Credits:

Maria Callas

Description:

Maria Callas at her best dramatic performance singing divine songs! This album, Drama Queen, is a compilation of the most dramatic studio recordings Maria Callas has made so far in her career. To better represent that of Callas, this compilation brings together some of the most dramatic opera scenes and arias ever recorded, and 40 years after Callas's death in Paris in 1977, director Franco Zeffirelli said of her, "The history of opera has The words of director Franco Zeffirelli about Maria Callas, "The history of opera is divided into 'before Callas' and 'after Callas,' starting with Callas," still apply today. Maria Callas fulfilled the roles entrusted to her with unique precision and profound feeling. Indeed, the distinguishing quality of her interpretations was that she could sing the widest variety and even contradictory roles. Her singing of bel canto in Rossini's "Armida" on April 26, 1952, under Serafin's direction, was a most significant moment, as she sang in over two octaves. Her range of over two octaves allowed her to sing the role with dramatic power and virtuosity. Unlike the then-popular verismo, which represented both a beautiful, natural singing technique and an entire genre of opera, bel canto was essentially forgotten by the early 1950s.But Maria Callas sang a complex role that demanded considerable interpretive skills at a high level of artistry in one night, and while her live performances from 1949 to 1953 are not technically perfect, what is recorded here is singing with even greater concentration. The final recording, Rossini: Opera Armida, is the rare live recording mentioned above, and there is no doubt that even 70 years later, she is still a radivina who transcends time and art. Warner Music Japan