Stars: Maria Callas, Tito Gobbi, Georges Sebastian, Paris National Theatre Opera Orch

Director: Roger Benamou

Summary: This film, made at the peak of Maria Callas' career, has been re-edited by the original TV director, Roger Benamou, with remastered sound and extra commentary and documentary footage about the performance and opera house.

One of the most temperamental and gifted divas in opera history, the beautiful soprano Maria Callas possessed an awe-inspiring voice and a flair for the melodramatic. On TOUJOURS PARIS 1958, she is filmed in recital and operatic roles. After performing the works of Verdi, Bellini, and Rossini, Callas is joined by the acclaimed Tito Gobbi in enacting the entire Second Act of Rossini's TOSCA. Recorded live at the Palais Garnier (Theatre National de L'Opera de Paris) on 19th December, 1958. Remastered at London's legendary Abbey Road Studios, Callas has never sounded more lush and emotive.

WIN DVDs by rating this DVD

Average User Rating:

WIN DVDS by being amongst the first to review this DVD. Reviewing DVDs earns you bonus entries and lets you WIN DVDs!Please login before reviewing this DVD. If you're a new user, register for free and enter to WIN FREE DVDs!

La Callas... Toujoursis a black-and-white televised recital (Callas' Paris debut) that 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. After all, visual elements were as important as the vocal dimensions in her art but her fans will welcome this warmly.

The material, carefully chosen to show Callas at her best and most versatile, includes "Casta Diva" from Bellini's Norma(a Callas speciality), 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 characterisation and subtle expressive nuances. Others have made this music sound prettier; nobody has presented it with more impact. But the climax of this programme 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 manowith Tito Gobbi, her only equal as a singing actor during her career. They savour this material in a virtuoso performance. --Joe McLellan, Amazon.com

Main Language:	Italian
Region:	Region 2
Subtitles:	English, French, German
Year:	1958
Release Date:	March 5, 2001
Certification:	Exempt.
Catalogue Number:	D V A 4 92502 9
Keywords:	Music, Paris, Opera, Maria, Callas, Classical, La, Performing, Choral, Operetta, Aka, Vocal, Arts, Debut, Toujours
Genre:	Music/Performing Arts