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Tosca (1953 EMI Recording)
The 1953 EMI recording of Giacomo Puccini's ''Tosca'' conducted by Victor de Sabata, with Maria Callas, Giuseppe Di Stefano and Tito Gobbi, is considered by many opera critics to be one of the most notable opera recordings of the 1950s. It was recorded in August 1953 by the EMI subsidiary Columbia Records and released to critical acclaim. It was a commercial success from the start and continues to be one of the best-selling opera recordings. An anecdote regarding the recording sessions relates that de Sabata, who was generally pleased with Callas's performance, was not satisfied with her reading of the line "". Producer Walter Legge wrote that de Sabata put Callas through the "grinding mill" for half an hour to get it just right, though in Legge's view it was time well spent. The work of all three lead singers, Callas as Tosca, Tito Gobbi as Scarpia and Giuseppe Di Stefano as Cavaradossi has been nearly universally praised, as has the "spaciously lyrical" conducting of de Sabata. W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tosca Sabata LP 1952
''Tosca'' is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1887 French-language dramatic play, ''La Tosca'', is a melodramatic piece set in Rome in June 1800, with the Kingdom of Naples's control of Rome threatened by Napoleon's Campaigns of 1800 in the French Revolutionary Wars#Italy, invasion of Italy. It contains depictions of torture, murder, and suicide, as well as some of Puccini's best-known lyrical arias. Puccini saw Sardou's play when it was touring Italy in 1889 and, after some vacillation, obtained the rights to turn the work into an opera in 1895. Turning the wordy French play into a succinct Italian opera took four years, during which the composer repeatedly argued with his librettists and publisher. ''Tosca'' premiered at a time of unrest in Rome, and its first performance was delayed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
