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Callas remastered


bogdan101

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Yes, apparently they did it all from scratch, going back to the master tapes and did everything in 24/96. The annoying thing, this box has everything on cd, while at the same time the 24/96 versions of individual releases are starting to appear as downloads on Hdtracks. How much more would have cost to dump all the 24/96 files on a handful of bluray discs and put them in the box?

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and most of them will be out on SACD in Japan...

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/products?q=callas&order=rel&page=1

"Reissue from Maria Callas features SACD Hybrid format and the latest remastering in Abbey Road Studios. Japanese original release. Comes with a description and lyrics. This series features 25 albums with the following product numbers: WPCS-12941 through WPCS-12979."

Edited by Alexandros
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I will check this out eventually, although I really love the sound of the 53 Tosca on the older EMI set.

If you love that version, you'll be delirious over the newly remastered one... :) Seriously, I compared them (on Spotify no less), and let me give you an example: When Callas says "Vissi..." at the beginning of the famous aria, in the old version you cannot hear the s in Vissi; in the new one you can.

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I will check this out eventually, although I really love the sound of the 53 Tosca on the older EMI set.

If you love that version, you'll be delirious over the newly remastered one... :) Seriously, I compared them (on Spotify no less), and let me give you an example: When Callas says "Vissi..." at the beginning of the famous aria, in the old version you cannot hear the s in Vissi; in the new one you can.

OK, you've pushed me over the top. I will buy it soon. :)

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Great, looking forward to your comparative review... I'm still holding out on buying the box, waiting for either Hdtracks to have a package deal on all the 24/96 versions, Warner to release a hi res version, or I find a price I can't refuse on the cd set. I know, maybe none of the above will happen, but I am a little boxed out for now, as I still have to work my way through parts of the Fricsay set and most of the Toscanini one.

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Can't really write an elaborate review, but in my amateurish words, I seem to hear greater clarity, better definition of sound - both on the voice as well as on the orchestra. Also more presence if that makes sense, on the voice. And more balance on the whole - some of the high (vocal) notes on the older set sound pretty shrill to me, which is less the case on the new one (i.e. the final bit before the instrumental part in "Una voce poco fa").

This is based on comparing music from:

  • "Puccini Arias" ("Si, Mi chiamamano Mimì", "O mio babbino caro")
  • "Lyric & Coloratura Arias" ("Ecco: respiro appena. Io son l'umile ancella", "L'altro notte, in fondo al mare", "Una voce poco fa") (I love that album dearly!)
  • La Traviata: the low level noise (tape sound or whatever it is) is still there or there is maybe even a bit more of it in the Preludio, but the whole thing has better definition (i.e. when the double basses enter, or that part when the violins start playing that charming upward three-note motif around 3 minutes in - they emerge from the orchestra here, while on the old one, they sound more like added icing on top - meaning they're easier to hear in the first few seconds, but the new version sounds more organic if that makes any sense)
    In "È strano! È strano!" the low level hiss seems to be less, the voice seems to have a tiny bit more "body" and you get much less of the artifacts (wobble) when Callas hits those high and loud notes.
  • Tosca (1953): "Ed or fra noi parliam da buoni amici ...Sciarrone, che dice il Cavalier?" - again, everything seems just a tad better defined and livelier - orchestra and voices. The heat seems to be more present, the brass really shines, the bass grumbles, yet I don't hear any bleeding like there is occasionally on the older version. So yeah, they bring it to the fore without overdoing it.
    "Vissi d'arte": again here you get those artifacts (some distortion of the background "noise" or whatever it is, when the voice goes up high at high volume) - you still get some of it on the new remaster, but at the same time, it all sounds much warmer (both voice and orchestra).

So, more presence, less sonic mush (from which both orchestra and, though to a lesser extent, the voice seems to suffer on the older version) ... clearer definition, more polish on the whole yet still more "aggressiveness" in detail, sound is more "graphic" somehow. Not sure how much sense this all makes, I'm really not used to try and put such things into words.

Again I hasten to add: I'm no audiophile, don't have any high-end equipment (I don't even know the brand of speakers I'm using right now, they were bought used at the thrift store when I needed another pair).

As for the whole presentation, the bloated box is a bit silly - the book isn't a bit larger (higher) than CD size, but still ... the original covers are indeed a big step forward from the generic blue ones of the 90s edition. Having all those photos, both in the book and inside the booklets included with the CDs is nice as well. Some of the paper sleeves in which the discs are put are a tiny bit too large, so you have to kinda shake them out of the cardboard covers ... you need those paper sleeves as they contain the tracklists (for the operas, you only get them there, for the recitals, they're also on the back side of the cardboard covers. What is a bit annoying: the discs are in no way numbered (except for "La Traviata" discs 1 and 2 and the likes). So to put them back in order, if you don't know the sequence by heart (I surely don't), you need to fumble out the separate booklets and check the recording dates, as even the catalogue numbers visible on each disc represent any sequence. Minor issue for sure, but I do care for chronological order often, also often sequence my listening that way (and no, on the paper inside the shrinkwrap but outside of the box, the covers are not depicted in order, either!).


As for "Laltro notte" from Boito's Mefistofele, I think Caballé beats anyone, but that aria is just so darn gorgeous and hearing Callas sings it is a great experience every time for me!

And what an effin' tragedy it is that Callas wasn't able to do a proper studio "Traviata" ... granted, the live one with Ghione is magnificient (my favourite recording, I think, of this opera, Kleiber can't compete because of his weak Violetta ... the Serafin with Simionate is good, too, but what would I give to have Callas in there!

Now excuse me while I start listening the entire "Tosca" ...

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just in case, here's the contents in chronological order - taken from a comment on amazon.de, slightly anglifishiezed by yours truly:

1949

- First Recordings: Arias from Tristan, Norma, I Puritani; conductor: Arturo Basile

1952

- Ponchielli: La Gioconda; conductor: Antonio Votto

1953

- Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor; conductor: Tullio Serafin

- Bellini: I puritani; conductor: Serafin

- Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana; conductor: Serafin

- Puccini: Tosca; conductor: Victor de Sabata

- Verdi: La traviata; conductor: Gabriele Santini

1954

- Bellini: Norma; conductor: Serafin

- Leoncavallo: Pagliacci; conductor: Serafin

- Verdi: La forza del destino; conductor: Serafin

- Rossini: Il turco in Italia; conductor: Gianandrea Gavazzeni

- Puccini Arias; conductor: Serafin

- Operatic Arias (aka Lyric & Coloratura Arias); conductor: Serafin

1955

- Callas at La Scala: Arias from La sonnambula, Medea, La vestale; conductor: Serafin

- Puccini: Madama Butterfly; conductor: Herbert von Karajan

- Verdi: Aida; conductor: Serafin

- Verdi: Rigoletto; conductor: Serafin

1956

- Verdi: Il trovatore; conductor: Karajan

- Puccini: La bohème; conductor: Votto

- Verdi: Un ballo in Maschera; conductor: Votto

1957

- Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia; conductor: Alceo Galliera

- Bellini: La sonnambula; conductor: Votto

- Puccini: Turandot; conductor: Serafin

- Puccini: Manon Lescaut; conductor: Serafin

- Cherubini: Medea; conductor: Serafin

1958

- Verdi Arias I: Macbeth, Nabucco, Ernani, Don Carlo; conductor: Nicola Rescigno

- Mad Scenes: Anna Bolena, Hamlet, Il pirate; conductor: Rescigno

1959

- Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor; conductor: Serafin

- Ponchielli: La Gioconda; conductor: Votto

1960

- Bellini: Norma; conductor: Serafin

1961

- Callas à Paris: Arias; conductor: Georges Prêtre

1963

- Callas à Paris: Arias; conductor: Prêtre

1963/64

- Arias by Mozart, Beethoven and Weber; conductor: Rescigno

- Verdi Arias II: Otello, Aroldo, Don Carlo; conductor: Rescigno

- Arias by Rossini and Donizetti; conductor: Rescigno

1964

- Bizet: Carmen; conductor: Prêtre

1964/65

- Puccini: Tosca; conductor: Prêtre

1964/65/69

- Verdi Arias III: I lombardi, Attila, Il corsaro, Il trovatore, I vespri siciliani, Un ballo in maschera, Aida; conductor: Rescigno

1953/58/60/61

- Rarities; conductors: Prêtre, Rescigno, Serafin, Antonio Tonini

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