Maria Callas: Toujours (Paris 1958) Backdrop Blur
Maria Callas: Toujours (Paris 1958) Poster
8.5 1h 31m

Maria Callas: Toujours (Paris 1958)

"Callas making her belated Paris debut at the sumptuous Paris Oryoga in 1958"

The career of Maria Callas was just a bit too early and too brief to receive full and satisfying video documentation like that now being accorded to such singers as Renée Fleming and Luciano Pavarotti. This black-and-white televised recital (Callas's Paris debut) took place at the Paris Opera on December 19, 1958 when television was still in its infancy. We might wish that it had happened earlier, when her voice was in better condition, or later, when video recording technology was more advanced--so that, for example, we would not have to take the narrator's word that Callas is wearing a red dress. But this is probably the best available Callas video recording, and her fans will welcome it warmly. Visual elements were as important as the vocal dimensions in her art.

Top Cast

  • Maria Callas

    Maria Callas

    Norma / Leonora / Tosca (Soprano)

  • Tito Gobbi

    Tito Gobbi

    Scarpia / Figaro (Baritone)

  • Albert Lance

    Albert Lance

    Self - Tenor

  • Louis Rialland

    Louis Rialland

    Self - Tenor

  • Jean-Paul Hurteau

    Jean-Paul Hurteau

    Self - Bass

  • Jacques Mars

    Jacques Mars

    Self - Bass

Overview

The career of Maria Callas was just a bit too early and too brief to receive full and satisfying video documentation like that now being accorded to such singers as Renée Fleming and Luciano Pavarotti. This black-and-white televised recital (Callas's Paris debut) took place at the Paris Opera on December 19, 1958 when television was still in its infancy. We might wish that it had happened earlier, when her voice was in better condition, or later, when video recording technology was more advanced--so that, for example, we would not have to take the narrator's word that Callas is wearing a red dress. But this is probably the best available Callas video recording, and her fans will welcome it warmly. Visual elements were as important as the vocal dimensions in her art.

Related Movies

The Sound of Music Live!

The Sound of Music Live! is a television special that was originally broadcast by NBC on December 5, 2013. Produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, the special was an adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Broadway musical The Sound of Music, starring country singer Carrie Underwood as Maria von Trapp, performed and televised live from Grumman Studios in Bethpage, New York. Meron felt that if the telecast were successful, the concept could become "another kind of entertainment that can exist on TV." By her request, Underwood's casting as Maria was personally endorsed by Julie Andrews, who starred in the 1965 film.

The Sound of Music Live!

6.3 2013