Verdi: Aida

Disc 1
1	Aida, opera: Preludio
2	Aida, opera: Act 1. Scene
3	Aida, opera: Act 1. Scene
4	Aida, opera: Act 1. Scene
5	Aida, opera: Act 1. Scene
6	Aida, opera: Act 1. Scene
7	Aida, opera: Act 1. Scene
8	Aida, opera: Act 1. Scene
9	Aida, opera: Act 1. Scene
10	Aida, opera: Act 1. Scene
11	Aida, opera: Act 1. Scene
12	Aida, opera: Act 1. Scene
13	Aida, opera: Act 2. Scene
14	Aida, opera: Act 2. Scene
15	Aida, opera: Act 2. Scene
16	Aida, opera: Act 2. Scene
17	Aida, opera: Act 2. Scene
18	Aida, opera: Act 2. Scene
19	Aida, opera: Act 2. Scene
20	Aida, opera: Act 2. Scene
21	Aida, opera: Act 2. Scene
22	Aida, opera: Act 2. Scene
23	Aida, opera: Act 2. Scene
24	Aida, opera: Act 2. Scene
25	Aida, opera: Act 2. Scene
26	Aida, opera: Act 2. Scene
Disc 2
1	Aida, opera: Act 3. O tu
2	Aida, opera: Act 3. Vieni
3	Aida, opera: Act 3. Qui R
4	Aida, opera: Act 3. O pat
5	Aida, opera: Act 3. Ciel!
6	Aida, opera: Act 3. Rived
7	Aida, opera: Act 3. Pur t
8	Aida, opera: Act 3. Nel f
9	Aida, opera: Act 3. Fuggi
10	Aida, opera: Act 3. Ma di
11	Aida, opera: Act 4. Scene
12	Aida, opera: Act 4. Scene
13	Aida, opera: Act 4. Scene
14	Aida, opera: Act 4. Scene
15	Aida, opera: Act 4. Scene
16	Aida, opera: Act 4. Scene
17	Aida, opera: Act 4. Scene
18	Aida, opera: Act 4. Scene
Verdi: Aida
1.	Aida, opera 2:25:47
	Composed by Giuseppe Verdi
	Performed by Maria Callas, Mexico City Orquesta del Palacio de Bellas Artes, Oralia Dominguez, Mario del Monaco, Roberto Silva, Giuseppe Taddei, Ignacio Ruffino, Carlos Sagarminaga, Coro del Palacio de las Bellas Artes, Mexico City and Rosa Rodriguez
	Conducted by Oliviero de Fabritiis

Barnes & Noble

Here, at long last, is the official release of a celebrated Callas performance. Here's the scoop: In the early 1950s, the then-emerging diva sang for three successive seasons in Mexico City. At a performance of Aïda in 1950, Callas -- irritated at a tenor who repeatedly tried to upstage her -- wowed the audience with an unwritten high E-flat in the Triumphal Scene. It was such a phenomenon, in fact, that Callas repeated the effect the following year, though with a different tenor (the magnificent though uncouth Mario del Monaco). The crowd went wild again, as one can clearly hear on this recording. As the ever-sagacious John Steane points out in the booklet note, this is not the subtlest of Aïdas. It is, he writes, "what is known, euphemistically, as a 'full-blooded performance,' [meaning] that all the principals sing as loudly as they can for as long as they can." Luckily, the four principals here were all fine singers with healthy voices, and though the sound is crackly and thin (as is the orchestral playing), the interpretation still provides a huge dose of animalistic excitement. And Callas, as always, offers moments of true, thoughtful drama. This is clearly not an Aïda for the novice, then, but one that Callas followers will surely delight in. In fact, it's a great party record for operaphiles of all stripes. EMI's engineers seem to have cleaned up the sound as much as possible, while managing to squeeze the entire opera onto two discs. Andrew Farach-Colton

All Music Guide

This is not a great "Aida." Afterall, it's a 1951 live recording of an indulgent, sometimes bombastic performance in Mexico City. But it is a great recording in many ways, and interested collectors will be eager to have it. It features both Maria Callas and Mario del Monaco at the beginnings of their international careers. Callas is as fresh-voiced here as anywhere on record, and although del Monaco's sound hasn't yet taken on its darker aspects, he still has terrific freedom at the top. Oralia Dominguez is an impressive Amneris; though only in her mid-twenties here, the Mexico City native keeps up with her full-throttle co-stars without breaking a sweat. Giuseppe Taddei rounds out the top four as a steely voiced Amonasro. Oliviero de Fabritiis does his best to hold things together from the pit. If you put aside any need for subtlety, this recording has many rewards. It is an authentic taste of old-school opera from the 1950s; if you listen carefully, you can hear the prompter speaking throughout; the almost gladiatorial singing is of a breed you won't hear on-stage anymore; and the eruption of applause from the audience after each climax will make you feel like you're sitting in the house (especially after Callas' interpolated high E flat at the end of Act II). So, buckle up and enjoy the ride. Allen Schrott