Luigi Cherubini (1760–1842)
Medea (1797)
Medea, Maria Callas (soprano) 
Glauce, Renata Scotto (soprano)
Neris, Miriam Pirazzini (mezzo-soprano)
Giasone, Mirto Picchi (tenor)
Creonte, Giuseppe Modesti (bass)
Orchestra e Coro del Teatro alla Scala, Milano/Tullio Serafin
rec. 1957, Teatro alla Scala, Milano
Full score, vocal score and Italian libretto included
Reviewed as download from press preview
Pristine Audio PACO206 [2 CDs: 118]

Euripides’ Medea played an essential part in Maria Callas’ career. Not only was the title role in Cherubini’s opera one of her greatest triumphs, both on records and on the world’s stages, but when her opera career was over she also created the role in Pasolini’s film in 1969, where she didn’t sing a single note – it was a plain speaking role. Artistically, the film was a success, but commercially less so. I suppose ancient Greek tragedies were not a priority among average movie-goers fifty-plus years ago. 

Callas first sang Cherubini’s opera in Florence on May 7, 1953, under Vittorio Gui, a performance that was recorded, and there also exist live recordings from La Scala (Bernstein, 1953), Dallas (Rescigno, 1958), Covent Garden (Rescigno, 1959) and La Scala (Schippers, 1961) but for the majority of Callas’ admirers it is the studio recording from La Scala 1957 under Tullio Serafin that is a first choice – although in his survey, Ralph Moore opted for Pristine’s Ambient Stereo remastering of the 1959 live London performance as his first choice in Italian. I bought the studio recording in 1971 and was immediately hooked by the intensity of the performance and high quality of Callas’ vocal stability and beauty of tone. Her deep-probing readings were already a well-known quantity, but they were often compromised by shrillness and unsteadiness. Here, though, there were no such disturbances – and her co-singers were also on a high level. The quality of the recording was also good, and it was in stereo, which was unusual with Callas’ recordings. The reason for that was producer Walter Legge’s hostile attitude to the new technique. This recording was, however, made by Mercury Records for Dischi Ricordi, and they were technically in the forefront. Now Andrew Rose has applied his XR method to the material – I don’t know if he has had access to the original tapes – and rectified some oddities, including the dry acoustic. The outcome of this is a clear, detailed and atmospheric sound that is easy on the ear but has punch. The symphonic overture is a powerhouse, and the near-octogenarian Tullio Serafin conducts it at white heat. In the performance that follows, the dramatic temperature is near the boiling-point until the very end – including the two orchestral interludes. 

As I already have said, Callas is superb throughout, but I still must point out her first act aria Dei tuoi figli la madre (CD 1 track 13) – the best-known music in this opera and a masterly reading. Giasone, Medea’s former lover and father to her two children, is here sung by Mirto Picchi (1915 – 1980), Italian dramatic tenor and one of the leading singers in the 1950s. He is scantly represented in the recording catalogues, and maybe Mario del Monaco or the then rapidly up-and-coming Franco Corelli would have been even more thrilling partners to Callas, but in his own right Picchi is a worthy Giasone, and their confrontations are nail-biting, arousing moments of excitement. Medea’s rival Glauce – who is to be married to Giasone when the opera begins – is sung by a very young Renata Scotto, who recently passed away, in what has to be one of her earliest recordings. She was obviously torn to pieces by an early reviewer, who accused her of sight-reading her aria O Amore, vieni a me! very early in the first act (CD 1 track 3). I think that was unfair. She sounds fresh and beautiful of tone and free from the shrillness that would creep in sometimes, even as early as the DG Rigoletto from 1964, where her Gilda was less than youthful sounding. Her father Creonte is sung by Giuseppe Modesti (1915 – 1998), who was a regular member of the La Scala company for 25 years, but also appeared in other Italian houses as well as the rest of Europe and the Americas. He is a good actor and has a powerful, well-modulated bass-baritone voice. The fifth central role, Medea’s chambermaid Neris, is here sung by Miriam Pirazzini, who passed away in December 2016, aged 98. She was one of the foremost mezzo-sopranos in Italy during the 1950s and 60s, a period rich in singers in that voice range (Stignani, Simionato, Barbieri, Cossotto), and here she emphatically demonstrates with in Solo un pianto con te versare (CD 2 track 5) that she belongs in their company. The aria has a long, beautiful orchestral prelude with bassoon solo, and her singing is assured and expressive. The minor roles are also well taken by meritable comprimarios. 

This recording is an established classic – I would say it is one of the untouchables – and should be in every decent opera collection. Moreover, competition isn’t very extensive: a Decca set from 1967 under Lamberto Gardelli with Gwyneth Jones, Bruno Prevedi, Pilar Lorengar, Justino Diaz and Fiorenza Cossotto, and a Hungaroton set from some 20 years later, also under Gardelli with Sylvia Sass in the title role, Veriano Luchetti as Giasone and a splendid Hungarian cast in the remaining roles. I haven’t heard the latter, but it has had positive reviews. The Decca set is good and well worth seeking out, but the Serafin is a must, especially in its newest incarnation.

Göran Forsling

Ralph Moore’s survey of Medea

Other cast
Prima ancella, Lidia Marimpietri (soprano)
Seconda ancella, Elvira Galassi (mezzo-soprano)
Capo delle guardie, Alfredo Giacomotti (bass)