Puccini: Tosca (complete opera) with Maria Callas, Carlo Bergonzi, Tito Gobbi, Georges Pretre
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Composer: Giacomo PucciniConductor: Georges Prêtre
Performer: Maria Callas
Performer: Carlo Bergonzi
Performer: Renato Ercolani
Performer: Tito Gobbi
Performer: Leonardo Monreale
Performer: David Sellar
Performer: Giorgio Tadeo
Performer: Ugo Trama
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1998-03-17
Music Label: EMI Classics
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
- TOSCA: Act One - Ah! Finalmente! (Angelotti, Sagrestano, Cavaradossi)
- TOSCA: Act One - Dammi i colori...Recondita armonia (Cavaradossi, Sagrestano)
- TOSCA: Act One - Gente là dentro! (Cavaradossi, Angelotti, Tosca)
- TOSCA: Act One - Mario! Mario! Mario!
- TOSCA: Act One - Ah, quegli occhi... Quale occhio al mondo può star di paro (Tosca, Cavaradossi)
- TOSCA: Act One - E' buona la mia Tosca (Cavaradossi, Angelotti, Sagrestano, Coro)
- TOSCA: Act One - Un tal baccano in chiesa! (Scarpia, Sagrestano, Spoletta)
- TOSCA: Act One - Or tutto è chiaro...Tosca? Che non mi veda... Mario! Mario! (Scarpia, Tosca, Sagrestano)
- TOSCA: Act One - Ed io venivo a lui tutta dogliosa (Tosca, Scarpia)
- TOSCA: Act One - Tre sbirri, una carrozza (Scarpia, Spoletta, Coro)
- TOSCA: Act Two - Tosca è un buon falco! (Scarpia, Sciarrone)
- TOSCA: Act Two - Ha più forte (Scarpia, Sciarrone, Spoletta)
- TOSCA: Act Two - Meno male! (Scarpia, Sciarrone, Cavaradossi)
- TOSCA: Act Two - Dov'è dunque Angelotti? (Scarpia, Cavaradossi, Spoletta, Tosca)
- TOSCA: Act Two - Ed or fra noi parliam da buoni amici...Sciarrone, che dice il Cavalier? (Scarpia, Tosca, Sciarrone, Cavaradossi)
- TOSCA: Act Two - Orsù, Tosca, parlate (Scarpia, Tosca, Cavaradossi)
- TOSCA: Act Two - Nel pozzo... nel giardino (Scarpia, Sciarrone, Tosca, Cavaradossi)
- TOSCA: Act Two - Se la giurata fede debbo tradir (Scarpia, Tosca)
- TOSCA: Act Two - Vissi d'arte (Tosca)
- TOSCA: Act Two - Vedi, le man giunte io stendo a te! (Tosca, Scarpia, Spoletta)
- TOSCA: Act Two - E qual via scegliete? (Scarpia, Tosca)
- TOSCA: Act Three - Ipo de' sospiri (Voce del pastore)
- TOSCA: Act Three - Mario Cavaradossi? A voi (Carceriere, Cavaradossi)
- TOSCA: Act Three - E lucevan le stelle (Cavaradossi)
- TOSCA: Act Three - Ah! Franchigia a Floria Tosca
- TOSCA: Act Three - O dolci mani mansuete e pure (Cavaradossi, Tosca)
- TOSCA: Act Three - E non giungono (Tosca, Cavaradossi, Carceriere)
- TOSCA: Act Three - Com'è lunga l'attesa! (Tosca)
- TOSCA: Act Three - Presto! Su, Mario! Mario! Su! Presto! Andiam! (Tosca, Voci, Sciarrone, Spoletta)
Music reviews of Puccini: Tosca (complete opera) with Maria Callas, Carlo Bergonzi, Tito Gobbi, Georges Pretre
Music Review: Fascinating, yes, but...
Rating: 4 Stars
I entirely agree that Callas's performance is mesmerizing, even though she was way past her vocal prime when she made this recording. She sounds shrill and larger-than-life, the operatic equivalent of a silent-movie actress as she uses every trick in the book to compensate for what she cannot do with her voice. But isn't Puccini himself responsible for making Tosca a shrill, larger-than-life figure? This is melodrama at its best--it may be unsubtle, but who cares as long as it breaks your heart. Gobbi's performance runs along the same lines--he too was past his prime, and his Scarpia is a bit of a caricature, a B-movie villain with Boris Karloff makeup. However, sparks fly during the second-act duet, and the murder scene has me glued to my seat every time I listen to it. (This is the only Tosca who doesn't really need a knife at all--there is enough venom in her "muori dannato" to kill off a dozen Scarpias.)
My main problem with this recording is that the conductor (Georges Prêtre) fails to convey a sense of continuity and structure. As a result, the opera turns into a series of show-stopping moments: taken individually, each one somehow manages to impress due to the overheated singing, but there is no sense of dramatic progression, and the endless succession of climaxes becomes rather tiring as all sense of perspective is lost. Puccini surely deserves better than this, as De Sabata brilliantly demonstrates. In addition, I wonder why Bergonzi was chosen to sing Mario in this recording--his glorious voice is a delight, and his musicianship is impeccable, but with Callas and Gobbi both throwing caution to the winds, he sounds as if he came from another planet. (The stereo sound is very vivid, but the voices are miked too closely, which is regrettable as every vocal blemish is made much more audible than it would have been in the theater. Indeed, both Callas and Gobbi sound distinctly better in their live recordings from London and New York, which were made at approximately the same time, but with microphones placed at a sufficient distance to capture what the audience actually heard.)
To my mind, the best of the late Callas _Toscas_ is not this recording, but the live 1964 version from London, in which Callas is more intelligently supported by a conductor (Carlo Felice Cillario) who puts her performance into better perspective and helps her explore the character's vulnerable side instead of merely allowing her to go over the top all the time.
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Description of Puccini: Tosca (complete opera) with Maria Callas, Carlo Bergonzi, Tito Gobbi, Georges Pretre
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