While Puccini’s Tosca became closely identified with Callas, she appeared only rarely in other post-Verdi operas once she had risen to fame. She learned the role of Maddalena in Andrea Chénier at short notice for a production at La Scala: Verdi’s Il trovatore had been planned, but the star tenor Mario del Monaco engineered a change to Giordano’s red-blooded drama of the French revolution. This recording captures the thrill of a first night at Italy’s most famous opera house, and Callas traces her character’s development – from a spoiled young aristocrat to a self-sacrificing woman in love – in gripping and moving detail.