Since you are interested in Il Trovatore (complete opera recorded in 1956), here is a list of other items that you may find interesting.
GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: Tosca (Complete opera) (Recorded August 1953) Franco Calabrese (bass) Maria Callas (soprano) Dario Caselli (bass) Alvaro Cordova (tenor) Tito Gobbi (baritone) /Milan La Scala / Victor De Sabata [ Naxos Great Opera Recordings / 2 CD - released 27/Jan/2004 ] "This new remastering is streets ahead of the others; it irons out the sourness and surface noise of the original, without adding the implausible sheen and reverberance of previous transfers" - The Times (London) |
W. A. MOZART
Così fan tutte, K588 (complete opera recorded in 1934-35) Ina Souez, Luise Helletsgrüber, Heddle Nash / Chorus & Orchestra of the Glyndebourne Festival, Fritz Busch [ Naxos Great Opera Recordings / 2 CD - released 20/Aug/2011 ] Recorded 1934-35 |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Rigoletto (complete opera recorded in 1955) [with other operatic excerpts featuring Robert Merrill] Jussi Bjorling (tenor) Roberta Peters (soprano) / Robert Merrill (baritone) / Rome Opera Chorus & Orchestra / Jonel Perlea [ Naxos Historical Opera / 2 CD - released 1/Jul/2008 ] When this 1956 recording of Rigoletto was first released in Britain, The Gramophone reviewer commented: "under Perlea, the orchestral playing is firm and dramatic, well balanced with the voice. |
VERDI
La Traviata (complete opera recorded in 1953) Maria Callas / Francesco Albanese / Ugo Savarese / Turin Radio Symphony Orchestra / Gabriele Santini [ Naxos Historical Great Opera Recordings / 2 CD - released 1/Jan/2007 ] Maria Callas first sang Violetta in January 1951 at the Teatro Communale in Florence. In the next three seasons Callas sang the role at Bergamo, Parma, Mexico City, Verona, Venice and Rome. |
MASCAGNI
Cavalleria rusticana (complete opera recorded in 1953) Maria Callas / Giuseppe di Stefano / Milan La Scala Orchestra / Tullio Serafin (Conductor) [ Naxos Historical / CD - released 8/Aug/2006 ] Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana was the third complete opera recording for EMI [Columbia/Angel] that Callas took part in, and the second under the aegis of La Scala, Milan. |
BELLINI
Norma (Complete Opera recorded in 1954) Maria Callas / Mario Filippeschi / Ebe Stignani / Nicola Rossi-Lemeni / Chorus And Orchestra Of La Scala, Milan / Tullio Serafin [ Naxos Historical Great Opera Performances / 3 CD - released 22/Sep/2007 ] "The manner in which Callas colours her voice and the way she moves through the vocal register is very individual and not to every taste. If it is to yours then this Naxos realisation of the 1954 studio recording is in the best sound I have so far... |
GIOACHINO ROSSINI
Rossini: Turco in Italia (complete opera recorded in 1954) Maria Callas / Nicola Rossi-Lemeni / Gianandrea Gavazzeni (Conductor) / Tullio Serafin (Conductor) [ Naxos Historical / CD - released 8/Aug/2006 ] Callas's Fiorilla is the tenth complete opera recording she made, the only one for EMI [Columbia/Angel] that she undertook of a then unknown work, and which she would later sing at La Scala, Milan. |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: Madama Butterfly (Complete opera recorded in 1955) Maria Callas, Nicolai Gedda, Enrico Campi / Milan La Scala Orchestra / Von Karajan (Conductor) [ Naxos Historical Great Operas / 2 CD - released 8/Aug/2006 ] When EMI [Columbia/Angel] recorded Callas as Madama Butterfly in August 1955, she had not yet sung it in the theatre, nor would she ever do so at La Scala, Milan, where it was made and her career based. |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: Turandot (Complete opera recorded in 1957) Maria Callas / Renato Ercolani / Mario Borriello / Elisabeth Schwarzkopf / Milan La Scala Orchestra / Tullio Serafin (Conductor) [ Naxos Historical Great Operas / 2 CD - released 2/Feb/2009 ] Puccini's Turandot , first performed in 1926, was the only work in which Callas sang that was younger than herself and is a perfect vehicle for a dramatic soprano with a steady, steely and brilliant voice capable of rising to top C.Although she had... |
DONIZETTI
Lucia di Lammermoor (complete opera recorded 1953) Maria Callas (soprano) / Giuseppe di Stefano (tenor) / Tito Gobbi (baritone) / Fiorentino Maggio Musicale / Tullio Serafin [ Naxos Historical Great Operas / 2 CD - released 1/Mar/2005 ] Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor was the first complete recording for EMI that Callas took part in, in February 1953 |
BELLINI
I Puritani (Complete opera) (Recorded April 1953 ) Maria Callas (soprano) Aurora Cattelani (soprano) Carlo Forti (bass) Giuseppe di Stefano (tenor) / Milan La Scala Orchestra / Tullio Serafin (conducto [ Naxos Great Opera Recordings / 2 CD - released 27/Jan/2004 ] "The thrill of hearing Maria Callas launching into Bellini's dramatic arias, replete with vocal acrobatics, is one of opera's great experiences. Recorded in 1953, at the peak of her career, it has that burning and dramatic intensity to carry the disc... |
VERDI
Aida (complete opera) Maria Callas (soprano) / Fedora Barbieri (mezzo) / Richard Tucker (tenor) / Tito Gobbi (baritone) / La Scala Chorus and Orchestra / Tullio Serafin [ Naxos Historical / 2 CD - released 7/Feb/2007 ] Callas' dramatic power and her ability to shade the beautiful vocal line here find the best imaginable medium". In, for example, the opening phrases of the Act III love duet with Radamès, 'Là, tra foreste vergini', her voice has a limpidity which... |
VERDI
Rigoletto (complete opera recorded in 1955) Maria Callas (soprano) / Giuseppe di Stefano (tenor) / Tito Gobbi (baritone) / La Scala Chorus and Orchestra / Tullio Serafin [ Naxos Historical Opera / 2 CD - released 7/Feb/2007 ] "..the performance, it is that of Tito Gobbi as Rigoletto that defines it as one of recorded operas must haves. The role of Rigoletto is one of the most profoundly human of Verdi's creations. His character is defined in the music of the great duets... |
PUCCINI / CILEA / GIORDANO / CATALANI / BOITO
Puccini Heroines / Lyric Arias (recorded 1954) Maria Callas (soprano) / Philharmonia Orchestra / Tullio Serafin, conductor [ Naxos Historical / CD - released 14/Feb/2008 ] 1954 was for Callas an exceptionally busy year. As well as appearing regularly at La Scala, Milan, and elsewhere in Italy, she made her American début at the Chicago Lyric in November. |
RUGGERO LEONCAVALLO
Leoncavallo: I Pagliacci (Complete opera recorded in 1954) Maria Callas / Tito Gobbi / Giuseppe di Stefano / Milan La Scala Orchestra / Tullio Serafin (Conductor) [ Naxos Historical / CD - released 29/Jul/2006 ] This recording of Pagliacci was made by EMI at La Scala, Milan in June 1954, some eight months after Cavalleria rusticana, and first published in April 1955. |
VERDI
Un Ballo in Maschera [The Masked Ball] (complete opera recorded in 1956) Maria Callas, Tito Gobbi, Silvio Maionica, Giuseppe di Stefano / Milan La Scala Orchestra / Antonio Votto [ Naxos Historical Opera / 2 CD - released 15/Feb/2008 ] "Callas on top form never misses an opportunity to wring the last drop of intensity out of her two arias and the act 2 scene by the gallows is a masterpiece of visual singing. Her colouring of the phrases is so expressive that we instinctively know... |
PUCCINI
Manon Lescaut (complete opera) Miriam Gauel / Vincente Sardinero / Kaludi Kalundoy / BRT Philharmonic Chorus & Orchestra / Alexander Rahbari [ Naxos Opera Classics / 2 CD Box Set - released 1/Jun/2008 ] "Naxos has distinguished itself over the past few years by a series of new opera recordings of a consistently high quality at enticingly affordable prices. This time, though, Naxos has surpassed itself...At Naxos prices, why deny yourself the... |