Maria Callas "Ocean! Thou Mighty Monster" (1962) STUDIO
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- Опубліковано 19 сер 2019
- Litza accompanied her daughter to the audition at the Athens Conservatory with Elvira de Hidalgo. Maria chose a seat in the corner of the audition room and waited her turn with several other young hopefuls. Litza was not pleased. 'Why hide yourself?' she asked. Maria did not reply.
“I did notice this girl” de Hidalgo told an interviewer twenty years later. “She was fat, pimpled and nervously biting her fingernails. The idea of her wanting to be an opera Singer seemed ridiculous to me.” Maria was the last applicant to sing. Her head was bowed as she walked to the piano and handed the accompanisl her music: 'Ocean, thou mighty monster' from Weber's Oberon, which she had sung previously at two concerts at the National. This was an odd, bombastic choice for so young a woman. De Hidalgo's original pessimism about this applicant was nearly confirmed. Before starting, Maria turned her face away. Then, as the accompanist played the opening chords, she pivoted, head high, facing front, eyes wide, hands slowly rising from her sides. There was an electric moment in the room when Maria began to sing. De Hidalgo was caught completely off guard. She sat bolt upright in her chair. This was not that insecure girl nibbling at her fingers. This young woman commanded attention. And the voice “Well of course her vocal technique was by no means perfect,” de Hidalgo remembered, “but there was innate drama, musicianship and a certain individuality in her voice that moved me deeply. In fact, I shed a tear or two and turned away so that she could not see me. I immediately knew I would be her teacher and when I looked into her most expressive eyes, I also knew that in spite of everything else [her weight, skin condition etc.], she was a beautiful girl.
De Hidalgo informed Maria that what she had sung was not right for her age or her voice. She also assured her of her acceptance at the Athens Conservatory and that she would be on a total scholarship.
From the book "Maria Callas: An Intimate Biography" by Anne Edwars
Simply magical
The voice as overwhelming as the mighty ocean.
Total involvement. . .thrilling!
Another contradiction to the "oh her voice disappeared as soon as she lost weight" commentary by so many on this site. This is nine years after the weight loss and the voice remains powerful when needed; emotionally flexible and effective; technically superb. In addition, the absolutely perfect diction in English [which so many singers say cannot really be achieved due to the sounds of English vowels] demonstrates her understanding of the dramatic situation as well as the musical one which she combines perfectly.
absolutely right!
absolutely right
The voice didn't disappear as soon as she lost weight, but it definitely changed, became smaller, less plush, and the high notes became thinner and more strident, and the infamous wobble began to set in. By 1960, the top had become threadbare (you can hear that here). She did in fact do some truly amazing singing after she became thin, but the voice was clearly different, and the trajectory was clear.
OF COURSE her voice shrank and became smaller, more shrill and less flexible with her weigh loss!
She remained thrilling almost always (here too!) until her last moment because she was a phenomenal Artist, but her voice started slowly to change already in 1954.
Don’t forget this is a studio recording, with a close microphone and with the possibility of remake parts at any moment. In her live recording of this aria she had to drop one phrase in order to sing the high C, with was short and shrill. 🤷🏻♂️
Her voice is a tsunami, which sweeps into your soul and carries everything before it; your inner landscape is never the same again.
This is just a fraction of the voice she had ten years earlier.
Avant d'écouter cet extrait j'écoutais le même aria chanté par Nilsson (que j'admire également) mais je dois avouer que je m'ennuyais un peu et là, avec Callas, le chant "fuse" comme une aurore. Cette femme, cette grande interprète, me manquera toujours. Merci
She was THE force to be reconned with. Oh and all the "learned" comments that her voice has shrunk. Hahaha to you. Very, very few sopranos can sing this aria like La Divina with her "shrunken" voice. She was absolutely phenomenal until her untimely death. RIP dear Maria. We will always ❤ and admire you.
After "Callas forever" , I can get my first CallasCD. "Ocean !" is first trac. thankyou (^_^)
Pregunta birgite nilsen, es apabullante, calla es muy buena, pero nilsen es mejor!!!