Customer Rating:  
Summary: A perfection with regret
Comment: Callas is one of my favorite, and this package offers a unique chance for her fans to enjoy her beauty heritage in studio. Generally speaking, quality is good and acceptable at this price.
However, the only problem I had is that I got two CD 29, but without CD30. This is quite annoying. Though I could ask for return following amazon rule, sending it back from China to US? I won't do this because it's too troublesome...
Customer Rating:
Summary: 20 Years Of Genius On Disc
Comment: In the span of two decades, Maria Callas' studio recordings progressed from scratchy 78s to the highest quality stereo pressings. Ironically, her voice declined in something like the opposite proportions during those same years. Today her interpretations of the great soprano roles are considered the finest ever (with rare exceptions) and her stature as an artist has been compared to that of Michelangelo. [Read more: http://www.jeffreyround.com/TwentyYearsOnDisc.php]
Jeffrey Round
www.jeffreyround.com
Customer Rating:
Summary: Information
Comment: Of course this is a fabulous bargain, but there is also a lot to be said against it.
Firstly, there's the issue of presentation. The 69 cds and 1 cd-rom do come in serviceable, light cardboard sleeves (and the cds do slip out, without needing to be prized out of the sleeve), but they are identified only by number and work-title. Unlike some other sets, this one does not give a track listing on each sleeve. And that's a pain: you have to turn to the minimalist booklet, which contains the track listings and--well, that's about it. One very good thing is that the cds are arranged chronologically, so that you get to follow Callas's career. The bad news is that this arrangement makes it hard to find any individual title and, frustratingly, the booklet does not contain an index of which work is on which cd. You want to find the second recording of Norma? You gotta hunt for it. At this price, you expect the documentation to be minimal, but just a little bit of effort could have made this so much more user-friendly.
Second, there's the boxing. The cd sleeves are housed in a fairly flimsy cardboard "drawer," which slides into an extremely flimsy oblong cover This cover will probably have started to disintegrate in the mail by the time you get it (mine did). Because the cd sleeves are a thin cardboard rather than paper, the whole box takes up almost 9 inches of shelf-space. (Compare this with the economical and manageable 2 inches or so that the 30cds of EMI's Elgar set, with plain paper sleeves, fit into--a less showy format, but way more serviceable.)
Third, there's the cd-rom documentation. In a word, minimalist. A few photos, and the libretti of the operas (in the format of the booklets); nothing for the recital discs.
Fourth, there's the remastering. Most of the remasterings are dated 1997, and therefore appear to belong to the "black cover" EMI issues. Some date from the early 2000's and therefore seem to be from GROC reissues. A very few seem to have been remastered for this set. However, not all previously released GROC remasterings are here. (Why not?) Identified below are the cds in the set that were NOT remastered in 1997 (15 in all). Note that it is especially (and sensibly) the earlier recordings that tend to be most recently remastered.
cd 1. Early recordings (1949)--Remastered 07 (time: 24:23)
2-4. La Gioconda (52)--R 07
5-6 Lucia (53)--R 04
10-11--Tosca (53)--R 02
12-13--Traviata (w/ Santini 53)--R 07
14-16--Norma (54)--R 03
38-39--Il barbiere di Siviglia (57)--R 07
Every time I get to compare the efforts of small companies such as Pearl with the major companies (including Naxos) I find I prefer the Pearl. And I know there are complaints on the `net about these EMI efforts. (Though I find EMI better than most of the majors at this.) So it's probably good that I don't have any comparisons for these remasterings. At times, I feel the sound has probably been smoothed out too much and deprived of life, but these are (to my ears) a vast improvement over some of the ratty old lp manifestations that are stored in my aural memories.
Fifth, there's the number of cds. 70 sounds a lot, but be warned: some of them are very short measure. The very first cd is a massive 24 minutes. And the individual opera sets, of course, often contain one cd under 50 mins.
Finally, there's the content. I have always admired Callas, but I've never been obsessed. So I wondered: do I really want 69 cds of that very distinctive voice? Especially since I already had a number of these performances in boxes with full documentation? After all (I told myself), it's not the most beautiful voice, and it did fray with the years. But, well, I figured this set would save space and fill in gaps and so forth, so I ordered it.
Then I sat down to listen to all 69 of the discs, from beginning to end. I am wary of completism, but there is something to be said for this complete set: I found it is not just a convenient way to amass a lot of individual operas featuring Callas, but that it is, somehow, a whole that is greater than its parts--a massive work, an oeuvre, that provides a context and brings a talent to life. You know how it is when you decide to listen to the whole Ring over (let's say) four days. Even if you're ambivalent about Wagner (as I am), it's an extraordinary experience. The Callas experience is amazing. I found myself listening to familiar performances that I first heard decades ago, as though hearing them for the first time. I found myself thinking that I was really appreciating her for the first time--her control, her intelligence, and, yes, her beauty.
For all the irritating inadequacies and arbitrary decisions in its presentation--and for all our frustration with EMI for finding a new way to repackage its back catalogue yet again every couple of years--this is a stunning set. So 5 stars for content, overriding (for me) the deficiencies of presentation.
Customer Rating:
Summary: What?
Comment: Why doesn't amazon tell you what recordings you are recieving here? What designates a "studio recording"? What works are you recieving? The composers are listed but not the works- was Verdi never recorded in the studio? WHAT ARE THEY SELLING HERE???
Customer Rating:
Summary: complete vocal heaven
Comment: what a great chance to own all the studio recordings of one of the greatest sopranos of all time. I recommend this to all opera lovers and those who are considering getting into this amazing genre of music
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