内容(「CDジャーナル」データベースより)
3枚組のCDに収められた46曲のすべてが,極めて個性的な魅力に溢れている。1曲のアリアからでもドラマを生みだし,役柄に生命を吹き込むカラスの驚くべき歌唱力を否がおうでも実感せずにはいられない。雑多な選曲にもかかわらずカラスの歌からは一貫した熱気が伝わってくる。歌うような美しい抑揚が付けられたカラスの英語が聴けるインタビューが添付されているのもファンには嬉しい。
From Amazon.com
In case there was a moment in your life when your suspected that Maria Callas was not a driving force in opera in the last half of this century, pick up this set. Apparently unable to give a dull performance, here we get Callas in
La Divina as Rossini's flirty Rosina; Verdi's emotion-torn Aida; Catalani's unbelievably sad Wally (a classic performance, by which all others are measured); Bellini's Norma (ditto); Puccini's lovely, youthful Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi; the same composer's frigid, furious Turandot as well as his confused, desparate Manon Lescaut; Verdi's Loenoras--each noble; Meyerbeer's ditzy Dinorah and Delibes's loco Lakme (in some fabulous, high-flying coloratura singing); and at least a dozen more roles. While it's true that her control over her voice varies--the French coloratura arias, from Gounod and Thomas operas, can be pretty acidic--there's never an uninterested reading, never a once-over read-through. You'll get to know the characters as well as their music by hearing Callas as each heroine--indeed, this collection is like a who's who in opera. No music lover should be without it.
--Robert Levine