Since you are interested in La Sonnambula (Complete opera recorded in 1957) [with arias by Cherubini & Spontini], here is a list of other items that you may find interesting.
GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: Tosca (Complete opera) (Recorded August 1953) Franco Calabrese (bass) Maria Callas (soprano) Dario Caselli (bass) Alvaro Cordova (tenor) Tito Gobbi (baritone) /Milan La Scala / Victor De Sabata [ Naxos Great Opera Recordings / 2 CD - released 27/Jan/2004 ] "This new remastering is streets ahead of the others; it irons out the sourness and surface noise of the original, without adding the implausible sheen and reverberance of previous transfers" - The Times (London) |
VERDI
La Traviata (complete opera recorded in 1953) Maria Callas / Francesco Albanese / Ugo Savarese / Turin Radio Symphony Orchestra / Gabriele Santini [ Naxos Historical Great Opera Recordings / 2 CD - released 1/Jan/2007 ] Maria Callas first sang Violetta in January 1951 at the Teatro Communale in Florence. In the next three seasons Callas sang the role at Bergamo, Parma, Mexico City, Verona, Venice and Rome. |
MASCAGNI
Cavalleria rusticana (complete opera recorded in 1953) Maria Callas / Giuseppe di Stefano / Milan La Scala Orchestra / Tullio Serafin (Conductor) [ Naxos Historical / CD - released 8/Aug/2006 ] Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana was the third complete opera recording for EMI [Columbia/Angel] that Callas took part in, and the second under the aegis of La Scala, Milan. |
PUCCINI
La Boheme (Complete opera recorded in 1956) [with opera arias sung by Rosanna Carteri] Maria Callas / Giuseppe di Stefano / Rolando Panerai / Nicola Zaccaria / Anna Moffo / Milan La Scala Orchestra / Antonino Votto (Conductor) [ Naxos Historical Great Operas / 2 CD - released 2/Feb/2009 ] This 1956 recording of Puccini's perennially popular La bohème was Callas's twelfth complete opera recording with La Scala, Milan, though she never sang it live on stage here or anywhere else. |
BELLINI
Norma (Complete Opera recorded in 1954) Maria Callas / Mario Filippeschi / Ebe Stignani / Nicola Rossi-Lemeni / Chorus And Orchestra Of La Scala, Milan / Tullio Serafin [ Naxos Historical Great Opera Performances / 3 CD - released 22/Sep/2007 ] "The manner in which Callas colours her voice and the way she moves through the vocal register is very individual and not to every taste. If it is to yours then this Naxos realisation of the 1954 studio recording is in the best sound I have so far... |
GIOACHINO ROSSINI
Rossini: Turco in Italia (complete opera recorded in 1954) Maria Callas / Nicola Rossi-Lemeni / Gianandrea Gavazzeni (Conductor) / Tullio Serafin (Conductor) [ Naxos Historical / CD - released 8/Aug/2006 ] Callas's Fiorilla is the tenth complete opera recording she made, the only one for EMI [Columbia/Angel] that she undertook of a then unknown work, and which she would later sing at La Scala, Milan. |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: Madama Butterfly (Complete opera recorded in 1955) Maria Callas, Nicolai Gedda, Enrico Campi / Milan La Scala Orchestra / Von Karajan (Conductor) [ Naxos Historical Great Operas / 2 CD - released 8/Aug/2006 ] When EMI [Columbia/Angel] recorded Callas as Madama Butterfly in August 1955, she had not yet sung it in the theatre, nor would she ever do so at La Scala, Milan, where it was made and her career based. |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: Turandot (Complete opera recorded in 1957) Maria Callas / Renato Ercolani / Mario Borriello / Elisabeth Schwarzkopf / Milan La Scala Orchestra / Tullio Serafin (Conductor) [ Naxos Historical Great Operas / 2 CD - released 2/Feb/2009 ] Puccini's Turandot , first performed in 1926, was the only work in which Callas sang that was younger than herself and is a perfect vehicle for a dramatic soprano with a steady, steely and brilliant voice capable of rising to top C.Although she had... |