Medea

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Category: Music CD
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CD Details

Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1998-03-17
Music Label: EMI Classics
Soundtracks:

Music CD 1

Medea: Sinfonia (Orchestra)
Medea: Act I, Scene 1: Che? Quando gia corona Amor (Ancelle, Coro, Glauce)
Medea: Act I, Scene 1: O Amore, vieni a me! (Glauce)
Medea: Act I, Scene 1: No, non temer (Creonte, Glauce, Giasone)
Medea: Act I, Scene 1: O bella glauce (Coro, Glauce)
Medea: Act I, Scene 1: Colco! Pensier fatal! (Glauce, Giasone, Creonte)
Medea: Act I, Scene 1: Or che piu non vedro (Giasone)
Medea: Act I, Scene 1: Ah, gia troppo turbo (Creonte)
Medea: Act I, Scene 1: Pronube dive (Creonte, Coro, Glauce, Giasone)
Medea: Act I, Scene 1: Signor! Ferma una donna (Capo delle guardi, Creonte, Medea, Giasone, Glauce, Coro)
Medea: Act I, Scene 1: Qui tremar devi tu (Creonte, Glauce, Coro)
Medea: Act I, Scene 1: Taci, Giason (Medea, Giasone)
Medea: Act I, Scene 1: Dei tuoi figli la madre (Medea)
Medea: Act I, Scene 1: Son vane qui minacce (Giasone)
Medea: Act I, Scene 1: Nemici senza cor (Medea, Giasone)

Music CD 2

Medea: Act II: Introduzione (Orchestra)
Medea: Act II: Soffrir non posso (Medea, Neris, Creonte)
Medea: Act II: Date almen per pieta (Medea, Creonte, Neris, Coro)
Medea: Act II: Medea, o Medea!
Medea: Act II: Solo un pianto con te versare (Neris)
Medea: Act II: Creonte a me solo un giorno da? (Medea, Neris, Giasone)
Medea: Act II: Figli miei, miei tesor (Medea, Giasone)
Medea: Act II: Hai dato pronto ascolto (Medea, Neris)
Medea: Act II: Ah! Triste canto!... Dio dell'Amor! (Medea, Coro, Creonte, Glauce, Giasone)
Medea: Act III: Introduzione (Orchestra)
Medea: Act III: Numi, venite a me (Medea, Neris)
Medea: Act III: Del fiero duol che il cor mi frange (Medea)
Medea: Act III: Neris, che hai fatto (Medea, Neris)
Medea: Act III: E che? Io son Medea! (Medea, Coro, Giasone, Neris)

Music reviews of Medea

Music Review: Callas' Stereo Medea
Rating: 5 Stars

Those who know anything about opera will, of course, know of Maria Callas: the voice, the fame, and the painful downfall; however, they will also know of her most important roles: Norma, Violetta, Tosca and Medea. Medea is the opera that brought Callas her first major European success at the Florence Music Festival under the baton of Vittorio Gui in 1953, and her live version from La Scala under Leonard Bernstein ranks among one of the most important recordings of her career. The La Scala performance and that recorded live at the Dallas opera in 1958 are Callas' most famous recordings of the role of Medea, and her studio version is often overlooked by many opera aficionados; however, it remains a priceless treasure because the static and extra noise of a "live" recording is removed and nothing remains except the music and the voice.

This recording, made in 1957, is quite sedate when compared to those made in Milan and Dallas, but far outstrip the others in clarity and beauty. Callas remarked during her Julliard Master's Class that Medea most be taken on the "lean side" and not the fat side in order not to sound like an animal, and one wonders whether or not Callas took her own advice during her live performances, but this studio version remains a testament to such a theory. Because Callas tones down the histrionics a bit, the listener is able to not only appreciate the beauty of the role, but also the beauty of Cherubini's score. Serafin's conducting is nothing short of fabulous and when paired to Callas, it is sublime.

Some might argue that the terror and fire of the live performances would be lost in a recording such as this, but it must be quite clear that because Callas is more tame in version, her explosions of anger and fury are twice as frightening then when she is a wild creature all the way through. When one doesn't expect the fireworks they become all the more explosive and terrifying.

The assembled supporting cast is also without fault in this recording, luckily, for Callas was often plagued by many horrible co-stars. The Neris of Renata Scotto is second to none, and Mirto Picchi is splendid Jason (he also played Pollione in Callas' Covent Garden debut Norma in 1952); while he is not quite the Jason of Jon Vickers, his powerful and clarion voice leave nothing to be desired.

The "Chest Register" of the leading lady must also be addressed if one is talking about Medea. The power of Callas' chest register was once compared to the contralto Chloe Elmo by one of the diva's costars, and is often discussed in relation to this opera. Medea is an opera less concerned with the fire of coloratura and more with the power of the middle register,and Callas displays her abilities with a power unrivaled by any other twentieth century soprano. Her display in the last ten minutes of the opera is worth the price of the whole opera: Medea has come completely undone with jealous insanity and destroys her own world and that of Jason. Simply Electric.

I advise purchasing all of Callas' Medeas (Florence, 1953; La Scala, 1953; the Studio recording, 1957; Dallas, 1958; and La Scala again in 1961). Certainly, all of them have flaws, and by the end The Voice is a battered shell of what once was, but the drama is always there.

More Medea free music reviews:
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