ROSSINIANA #4

Maria Callas sang Rosina on the stage only once in a run of performances at La Scala in 1956 but her recording made a year later with the feisty Figaro of Titto Gobbi and lovely lyrical Almaviva of Luigi Alva is one of the most persuasive performances of the opera on CD. Her "Una voce poco fa" from a concert in Hamburg reveals Callas's unique take on the role--spicy, mischievous, even a bit dangerous.

      

An  fascinating historic recording of the famous coloratura Amelita Galli-Curci (made in 1917 ) obviously reveals an entirely different approach but one not without charm and revealing some extraordinary singing technique.