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)
Prima ancella: Lidia Morimpietri (soprano)
Seconda ancell: Elvira Galassi (soprano)
Capo del guardie: Alfredo Giacomotti (bass)
Orchestra e Coro del Teatro alla Scala, Milano/Tullio Serafin
rec. 1957, Teatro alla Scala, Milano
Stereo; XR remastering
Pristine Audio PACO206 [2 CDs: 118]

This has already been highly favourably reviewed by my colleague Göran Forsling – indeed, he considers it to be “an established classic…one of the untouchables [which] should be in every decent opera collection”. I included it in my survey of recordings of this opera and rate it highly, although for reasons of sound and a certain restraint ranked it below subsequent live performances from Dallas and Covent Garden – but Pristine had not yet then remastered it as per here, whereas Andrew Rose’s refurbishment of the London account was already available, and I considered that superior. This new issue gives us the opportunity to reassess the virtues of this, the sole studio recording among Callas’ six versions, now heard in enhanced sound.

In my survey, I refer both to sonic limitations, despite it being stereo – “scratchy string sound, some odd balances” – and Serafin being “rather more staid…and severe”, displaying a certain “classical restraint”. This revitalisation of the sound by Pristine certainly goes a long way to countering those perceptions; I did not recall the overture sounding so immediate or the conductor being so energised – but of course I was comparing him with the young Bernstein and Rescigno, whereas I concede that on his own terms Serafin is still very good. He maintains the tension through to the fiery conclusion of the first act and rises to match the intensity of Callas’ involvement at all the key points. She is riveting from her first, menacing, mysterious entrance, plunging deep into her lower register – a thrilling feature of her singing throughout this recoding – and her desperate appeal to Giasone “Dei tuoi figli la madre” is profoundly moving. Just as it was every time she sang this role, I am newly struck by how successfully she implores and laments to humanise Medea – who, despite her kinship with Norma, unlike her ultimately commits the most heinous of crimes in murdering her children for revenge. I  remark in my survey that her schedule the year of this recording was busy, even punishing, but there are few signs of vocal frailty here on her part.

I am also reminded how accomplished is the recently late Renata Scotto as Glauce, first sounding agile, pure-voiced and charming before delivering her recitativo very dramatically; she had recently turned twenty-three years old here and is already a complete artist. Indeed the whole cast is excellent, down to the two maids who open the opera. Mirto Picchi was a fine dramatic tenor who had an important, mainly Italian, career but did not record much, and collectors will probably be familiar with reliable bass Giuseppe Modesti from his performances as Oroveso alongside Callas in Norma. Likewise, Miriam Pirazzini was a distinguished artist in her own right and no mere comprimario; she sings her central aria steadily and feelingly, although there is a slight flap in her tone and she is not as imposing as Cossotto.

As much as I still stand by my first recommending Callas’ live performance in London as marginally more dramatic and better cast, reacquaintance with this studio version in improved sound has made me reassess that judgement; nobody acquiring this could possibly be disappointed – and I do like the artwork and photos Pristine has used for this new issue, displaying Callas’ magnetism in this role.

Ralph Moore

Previous review: Göran Forsling (November 2023)