Medea, a milestone of Italian musical culture

AN INTRODUCTION BY CAMILLO RICORDI (excerpt from the new booklet)

You are holding in your hands a historic piece of Italian music culture: the re-release of Medea by Luigi Cherubini starring Maria Callas in the title role, with Tullio Serafini conducting. It is a legendary record, not only for the quality of the artists and the experts who worked together on its realization, but also because it signified Ricordi’s entry into the world of record publishing, with the new Dischi Ricordi label. A few years later, the label would give rise to the phenomenon of “singer-songwriters.”

Thanks to the cultural patrimony preserved in the Archivio Storico Ricordi, today we are able to reconstruct the genesis of the record from contracts and letters, and thanks to the accounts of other contemporary witnesses. It therefore seemed fitting to include this brief insert summarizing our new knowledge about the genesis of Medea. This re-release, born of a collaboration between the Archivio, Bertelsmann, and Sonopress, also marks the beginning of a new initiative, Ricordi Reprints, which was called into being to bring to light some of the more significant moments in the history of Dischi Ricordi, as well as the recording adventures of the many artists who collaborated with the Milanese publishing house.

Happy listening!

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS


Deluxe Edition 3LP 180G
500 hand-numbered copies
Reproduction of the original box and booklet
New booklet with images and contributions
of the Ricordi Historical Archive

Order: 120 €


Discover the project

Credits

MEDEA

Tragedy in three acts by François Benoît Hoffmann
Music by Luigi Cherubini

Maria Meneghini Callas, Medea
Miriam Pirazzini, Neris
Renata Scotto, Glauce
Mirto Picchi, Giasone
Giuseppe Modesti, Creonte
Lydia Marimpietri, prima ancella
Elvira Galassi, seconda ancella
Alfredo Giacomotti, capo delle guardie

Orchestra and chorus of Teatro alla Scala
Chorus master: Norberto Mola
Conductor and orchestrator: Tullio Serafin

Recording 1959
Total duration 1:47:56

First Edition: Dischi Ricordi
licensed by Sony Music Entertainment Italy S.p.A.

Ricordi Reprints, trademark of Ricordi & C. Srl

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© Ricordi & C. S.r.l. 2020


A project by
Archivio Storico Ricordi
Archivio Storico Ricordi
Archivio Storico Ricordi
In collaboration with
Archivio Storico Ricordi
Archivio Storico Ricordi