After fifty years of artistic partnership with La Scala in Milan, Georges Prêtre — the great French conductor, one of the last great conductors of the 20th century, Maria Callas's accomplice and accompanist in her final years — gave his last concert in the legendary theater in 2016.
An evening of great quality, almost magical: the overture to Egmont (Beethoven), the sinfonia from La Forza del destino (Verdi), Barcarolle from The Tales of Hoffmann (Offenbach), Boléro by Ravel, and to finish, the Cancan from Orpheus in the Underworld — a sparkling grand finale for an ultra-brilliant career.
Tom Volf produced the recording and its release on Deutsche Grammophon — a gesture of remembrance towards a conductor who had led Callas in her last recitals (including Paris 1958).