1958 - La Grande nuit de l'opéra (2021 Remastered Version)

Album review

Just like leaves returning to the trees in spring, Maria Callas' albums regularly return to the catalogue to maintain fantasy and educate younger music lovers. Heralded at the time as “the greatest show in the world,” Maria Callas' only appearance at the Paris Opera was above all one of the most fashionable evenings, something which only the French capital could achieve. Callas (who had fallen out with Italy just prior for slamming the door of La Scala in Milan) and the Metropolitan Opera from New York performed the evening in France in front of an audience of celebrities from the world of music, theatre and cinema. France loved her so much but had never dreamt of inviting her prior to this.

This performance on the 19th of December 1958 was officialised by the presence of the President of the Republic René Coty, and was also very well portrayed by his grandson, the writer Benoît Duteurtre, in the very interesting booklet accompanying this new republication. But beyond the futile aspect of this evening, fans of Maria Callas will be happy to rediscover this "Grande nuit de l’opéra" already published by several labels with remastered sound from the original tapes and a new look.

Accompanied by an out-of-sorts Opera Orchestra under the direction of Georges Sébastian, who had auditioned the singer long before she was recognised, Maria Callas provides us with the essence of her repertoire at a time when her voice was beginning to decline. Enriched by the warmth of the Parisian audience, she sings extracts from Bellini’s “Norma” (“Casta Diva”), one of her favourite operas, and also from Verdi’s “Trouvère.” And, most importantly, the entire second act of Puccini's Tosca (with the immense Tito Gobbi in the role of the terrifying Scarpia) in which the singer displays her extraordinarily dramatic talent, which shines through even though you can only hear her.

This new edition from Diggers Factory brings a new lease of life to this most precious of archives. © François Hudry/Qobuz