{"product_id":"maria-callas-puccini-tosca-1953-version-3lp","title":"Maria Callas - Puccini: Tosca (1953 Version) [3LP]","description":"\u003cp\u003eMaria Callas recorded Tosca more than once, but the 1953 version from La Scala is the one opera lovers keep returning to, presented here as a three-LP set.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMade in Milan with conductor Victor de Sabata and the chorus and orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala, and produced by Walter Legge, the recording caught Callas at the height of her powers. Opposite her are Giuseppe Di Stefano as the painter Cavaradossi and Tito Gobbi as the menacing police chief Scarpia, a cast many critics still regard as close to ideal. De Sabata gives Puccini's score a taut, cinematic drive, with the tension tightening scene by scene.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe famous moments land with full force. Recondita Armonia arrives early in the first act, carried by Di Stefano's warm, ardent tenor, and the Te Deum that ends the act pits Gobbi's sinister Scarpia against the swelling chorus. In the second act, Callas delivers Vissi d'Arte with a fragility that makes the drama feel painfully real, and Di Stefano returns in the third with a heartbreaking E Lucevan Le Stelle.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCallas was as much an actor as a singer, and every phrase carries character and intent.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt remains a cornerstone of any opera collection, a performance whose reputation has only grown in the decades since it was made.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Alliance Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57351063372081,"sku":"5054197602054","price":59.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0704\/2026\/7313\/files\/Maria_Callas-Puccini_Tosca_1953_Version_3LP.jpg?v=1793980813","url":"https:\/\/vinyl.com\/products\/maria-callas-puccini-tosca-1953-version-3lp","provider":"Vinyl.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}