Bellini Callas

This unique 70CD box set includes all the studio recordings Maria Callas ever made. It contains 26 complete operas, four of which are studio repeats, plus the complete studio recitals made during her recording career, from 1949 to 1969.

This is a deluxe box set including: Each individual item (complete opera or recital CD) presented in its original artwork, 136 pages hard-back book containing essays, a biography and chronology, rarely-seen photos and also reproductions of revealing correspondence between Maria Callas, Walter Legge and other EMI executives.

This CD box features Maria Callas, the unrivaled "prima donna assoluta," in her parade roles. Especially in Italian bel canto operas of the 18th and 19th centuries, the opera diva could shine like no other. Hear five grandiose recordings from the 1950s and enjoy the unique voice of one of the greatest stars of all time: - Gaetano Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor - Vincenzo Bellini: Norma - Giuseppe Verdi: La Traviata - Giacomo Puccini: Tosca - Pietro Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana.

Among the first recordings that La Divina made, these treasures from the Fonit Centra catalog include early Wagner and Bellini recordings from 1949, the first complete opera she ever recorded ( La Gioconda in 1952) and the only studio recording of La Traviata she ever made (1953). Simply magnificent!

Although Maria Callas died over three decades ago, she remains an icon: as a supreme singing-actress; as a celebrity, and as a woman of great style and elegance. The epitome of the operatic diva, the American-born Greek soprano is recognised as a singer who defined, and even redefined opera in the 20th century and she has never lost her place among the world’s top-selling classical artists.

This is the first time that a complete edition of Bellini's operas is released. The box includes an essay by Friedrich Lippmann, one of the world's most eminent scholars of the Sicilian composer, who in 2007 was awarded the international Galileo Galilei prize by the Italian Rotary Club for his contribution to the dissemination of Italian music in the world.

A true Callas cornucopia, this 70-CD set gathers together everything Maria Callas ever recorded in the studio. That's 26 complete operas (four of which are studio repeats), plus the complete studio recitals made during the legendary soprano's recording career, which lasted from 1949-69. The bonus CD-ROM contains libretti and translations in English, French and German, plus a Callas photo library, while remastered treats include Callas's first recital recording, originally made for the Fonit-Cetra label and featuring arias by Wagner and Bellini. –Barnes & Noble