Bodaj najbardziej brawurowa Carmen w dziejach fonografii

Maria Callas never sang Carmen on-stage, but the role seems custom-made for her strengths -- Carmen is fiery, volatile, infuriating, seductive -- and Callas is such a superb singing actress that she conveys the character's complexity with rare effectiveness. The critical acclaim and public affection for Callas' Carmen put it very high on any list of preferred versions of the opera. She has a terrific supporting cast, including Nicolai Gedda who is in excellent voice and who makes a believable, tragic Don José, a performance that has been deemed among the finest of his career. Andréa Guiot is a sweet Micaëla, and the rest of the cast is strong. Georges Prêtre leads l'Orchestre du Théâtre Nationale de l'Opéra and the Choeurs René Duclos in an exciting, idiomatic reading of the opera. EMI's sound is clean and present. Andréa Guiot (Soprano), Nadine Sautereau (Soprano), Jean-Paul Vauquelin (Tenor), Maria Callas (Soprano), Nicolai Gedda (Tenor), Robert Massard (Baritone), Jane Berbié (Soprano), Jacques Pruvost (Tenor), Maurice Maievski (Tenor), Claude Calès (Baritone), Jacques Mars (Bass) Conductor: Georges Prêtre Orchestra/Ensemble: Paris Opera Orchestra, René Duclos Chorus, Jean Pesneaud Od wydawcy: Towards the end of Callas’ career, there were many rumours that she was planning to perform Carmen on stage. This was never to be, but Carmen became her penultimate complete recording of an opera – and her only complete recording of a French opera. With Georges Prêtre, one of her favoured conductors, and the ever-stylish Nicolai Gedda as her Don José, she captured every facet of the role. As Gramophone said when the set was first released: “Hers is a Carmen to haunt you.” Warner Classics today proudly presents a 180g Vinyl Edition of the legendary Callas’ Carmen, exact replication of the original release, including a full libretto in LP size. The master-tapes used for this exceptional and limited edition come from the Paris vaults, where was lying for half of a century the one and only set of tapes approved by Maria Callas.