Callas Maria: Her Best Duets

This 10-CD set presents the legendary soprano Maria Callas performing duets with some of the greatest singers of her time. It features studio and live recordings that cover the period between 1949 and 1960. Maria Callas"'s immensely expressive artistry was often increased when working in partnership with singers who, like Callas herself, were prepared to dedicate themselves totally to the role and to the feelings of the character being portrayed. The artists who appeared on stage or in the recording studio with Maria Callas for the recordings collected together here are without exception of extraordinary class and international repute. Many, such as Jon Vickers, Fiorenza Cossotto, and Piero Cappuccilli, were at the threshold of a glorious world career. For others, such as Giulietta Simionato, Alfredo Kraus, Cesare Valletti and Mario del Monaco, there were no joint record productions, so the live recordings included here are especially valuable documents. Centre-stage in the collection are duets with Franco Corelli, Tito Gobbi, Ettore Bastianini, Giuseppe de Stefano, Rolando Panerai and Richard Tucker.