perfettamente sovrapponibili alla Tosca del 64 al covent Garden di Londra a dimostrazione che Zeffirelli poco poteva aggiungere alla suprema arte della Divina Callas
I just thought of this: Floria Tosca was addressed as Signora, not Signorina. How enlightened of Puccini and his libretist to have recognized that a grown woman can be desirable. Bravi to both. But especially brava to Callas for her portrayal of Tosca.
