Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835)
Norma
Norma – Maria Callas (soprano)
Adalgisa – Ebe Stignani (mezzo-soprano)
Pollione – Mario Filippeschi (tenor)
Chorus and Orchestra of Teatro alla Scala, Milan/Tullio Serafin
rec. 23 April – 3 May 1954, Milan
Ambient Stereo
Libretto, score etc. available with download purchase
Pristine Audio PACO 219 [3 CDs: 160]

In his recent review of this release my colleague Ralph Moore lamented that:

“I cannot give this recording an unqualified recommendation when there is competition of far greater quality provided by Callas herself in her other recordings. No other artist, including Sutherland or Caballé, can touch her from an interpretative point of view, but if you want to hear her worthily partnered too, you need to go elsewhere.”

This pretty much sums-up my own response to this recording. Pristine has done a marvelous job at renovating the 1954 sound of this old mono recording. Indeed the ambient stereo process has worked wonders, especially when it comes o the orchestra. The Warner SACD edition (available only from Japan) of this recording is extremely fine but in all truthfulness the Pristine sound leads the way by a small margin. However, that is not to say that they have completely rehabilitated the sound. The chief problem with this recording is that the microphones were placed in too close proximity to the singers. Making them all (Callas included) sound positively fierce. One must lay the blame here at Walter Legge who supervised this recording. Hearing any edition of this recording one can’t get over the impression that the microphones were practically wired to the cast’s dental work. As the orchestra of La Scala has been recorded at the perfect distance for both sonic bloom and detail, it is clear that a little distance between the microphones and the singers would have made a huge improvement for everyone.

Callas of course is the main reason to hear this set and she doesn’t disappoint. Her voice is in three F estate: free, full and firm. Her reading of the doomed priestess is already full of enlightening touches, inspired as she was by the text to shade her voice in a myriad of ways that illuminate the character.  Among highlights to pay attention for are the way she varies the two descents that come after the line of conjoined high notes in “Casta Diva”; the descent in the second verse is handled in a completely different manner from that in the first. At the end of the same aria, her famous “string of pearls” run is gloriously produced with each tiny note being its own pearl of great worth. In her 1959 stereo recording (review) her voice may be technically less secure but her characterization of the role is even more riveting and she has three splendid colleagues to share the limelight with.

Here Mario Filippeschi’s Pollione is pretty much a disappointment. His tone is strong and firm, exciting even, as he trumpets out some thrilling high notes but his voice is presented with  very little style or subtlety. One can’t help thinking that with the microphones more judiciously placed the effect of his performance would have improved for the listener despite his shortcomings.

Rossi-Lemeni’s Oroveso  suffers the most from being sabotaged by the overwhelming fierceness of his sound. Most of the time his voice is throaty and none too sure of pitch. Yet it is clear that somewhere in the midst of it all there is an impressively powerful bass voice at its core. The one bright spot among the male singers is Paoli Caroli who is possibly the most attractive sounding Flavio on any commercial recording.

Ebe Stignani gives a fairly straightforward reading of Adalgisa. She doesn’t look for drama or sympathy and her tonal quality does little to help the listener warm to the character of the naïve young priestess. Stignani was formidably endowed with a voice of great evenness and a slightly acerbic quality to her vocal timbre. She partnered Callas frequently, although to my ears her sound would pair even more beautifully with the plush velvet sound of Renata Tebaldi.

Tullio Serafin’s beautifully judged tempi seem correct to me in all but the magical section of the Overture where he rushes through it too much for my taste. The La Scala orchestra plays superbly but the chorus has one or two wobbly sopranos who garner too much attention from the microphones.

Ultimately for those wanting to acquire Callas’ first Norma recording the new Pristine version is the one to choose over any other edition that I’ve yet heard.

Mike Parr

Previous review: Ralph Moore (December 2024)

Other cast members:
Oroveso – Nicola Rossi-Lemeni (bass)
Clotilde – Rina Cavallari (mezzo-soprano)
Flavio – Paolo Caroli (tenor)