Review: Revisiting the Callas/De Sabata Tosca

Puccini: Tosca. Callas, Di Stefano, Gobbi, Orchestra and Chorus of La Scala, Milan, Victor De Sabata (cond.) Warner

[Mooseman]

Many years ago, I put on this Tosca and went about doing things in the house. I was in another room and had kind of forgotten it was playing when, suddenly, I heard a woman screaming as if she was being murdered. I ran in the direction of the scream, thinking someone needed help, and ran into the room where the final chords of Tosca were playing out on my sound system. Holy crap, what a realistic scream Callas could put out. Quite the dramatic actress indeed.

[walkure]

For me, this is one of those great recordings where you remember where you were when you first heard it. The first moment that really, really grabbed me was just before the Te Deum when Tosca is having a tantrum, then Scarpia chides her - "In chiesa!", and then Callas sings "Dio mio perdona. Egli vede ch'io piango!" I don't think that I've ever had as many goosebumps since that moment many years ago! 😊

[olaknutolsen]

This recording has, for me, always been the definition of what opera can be. Three ‘lead’ singers who sound fantastic. And with the La Scala orchestra, who play slightly ‘sloppy’ in a purely latin way. I don’t speak Italian, and I don’t ned the liberetto. Because the singer do not just sing. They perform theater ! It’s also like Tarantino could have produced the whole thing. EVERYBODY dies. And what a glorious ending. I will never give up on this recording !!! greetings from Norway…..

[SteveODonnell]

This was one of the first opera recordings I bought. Because of it, I became a life long Callas fan. I then started buying all of her recordings.

[arnaudberger]

Cette Tosca de 1953 est une version historique ! Un enregistrement mono solidement capté par les preneurs de son de chez Emi, Di Stefano est solaire, Gobbi incarne Scarpia à la perfection et Maria Callas est totalement inspirée et joue le rôle avec une intensité émotionnelle hallucinante...C'est ma version favorite depuis toujours !

[palmermonsen]

It also musn't be forgotten how well Gobbi does as Scarpia, truly the best singer of the Te Deum.

[busterbeach]

I do enjoy you. Today you made me smile with your critique.

This is my favorite Tosca. Call is her prime, de Stefano with the beautiful voice and my favorite Scarpia, Gobbi. He scares the hell out of me because he’s so evil. Gobbi was great. Where are the singers of today? Dead in the water.

[jaykauffman]

Btw the upcoming Callas box will just be a compilation of the most recent Callas studio and live releases with one extra cd of unreleased studio material. Just another way for Warner to milk (AGAIN) that cash cow. Shameless

[furrybear]

Dave, any opinion on the NAXOS transfer of the EMI LPs? i have both the EMI and NAXOS and i do find the NAXOS with better sound.

[bbailey]

Ive heard most every Tosca out there and, bunk or debunk, de Sabata's really is the best conducted, most perfectly paced Tosca out there. Each act is as if conceived in a single breath, every detail purposeful within the dramatic whole from start to finish. Karajan is too grandiose and lush. And de Sabata makes Puccini’s faltering inspiration in Act 3, especially the duet, seem of no account.
Only Mitropoulos in live Met performances really comes up to the level of this thrilling studio recording. Sure, routiniers arent going to mess up a Tosca if the singers are compelling but this EMI is on a whole nother level. My .02 anyway.

[danielgreineder]

The strength of de Sabata’s conductung lies in the seriousness he brings to the performance. He neither gives the impression of being embarrassed by the work’s emotional force nor does he play it for cheap effect. There is an extra depth there as with Callas’s heroine. As you suggest, Tosca is not a conductor’s opera. De Sabata’s Tosca is not equivalent to, say, Furtwängler’s Tristan. My question is what precisely a conductor’s opera is. This would make a great talk.

[ozoz]

Great as usual and yes, my favorite Tosca is the Davis/Caballe/Carreras as well; Carreras singing “E lucevan le stelle” is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever heard - hard to believe that it’s actually a human voice!

[GarthAstrology]

This is one of the first operatic recordings I bought back in the '80's, and on listening to it again recently, I was struck by how conversaational and supple the musical approach is to the opera, an approach that really serves the highly inflected nature of the singing of both Callas and Gobbi.

[psono]

I love that recording! and Karajan Decca too!

[xxsarumanxx]

I agree with pretty much everything you've said Dave. It's a magnificent Tosca, and probably remains my favourite, but it is absolutely not the be-all and end-all. Other than the performances you mentioned, I really enjoy:
- Caniglia/Gigli/Borgioli/De Fabritiis, 1937, (Studio)
- Tebaldi/Del Monaco/London/Molinari-Pradelli, 1959, (Studio)
- Price/Corelli/MacNeil/Adler, 1962, (Live)
- Vishnevskaya/Bonisolli/Manuguerra/Rostropovich, 1976, (Studio)

[michelangelomulieri]

The greatest tosca ever! There is no match for anyone!

[geraldparker]

Frankly, Leinsdorf's conducting in the Milanov-Bjoerling "Tosca" has wonders of nuance and detail that surpass even de Sabata in many passages of the opera. Both are quite wond4erful. And THEN, there is the stupendous Leonard Warren as Scarpia, who puts the fear of demons into one's ears and heart. That goes a long way to boost the R.C.A. set's claims, even if Milanov and Bjoerling do not really quite rival Callas and di Stefano. Several baritones or basses actually go well beyound what Gobbi accomplishes, due to Gobbi's lack of their power and darker vocal presence.

[murraylow]

I don’t just think it’s me, as I’ve had this conversation several times over the years. But a number of music lovers admit that Tosca is ultimately their favourite Puccini opera. It’s compact, it does what it does remarkably efficiently (unlike Butterfly or Turandot or even La Boheme where the last act is a bit of a trial). Of course I like this recording but of course there are so many other good ones (Karajan, yes, Pappano etc)
You didn’t say so but stereo does probably help with that orchestral richness

[jonbaum]

The way conductors have the potential to mess up Tosca is to take it far too slowly. (i.e. Barenboim)

[lednew]

Was this one of the La Scala recordings made by the Mercury Living Presence team?