Audio CD review:
Giuseppe Verdi, Victor De Sabata, Maria Callas, Enzo Mascherini, Orchestra e coro del Teatro alla Scala, Italo Tajo, Gino Penno, Andrea Maffei, Dario Caselli, Attilio Barbesi - Verdi: Macbeth (complete opera live 1952) with Maria Callas, Enzo Mascherini, Victor de Sabata, Orchestra & Chorus of La Scala, Milan

Giuseppe Verdi, Victor De Sabata, Maria Callas, Enzo Mascherini, Orchestra e coro del Teatro alla Scala, Italo Tajo, Gino Penno, Andrea Maffei, Dario Caselli, Attilio Barbesi - Verdi: Macbeth (complete opera live 1952) with Maria Callas, Enzo Mascherini, Victor de Sabata, Orchestra & Chorus of La Scala, Milan

Band: Giuseppe Verdi, Victor De Sabata, Maria Callas, Enzo Mascherini, Orchestra e coro del Teatro alla Scala, Italo Tajo, Gino Penno, Andrea Maffei, Dario Caselli, Attilio Barbesi Title: Verdi: Macbeth (complete opera live 1952) with Maria Callas, Enzo Mascherini, Victor de Sabata, Orchestra & Chorus of La Scala, Milan Rating: Release Date: 17 March, 1998 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Macbeth: Preludio 2: Macbeth: Act One: Scene One - Che faceste? Dite su! 3: Macbeth: Act One: Scene One - Giorno non vidi mai (Macbeth - Banco) 4: Macbeth: Act One: Scene One - Pro Macbetto! Il tuo signore 5: Macbeth: Act One: Scene One - Due vaticini compiuti or sono (Macbeth - Banco) 6: Macbeth: Act One: Scene One - S'allontanarono! 7: Macbeth: Act One: Scene Two - Nel di della vittoria io le incontrai 8: Macbeth: Act One: Scene Two - Vien! t'affretta! (Lady Macbeth) 9: Macbeth: Act One: Scene Two - Al cader della sera il re qui giunge (Lady Macbeth) 10: Macbeth: Act One: Scene Two - Or tutti sorgete, ministri infernali (Lady Macbeth) 11: Macbeth: Act One: Scene Two - Oh, donna mia! (Macbeth - Lady Macbeth) 12: Macbeth: Act One: Scene Two - Sappia la sposa mia (Macbeth) 13: Macbeth: Act One: Scene Two - Regna il sonno su tutti 14: Macbeth: Act One: Scene Two - Fatal mia donna! un murmure 15: Macbeth: Act One: Scene Two - Allor questa voce m'intesi nel petto 16: Macbeth: Act One: Scene Two - Il pugnal la riportate (Lady Macbeth - Macbeth) 17: Macbeth: Act One: Scene Two - Di destarlo per tempo il re m'impose 18: Macbeth: Act One: Scene Two - Schiudi, inferno (Macduff - Banco - Lady Macbeth - Macbeth) 19: Macbeth: Act Two: Scene One - Perche mi sfuggi (Lady Macbeth - Macbeth) 20: Macbeth: Act Two: Scene One - La luce langue (Lady Macbeth) 21: Macbeth: Act Two: Scene Two - Chi v'impose unirvi a noi? 22: Macbeth: Act Two: Scene Two - Studia il passo, o mio figlio! 23: Macbeth: Act Two: Scene Two - Come dal ciel precipita (Banco) 24: Macbeth: Act Two: Scene Three - Salve, o re! (Macbeth - Lady Macbeth) 25: Macbeth: Act Two: Scene Three - Si colmi il calice (Lady Macbeth - Macduff) 26: Macbeth: Act Two: Scene Three - Tu di sangue hai brutto il volto (Macbeth) 27: Macbeth: Act Two: Scene Three - Che ti scosta, o re mio sposo (Lady Macbeth - Macbeth) 28: Macbeth: Act Two: Scene Three - Si colmi il calice 29: Macbeth: Act Two: Scene Three - Sangue a me quell'ombra chiede (Lady Macbeth - Macduff - Macbeth) 30: Macbeth: Act Three - Tre volte miagola la gatta in fregola 31: Macbeth: Act Three - Ballo 32: Macbeth: Act Three - Finche appelli (Macbeth) 33: Macbeth: Act Three - Fuggi, regal fantasima (Macbeth) 34: Macbeth: Act Three - Ondine e silfidi dall'ali candide 35: Macbeth: Act Three - Ove son io? (Macbeth - Lady Macbeth) 36: Macbeth: Act Four: Scene One - Patria oppressa! 37: Macbeth: Act Four: Scene One - O figli miei! 38: Macbeth: Act Four: Scene One - Ah, la paterna mano (Macduff) 39: Macbeth: Act Four: Scene One - Dove siam? che bosco e quello? (Macduff) 40: Macbeth: Act Four: Scene Two - Vegliammo invan due notti 41: Macbeth: Act Four: Scene Two - Una macchia e qui tuttora (Lady Macbeth) 42: Macbeth: Act Four: Scene Three - Perfidi! All'Anglo contro me v'unite! 43: Macbeth: Act Four: Scene Three - Pieta, rispetto, amore (Macbeth) 44: Macbeth: Act Four: Scene Three - Ella e morta! 45: Macbeth: Act Four: Scene Four - All'armi! all'armi! (Macduff - Macbeth) 46: Macbeth: Act Four: Scene Four - Vittoria! (Macduff)

Customer Reviews Verdi's Macbeth: "full of sound and fury." " Giuseppe Verdi composed operas based on three of Shakespeare's plays, Macbeth in 1847, Otello in 1887, and Falstaff in 1893 (based on the Merry Wives of Windsor). "Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. As an opera, Macbeth is not considered as important as Verdi's later Otello and Falstaff. Macbeth follows Shakespeare's tragedy involving the lust for power and the betrayal of friends rather closely, but instead of using three witches (or Weird Sisters as in the play), he uses a large female chorus of witches. Unlike the play, Verdi begins the last act of his opera with an assembly of refugees on the English border, and ends with a chorus of bards celebrating victory over Macbeth's tyrany. Verdi's Macbeth is also significant in that for the first time, Verdi composed an opera without a love story, thereby breaking with 19th Century Italian opera convention. This recent recording is considered among the best performances of Verdi's Macbeth. (I experienced a live HD simulcast performance of Verdi's opera from The NYC Metropolitan Opera yesterday, with soprano Maria Guleghina and baritone Zeljko Lucic in the title roles, and conducted by James Levine. ) Before the Met performance, I listened to this recording to familiarize myself with the opera, which was first performed in Florence on March 14, 1847. Certainly, it will not disappoint. G. Merritt . Amazing This strikes me as the finest example of vocal operatic acting available, subtle and multifacited so that we do not have a cut-out villainess, even though overall Callas develops a thoroughly repulsive character. The sound is lousy; most of the cast, pedestrian, though the MacDuff more than passes muster; the conducting is well nuanced, and Callas is incredible. The set is well worth getting for this alone. Most productions of Macbeth are way more beautiful -- but if that is what you want, maybe you really want another opera anyway for this is not exactly great Verdi. But it is great Callas, who makes more of the libretto and the music than one could imagine possible without hearing her. Good Cast, but raspy sound It's not the manufacturer's fault, I just didn't do enough research. What was I thinking? the original recording is so old that the sound quality is really bad. You'd be better off buying a recording with a less known soprano but with better sound quality. . You can see a complete list of all Giuseppe Verdi, Victor De Sabata, Maria Callas, Enzo Mascherini, Orchestra e coro del Teatro alla Scala, Italo Tajo, Gino Penno, Andrea Maffei, Dario Caselli, Attilio Barbesi discography, or go back to the Giuseppe Verdi, Victor De Sabata, Maria Callas, Enzo Mascherini, Orchestra e coro del Teatro alla Scala, Italo Tajo, Gino Penno, Andrea Maffei, Dario Caselli, Attilio Barbesi tabs