La Divina

I have been listening to quite a bit of Callas lately. Over the years, volumes have been written about her artistic merit - saying the subject is controversial would be an understatement. My opinion is that most of her detractors are looking for a "soothing" and "pretty" voice, which completely misses the point. There are plenty of "pretty" voices around, but good storytellers are hard to find. She was one of the best. It is no wonder that people credit her for single-handedly putting drama (in the best sense) back into the art of singing.

Here is a clip of hers from the 70's - when she was nearing the end of her life, and was far from the peak of her powers. True, she had to push a lot to get to the high notes, and her breath slipped in a few places, but listen to how she sustained the core of her sound -- that's all breath support and she's still got most of it. More importantly, she still told one heck of a story like no one else could.

After you listen to the Callas clip, contrast that with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa's version. Technically, the Dame was just incredible. She showed off her trademark warm timbre, and her resonance could knock anybody off their feet. It's not hard to discern why she's regarded as one of the best lyric sopranos to have graced the stage. But the story was conspicuously missing -- what happened to "Babbo, pieta! Pieta!"? Lauretta was aching! She was tortured! She wanted to throw herself into the Arno and die! Dame Te Kanawa made it sound like she was having tea with the ladies and just discovered how divine chocolates with raspberry centers can be.

Sometimes it's not just about singing "pretty."