MARIA CALLAS: “THE UNKNOWN RECORDINGS.” Callas, soprano;...

MARIA CALLAS: “THE UNKNOWN RECORDINGS.” Callas, soprano; various orchestras, conductors. Angel CDC 7 49428 (compact disc). As an appendix to Angel’s CD reissue of its Callas material, this anthology of 12 commercially unreleased scenes and arias (from live concerts and alternate takes) should prove a boon to the collector, rather than a satisfying introduction for the neophyte. The live-performance excerpts include an Italian-language “Liebestod” from Athens, 1958, that finds the late Greek-American soprano communicating all of Wagner’s transcendent sensuality, and an Amsterdam “Don Carlo” scene touched with high tragedy. The best of the studio efforts (London, Paris, 1960-69) include a “Semiramide” excerpt that remains a model of expressive shading and a “Cenerentola” finale that makes up in emotional complexity what it lacks in technical steadiness. Angel has done a handsome job in remastering material from so many disparate sources.