Callas's first stage appearances in Verdi's Un ballo in maschera came at La Scala in 1957, a year in which Milan also saw her in La sonnambula and Anna Bolena. As in this recording, made the year before, she shared Verdi's most spectacular soprano-tenor duet (in Act II) with Giuseppe di Stefano. This was the last time Callas and Di Stefano appeared together in opera, though they reunited in the 1970s to direct I vespri siciliani in Turin and to give a series of joint concerts in Europe, the USA, Canada, South Korea and Japan. Gramophone judged this recording of Ballo to be 'one of Callas's most compelling assumptions'.
V**N
A Masterpiece Unmasqued
A stellar cast conveying a sense of dramaand purpose that are seldom encounteredin recordings.The conducting is superb, as expected.Mono recording or not, the superlative re-mastering process gives the singers a sense of presence in the listening roomthat is eerie akin to being in the opera house.
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