Artist: Maria Callas, Orch del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, Victor de Sabata
Album: Puccini: Tosca
Genre: Classical
Release Date: 1953/2014
Audio Format:: FLAC (tracks) 24 bit, 96 kHz
Duration: 01:48:54
Total Tracks: 29
Total Size: 1,07 GB

Tracklist:

Giacomo Puccini 1858–1924
Tosca
Opera in three acts · Libretto: Luigi Illica & Giuseppe Giacosa

ACT ONE
1 Ah! Finalmente! (Angelotti/Sagrestano/Cavaradossi) 5.34
2 Dammi i colori…Recondita armonia (Cavaradossi/Sagrestano) 4.22
3 Gente là dentro! (Cavaradossi/Angelotti/Tosca) 1.10
4 Mario! Mario! Mario! 6.58
5 Ah, quegli occhi…Quale occhio al mondo può star di paro (Tosca/Cavaradossi) 5.09
6 È buona la mia Tosca (Cavaradossi/Angelotti/Sagrestano/Coro) 4.52
7 Un tal baccano in chiesa! (Scarpia/Sagrestano/Spoletta) 3.28
8 Or tutto è chiaro…Tosca? Che non mi veda…Mario! Mario! 3.04
(Scarpia/Tosca/Sagrestano)
9 Ed io venivo a lui tutta dogliosa (Tosca/Scarpia) 3.45
10 Tre sbirri, una carrozza (Scarpia/Spoletta/Coro) 4.29

ACT TWO
11 Tosca è un buon falco! (Scarpia/Sciarrone) 3.07
12 Ha più forte (Scarpia/Sciarrone/Spoletta) 2.17
13 Meno male! (Scarpia/Spoletta/Coro/Cavaradossi/Tosca) 3.16
14 Dov’è dunque Angelotti? (Scarpia/Cavaradossi/Spoletta/Tosca) 2.00
15 Ed or fra noi parliam da buoni amici…Sciarrone, che dice il Cavalier? 3.59
(Scarpia/Tosca/Sciarrone/Cavaradossi)
16 Orsù, Tosca, parlate (Scarpia/Tosca/Cavaradossi) 2.55
17 Nel pozzo…nel giardino (Scarpia/Sciarrone/Tosca/Cavaradossi) 5.22
18 Se la giurata fede debbo tradir (Scarpia/Tosca) 3.37
19 Vissi d’arte (Tosca) 3.13
20 Vedi, le man giunte io stendo a te! (Tosca/Scarpia/Spoletta) 3.40
21 E qual via scegliete? (Scarpia/Tosca) 6.27

ACT THREE
22 Io de’ sospiri (Voce del pastore) 5.38
23 Mario Cavaradossi? A voi (Carceriere/Cavaradossi) 4.03
24 E lucevan le stelle (Cavaradossi) 2.47
25 Ah! Franchigia a Floria Tosca 2.33
26 O dolci mani mansuete e pure (Cavaradossi/Tosca) 4.52
27 E non giungono (Tosca/Cavaradossi/Carceriere) 2.25
28 Com’è lunga l’attesa! (Tosca) 2.15
29 Presto! Su, Mario! Mario! Su! Presto! Andiam! (Tosca/Voci/Sciarrone/Spoletta) 1.20

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This Tosca, made in 1953 with the forces of La Scala, is a landmark in recording history. Conducted with searing intensity by Victor de Sabata, it teams Callas with two of her closest colleagues, the tenor Giuseppe di Stefano and the baritone Tito Gobbi – a performer who could rival Callas in dramatic finesse and power. Tosca’s aria ‘Vissi d’arte’ (I lived for art) has come to be seen as Callas’ personal manifesto.

Tosca,’ Giacomo Puccini’s ‘shabby little shocker,’ had its premiere in 1900. The libretto, by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica, was based on the Sardou drama of the same name. The opera has come to be associated with Maria Callas, the most celebrated interpreter of the title role. This recording, which dates from 1953, is THE classic performance, one of two ‘official’ recordings, as it were. It is a must-have for all Callas fans. (There is another official recording, made in 1964, with a different conductor, Georges Prêtre, and a different Cavaradossi, Carlo Bergonzi, but as the years passed, so did the quality of Callas’s voice.) This earlier version is far superior.

Tradition mandates that we hear Callas sing with her fabled partner, the honey-voiced Di Stefano. Here, his sweetness is a wonderful counterpoint to Callas’s dramatic, covered voice. Tito Gobbi provides a crafty Scarpia, and De Sabata’s conducting is considered by many to be the ultimate reading of this work. But Callas is the diva here, and the listener is treated to the full amalgam of her emotional range. This performance is the myth-making one!