Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor with Maria Callas

Last December marked the 100th Anniversary of Maria Callas' birth and we delve into the archives this weekend for another great recording by the legendary diva. Maria Callas sings one of the repertory's most formidable and storied roles, the haunted heroine Lucia, Giuseppe de Stefano adds to the bel canto fireworks as Lucia's beloved, Edgardo, Titto Gobbi is her her overbearing brother Enrico, Raffaele Arie as her tutor, Raimondo, Valiano Natali sings Arturo, Anna Maria Canali is Alisa and Gino Sarri sings Normanno with Tulio Serafin conducting the Chorus and Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in a 1953 recording from Florence, Italy.

Jon Tolansky presents the first of an exclusive two-part documentary memoir in which artists and others who knew and experienced the great diva explore how and why it is that 46 years after her death she still captivates the musical world in a unique way. There are spoken contributions from sopranos Maria Callas and Mirella Freni, conductors Sir Edward Downes and Nicola Rescigno, tenor John Dobson, opera experts Ian Fox and the Earl of Harewood, and others. Callas is heard singing extracts from operas by Bellini, Ponchielli, Puccini, Rossini, Verdi, and Wagner.

Image from Getty.