Towards the end of Maria Callas’ career, there were many rumours 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”.

Warner Classics today proudly presents a 180g Vinyl Edition of the legendary Callas Carmen, an exact replication of the original release, including a full libretto in LP size. The master-tapes used for this exceptional and limited edition come from the Paris vaults where, lying un-used for half of a century, was the one and only set of tapes approved for use by Maria Callas herself.