Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19275 in Music
• Released on: 2007-09-03
• Number of discs: 70
• Formats: Box set, Enhanced
• Dimensions: 4.23 pounds
• Running time: 1065 minutes

Customer Reviews

Nec plus ultra Callas
To quote Tony Locantro in the booklet, Callas is the prima donna assoluta for now and all time. Her life itself was like a great Romantic opera, he said, a story of triumph, drama, and, finally, tragedy. But her art and life are too well known to discuss here.

What is left is, apart from the legend, the voice, of which fortunately a lot is recorded. This set has all the studiorecordings she ever made with EMI. Individually these records would add up to a lot of $$ to buy, so this set is wonderful. It comes in a nice box, and in compact paper cases. Of course, EMI could have made this set look more fancy, but then this atrractive price would not be possible I guess. For people who like nice boxes, in november a Deluxe Limited Edition will come out! It is all about the music in the end, and the quality of the cd's itself is superb. This set has I believe the latest remasters from Abbey Road Studio's, so it does not get better than this. It also comes with a good booklet, and extra info in pdf format can be downloaded at callas30.com
Get this set, whether you are a fan, or just thinking about giving opera a try, since, as in art so seldom happens (apart from Shakespeare, Rembrandt, Caruso and La Callas), this is undisputed the best opera can get when it comes to a female voice. All that on 70 cds for almost nothing, what more could one want? Great EMI, hope a similar set on all live performances will follow?

the ultimate Maria Callas box set!!!!
This is the ultimate Maria Callas box set.

A 70 CD set featuring everything Maria Callas ever recorded in the studio, including licensed and newly-remastered material. It contains 26 complete operas, 4 of which are stereo repeats, plus the ocmplete sudio recitals made during her recording career, from 1949-69.

All titles have been digitally remastered at Abbey Road Sudios. There are new remasterings of the Fonit-Vetra recordings which were made especailly for this anniversary box set:Ponchielli's La Gioconda, Verdi's La Traviata, plus her first recital.

All of her studio recordings are lovingly presented in a hardcover slipcase, CDs in printed cardboard wallets, colour booklet including a broad selection of photos. The 70th CD will be a CD-ROM containing the tracklists and more photos and the libretti (translations in English, French and German).

First Recital - Bellini and Wagner

(Recorded November 1949 in Turin), remast. 2007 (1 CD)

RAI Orchestra, Turin, Arturo Basile

Puccini Arias

(Recorded September 1954, London)

Philharmonia, Tullio Serafin

Lyric & Coloratura Arias

(Recorded September 1954, London)

Philharmonia, Tullio Serafin

Callas at la Scala

(Recorded June 1955)

Orchestra of La Scala, Milan, Tullio Serafin

Mad Scenes

(Recorded September 1958, London)

Philharmonia, Nicola Rescigno

Verdi Arias I

(Recorded September 1958, London)

Philharmonia, Nicola Rescigno

Verdi Arias II

(Recorded December 1963 & February 1964, Paris)

Paris Conservatoire Orchestra, Nicola Rescigno

Verdi Arias III

(Recorded 1964 to 1969)

Paris Conservatoire Orchestra & Paris Opéra Orchestra, Nicola Rescigno

Callas à Paris I

(Recorded March-April 1961, Paris)

French Radio National Orchestra, Georges Prêtre

Callas à Paris II

(Recorded May 1963, Paris)

Paris Conservatoire Orchestra, Georges Prêtre

Rossini & Donizetti Arias

(Recorded April, 1964)

Paris Conservatoire Orchestra, Nicola Rescigno

Mozart, Beethoven & Weber Arias

(Recorded December 1963 & January 1964, Paris)

Paris Conservatoire Orchestra, Nicola Rescigno

The EMI Rarities

(2 CDs)

CD-ROM (Opera-Libretti & Callas-Photos)

Bellini:
Norma

(Recorded April 1954) - Mono (3 CDs)

Mario Filippeschi, Ebe Stignani

Chorus & Orchestra of La Scala, Milan, Tullio Serafin

Norma

(Recorded September 1960) - Stereo (3 CDs)

Christa Ludwig, Franco Corelli

Chorus & Orchestra of La Scala, Milan, Tullio Serafin

I Puritani

(Recorded March 1953) (2 CDs)

Giuseppe di Stefano, Nicola Rossi-Lemeni, Rolando Panerai

Chorus & Orchestra of La Scala, Milan, Tullio Serafin

La Sonnambula

(Recorded March 1957) (2 CDs)

Eugenia Ratti, Fiorenza Cossotto, Nicola Monti

Chorus & Orchestra of La Scala, Milan, Antonino Votto

Bizet:
Carmen

(Recorded July 1964, Paris) (2 CDs)

Nicolai Gedda, Robert Massard

Paris Opéra Orchestra, Georges Prêtre

Cherubini:
Medea

(Recorded September 1957), remast. 2007 (2 CDs)

Renata Scotto, Mirto Picchi

Chorus & Orchestra of La Scala, Milan, Tullio Serafin

Donizetti:
Lucia di Lammermoor

(Recorded February 1953, Florence) - Mono (2 CDs)

Giuseppe di Stefano, Tito Gobbi

Chorus & Orchestra of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Tullio Serafin

Lucia di Lammermoor

(Recorded March 1959, London) - Stereo (2 CDs)

Ferruccio Tagliavini, Piero Cappuccilli

Philharmonia Chorus & Orchestra, Tullio Serafin

Leoncavallo:
Pagliacci

(Recorded May 1954)

Giuseppe di Stefano

Chorus & Orchestra of La Scala, Milan, Tullio Serafin

Mascagni:
Cavalleria Rusticana

(Recorded August 1953)

Giuseppe di Stefano

Chorus & Orchestra of La Scala, Milan, Tullio Serafin

Ponchielli:
La Gioconda

(Recorded September 1959) (3CDs)

Fiorenza Cossotto, Piero Cappuccilli

Chorus & Orchestra of La Scala, Milan, Antonino Votto

La Gioconda

(Recorded September 1952, Turin) (3 CDs)

Fedora Barbieri, Gianni Poggi, Paolo Silveri

RAI Turin Chorus & Orchestra, Antonino Votto

Puccini:
La Bohème

(Recorded August-September 1956) (2 CDs)

Giuseppe di Stefano, Anna Moffo, Rolando Panerai

Chorus & Orchestra of La Scala, Milan, Antonino Votto

Madama Butterfly

(Recorded August 1955) (2 CDs)

Nicolai Gedda, Lucia Danielli

Chorus & Orchestra of La Scala, Milan, Herbert von Karajan

Manon Lescaut

(Recorded July 1957) (2 CDs)

Giuseppe di Stefano

Chorus & Orchestra of La Scala, Milan, Tullio Serafin

Tosca

(Recorded August 1953) - Mono (2 CDs)

Giuseppe di Stefano, Tito Gobbi

Chorus & Orchestra of La Scala, Milan, Victor de Sabata

Tosca

(Recorded December 1964, Paris) - Stereo (2 CDs)

Carlo Bergonzi, Tito Gobbi

Paris Opéra Chorus & Paris Conservatoire Orchestra, Georges Prêtre

Turandot

(Recorded July 1957) (2 CDs)

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Eugenio Fernandi

Chorus & Orchestra of La Scala, Milan, Tullio Serafin

Rossini:
Il barbiere di Siviglia

(Recorded February 1957, London) (2 CDs)

Luigi Alva, Tito Gobbi

Philharmonia Orchestra, Alceo Galliera

Il Turco in Italia

(Recorded August-September 1954) (2 CDs)

Nicolai Gedda, Nicola Rossi-Lemeni

Chorus & Orchestra of La Scala, Milan, Gianandrea Gavazzeni

Verdi:
La Traviata

(Recorded September 1953, Turin), remast. 2007 (2 CDs)

Francesco Albanese, Ugo Savarese

RAI Chorus and Orchestra, Turin, Gabriele Santini

Aida

(Recorded August 1955) (2 CDs)

Richard Tucker, Fedora Barbieri, Tito Gobbi

Chorus & Orchestra of La Scala, Milan, Tullio Serafin

Un ballo in maschera

(Recorded September 1956) (2 CDs)

Giuseppe di Stefano, Tito Gobbi

Chorus & Orchestra of La Scala, Milan, Antonino Votto

Rigoletto

(Recorded September 1955) (2 CDs)

Giuseppe di Stefano, Tito Gobbi

Chorus & Orchestra of La Scala, Milan, Tullio Serafin

La forza del destino

(Recorded August 1954) (3 CDs)

Richard Tucker, Carlo Tagliabue

Chorus & Orchestra of La Scala, Milan, Tullio Serafin

Il Trovatore

(Recorded August 1956) (2 CDs)

Giuseppe di Stefano, Rolando Panerai, Fedora Barbieri

Chorus & Orchestra of La Scala, Milan, Herbert von Karajan

Superb quality at a terrific price
I am still in shock at the great value for money this collection offers.
There are 25, yes 25, full operas, plus several other CDs. The quality is superb, and though the presentation may be no frills, who cares! This collection really does deserve a home with any Callas afficionada - at this price take it and enjoy