Search - Maria Callas in Concert - Hamburg 1959 and 1962 on DVD

An auditory and visual treasure. Superb!

Marmez1@aol.com | Los Angeles, CA USA | 03/09/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Maria Callas was a phenomenon. She evoked the strongest passions, pro and con, during her too brief peak period. Unfortunately she did her best work in the 1950's and 1960's when films and videos of opera were rare. That makes this DVD so important. Here we see her in two recitals. Sadly she was never filmed in a complete opera (to the best of my knowledge). Like another one of the reviewers, I have watched these performances on laser disc for years and was especially pleased to see them come out on DVD. The quality of the picture reflects the state of the art of the time. But you will not buy this DVD for picture quality. You will get it as a visual and auditory record of the most interesting singer of the past 50 years. There are many glorious moments on this DVD. Perhaps my favorite is Una voce poco fa from The Barber of Seville. Her recording of the complete opera on EMI is still one of the best versions of this opera, but her aria in this recital is the best of her several recordings. And what presence she had. As a lover of opera it is a disappointment that I never got to see Callas perform live. This superb DVD will have to be my consolation."

An invaluable document

klavierspiel | TX, USA | 11/01/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As another reviewer has already mentioned, Callas was never filmed in a complete opera. (Ironically, no less than three films exist of the second act of Puccini's Tosca, a role that she did not regard with particular favor.) So, these filmed live concerts of varied operatic repertory are particularly valuable as a document of a spellbinding performer practicing her art. The concert from 1959 finds her in more secure voice, though she misses a top C in the Macbeth aria and omits some interpolated high notes elsewhere. However, the earlier concert as a whole is a vivid demonstration of her dramatic intensity and the variety of her vocal art, ranging from the steely intensity of Macbeth, to the ineffable grief of the Don Carlo aria, to the flirtatious charm of the Barber of Seville. By 1962, she was in noticeable vocal decline and there are frequent instances of what became an all-too-familiar unsteadiness on top notes in the later concert. She also has difficulty remembering words in the Carmen excerpts in 1962. On the other hand, O Don Fatale, a mezzo aria, is mesmerizing. Anyone who wants to learn why Callas continues to exert such a powerful force on the world of opera need only view these concerts to know the reason."

DVD, the right medium for such an act

Marmez1@aol.com | 10/31/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Without loosing hope, I none the less didn't expect such a great thing to happen so fast. I am talking about the Callas in Hamburg 59 & 62 concerts, which were released by a Dutch house on DVD. There's only another dvd (pure music*) issued by a Japanese company. In that case the price is fantastic (US$ 100 for 29 minutes of music!) and the quality is far from being good. This one is an elegant edition. Even the menu is made with care, showing nice live pictures of Callas. The image is perfect and the sound was remastered to digital, making this a unique opportunity to enjoy the concerts without fearing any tape damage. Arias can be selected at random, just as on a music cd, in case you don't want to listen to the whole concert in one sitting. I do recommend you'd buy it (I'm not working for the company who released it!) before it becomes obsolete. Most of us will have a dvd player one day, this is the new format to stay. I also bought mine when I had 5 titles in my collection, some are already out of stock. * there's Life and Art also available but haven't got that one."

Finally, Maria Callas on DVD!

Theron R Georges | San Antonio, Texas | 11/22/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you are a fan of Maria Callas, then you undoubtedly own the Hamburg Concerts on VHS format. If you love Maria Callas, then you're probably an audiophile, too! It's about time that Maria Callas' repertoire become available on DVD. The actual DVD is fantastic. A full menu allows the audeince to choose subtitles (in three languages) to the arias. A good stereo or digital stereo gives new life to these familiar concerts. This DVD is a must have for Callas fans!"