Warner Classics: Verdi — Il Trovatore (Callas, Karajan, Callas Remastered) (2-CD)

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Product Details:

• Product Type: Audio CD
• Brand / Label: Warner Classics
• Composer: Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901)
• Title: Il Trovatore
• Series: Callas Remastered
• Conductor: Herbert von Karajan
• Ensemble: Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala di Milano
• Release Year: 2014 (remaster)
• UPC: 0825646340941
• Catalog Number: 0825646340941
• Genre: Classical, Opera
• Condition: New / Factory Sealed

Product Features

• Format: CD
• Discs: 2
• Sound: Mono (ADD); 24-bit / 96kHz remastering at Abbey Road Studios
• Opera: in four acts; libretto by Salvatore Cammarano
• Chorus master: Norberto Mola
• Manufactured & printed in the EU
• Language: Italian

Overview

This is one of the cornerstone Callas recordings, reissued in the Callas Remastered series with fresh transfers made at Abbey Road from the original studio master tapes. Maria Callas sings Leonora — one of her finest stage roles — opposite Giuseppe di Stefano's Manrico, with Herbert von Karajan conducting La Scala's forces.

The cast is a roll-call of golden-age Verdi singing. Rolando Panerai is the Count di Luna, Fedora Barbieri a formidable Azucena, and Nicola Zaccaria a dark-toned Ferrando. Together they give Il Trovatore the blend of fire and lyricism the opera demands — from "Di quella pira" to the great Miserere.

What the remaster brings is clarity. Returning to the masters has opened up the mono sound, giving new brilliance to Callas's voice and Karajan's tautly dramatic pacing without scrubbing away the character of the 1956 original.

For opera collectors, this is essential: a classic interpretation, beautifully restored. Gramophone called the recording wonderfully intense, and it remains a benchmark account of the score.

Interesting Facts

• Maria Callas (1923–1977) reshaped twentieth-century opera through her dramatic intensity and revival of bel canto repertoire.
• This Il Trovatore was recorded in 1956 at La Scala under Herbert von Karajan, pairing two of the era's greatest musical personalities.
• The Callas Remastered project saw all her studio recordings newly transferred at Abbey Road Studios using 24-bit/96kHz technology.
• Giuseppe di Stefano, the Manrico here, was one of Callas's most frequent and celebrated tenor partners.
• Il Trovatore premiered in Rome in 1853, part of the astonishing run that also produced Rigoletto and La Traviata.
• The cover reproduces the original Teatro alla Scala album design, complete with the historic La Scala crest.

Track Listing

Giuseppe Verdi: Il Trovatore — opera in four acts (complete), across 2 discs.

Principal cast: Maria Callas (Leonora), Giuseppe di Stefano (Manrico), Rolando Panerai (Count di Luna), Fedora Barbieri (Azucena), Nicola Zaccaria (Ferrando), Luisa Villa (Ines), Renato Ercolani (Ruiz / Messenger), Giulio Mauri (Old Gypsy).

Publishers

Reissued 2014 by Warner Classics (0825646340941) in the Callas Remastered series, remastered at Abbey Road Studios. Originally a 1956 recording. Manufactured and printed in the EU.

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