'Maria Callas Live' box of remastered live recordings due in Sept

[jserraglio]

'Maria Callas Live' box-set of remastered live recordings to be released in September

Gramophone
Wed 17th May 2017
The 40th anniversary of Maria Callas's death in Paris will be marked by the release of a new 42-disc box-set from Warner Classics called 'Maria Callas Live: Remastered Live Recordings 1949-1964'. The box-set will be released on September 15 and the recordings will also be available on streaming services. This new box-set follows on from Warner's 2014 box-set 'Callas Remastered: The Complete Studio Recordings' and contains 20 complete operas and five filmed recitals on Blu-ray.The full list of complete operas is as follows:

Verdi: Nabucco (2CD)

Vittorio Gui (Gino Bechi, Amalia Pini, Gino Sinimberghi)
20/12/1949 · Napoli, Teatro San Carlo

Wagner: Parsifal (3CD/sung in Italian)
Vittorio Gui (Rolando Panerai, Africo Baldelli, Boris Christoff)
20-21/11/1950 · Rome, Auditorium della Rai

Verdi: I vespri siciliani (3CD)
Erich Kleiber (Giórgios Kokoliós-Bardi, Enzo Mascherini, Boris Christoff)
26/05/1951 · Firenze, Comunale

Verdi: Aida (2CD)
Oliviero de Fabritiis (Mario del Monaco, Oralia Domínguez, Giuseppe Taddei)
03/07/1951 · Mexico, Palacio de Bellas Artes

Rossini: Armida (2CD)
Tullio Serafin (Francesco Albanese, Mario Filippeschi, Alessandro Ziliani)
26/04/1952 · Firenze, Comunale

Verdi: Rigoletto (2CD)
Umberto Mugnai (Giuseppe di Stefano, Piero Campolonghi, Ignacio Ruffino)
17/06/1952 · México, Palacio de Bellas Artes

Bellini: Norma (2CD)
Vittorio Gui (Mirto Picchi, Ebe Stignani, Giacomo Vaghi)
18/11/1952 · London, Royal Opera House

Verdi: Macbeth (2CD)
Victor de Sabata (Enzo Mascherini, Italo Tajo, Gino Penno)
07/12/1952 · Milano, Teatro alla Scala

Cherubini: Medea (2CD)
Leonard Bernstein (Gino Penno, Maria Luisa Nache, Giuseppe Modesti)
10/12/1953 · Milano, Teatro alla Scala

Gluck: Alceste (2CD)
Carlo Maria Giulini (Renato Gavarini, Paolo Silveri, Rolando Panerai)
04/04/1954 · Milano, Teatro alla Scala

Spontini: La vestale (2CD)
Antonino Votto (Franco Corelli, Enzo Sordello, Nicola Rossi, Lemeni)
07/12/1954 · Milano, Teatro alla Scala

Giordano: Andrea Chénier (2CD)
Antonino Votto (Mario del Monaco, Aldo Protti, Maria Amadini)
08/01/1955 · Milano, Teatro alla Scala

Bellini: La Sonnambula (2CD)
Leonard Bernstein (Cesare Valletti, Giuseppe Modesti, Gabriella Carturan)
05/03/1955 · Milano, Teatro alla Scala

Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor (2CD)
Herbert von Karajan (Giuseppe di Stefano, Rolando Panerai, Nicola Zaccaria)
29/09/1955 · Berlin, Städtische Oper

Donizetti: Anna Bolena (2CD)
Gianandrea Gavazzeni (Gianni Raimondi, Nicola Rossi Lemeni, Giulietta Simionato)
14/04/1957 · Milano, Teatro alla Scala

Gluck: Ifigenia in Tauride (2CD)
Nino Sanzogno (Francesco Albanese, Anselmo Colzani, Fiorenza Cossotto)
01/06/1957 · Milano, Teatro alla Scala

Verdi: La traviata (2CD)
Franco Ghione (Alfredo Kraus, Mario Sereni, Laura Zannini)
27/03/1958 · Lisboa, Teatro Nacional de São Carlos

Bellini: Il pirata (2CD)
Nicola Rescigno (Pier Miranda Ferraro, Costantino Ego, Glade Peterson)
27/01/1959 · New York, Carnegie Hall

Donizetti: Poliuto (2CD)
Antonino Votto (Franco Corelli, Ettore Bastianini, Nicola Zaccaria)
07/12/1960 · Milano, Teatro alla Scala

Puccini: Tosca (2CD)
Carlo Felice Cillario (Tito Gobbi)
24/01/1964 · London, Royal Opera House

[Len_Z]

Excellent news. Some of the best Callas' recordings were live: 'Lucia' with Karajan, the Lisbon Traviata, etc.

Long overdue for remastering.

Day-one purchase for me.

[maestrob]

.......and they say that the CD is dead! Long live the CD!

Kudos to Warner for doing this. I already have most of these, but I'd love to have the remastered versions. Put me down for a copy, especially the Aida, wherein Callas inserts a high Eb in the triumphal scene that cuts through the entire chorus and orchestra!

[Lance]

Oh brother, I've got all of those original recordings as well. Just how much better can Warner's "remastered" sound be than the originals. Still nice to have them all in one boxed set.

[jserraglio]

Oh brother, I've got all of those original recordings as well. Just how much better can Warner's "remastered" sound be than the originals. Still nice to have them all in one boxed set.

A poster on another site states that these remasterings will not be licensed from the BJR tapes/Divina Records (they supposedly have the best-sounding source) b/c Warner wouldn't pay Divina's price for them.

[Lance]

Anybody got this one yet? I haven't heard anything yet from my set, but am awaiting some decent time to pay attention to the "remastering" and what it does for the Callas voice.