For any admirers of the late Madame Callas out there, I can heartily recommend the beautifully presented recordings from Divina Records (www.divinarecords.com).
Some months ago I bought from them the December 7th 1955 La Scala Norma which is in wonderfully restored sound and in which Callas is in thrillingly good shape. The beauty of their discs is their "enhanced CD" format (Audio CD/CD-ROM combination) - which means that there are oodles of extras (full libretto, 120+ images, over an hour of related video footage in this case, together often with scans of reviews, programmes, contemporary newspaper reports etc - all of which adds vastly to my enjoyment of their discs).
Yesterday I took delivery of the scintillating La Scala Anna Bolena (April 14th 1957). Callas, Simionato, Rossi Lemeni et al were really on fire that April night in Milan and I doubt you will ever hear it more palpably caught than here. This two disc set is again in the enhanced CD format (an astonishing 355 high quality images this time!, 11 newspaper reviews, scanned original programme, performance annals and discographies, six articles on Callas recordings: that tempting little lot weighs in at a whopping 67MB in total) with a liner notes essay and more images. This Bolena is taken from the BJR mastertapes (remember their 1950s LPs- which were always head and shoulders above their competitors?) which have been gifted to Divina Records. That trust has been admirably repaid.
Produced in Argentina, the scrupulous love and care which goes into the production really shines out and you get personal service from the producer - he even lets you know the disc is en route etc and welcomes your comments on it.
EMI have irked some Callas admirers in the past with their approach to her recordings, but I have been astonished at the quality of these releases from South America. The difference I think lies in the fact that they are produced by real admirers and not bean counters. I have a cabinet full of Callas recordings from various sources - EMI, Myto, Fonit cetra and various & sundry dubious labels, but for any lovers of Callas I can but excitedly point you in the direction of Divina's offerings.
Has anyone else tried their recordings - I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.
K.
Some months ago I bought from them the December 7th 1955 La Scala Norma which is in wonderfully restored sound and in which Callas is in thrillingly good shape. The beauty of their discs is their "enhanced CD" format (Audio CD/CD-ROM combination) - which means that there are oodles of extras (full libretto, 120+ images, over an hour of related video footage in this case, together often with scans of reviews, programmes, contemporary newspaper reports etc - all of which adds vastly to my enjoyment of their discs).
Yesterday I took delivery of the scintillating La Scala Anna Bolena (April 14th 1957). Callas, Simionato, Rossi Lemeni et al were really on fire that April night in Milan and I doubt you will ever hear it more palpably caught than here. This two disc set is again in the enhanced CD format (an astonishing 355 high quality images this time!, 11 newspaper reviews, scanned original programme, performance annals and discographies, six articles on Callas recordings: that tempting little lot weighs in at a whopping 67MB in total) with a liner notes essay and more images. This Bolena is taken from the BJR mastertapes (remember their 1950s LPs- which were always head and shoulders above their competitors?) which have been gifted to Divina Records. That trust has been admirably repaid.
Produced in Argentina, the scrupulous love and care which goes into the production really shines out and you get personal service from the producer - he even lets you know the disc is en route etc and welcomes your comments on it.
EMI have irked some Callas admirers in the past with their approach to her recordings, but I have been astonished at the quality of these releases from South America. The difference I think lies in the fact that they are produced by real admirers and not bean counters. I have a cabinet full of Callas recordings from various sources - EMI, Myto, Fonit cetra and various & sundry dubious labels, but for any lovers of Callas I can but excitedly point you in the direction of Divina's offerings.
Has anyone else tried their recordings - I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.
K.