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Pristine Callas Puccini & Verdi Recital Posted by Tsaraslondon on August 14, 2025, 3:08 pm Excellent review from Ralph Moore, but I feel I should point out that Callas did indeed sing Turandot on stage, indeed 23 times between 1948 and 1949. She also sang Butterfly on stage, in Chicago in 1955, the scene of the famous photo that has her exploding after a process server stuffed a summons into the belt of her kimono as she exited the stage. This no doubt contributed to her decision not to sing the role again.

Re: Pristine Callas Puccini & Verdi Recital Posted by Ralph Moore on August 14, 2025, 3:32 pm, in reply to "Pristine Callas Puccini & Verdi Recital" Thank you for the correction, Philip; I surely knew that but will plead a certain distraction of late and have made a couple of similar bloopers in my reviews; I will hasten to put that right now! Previous Message Excellent review from Ralph Moore, but I feel I should point out that Callas did indeed sing Turandot on stage, indeed 23 times between 1948 and 1949. She also sang Butterfly on stage, in Chicago in 1955, the scene of the famous photo that has her exploding after a process server stuffed a summons into the belt of her kimono as she exited the stage. This no doubt contributed to her decision not to sing the role again.

Re: Pristine Callas Puccini & Verdi Recital Posted by Tsaraslondon on August 14, 2025, 4:01 pm, in reply to "Re: Pristine Callas Puccini & Verdi Recital" I see you've corrected yourself now, though, in the body of the review, you still refer to Butterfly as a role she never sang on stage, but recorded in full with Karajan. Indeed the recording pre-dated by a few months her staged performances in Chicago. I note also that you do not mention that the original Verdi disc also had Elisabetta's great aria from the final act of Don Carlo on it. Lord Harewood calls it "a performance of the utmost delicacy and beauty," and I would agree with him. As with the Macbeth arias, we also get the whole of the orchestral introduction. Of course, in a disc of 78 minutes, something had to go, so I hope it will be reissued along with some more of Callas's recital items, possibly the Mad Scenes disc, which was recorded at the same time as the Verdi, though in the Kingsway Hall rather than Abbey Road. Previous Message Thank you for the correction, Philip; I surely knew that but will plead a certain distraction of late and have made a couple of similar bloopers in my reviews; I will hasten to put that right now! Previous Message

Re: Pristine Callas Puccini & Verdi Recital Posted by Ralph Moore on August 14, 2025, 5:42 pm, in reply to "Re: Pristine Callas Puccini & Verdi Recital" ...and I have now corrected that and added a note re the Don Carlo aria; thanks again. Previous Message I see you've corrected yourself now, though, in the body of the review, you still refer to Butterfly as a role she never sang on stage, but recorded in full with Karajan. Indeed the recording pre-dated by a few months her staged performances in Chicago. I note also that you do not mention that the original Verdi disc also had Elisabetta's great aria from the final act of Don Carlo on it. Lord Harewood calls it "a performance of the utmost delicacy and beauty," and I would agree with him. As with the Macbeth arias, we also get the whole of the orchestral introduction. Of course, in a disc of 78 minutes, something had to go, so I hope it will be reissued along with some more of Callas's recital items, possibly the Mad Scenes disc, which was recorded at the same time as the Verdi, though in the Kingsway Hall rather than Abbey Road. Previous Message Thank you for the correction, Philip; I surely knew that but will plead a certain distraction of late and have made a couple of similar bloopers in my reviews; I will hasten to put that right now! Previous Message

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