Maria Callas never sang Carmen on-stage, but the role seems custom-made for her strengths -- fiery, volatile, infuriating, seductive -- and
Callas is such a superb singing actress that she conveys the character's complexity with rare effectiveness. The critical acclaim and public affection for
Callas' Carmen put it very high on lists of preferred versions. She has a terrific supporting cast, including
Nicolai Gedda, who is in excellent voice and makes a believable, tragic Don José; it's a performance that has been deemed among the finest of his career. Andréa Guiot is a sweet Micaëla, and the rest of the cast is strong.
Georges Prêtre leads l'Orchestre du Théâtre Nationale de l'Opéra and the Choeurs René Duclos in an exciting, idiomatic reading of the opera. EMI's sound is clean and present.