Simply astounding that, after more than thirty years after her death, there's still video footage being discovered and released. I'd never even heard of this one's existence before I stumbled upon it on YouTube. It's silent, but it's unmistakably Callas.

It's a bit sped-up (and annoyingly intercut with still shots in this version), but it's wonderful to see the gestures in action on the younger, somewhat heavier Callas. All the video of her on stage heretofore released has featured her in her slim years. In those videos, each movement, each transition from attitude to attitude was a great deal more taut and wiry—even in the tender moments. Here, the softness of her form lends more grace and more overall power.

It's a shame that Trrill's is just now getting off the ground again. I fear that since La Cieca and Maury and all those queens haven't posted it, it may not get noticed!

UPDATE: Just minutes after posting this entry, I discovered more previously unknown-to-me video footage of Callas on stage—this time rehearsing Medea at Epidaurus in 1961 (embedding is disabled). There are the Toscas, the Lisbon Traviata, the bits of Medea with Vickers, and the Paris Norma snippets. Is there anything else I don't know about? Anything some dumb collector is holding from the rest of us?