Bizet Carmen: Maria Callas on 3LP

Toward the end of Maria Callas's career, there were many rumors that she was planning to perform Carmen on stage. This was never to be, but Carmen became her penultimate complete recording of an opera — and her only complete recording of a French opera. With Georges Prêtre, one of her favoured conductors, and the ever-stylish Nicolai Gedda as her Don José, she captured every facet of the role. As Gramophone said when the set was first released: "Hers is a Carmen to haunt you."

Maria Callas (Carmen), Nicolai Gedda (Don José), Andréa Guiot (Micaëla), Robert Massard (Escamillo), Nadine Sautereau (Frasquita), Jane Berbié (Mercédès), Jean-Paul Vauquelin (Le Dancaïre), Jacques Pruvost (Le Remendado), Claude Cales (Moralès), Jacques Mars (Zuniga)