Vincenzo Bellini (1801 - 1835)
![]()
Maria Callas, Mario del Monaco
Giulietta Simionato, Nicola Zaccaria
Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro alla Scala
dir: Antonino Votto
DIVINA RECORDS DVN 17 (digital download)
Live recording, December 7, 1955
Teatro alla Scala
Remastered from the original BJR master tape.
[flac & booklet]
Of all the different labels that I've listened so far, that have released this historical evening , Myto, Melodram, HRE, Gala, etc, this one from Divine Records is the one that really has the best sound, the voices are heard more natural. (I haven't listened yet the Pristine release to compare).
It also comes with a wonderful booklet full of photographs of the evening by act, some silent videos of the rehearsal and the singers taking bows, the reviews of different newspapers, the original program and lots of information.
Note: "Unfortunately, the first 15 minutes of this 1955 La Scala performance were not recorded. All previous LP and CD editions filled in the missing portions of music using diverse uncredited sources. In order to preserve a sense of completeness for those who wish to listen to Bellini’s opera in its entirety, Divina Records has chosen the same option, but not without providing appropriate credits."
As Divina Records explains in the booklet that missing part was replaced by a recording from 1965 from La Scala conducted by Gianandrea Gavazzeni with Nicola Zaccaria as Oroveso and one from June 1955 from la RAI conducted by Tullio Serafin with Mario del Monaco as Pollione and Athos Cesarini as Flavio,
Concerning BJR archive:
It's a private pressings of material from Maria Callas released in the early 1970's. Recorded direct from acetates and 1st generation reel tapes of live recordings. Thought to be the best audio recordings of the original material that was then later utilized and re-edited for EMI and Angel reissues. The B.J.R. archives and all original recordings were given to Divina Records to be released in the near future.
"The first half of the collection was directly given to me by Santiago Rodríguez and Charles Johnson during my visit to NY in October 2008.
Santiago Rodríguez was overcome by the cancer that he had been suffering from and sadly passed away in early June 2009. Because of his illness he was unable to fulfill his wish to transfer to Divina Records all of the Callas material from his considerable archives.
I wish to extend my sincere thanks to Mr. Jon C. Harding of Philadelphia, a close friend of many years of Santiago and Charles. Jon, fully aware of Santiago's final wishes and with complete familiarity of the BJR archives, spent time sorting through the large library of material. He was able to locate the remaining original master tapes used to produce several of the outstanding BJR recordings of Callas performances as well as additional tapes and acetates of Callas performances not published. Because of Jon's kind efforts, Santiago's wishes have been fulfilled and we are now in possession of all of the BJR material on Maria Callas.
The newly received material will be released on the Divina Records label in the near future."Pablo D. Berruti - Buenos Aires, August 16, 2009
Giulietta Simionato, Nicola Zaccaria
Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro alla Scala
dir: Antonino Votto
DIVINA RECORDS DVN 17 (digital download)
Live recording, December 7, 1955
Teatro alla Scala
Remastered from the original BJR master tape.
[flac & booklet]
Of all the different labels that I've listened so far, that have released this historical evening , Myto, Melodram, HRE, Gala, etc, this one from Divine Records is the one that really has the best sound, the voices are heard more natural. (I haven't listened yet the Pristine release to compare).
It also comes with a wonderful booklet full of photographs of the evening by act, some silent videos of the rehearsal and the singers taking bows, the reviews of different newspapers, the original program and lots of information.
Note: "Unfortunately, the first 15 minutes of this 1955 La Scala performance were not recorded. All previous LP and CD editions filled in the missing portions of music using diverse uncredited sources. In order to preserve a sense of completeness for those who wish to listen to Bellini’s opera in its entirety, Divina Records has chosen the same option, but not without providing appropriate credits."
As Divina Records explains in the booklet that missing part was replaced by a recording from 1965 from La Scala conducted by Gianandrea Gavazzeni with Nicola Zaccaria as Oroveso and one from June 1955 from la RAI conducted by Tullio Serafin with Mario del Monaco as Pollione and Athos Cesarini as Flavio,
Concerning BJR archive:
It's a private pressings of material from Maria Callas released in the early 1970's. Recorded direct from acetates and 1st generation reel tapes of live recordings. Thought to be the best audio recordings of the original material that was then later utilized and re-edited for EMI and Angel reissues. The B.J.R. archives and all original recordings were given to Divina Records to be released in the near future.
"The first half of the collection was directly given to me by Santiago Rodríguez and Charles Johnson during my visit to NY in October 2008.
Santiago Rodríguez was overcome by the cancer that he had been suffering from and sadly passed away in early June 2009. Because of his illness he was unable to fulfill his wish to transfer to Divina Records all of the Callas material from his considerable archives.
I wish to extend my sincere thanks to Mr. Jon C. Harding of Philadelphia, a close friend of many years of Santiago and Charles. Jon, fully aware of Santiago's final wishes and with complete familiarity of the BJR archives, spent time sorting through the large library of material. He was able to locate the remaining original master tapes used to produce several of the outstanding BJR recordings of Callas performances as well as additional tapes and acetates of Callas performances not published. Because of Jon's kind efforts, Santiago's wishes have been fulfilled and we are now in possession of all of the BJR material on Maria Callas.
The newly received material will be released on the Divina Records label in the near future."Pablo D. Berruti - Buenos Aires, August 16, 2009