Ponchielli: La Gioconda, Op. 9

The eponymous role of Ponchielli’s masterwork has held a predominant place in Maria Callas’ career: her Italian debut dates from 1947 as Gioconda in Verona, where she made the decisive encounter of her mentors Tullio Serafin and Giovanni Battista Meneghini. She would then embody this tragic character many times on stage and twice on record: the 1952 version having already been re-issued a few weeks ago, we release this week the 1959 recording, perhaps even more intense than the early one, and notably featuring the young Fiorenza Cossotto in one of her first main roles.