Maria Callas' Phenomenal Diminuendo on E6 the 1st Night in Cologne 

I am pretty sure that she was superhuman, capable of things no one else can, could and probably no one will be able to do in the foreseeable future. Every now and then, superhuman individuals appear and push the limits. Like, for example, Albert Einstein did for physics and Callas did for music and arts. The difference is that in natural science we can verify it by doing experiments and gather experimental data. Some predictions Einstein's theories did were empirically verified many, many years later. In music and arts, this is not so easy, so just lean back and listen to that performance. Or any other by her. It should provide the evidence.

The E is impressive...the chromatic descending scale after is a miracle.

The perfect voice. Her E sounds as it was coming from a violin, its beyond the human voice.

That phrase with the high E flat that drops to a series of appoggiaturas is simply insane when you realize it’s done by a dramatic soprano. Her coloratura and tonal quality is so light and flexible throughout, it’s like hearing Ariadne sing Zerbinetta.

Callas at her worst was superior to anyone today! At her best, she was super human with her ability to do everything asked for by the composer and even more!

So much debate on that note. Eb6 or E6..... What fascinates me more is that absolutely EPIC 2 octave chromatic scale drop. Come on my dears, THAT is more worth noting than a frivolous debate over what note she topped out at! It's all amazing....for she was truly superhuman! ❤

What Maria Callas could do at her prime with her voice no other soprano singer could touch in those times .listening to her here is just astonishing, her vocal abilities and her power was just iconic,what a talent ,she will live forever

It's simply an astonishing level of musicianship and the greatest and most thrilling voice the world has ever heard. Lucia, Norma, Armida, Violetta, Lady Macbeth, Amina and even Isolde, Brünnhilde and Kundry. Every one definitive.

A miracle of skill and vocal placement. Not only does she support the upper register so freely but the lower register is densely covered. The piannisimo staccato and the ascending trills are breath-taking. Sutherland never could sing with the same mastery of dynamics, even in this role.

The greatest voice of the 20th or any other century.

Una voce che è uno strumento musicale perfetto ,dotato anche di un'anima grandiosa. Questo era la Callas. Nessun'altra soprano ha mai raggiunto questi livelli, solo lei.

Maria Callas gioca con il suono come un gatto gioca con un topo spaventato. L'aria per lei è come il marmo per Michelangelo, come i numeri per Descartes. Maria Callas sa usare ogni centimetro cubo di aria per creare un'emozione unica che attraversa lo spazio per passare il cuore di chi l'ascolta. Lei è stata l'unica a poter fare questo. Nessuna, né prima né dopo, è stata capace di giocare con lo spartito, senza modificarlo, come lei sapeva fare... E tutto questo con l'emozione giusta che richiede la musica di Bellini.

I don't care if she ended up with a wobble in her later years, anyone who can sing like this at any point in their lives deserves to be called the greatest singer of the century.

Art incarnate, star fire brought down by creation, vocal immortality, unmatched power. We love you Maria ❤️😺😎

I will take Callas in her so called decline over any other living soprano.

How can this not leave one speechless. Callas transports all of us into the Amber room at Peterhof, the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, the Palais Garnier's great staircase, and on into the Greater Cosmos.

Not only the Eb. It's ALL phenomenal!

All sopranos listen and learn.

Lohengrin, thank you for this! Of the greatest value...

Always was and always will be my all time favorite soprano

I keep on returning to this post. Amazing. I’m always left with a sense of awe and respect.

This must be the best note im the history of notes, ever!!

WHAT A VOICE! MAMMA MIA.

That final note. Unquestionably the voice of the century.

She was a singing artist per excellence .... 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

How dull the world would have been without her. But having said that, Callas shows humankind what is achievable if you set your whole heart, mind and body to attain it.

It is still difficult to comprehend: Diva Callas was SURELY soprano sramatico, but also Coliratura, sang mezzo Soprano arias... no other soprano can fit in ALL THREE categories.... Callas DID....A

Thank you Maria CALLAS.

No ha habido ni habra' otro instrumento que iguale a esa voz, a esa garganta que la modula, a esa sensibilidad, a ese ser prodigioso llamado Maria Callas en toda la Historia de la Opera. Como dijo la gran Mina en cierta ocssion, es posible que ni ella misma se apercibiera realmente de tanta grandeza.

Y como una rafaga de viento que vuela todo a su paso, asi era Callas, poderosa, perfecta, eterna DIVINA!!!

SIN PALABRAS! 😍

Это невероятно, непревзойдённо, я в слезах! Так никто и никогда не споёт!

Nobody could do what she did then and nobody can do it now (and not even a slightest hint of anyone even coming close during the decades in between either I might add lol!!) Many have tried and many have been successful to varying degrees,to delineate her legendary interpretations, but the bottom line is that there is only one Callas and she created a symphony of indelible characters and benchmark performances that are still more often than not the definitive creations that others can only aspire to even coming close to!! The debate over her tone and the colours that she used to express the character that she was inhabiting will probably be debated eternally, but she always used her voice in service to the composer and the score…anyone may have a ‘beautiful voice’ but what does that even mean!!? She wasn’t even remotely about being a ‘pretty singer’, she breathed life into human emotions appropriate for each character that she was interpreting!! And she was the rarest of the range of different soprano’s, a sfogato soprano!! In my humble opinion, nobody can ever come close to even touching her legacy!! End of 🌟

No one will ever top this. La Divina is one of a kind! A virtual gift from the gods.

12/24/2022 - what a night 😞… going to spend the night with my Sister Esther 😺 and Co.. still sad but listening to Maria helps me outlast. Thanks be to God for my family. 🐝❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Ah, the human world will never hear her like ever again...

Oh my,oh my,oh my!

Perfect....She is the best

Quelle voix; quel talent ; la divine éternelle !!!

OMG... Dios sabia a quien dar este talento🙏

Superhuman !!! Divina !!! Electricity !!!

VErY NICE! All singers have their distractors and critics . . . but when you reach this level of perrformance, you deserve the respect and professional ethics, etc. just like ANY profession. IREALLY like this so much!

the supreme voices of all time...

Elle chante en utilisant sa voix comme un instrument! WOWWOWWOW! Techniquement la perfection

L'une des scènes les plus spectaculaires dans l'art du chant de Callas ,et proprement incroyable de technique et de virtuosité pour un Soprano qui pouvait chanter à la même époque et à quelques jours d'intervalle des rôles extrêmement plus lourd comme Médée ou Tosca .

una potenza della natura guidata da una tecnica eccezionale... ascoltarla era esaltante !!!

Mi bemolle fantastico e scala discendente superlativa!

Callas is one of the immortals just like Lind, Flagstad, Caruso.

I wish Maria Callas had left us a studio recording version of La Sonnambula in stereo.

Estupenda!!!divina!!!!

Era una bestia la Callas, inmensa y valiente como ella sola!

...... apparve la Callas e la lirica dovette riscrivere la storia dell'interpretazione....

I appreciated Bartoli's rendition. she changes the coloratura to the possibility of her voice and range, but she really IS something, she delivers a full emotion- an artist

Sans pareil... just as there will only ever be one Shakespeare, or one Mozart, or one Beethoven, there will only ever be one Callas. No-one from here on in until the end of time will ever claim to be her equal. This is the measure of her standing to say nothing of her genius.

Oh God, the very best!!!

You know, I have never heard anything as magnificent as her execution of these ornaments and superhuman ability to NAIL that high e or e flat. On these older recordings, sometimes they seem to go up and catch a little bit with age or maybe multiple transfers between mediums I don't know. I have never heard such a powerful, pointed, and the spot on executed in my life by anyone. It makes me think of the Death Star laser in Star Wars. It almost sounded like it was biting or acidic. But amazing, and then her facility on the descending passages afterwards was just insane! The contrast and delicacy of her descending line sharply contrast with the ascent up to that E or E flat. I'm sorry I don't know the answer to this, but does anybody know what opera this is from? I'd like to hear another singer maybe someone like Joan Sutherland sing this and see how she compares? Sorry my message got long!

Simplemente única. Cuánto tiempo irá a pasar antes que llegue alguien de su altura.

PERFECT

La Primadonna assoluta! Unica! Divina! Un miracolo di una voce! Avvolte mi chiedo cosa direbbe Maria Callas dello stato attuale che vige nei teatri dell'opera....🤔🤔🤔

…she would have brought the NYC Telefon book to life. If sung….!

THAT WAS AWESOME!!!!

Bravo brilliance vocal

Ojalá que un día hagan la historia de esta Diosa en película!!!

Incredible soprano!!!

¡Pero qué control de agudos y qué interpretación!

We’re definitely staging this scene on our drag lip sync channel! DIVINISSIMA! 💎👑

La Divina, L'Ammaliatrice, La Stregona, La Maga, La Maliarda!!!

Even the great Pasta, for whom Amina was composed, couldn't have executed that diminuendo seeing that the highest note she could reach was "a slightly sharpened D" as Stendhal put it. Callas' range and the control she had on it was beyond anyone's reach. Who else could trill at the bottom of their range and do diminuendi on their highest notes? She remains an enigma...

As Franco Zeffirelli says In the movie Callas for Ever: a voice that is not from this world

After listening to your recent post, I had to be reminded what an actual Amina should sound like and not singing this already hard repertoire at neck-breaking speeds that do nothing but hide and masquerades the lack of a chest voice (which is essential for this repertoire). Amazing to hear PRIME Callas in her element.

Out of this world!!!!!!!!!

Whenever anybody says to you that Callas was an acting phenomenon rather than also, a vocal and musical one please point out this recording to them.

Виртуозно спето. Именно так пели во времена Россини и Беллини. Это бельканто.

1:44 !!!!

Astounding!! Ah Maria!! Thank you!!

Unica impressionante

la sua "Sonnambula" ad Edimburgo rimane una pietra miliare.

There will never her like again Richard

😲😲😲... Jesus.. Callas....😍

Perche il destino ci ha tolto Maria?quando mai noi ed i più giovani avranno il privilegio di ascoltAte una simile meravigli?credo proprio mai.maria se puoi ascoltare ti ringrazio di aver reso la mia vita straordinaria quando ti ascolto come straordinaria e immensa irraggiungibile inarrivabile sei tu.grazje mia adorata

💕💕💕

From 2:53 that trills she make a volume changing. Amazing

🌹🌹❤🌹🌹❤🌹🌹❤🌹🌹❤🌹 Divina

overwhelming!

PASMOSO DOMINIO VOCAL CON LA IMPRONTA ÚNICA DE LA TRASMISION EMOCIONAL. ¿Será que podrá aparecer alguna otra con tal conjunción de talentos? Ojalá aparezca pero será siempre otra NO la Callas.

Divina Callas!

EXQUISITA

Maria Callas not only could sing vitually everything ever composed in her range, she WAS and posessed every character and every note be it Amina or Gilda or Lady Macbeth. Unsurpassed forever.

The only part of Fleming's Constanze that I have heard is the studio recording of Ach ich Liebte, which is easily the best I have heard for that impossible aria. Truly breathtaking. I'd love to hear her 1986 performance of the whole role, but I fear she might have been a bit young for it- she was a late bloomer, and said herself that she was not ready for it yet. By 1995 when that record was made, the voice was in its perfect prime. Amina I like her in too I must confess, though for me the voice is not yet fully settled in 1990/91, and the much later studio recording is much more interesting in colour and expression. In 92 that amazing Straniera was made (surely you like her there - that's a pure coloratura role, gorgeously sung), and then the remarkable viaggio a Reims in 93, and then of course the superbly special 93 Armidas which announce the next Great voice to the world. I've never had a problem with her coloratura, at least not from the prime years - I HATE aspirates (Caballe, Didonato), so it's such a pleasure to hear such a full voice without them, someone who can maintain a legato in fast and slow passages, and I love a voice that also maintains resonance all the way through the range, that is built "from the middle" as it were, with a powerful chest register and gleaming top. Fleming has the best balance of all the elements since Schwarzkopf and Callas, and is the only contemporary singer I would want to hear as Constanze and Amina. Dessay et al just do not do it for me - endless fast notes are not enough. I want a *musician* with a *fully* functioning instrument who is in full command of that instrument! We expect nothing less of pianists, violinists, cellists etc! A real shame she never sang Norma or Bolena, yes, but I am very thankful for the Armida, Pirata and Lucrezia. Whoops, too much Fleming talk for a Callas video!

Unica irraggiungibile

María La Suprema 💖💖💖💖💖💖

perché se la canta Maria Callas mi si orripila il cuoio capelluto e se la cantano altre no?

La Divina ❤️

UNICA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There is one reason ( for the break neck speed) and one only.. How does Sutherland do something that Maria hasnt done? Its like sopranos singing the mad scene in F so that the high notes are top F's Why? Because callas did not sing it in that key, and they did,

What is the date of this performance?

... There were times before MC and after MC... Franco Zeffirelli

Unique Maria Callas... Merci de nous rendre vivants pour l'éternité! Tu es une Maman bienveillante qui m'a empêché de sombrer. Merci.

1:41

Brava!