Wagner: Parsifal

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Orchestra Sinfonica e Coro di Roma della RAI

Vittorio Gui

In her early years as a dramatic soprano, Callas sang three Wagner roles: Isolde, Brünnhilde (Die Walküre) and Kundry in Parsifal. This performance of Wagner’s final opera, recorded for Italian state radio late in 1950, became her farewell to the composer. Although only 26 at the time, she showed a deep understanding of the complex and tortured character of Kundry, a mythical woman who is hundreds of years old. The previous year, while singing Isolde in Venice, Callas had been encouraged by the conductor Tullio Serafin to take on the coloratura role of Elvira in I puritani at very short notice; it set a new and decisive direction for her career.

Kundry: Maria Callas

Amfortas: Rolando Panerai

Titurel: Dimitri Lopatto

Gurnemar: Boris Christoff

Parsifal: Africo Baldelli

Klingor: Giuseppe Modesti

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Fanciulle Fiore / Voci di giovanetti - Flower Maidens / Boys: Lina Pagliughi, Renata Broilo, Anna Maria Canali, Liliana Rossi, Silvana Tenti, Miti Truccato Pace