Maria Callas in La sonnambula

A “Sonnambula” curtain call in the 1950s.

Today’s recording is from 1965: “Ah, se una volta… Ah, non credea mirarti” from Bellini’s La sonnambula, with Georges Prêtre leading the Orchestre National de l’ORTF.

Callas taught this music during her Juilliard master classes, but this was apparently the last time that she ever sang it in public. While her tone here is sometimes fragile to the point of being evanescent, the performance is inward and utterly mesmerizing, showing that Callas could give of her best even at the end of her stage career.

That said, at the end of her stage career, when this was recorded, she was not yet 42: Ah, non credea, indeed.

Hear Maria Callas in other music by Bellini.