Maria Callas - La Callas... Toujours
List Price:
Our Price: $26.99
You Save: $2.99 (10%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $11.86 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Maria CallasBrand: EMI
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled)
Format: Classical, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Running Time: 91 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-07-03
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: EMI Classics
Movie Reviews of Maria Callas - La Callas... Toujours
Movie Review: A NERVOUS SPLENDOR
Summary: 5 Stars
Given 'la callas'' penchant for perfection, they are probably still cleaning the blood off the stage at the Paris Opera. It's pretty obvious that everyone was nervous for this special debut (particularly the chorus and the tenor ... and perhaps even the conductor) ... BUT ... that aside ... this is truly a performance to treasure for all fans of opera. Nothing can dim the Callas/Gobbi combination in their traveling 'ACT 2,TOSCA SHOW'. It's interesting to compare it with the Covent Garden version of a few years later. Both are well worth having.
Summary of Maria Callas - La Callas... Toujours
Maria Callas is the quintessential diva who changed the face of the opera in the 20th century. The repertoire in this performance shows Callas at her best, both in recital and as an operatic actress. Verdi, Rossini, and Bellini were three composers at the heart of Maria Callas's career. Her personal life was of tragic operatic dimensions and perhaps no role comes closer to the essence of Callas than Floria Tosca. The second half to the program comprises the complete Act 2 of this opera, with a brilliant performance by Tito Gobbi in the role of Scarpia. A genuine collector's item, this live recording documents Callas's Paris debut at the peak of her career. Also included is documentary footage about the performance and the opera house. 91 minutes.The career of Maria Callas was just a bit too early and too brief to receive full and satisfying video documentation like that now being accorded to such singers as Ren?e Fleming and Luciano Pavarotti. This black-and-white televised recital (Callas's Paris debut) took place at the Paris Opera on December 19, 1958 when television was still in its infancy. We might wish that it had happened earlier, when her voice was in better condition, or later, when video recording technology was more advanced--so that, for example, we would not have to take the narrator's word that Callas is wearing a red dress. But this is probably the best available Callas video recording, and her fans will welcome it warmly. Visual elements were as important as the vocal dimensions in her art.
The material, carefully chosen to show Callas at her best and most versatile, includes "Casta Diva" from Bellini's Norma (a Callas specialty), the haunting "Miserere" scene from Verdi's Il trovatore, and the mischievous "Una voce poco fa" from Rossini's Barber of Seville, a fine series of stylistic contrasts in which the essential point is not pure tonal beauty but characterization and subtle expressive nuances. Others have made this music sound prettier; nobody has presented it with more impact.
But the climax of this program is its second half, a staged performance of Act II of Puccini's Tosca. This is a study in police brutality, sexual harassment, and sheer violence, psychological and physical, that has some of opera's most extreme moments--including the great aria "Vissi d'arte," the murder of the villain Scarpia, and the contemptuous dismissal flung at his corpse--"and all Rome trembled before him!" In this segment, Callas goes mano a mano with Tito Gobbi, her only equal as a singing actor during her career. They savor this material in a virtuoso performance. --Joe McLellan
Music Video & Concerts DVD Video
DVD Video
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics
- Comedy
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama
- Educational
- Fitness & Yoga
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror
- Kids & Family
- Military & War
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports
- Television
- Westerns
Movies most talked about in Essential Maria Callas
Callas Legacy, The: The Complete Guide to Her Recordings on Compact Diby John Ardoin
Hal Leonard Corporation; Published: 2003-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $17.91
Price in other shops:
Maria Callas - Life and ArtRelease date: 1999-10-26; DVD
Best price: $93.82
Bizet: Carmen (complete opera) with Maria Callas, Nicolai Gedda, Georges Pretre, Paris Opera OrchestraRelease date: 1997-08-19; Music CD
Best price: $23.17
Price in other shops:
Maria Callas - Callas in Paris 1 (Ltd Ed)Release date: 2002-11-04; Music CD
Best price: $19.05
Price in other shops:
Verdi: Aida (complete opera) with Maria Callas, Richard Tucker, Tito Gobbi, Tullio Serafin, Chorus & Orchestra of La Scala, MilanRelease date: 1997-08-19; Music CD
Best price: $19.99
Price in other shops:
Verdi: Un Ballo In Maschera (complete opera) with Maria Callas, Giuseppe di Stefano, Tito Gobbi, Antonino Votto, Chorus & Orchestra of La Scala, MilanRelease date: 1997-08-19; Music CD
Best price: $18.95
Price in other shops:
Puccini: Turandot (Complete Opera) Maria Callas; Elisabeth Schwarzkopf: Eugenio Fernandi; Tullio SerafinRelease date: 1997-08-19; Music CD
Best price: $20.90
Price in other shops:
Puccini: Madama Butterfly (complete opera) with Maria Callas, Lucia Danieli, Nicolai Gedda, Herbert von Karajan, Chorus & Orchestra of La Scala, MilanRelease date: 1997-08-19; Music CD
Best price: $21.97
Price in other shops:
Bellini: La Sonnambula (complete opera) with Maria Callas, Fiorenza Cossotto, Antonino Votto, Chorus & Orchestra of La Scala, MilanRelease date: 1997-08-19; Music CD
Best price: $21.97
Price in other shops:
![Callas: Coloratura; Lyric [Japan LP Sleeve] [Japan] Image](/images/Callas-Coloratura-Lyric-Japan-LP-Sleeve-Japan-B00006ITW9-X.jpg)
Maria Callas - Callas: Coloratura; Lyric [Japan LP Sleeve] [Japan]Release date: 2002-11-04; Music CD
Price in other shops:
Similar DVD Movies
Tony Palmer's Film About Maria Callas - 30th Anniversary EditionRelease date: 2008-01-13; DVD
Best price: $11.15
Price in other shops:
Maria Callas - Life & Art (2 CD's & Bonus DVD)Release date: 2004-11-16; Music CD
Best price: $14.13
Price in other shops:
Maria Callas - Passion / A Film by Gerard CaillatRelease date: 2006-01-24; DVD
Best price: $12.09
Price in other shops:
Maria Callas - The Very Best of Maria CallasRelease date: 2002-02-12; Music CD
Best price: $11.14
Price in other shops:
Maria Callas - Living and Dying for Art and LoveRelease date: 2005-03-22; DVD
Best price: $7.73
Price in other shops:
Callas - A Documentary Plus Bonus / John Ardoin, Franco ZeffirelliRelease date: 2004-12-07; DVD
Best price: $11.42
Price in other shops:
![The Callas Conversations, Vol. 2 [DVD Video] Image](/images/The-Callas-Conversations-Vol-2-DVD-Video-B000N0W9JW-X.jpg)
The Callas Conversations, Vol. 2 [DVD Video]Release date: 2007-04-24; DVD
Best price: $17.47
Price in other shops:
Maria Callas: The Eternal Maria CallasRelease date: 2007-11-20; DVD
Best price: $8.95
Price in other shops:
Maria Callas - The Callas Conversations (EMI Classic Archive)EMI; Release date: 2004-05-04; DVD
Best price: $16.45
Price in other shops:
Maria Callas - At Covent Garden 1962 and 1964Release date: 2002-08-13; DVD
Best price: $12.09
Price in other shops: