Maria Callas in Concert – The Hologram Tour

I was hoping to be surprised and delighted by the Callas Hologram Concert at the Coliseum tonight but alas my reaction was exactly the opposite.  From the third row of the Dress Circle the sound of the onstage orchestra was poor and the sound of Callas's voice was unnatural and unrealistic.  The hologram itself was quite clever, although at times I could see one of the orchestral music stands through Maria's spectral head, and as the evening wore on it became less and less convincing.  

Naturally I had some musical criticisms, like it is just about acceptable to perform the Habanera from Carmen without a chorus, as indeed Callas herself recorded it on Callas à Paris, Vol 1, but not acceptable to perform 'Casta Diva' without a chorus. And for tonight's programme, 'Casta Diva' was the finale and I thought it made a very down-beat finish without the cabaletta.  I was expecting a final encore of 'O mio babbino caro' but that did not happen, perhaps because we didn't applaud enough!

As somebody who saw Callas live several times in concert and in opera (Tosca and Norma), I can vouch that Maria was not only a great singer, as can be heard from her many fine recordings, but she had oodles of personality and charisma of which, by its very nature, a hologram has none.  The somewhat elderly audience tonight applauded dutifully but I didn't get any sense that they were bowled over by what they saw and heard.

I'm certainly glad I didn't pay £115 for my ticket which came to me courtesy of Warner Classics.