Ponchielli: La Gioconda (Complete Opera)

The mercilessly self-critical Maria Callas considered her singing in the last act here among the most satisfying of her records, saying that "it's all there for anyone who cares to understand or wishes to know what I was about." "Suicidio" emerges less a histrionic soliloquy than an interior, multi- dimensional monologue. Moreover, the soprano is in better voice than her 1952 Cetra Gioconda, which, however, boasts a more vibrant supporting cast, greater energy from the podium (especially in the first act), and avoids a small but not insignificant cut Antonino Votto makes here in the final act. EMI furnishes full texts and translations, an excellent essay that places this recording in context, and excellent remastered sonics. --Jed Distler