La Sonnambula
1957 Recording

Maria Callas, Nicola Monti, Fiorenza Cossotto, Nicola Zaccaria,
Chorus and Orchestra of La Scala, Milan
Antonino Votto

Visconti’s sensational 1955 production of La Sonnambula for La Scala, Milan, was revived and recorded two years later. As a girl, Callas had fallen in love with the role of Amina; as an adult it suited her voice perfectly, and her interpretation set a benchmark that few have equalled.

Among the many highlights of Callas’s profoundly satisfying performance is her cadenza for Ah non giunge in which she executes a remarkable diminuendo on a stratospheric E-flat, a feat unrivalled in the history of the gramophone.

This is by any standards a classic recording.

“Callas does not appear to ever strain for a note. Her voice is always agile and flexible, with an upper register that is forceful but transparent. Callas always retains her lyric sweetness, She sings with nearly perfect evenness through passages of florid ornamentation.”
Audiophile Audition on this recording