Puccini - Tosca [Maria Callas 1953 EMI recording] [FLAC]

Puccini: Tosca [2CD] [FLAC]
*foobar2000 is a great little free program for playing lossless FLAC format. Just Google it.
DESCRIPTION:
When EMI's staff recorded Puccini's indestructible melodrama in 1953, they created what many consider the finest recording of an opera -- period. Half a century has passed, and this performance's sovereignty still remains unchallenged. Puccini didn't let his opera's at times unconvincing libretto deter him from writing music that terrifyingly depicts the violence and suffering he detected in its pages. On this recording, Maria Callas, the prima donna of the 20th century, realizes every inch of her character (in a role she claimed she actually didn't like much) through a sense of timing and theater that remain flawless, and through a vocal instrument not yet undone by the flaws that would emerge a few years later. With a cast that features the great vocal acting of baritone Tito Gobbi and the gorgeous tenor of Giuseppe di Stefano, the performance is led by conductor Victor de Sabata in an interpretation that will make any listeners' blood run cold with fear and sympathy -- and prove that with the right understanding, even somewhat sordid material can possess the truest emotions of art.