This historic recording of I Puritani is a notable for many reasons: it was the first opera Maria Callas recorded with the forces of La Scala, during a period when the Milanese theatre was the scene of her greatest triumphs, and it marked the start of the rediscovery, on record, of the bel-canto repertoire. This was due partly to the development of the long-playing record, and partly to the totally new character which Callas brought to the operas of this repertoire with her smoky tone, vocal agility and dramatic intensity. The producer, Walter Legge, assembled a strong cast around his new protégée: Giuseppe Di Stefano, possessed of a beautiful, natural tenor voice, Nicola Rossi-Lemeni, a pre-eminent bass throughout the 1950s and the young Rolando Panerai, one of Italy’s emerging talents.