Maria Callas (Greek: Μαρία Κάλλας) (December 2, 1923 – September 16, 1977) was an American-born Greek soprano and perhaps the most renowned opera singer of the 1950s. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly Events 1409 - The University of Leipzig opens 1755 - The second Eddystone Lighthouse is destroyed by fire Year 1923 ( MCMXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1400 - Owain Glyndŵr is declared Prince of Wales by his followers Also 1977 (album by Ash. Year 1977 ( MCMLXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The Greeks ( Greek: Έλληνες) are a Nation and Ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions This article is related to a series of articles under the main article Voice type. She combined an impressive bel canto technique with great dramatic gifts. Bel canto ( Bel-Canto) ( Italian, "beautiful singing" an Italian musical term refers to the art and science of vocal technique which originated in An extremely versatile singer, her repertoire ranged from classical opera seria to the bel canto operas of Donizetti, Bellini, and Rossini, and further, to the works of Verdi and Puccini, and in her early career, the music dramas of Wagner. Opera seria (usually called dramma per musica or Melodramma serio) is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 &ndash 8 April 1848 was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini ( November 3, 1801 &ndash September 23, 1835) was a Sicilian Opera Composer WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini ( December 22, 1858 Her remarkable musical and dramatic talents led to her being hailed La Divina.
Born in New York and raised by an overbearing mother, she received her musical education in Greece and established her career in Italy. The City of New York Forced to deal with the exigencies of wartime poverty and with myopia that left her nearly blind on stage, she endured struggles and scandal over the course of her career. Myopia (from Greek: μυωπία myopia "near-sightedness" also called near- or short-sightedness, is a refractive defect She turned herself from a heavy woman into a glamorous one after a mid-career weight loss, which might have contributed to her vocal decline and the premature end of her career. The press exulted in publicizing Callas's allegedly temperamental behavior, her supposed rivalry with Renata Tebaldi, and her love affair with Aristotle Onassis. WikipediaWikiProject_Opera#Infoboxes --> Renata Tebaldi ( Pesaro, Italy Aristotelis (also Ari or Aristo) Sokratis Onassis (Αριστοτέλης Ωνάσης (January 15 1906 &ndash March 15 1975 was one Her dramatic life and personal tragedy have often overshadowed Callas the artist in the popular press. Her artistic achievements, however, were such that Leonard Bernstein called her "The Bible of opera",[1] and her influence so enduring that, in 2006, Opera News wrote of her, "Nearly thirty years after her death, she's still the definition of the diva as artist—and still one of classical music's best-selling vocalists. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes "[2]
Contents |
Early life
According to her birth certificate, Maria Callas was born Sophia Cecelia Kalos[3] at Flower Hospital in Manhattan on December 2, 1923[4] to Greek parents George Kalogeropoulos and Evangelia "Litsa" (sometimes "Litza") Dimitriadou, though she was christened Maria Anna Sofia Cecilia Kalogeropoulou – the genitive of the patronymic Kalogeropoulos – (Greek: Μαρία Άννα Σοφία Καικιλία Καλογεροπούλου). New York Medical College is a graduate health sciences university based in Westchester County, New York. Manhattan Island, in New York Harbor, is much the largest part of the Borough of Manhattan, one of the Five Boroughs which form the City of New York Events 1409 - The University of Leipzig opens 1755 - The second Eddystone Lighthouse is destroyed by fire Year 1923 ( MCMXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly Callas's father shortened the surname Kalogeropoulos first to "Kalos" and subsequently to "Callas" in order to make it more manageable. [3]
Family life, childhood, and move to Greece
George and Evangelia were an ill-matched couple from the beginning; he was easy-going and unambitious, with no interest in the arts, while his wife was vivacious, socially ambitious, and had held dreams of a life in the arts for herself. [3] The situation was aggravated by George's philandering and was improved neither by the birth of a daughter named Yakinthi (later called Jackie) in 1917 nor the birth of a son named Vassilis in 1920. Vassilis's death from meningitis in Summer 1922 dealt another blow to the marriage. Meningitis is Inflammation of the protective membranes covering the Brain and Spinal cord, known collectively as the Meninges. In 1923, after realizing that Evangelia was pregnant again, George made the unilateral decision to move his family to America, a decision which Yakinthi recalled was greeted with Evangelia "shouting hysterically" followed by George "slamming doors". [3] The family left for America in July 1923 and settled in the Astoria neighborhood in the borough of Queens. Astoria is a Neighborhood in the northwestern corner of the borough of Queens in New York City. In New York City, a borough is a unique form of government which administers the five fundamental constituent parts that make up the consolidated city
Evangelia was convinced that her third child would be a boy; she was so disappointed by the birth of another daughter that she refused to even look at her new baby for four days. [3] Around age three, Maria's musical talents began to manifest themselves, and after Evangelia discovered that her youngest daughter also had a voice, she began pressuring "Mary" to sing. Callas would later recall, "I was made to sing when I was only five, and I hated it. "[3] George was unhappy with his wife favoring their elder daughter as well as the pressure put upon young Mary to sing and perform. [5] The marriage continued to deteriorate and in 1937 Evangelia decided to return to Athens with her two daughters. [3]
Deteriorating relationship with mother
Callas's relationship with Evangelia continued to erode during the years in Greece, and in the prime of her career, it became a matter of great public interest, especially after a 1956 cover story in Time magazine which focused on this relationship and later, by Evangelia's book My Daughter—Maria Callas. In public, Callas blamed the strained relationship with Evangelia on her unhappy childhood spent singing and working at her mother's insistence, saying,
My sister was slim and beautiful and friendly, and my mother always preferred her. I was the ugly duckling, fat and clumsy and unpopular. It is a cruel thing to make a child feel ugly and unwanted. . . I'll never forgive her for taking my childhood away. During all the years I should have been playing and growing up, I was singing or making money. Everything I did for them was mostly good and everything they did to me was mostly bad. [6]
In 1957, she told Norman Ross, "Children should have a wonderful childhood. I have not had it—I wish I had. "[7] On the other hand, biographer Pestalis-Diomidis asserts that it was actually Evangelia's hateful treatment of George in front of their young children which led to resentment and dislike on Callas's part. [3] However, according to Callas's husband and her close friend Giulietta Simionato, Callas related to them that her mother, who did not work, pressured her to "go out with various men", mainly Italian and German soldiers, to bring home money and food during the Axis occupation of Greece during World War II. WikipediaWikiProject Opera#Infoboxes and WikipediaWikiProject Musicians/Infobox --> Giulietta Simionato The Axis occupation of Greece during World War II ( Η Κατοχή, I Katochi, meaning "The Occupation" began in April Simionato was convinced that Callas "managed to remain untouched", but Callas never forgave Evangelia for what she perceived as a kind of prostitution forced on her by her mother. [3] In an attempt to patch things up with her mother, Callas took Evangelia along on her first visit to Mexico in 1950, but this only reawakened the old frictions and resentments, and after leaving Mexico, the two never met again. The United Mexican States ( or commonly Mexico (ˈmɛksɪkoʊ () is a federal constitutional Republic in North America. [8] After a series of angry and accusatory letters from Evangelia lambasting Callas's father and husband, Callas ceased communication with her mother altogether. [8]
Education
Callas received her musical education in Athens. Initially, her mother tried to enroll her at the prestigious Athens Conservatoire, without success. The Athens Conservatoire (Ωδείο Αθηνών is the oldest Conservatoire in modern Greece At the audition, her voice, still untrained, failed to impress, while the conservatoire's director Filoktitis Oikonomidis refused to accept her without her satisfying the theoretic prerequisites (solfege). In Music, solfège ('soʊlfɛʒ also called solfeggio, sol-fa, or solfa) is a Pedagogical Solmization technique for the In the summer of 1937, her mother visited Maria Trivella at the younger Greek National Conservatoire, asking her to take Mary as a student for a modest fee. The Greek National Conservatoire (Εθνικό Ωδείο was founded in Athens in 1926 by the Composer Manolis Kalomiris and a number of other notable artists like In 1957, Trivella recalled her impression of "Mary, a very plump young girl, wearing big glasses for her myopia":
The tone of the voice was warm, lyrical, intense; it swirled and flared like a flame and filled the air with melodious reverberations like a carillon. A carillon (/kaʁijɔ̃/ /ˈkærɪljɒn/ or /kəˈrɪljən/ is a Musical instrument consisting of at least 23 cast bronze cup-shaped bells which are played It was by any standards an amazing phenomenon, or rather it was a great talent that needed control, technical training, and strict discipline in order to shine with all its brilliance. [3]
Trivella agreed to tutor Callas completely, waiving her tuition fees, but no sooner had Callas started her formal lessons and vocal exercises than Trivella began to feel that Mary was not a contralto, as she had been told, but a dramatic soprano. This article is related to a series of articles under the main article Voice type. A voice type is a particular kind of human Singing voice perceived as having certain identifying qualities or characteristics Subsequently, they began working on raising the tessitura of Mary's voice and to lighten its timbre. In Music, the term tessitura ( Italian for texture) generally describes the most musically acceptable and comfortable Timbre for a given In Music, timbre (ˈtæm-bər' like timber, or, from Fr timbre tɛ̃bʁ is the quality of a Musical note or sound that distinguishes different [3] Trivella recalled Mary as "A model student. Fanatical, uncompromising, dedicated to her studies heart and soul. Her progress was phenomenal. She studied five or six hours a day. . . . Within six months, she was singing the most difficult arias in the international opera repertoire with the utmost musicality". [3] On April 11, 1938, in her public debut, Callas ended the recital of Trivella's class at the Parnassos music hall with a duet from Tosca. Events 491 - Flavius Anastasius becomes Byzantine Emperor, with the name of Anastasius I. Year 1938 ( MCMXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. A duet is a Musical composition or piece for two Performers In Classical music the term is most often used for a composition for two singers Tosca is an Opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian Libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on [3] Callas recalled that Trivella "had a French method, which was placing the voice in the nose, rather nasal. . . and I had the problem of not having low chest tones, which is essential in bel canto. Chest voice is a term used within vocal music The use of this term varies widely within vocal pedagogical circles and there is currently no one consistent opinion among vocal music professionals Bel canto ( Bel-Canto) ( Italian, "beautiful singing" an Italian musical term refers to the art and science of vocal technique which originated in . . And that's where I learned my chest tones. "[9] However, when interviewed by Pierre Desgraupes on the French program L'Invitee Du Dimanche, Callas attributed the development of her chest voice not to Trivella, but to her next teacher, the well-known Spanish coloratura soprano Elvira de Hidalgo. A coloratura soprano is a type of operatic Soprano who specializes in music that is distinguished by agile runs and leaps Elvira de Hidalgo (1892 - 1980 was a Spanish -born Soprano and singing teacher whose best known student was Maria Callas. [10]
Callas studied with Trivella for two years before her mother secured another audition at the Athens Conservatoire with de Hidalgo. Callas auditioned with "Ocean, Thou Mighty Monster. " De Hidalgo recalled hearing "tempestuous, extravagant cascades of sounds, as yet uncontrolled but full of drama and emotion". [3] She agreed to take her as a pupil immediately, but Callas's mother asked de Hidalgo to wait for a year, as Callas would be graduating from the National Conservatoire and could begin working. On April 2, 1939, Callas undertook the part of Santuzza in a student production of Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana at the Olympia Theater, and in the fall of the same year she enrolled at the Athens Conservatoire in Elvira de Hidalgo's class. Events 68 - Galba, Governor of Hispania, names himself legatus senatus populique Romani, breaking the line of Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Pietro Mascagni ( December 7, 1863 &ndash August 2, Cavalleria rusticana ( Rustic Chivalry) is an Opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian Libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti [3]
De Hidalgo would later recall Callas as, "a phenomenon. . . She would listen to all my students, sopranos, mezzos, tenors. . . She could do it all. "[11] Callas herself said that she would go to "the conservatoire at 10 in the morning and leave with the last pupil. . . devouring music" for 10 hours a day. When asked by her teacher why she did this, her answer was that even "with the least talented pupil, he can teach you something that you, the most talented, might not be able to do. "[12]
Early operatic career in Greece
After several appearances as a student, Callas began appearing in secondary roles at the Greek National Opera. The Greek National Opera is the country's lyric opera company located at Charilaou Tricoupi Street in Athens. De Hidalgo was instrumental in securing roles for her, allowing Callas to earn a small salary, which would help her and her family get through the difficult war years. [3]
Callas made her professional debut in February 1942 in the small role of Beatrice in Franz von Suppé Boccaccio. Franz von Suppé (Francesco Suppé Demelli (April 18 1819 &ndash) was a Composer and conductor of the Romantic period notable for his four dozen Boccaccio or the Prince of Palmero is an Operetta in three acts by Franz von Suppé to a German Libretto by Camillo Walzel and [3] Soprano Galatea Amaxopoulous who sang in the chorus later recalled, "Even in rehearsal, Mary's fantastic performing ability had been obvious, and from then on, the others started trying to find ways of preventing her from appearing. "[3] Fellow singer Maria Alkeou similarly recalled that the established sopranos Nafiska Galanou and Anna (Zozó) Remmoundou "used to stand in the wings while Mary was singing and make remarks about her, muttering, laughing, and point their fingers at her". [3] Despite these hostilities, Callas managed to continue and made her debut in a leading role in August 1942 as Tosca, going on to sing the role of Marta in Eugen d'Albert's Tiefland at the Olympia Theater. Eugen Francis Charles d'Albert (10 April 1864 &ndash 3 March 1932 was a Scottish-born German Pianist and Composer. Callas's performance as Marta received glowing reviews. Critic Spanoudi declared Callas "an extremely dynamic artist possessing the rarest dramatic and musical gifts", and Vangelis Mangliveras evaluated Callas's performance for the weekly To Radiophonon:
The singer who took the part of Marta, that new star in the Greek firmament, with a matchless depth of feeling, gave a theatrical interpretation well up to the standard of a tragic actress. About her exceptional voice with its astonishing natural fluency, I do not wish to add anything to the words of Alexandra Lalaouni: 'Kaloyeropoulou is one of those God-given talents that one can only marvel at. '[3]
Following these performances, even Callas's detractors began to refer to her as "The God-Given". [3] Some time later, watching Callas rehearse Fidelio, rival soprano Remoundou asked a colleague, "Could it be that there is something divine and we haven't realized it?"[3] Following Tiefland, Callas sang the role of Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana again and followed it with O Protomastoras at the ancient Odeon of Herodes Atticus theater at the foot of the Acropolis. Fidelio (Op 72 is an Opera in two acts by Ludwig van Beethoven. Cavalleria rusticana ( Rustic Chivalry) is an Opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian Libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti The Odeon of Herodes Atticus is a Stone Theatre Structure located on the south slope of the Acropolis of Athens. Acropolis (Gr akros akron edge extremity + polis city pl acropoleis
During August and September 1944, Callas performed the role of Leonore in a Greek language production of Beethoven's Fidelio, again at the Odeon of Herodus Atticus. Ludwig van Beethoven ( English ˈlʊdvɪg væn ˈbeɪtoʊvən, 16 December 1770 &ndash 26 March 1827 was a German Composer and Pianist. Fidelio (Op 72 is an Opera in two acts by Ludwig van Beethoven. The Odeon of Herodes Atticus is a Stone Theatre Structure located on the south slope of the Acropolis of Athens. [3] German critic Friedrich Herzog who witnessed the performances declared Leonore Callas's "greatest triumph":[3]
When Maria Kaloyeropoulou's Leonore let her soprano soar out radiantly in the untrammeled jubilation of the duet, she rose to the most sublime heights. . . Here she gave bud, blossom, and fruit to that harmony of sound that also ennobled the art of the prima donne. [3]
After the liberation of Greece, de Hidalgo advised Callas to establish herself in Italy. Callas proceeded to give a series of concerts around Greece, and then, against her teacher's advice, she returned to America to see her father and to further pursue her career. When she left Greece on September 14, 1945, two months short of her 22nd birthday, Callas had given 56 performances in seven operas and had appeared in around 20 recitals. Events 81 - Domitian becomes Emperor of the Roman Empire upon the death of his brother Titus. Year 1945 ( MCMXLV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar [3] Callas considered her Greek career as the foundation of her musical and dramatic upbringing, saying, "When I got to the big career, there were no surprises for me. "[13]
Main operatic career
After returning to the United States and reuniting with her father in September 1945, Callas made the round of auditions. [3] In December of that year, she auditioned for Edward Johnson the general manager of the Metropolitan Opera and was favorably received: "Exceptional voice—ought to be heard very soon on stage". Edward Johnson may refer to Politicians Eddie Bernice Johnson, (born 1935 American politician Robert Edward Johnson (born The Metropolitan Opera Association of New York City, founded in April 1880 is a major presenter of all types of opera including Grand Opera. [3] Callas maintained that the Met offered her Madama Butterfly and Fidelio, to be performed in Philadelphia and sung in English, both of which she declined, feeling she was too fat for Butterfly and did not like the idea of opera in English. Fidelio (Op 72 is an Opera in two acts by Ludwig van Beethoven. [13] Although no written evidence of this offer exists in the Met's records,[8] in a 1958 interview with The New York Post, Johnson corroborated Callas's story: "We offered her a contract, but she didn't like it—because of the contract, not because of the roles. Edward Johnson may refer to Politicians Eddie Bernice Johnson, (born 1935 American politician Robert Edward Johnson (born She was right in turning it down—it was frankly a beginner's contract. "[3]
Italy, Meneghini, and Serafin
In 1946, Callas was engaged to re-open the opera house in Chicago as Turandot, but the company folded before opening. Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. Turandot is an Opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, set to a Libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni Basso Nicola Rossi-Lemeni, who also was to star in this opera, was aware that Tullio Serafin was looking for a dramatic soprano to cast as La Gioconda at the Arena di Verona. Nicola Rossi-Lemeni, ( November 6, 1920 &ndash March 12, 1991) was a Basso Opera singer of mixed Italian - Tullio Serafin ( September 1, 1878 - February 2, 1968) was an Italian conductor of Opera. La Gioconda is an Opera in four acts by Amilcare Ponchielli to an Italian Libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Angelo by The Verona Arena ( Arena di Verona) is a Roman Amphitheatre in Verona, Italy, which is famous for the Opera performances He would later recall the young Callas as being "amazing—so strong physically and spiritually; so certain of her future. I knew in a big outdoor theater like Verona's, this girl, with her courage and huge voice, would make a tremendous impact. "[14] Subsequently he recommended Callas to retired tenor and impresario Giovanni Zenatello. Giovanni Zenatello ( 2 February, 1876 - 11 February, 1949) was an Italian Opera Singer. During her audition, Zenatello became so excited that he jumped up and joined Callas in the Act 4 duet. [5] It was in this role that Callas made her Italian debut.
Upon her arrival in Verona, Callas met Giovanni Battista Meneghini, an older, wealthy industrialist, who began courting her. Verona is a city and provincial capital in Veneto, Northern Italy. They married in 1949, and he assumed control of her career until 1959, when the marriage dissolved. It was Meneghini's love and support that gave Callas the time needed to establish herself in Italy,[14] and throughout the prime of her career, she went by the name Maria Meneghini Callas.
After La Gioconda, Callas had no further offers, and when Serafin, looking for someone to sing Tristan und Isolde, called on her, she told him that she already knew the score, even though she had looked at only the first act out of curiosity while at the conservatory. La Gioconda is an Opera in four acts by Amilcare Ponchielli to an Italian Libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Angelo by Iseult (alternatively Isolde, Yseult, Isode, Isoude, Isotta) is the name of several characters in the Arthurian story of [13] She sight-read the opera's second act for Serafin, who praised her for knowing the role so well, whereupon she admitted to having bluffed and having sight-read the music. [13] Even more impressed, Serafin immediately cast her in the role. [13] Serafin thereafter served as Callas's mentor and supporter.
According to Lord Harewood, "Very few Italian conductors have had a more distinguished career than Tullio Serafin, and perhaps none, apart from Toscanini, more influence". Earl of Harewood, in the County of York is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Tullio Serafin ( September 1, 1878 - February 2, 1968) was an Italian conductor of Opera. WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes --> Arturo Toscanini (ɑrˈturɔ ˌtɔskɑˈnini (March 25 1867 &ndash January [12] In 1968, Callas would recall that working with Serafin was the "really lucky" opportunity of her career, because "he taught me that there must be an expression; that there must be a justification. He taught me the depth of music, the justification of music. That's where I really really drank all I could from this man". [9]
I Puritani and path to bel canto
The great turning point in Callas's career occurred in Venice in 1949. Venice ( Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venesia or Venexia) is a city in Northern Italy, the capital of the [15] She was engaged to sing the role of Brünnhilde in Die Walküre at the Teatro la Fenice, when Margherita Carosio, who was engaged to sing Elvira in I Puritani in the same theater, fell ill. Die Walküre ( The Valkyrie) is the second of the four Operas that comprise Der Ring des Nibelungen ( The Ring of the Nibelung Teatro La Fenice ("The Phoenix " is an Opera house in Venice, Italy. Margherita Carosio ( June 7, 1908 &ndash January 10, 2005) was an Italian Operatic Soprano. I puritani ( The Puritans) is an Opera in three acts by Vincenzo Bellini. Unable to find a replacement for Carosio, Maestro Serafin told Callas that she would be singing Elvira in six days; when Callas protested that she not only did not know the role, but also had three more Brünnhildes to sing, he told her "I guarantee that you can. "[12] In Michael Scott's words, "the notion of any one singer embracing music as divergent in its vocal demands as Wagner's Brünnhilde and Bellini's Elvira in the same career would have been cause enough for surprise; but to attempt to essay them both in the same season seemed like folie de grandeur". Michael Scott is the founder of the London Opera Society. In his role as the society's sole artistic director he brought to London Marilyn Horne, Joan Sutherland [8] Before the performance actually took place, one incredulous critic would snort, "We hear that Serafin has agreed to conduct I Puritani with a dramatic soprano. . . When can we expect a new edition of La Traviata with [baritone] Gino Bechi's Violetta?"[8] After the performance, critics would write, "Even the most skeptical had to acknowledge the miracle that Maria Callas accomplished. . . the flexibility of her limpid, beautifully poised voice, and her splendid high notes. Her interpretation also has a humanity, warmth, and expressiveness that one would search for in vain in the fragile, pellucid coldness of other Elviras. "[16] Franco Zeffirelli recalled, "What she did in Venice was really incredible. Franco Zeffirelli, KBE (born Gianfranco Corsi on February 12, 1923) is an Italian Film director. You need to be familiar with opera to realize the enormity of her achievement. It was as if someone asked Birgit Nilsson, who is famous for her great Wagnerian voice, to substitute overnight for Beverly Sills, who is one of the great coloratura sopranos of our time. Birgit Nilsson ( May 17, 1918 &ndash December 25, 2005) was a Swedish Dramatic soprano who specialized in operatic WikipediaWikiProject Opera#Infoboxes --> Beverly Sills ( May 25, 1929 – July 2, 2007) was an Coloratura has several meanings The word derives from the Italian colorare (to Colour; to heighten to enliven or colorazione (colouring coloration "[11]
Scott asserts that "Of all the many roles Callas undertook it is doubtful if any had a more far-reaching effect. Michael Scott is the founder of the London Opera Society. In his role as the society's sole artistic director he brought to London Marilyn Horne, Joan Sutherland "[8] This initial foray into the bel canto repertoire changed the course of Callas's career and set her on a path leading to Lucia, La Traviata, Armida, La Sonnambula, Il Pirata, Il Turco in Italia, Medea, and Anna Bolena and reawakened interest in the long-neglected operas of Cherubini, Bellini, Donizetti, and Rossini. Bel canto ( Bel-Canto) ( Italian, "beautiful singing" an Italian musical term refers to the art and science of vocal technique which originated in Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico (tragic Opera) in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. La traviata is an Opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. Armida is a beautiful enchantress in Torquato Tasso 's Jerusalem Delivered, who bewitched Rinaldo one of the Crusaders by her charms as Circe La sonnambula ( The Sleepwalker) is an Opera semiseria in two acts music by Vincenzo Bellini to an Italian Libretto by Felice Il pirata ( The Pirate) is an Opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani from Il turco in Italia ( The Turk in Italy) is an Opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. Médée (French or Medea (Italian German English is an Opéra-comique by Luigi Cherubini. Anna Bolena is a tragedia lirica, or Opera, in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Luigi Cherubini ( September 8 or September 14, 1760 &ndash March 15, 1842) was an Italian born composer who spent most of his Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 &ndash 8 April 1848 was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. [11][14] In the words of soprano Montserrat Caballé,
She opened a new door for us, for all the singers in the world, a door that had been closed. Maria de Montserrat Viviana Concepció Caballé i Folc, better known as Montserrat Caballé (born April 12 1933) is a Spanish Catalan Behind it was sleeping not only great music but great idea of interpretation. She has given us the chance, those who follow her, to do things that were hardly possible before her. That I am compared with Callas is something I never dared to dream. It is not right. I am much smaller than Callas. [14]
As with I Puritani, Callas also learned and performed Cherubini's Medea, Giordano's Andrea Chénier, and Rossini's Armida on a few days' notice. I puritani ( The Puritans) is an Opera in three acts by Vincenzo Bellini. Médée (French or Medea (Italian German English is an Opéra-comique by Luigi Cherubini. Umberto Menotti Maria Giordano ( August 28, 1867 &ndash November 12, 1948) was an Italian composer mainly of Opera. Andrea Chénier is an Opera in four acts by the Verismo composer Umberto Giordano, set to an Italian Libretto by Luigi Illica Armida is a beautiful enchantress in Torquato Tasso 's Jerusalem Delivered, who bewitched Rinaldo one of the Crusaders by her charms as Circe [17][14] Throughout her career, Callas displayed her vocal versatility in recitals that combined dramatic soprano arias alongside coloratura pieces, including in a 1952 RAI recital in which she opened with Lady Macbeth's "letter scene", followed by the "Mad Scene" from Lucia di Lammermoor, then by Abigaile's treacherous recitative and aria from Nabucco, finishing with the "Bell Song" from Lakmé capped by a ringing high E in alt (E6). Macbeth is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi, with an Italian Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave and additions by Andrea Maffei Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico (tragic Opera) in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Nabucco (short for Nabucodonosor, English Nebuchadnezzar) is an Opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian Libretto Lakmé is an Opera in three acts by Léo Delibes to a French Libretto by Edmond Gondinet and Philippe Gille, based on the [17]
Important debuts
Callas made her official debut at La Scala in I Vespri Siciliani in December 1951, and this theater became her artistic home throughout the 1950s. The Teatro alla Scala (or La Scala, as it is known in Milan, Italy, is one of the world's most famous Opera houses The theatre was Les vêpres siciliennes ( The Sicilian Vespers) is an Opera in five acts by the Italian romantic Composer Giuseppe [11] La Scala mounted many new productions specially for Callas by directors such as Herbert Von Karajan, Margherita Wallmann, Luchino Visconti and Franco Zeffirelli. WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes --> Herbert von Karajan ( April 5 Margarete Wallmann or Wallman (aka Margarethe Wallmann, Margherita Wallman or Margarita Wallmann) ( 22 June 1904 &ndash Luchino Visconti di Modrone, Count of Lonate Pozzolo ( November 2, 1906 - March 17, 1976) was an Italian Franco Zeffirelli, KBE (born Gianfranco Corsi on February 12, 1923) is an Italian Film director. [14]
Callas made her American Debut in Chicago in 1954, and "with the Callas Norma, Lyric Opera of Chicago was born. Norma is a tragedia lirica or Opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini with Libretto by Felice Romani after Norma ossia Lyric Opera of Chicago is one of the leading Opera companies in the United States. "[18] Her Metropolitan Opera debut in November 1956 was again with Norma, but was preceded with an unflattering cover story in Time magazine which rehashed all of the Callas clichés, including her temper, her supposed rivalry with Renata Tebaldi, and especially her difficult relationship with her mother. The Metropolitan Opera Association of New York City, founded in April 1880 is a major presenter of all types of opera including Grand Opera. Norma is a tragedia lirica or Opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini with Libretto by Felice Romani after Norma ossia Time (trademarked in capitals as TIME) is a weekly American Newsmagazine, similar to Newsweek and WikipediaWikiProject_Opera#Infoboxes --> Renata Tebaldi ( Pesaro, Italy [15][5] As she had done with Lyric Opera of Chicago, on November 21, 1958, Callas gave a concert to inaugurate what then was billed as the Dallas Civic Opera, and helped establish that company with her friends from Chicago, Lawrence Kelly and Maestro Nicola Rescigno. Events 164 BC - Judas Maccabaeus, son of Mattathias of the Hasmonean family restores the Temple in Jerusalem. Year 1958 ( MCMLVIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Dallas Opera is an Opera company located in Dallas, Texas ( USA) [19] She further solidified this company's standing when, in 1958, she gave "a towering performance as Violetta in Verdi's La Traviata and that same year, in her only American performances of Medea, gave an interpretation of the title role worthy of Euripides. La traviata is an Opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. Médée (French or Medea (Italian German English is an Opéra-comique by Luigi Cherubini. "[20]
In 1952, she made her London debut at the Royal Opera House in Norma with veteran mezzo soprano Ebe Stignani as Adalgisa, a performance which survives on record and also features the young Joan Sutherland in the small role of Clotilde. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. WikipediaWikiProject Opera --> The Royal Opera House is an Opera house and major performing Norma is a tragedia lirica or Opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini with Libretto by Felice Romani after Norma ossia This article is related to a series of articles under the main article Voice type. Ebe Stignani ( July 10, 1903 1904 - October 5 1974) was an Italian Opera singer who was pre-eminent in the dramatic Mezzo-soprano WikipediaWikiProject Opera#Infoboxes --> Dame Joan Alston Sutherland, OM, AC, DBE (born 7 November 1926 [17] Callas and the London public had what she herself called "a love affair",[5] and she returned to the Royal Opera House in 1953, 1957, 1958, 1959, and 1964 to 1965. WikipediaWikiProject Opera --> The Royal Opera House is an Opera house and major performing [14] It was at the Royal Opera House where, on July 5, 1965, Callas ended her stage career in the role of Tosca, in a production designed and mounted for her by Franco Zeffirelli and featuring her friend and colleague Tito Gobbi. Events 1295 - Scotland and France form an alliance the beginnings of the Auld Alliance, against England. Year 1965 ( MCMLXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. Tosca is an Opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian Libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Franco Zeffirelli, KBE (born Gianfranco Corsi on February 12, 1923) is an Italian Film director. Tito Gobbi ( October 24, 1913 &ndash March 5, 1984) was an Italian Baritone. [14]
Weight loss
In the early years of her career, Callas was a heavy and full-figured woman, though she admitted to weighing "no more than 200 pounds. "[13] Despite her zaftig figure, Meneghini and others considered her beautiful, but during her initial performances in Cherubini's Medea in May 1953, Callas decided that she needed a leaner face and figure to do dramatic justice to this as well as the other roles she was undertaking:
I was getting so heavy that even my vocalizing was getting heavy. " Big Beautiful Woman " (commonly abbreviated as BBW) is a Neologism most frequently used in the context of affirmation of or Sexual attraction Luigi Cherubini ( September 8 or September 14, 1760 &ndash March 15, 1842) was an Italian born composer who spent most of his Médée (French or Medea (Italian German English is an Opéra-comique by Luigi Cherubini. I was tiring myself, I was perspiring too much, and I was really working too hard. And I wasn't really well, as in health; I couldn't move freely. And then I was tired of playing a game, for instance playing this beautiful young woman, and I was heavy and uncomfortable to move around. In any case, it was uncomfortable and I didn't like it. So I felt now if I'm going to do things right—I've studied all my life to put things right musically, so why don't I diet and put myself into a certain condition where I'm presentable. [13]
During 1953 and early 1954, she lost almost 80 pounds, turning herself into what Maestro Rescigno called "possibly the most beautiful lady on the stage". [11] Sir Rudolf Bing, who remembered Callas as being "monstrously fat" in 1951, stated that after the weight loss, Callas was an "astonishing, svelte, striking woman" who "showed none of the signs one usually finds in a fat woman who has lost weight: she looked as though she had been born to that slender and graceful figure, and had always moved with that elegance. Sir Rudolf Bing ( January 9, 1902 &ndash September 2, 1997) was an Austrian-born Opera Impresario. "[21] Various rumors spread regarding her weight loss method; one had her swallowing a tapeworm, while Rome's Pantanella Mills pasta company claimed she lost weight by eating their "physiologic pasta", prompting Callas to file a lawsuit. Tapeworm is also an older name for a type of Computer virus. Cestoda is a class of Parasitic Flatworms commonly called In law a lawsuit is a civil action brought before a Court in which the party commencing the action the Plaintiff, seeks a legal or equitable remedy [8] Callas stated that she lost the weight by eating a sensible low-calorie diet of mainly salads and chicken. [13] Some believe that the loss of body mass made it more difficult for her to support her voice, triggering the vocal strain that became apparent later in the decade (see vocal decline), while others believed the weight loss effected a newfound softness and femininity in her voice, as well as a greater confidence as a person and performer. [14]
Voice
Callas's voice was and remains controversial; it bothered and disturbed as many as it thrilled and inspired. [14] Walter Legge stated that Callas possessed that most essential ingredient for a great singer: an instantly recognizable voice. Walter Legge (born 1 June 1906, London; died 22 March 1979, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France) was an influential [22] During "The Callas Debate", Italian critic Rodolfo Celletti stated, "The timbre of Callas's voice, considered purely as sound, was essentially ugly. In Music, timbre (ˈtæm-bər' like timber, or, from Fr timbre tɛ̃bʁ is the quality of a Musical note or sound that distinguishes different . . yet I really believe that part of her appeal was precisely due to this fact. Why? because for all its natural lack of varnish, velvet and richness, this voice could acquire such distinctive colours and timbres as to be unforgettable. "[23] In compensation for the lack of classical beauty of sound, Callas was able to change the timbre of the voice and her vocal color and weight at will and according to the role she was singing, essentially giving each character her own individual voice. In Music, timbre (ˈtæm-bər' like timber, or, from Fr timbre tɛ̃bʁ is the quality of a Musical note or sound that distinguishes different [14][17]
Maestro Carlo Maria Giulini has described the appeal of Callas's voice:
It is very difficult to speak of the voice of Callas. Carlo Maria Giulini ( May 9, 1914 &ndash June 14, 2005) was an Italian conductor, and violist. Her voice was a very special instrument. Something happens sometimes with string instruments—violin, viola, cello—where the first moment you listen to the sound of this instrument, the first feeling is a bit strange sometimes. But after just a few minutes, when you get used to, when you become friends with this kind of sound, then the sound becomes a magical quality. This was Callas. [11]
Vocal category
Callas's voice has been difficult to place in the modern vocal classification or fach system, especially since in her prime, her repertoire contained the heaviest dramatic roles as well as roles usually undertaken by the highest, lightest and most agile coloratura sopranos. The German Fach (pl Fächer, literally "compartment" (ˈfax) system is a method of classifying Singers primarily Opera singers A dramatic soprano is an operatic Soprano with a powerful rich emotive voice that can sing over a full orchestra Coloratura has several meanings The word derives from the Italian colorare (to Colour; to heighten to enliven or colorazione (colouring coloration Regarding this versatility, Maestro Tullio Serafin said, "This woman can sing anything written for the female voice". Tullio Serafin ( September 1, 1878 - February 2, 1968) was an Italian conductor of Opera. [5] Michael Scott argues that Callas's voice was a natural high soprano,[8] and going by evidence of Callas's early recordings, Rosa Ponselle likewise felt that "At that stage of its development, her voice was a pure but sizable dramatic coloratura––that is to say, a sizable coloratura voice with dramatic capabilities, not the other way around. Michael Scott is the founder of the London Opera Society. In his role as the society's sole artistic director he brought to London Marilyn Horne, Joan Sutherland This article is related to a series of articles under the main article Voice type. WikipediaWikiProject Opera#Infoboxes --> Rosa Ponselle ( January 22, 1897 &ndash May 25, 1981 Coloratura has several meanings The word derives from the Italian colorare (to Colour; to heighten to enliven or colorazione (colouring coloration [24] On the other hand, John Ardoin has argued that Callas was the reincarnation of the Nineteenth Century soprano sfogato or "unlimited soprano", a throwback to Maria Malibran and Giuditta Pasta, for whom many of the famous bel canto operas were written. John Ardoin, (born January 8 1935 Alexandria Louisiana – died March 18 2001 San José, Costa Rica) was best known as the music critic of WikipediaWikiProject Opera#Infoboxes --> The Mezzo-soprano (although she commonly sang Soprano parts Maria Malibran Giuditta Angiola Maria Costanza Pasta (née Negri October 26, 1797 - April 1, 1865) born in Saronno, Italy, was Bel canto ( Bel-Canto) ( Italian, "beautiful singing" an Italian musical term refers to the art and science of vocal technique which originated in He avers that like Pasta and Malibran, Callas was a natural mezzo-soprano whose range was extended through training and willpower, resulting in a voice which "lacked the homogeneous color and evenness of scale once so prized in singing. This article is related to a series of articles under the main article Voice type. There were unruly sections of their voices never fully under control. Many who heard Pasta, for example, remarked that her uppermost notes seemed produced by ventriloquism, a charge which would later be made against Callas". [14] Ardoin points to the writings of Henry Fothergill Chorley about Pasta which bear an uncanny resemblance to descriptions of Callas:
"There was a portion of the scale which differed from the rest in quality and remained to the last 'under a veil. Henry Fothergill Chorley (15 December 1808 &ndash 16 February 1872 was an English literary art and Music critic and editor ' . . . out of these uncouth materials she had to compose her instrument and then to give it flexibility. Her studies to acquire execution must have been tremendous; but the volubility and brilliancy, when acquired, gained a character of their own. . . There were a breadth, an expressiveness in her roulades, an evenness and solidity in her shake, which imparted to every passage a significance totally beyond the reach of lighter and more spontaneous singers. The trill is a musical ornament consisting of a rapid alternation between two adjacent notes of a scale (compare Mordent and Tremolo) . . The best of her audience were held in thrall, without being able to analyze what made up the spell, what produced the effect--as soon as she opened her lips". [14]
Callas herself appears to have been in agreement not only with Ardoin's assertions that she started as a natural mezzo-soprano, but also saw the similarities between herself and Pasta and Malibran. This article is related to a series of articles under the main article Voice type. Giuditta Angiola Maria Costanza Pasta (née Negri October 26, 1797 - April 1, 1865) born in Saronno, Italy, was WikipediaWikiProject Opera#Infoboxes --> The Mezzo-soprano (although she commonly sang Soprano parts Maria Malibran In 1957, she described her early voice as: "The timbre was dark, almost black—when I think of it, I think of thick molasses", and in 1968 she added, "They say I was not a true soprano, I was rather toward a mezzo". [3] Regarding her ability to sing the heaviest as well as the lightest roles, she told James Fleetwood,
"It’s study; it’s Nature. I’m doing nothing special, you know. Even Lucia, Anna Bolena, Puritani, all these operas were created for one type of soprano, the type that sang Norma, Fidelio, which was Malibran of course. Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico (tragic Opera) in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Anna Bolena is a tragedia lirica, or Opera, in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. I puritani ( The Puritans) is an Opera in three acts by Vincenzo Bellini. Norma is a tragedia lirica or Opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini with Libretto by Felice Romani after Norma ossia Fidelio (Op 72 is an Opera in two acts by Ludwig van Beethoven. WikipediaWikiProject Opera#Infoboxes --> The Mezzo-soprano (although she commonly sang Soprano parts Maria Malibran And a funny conincidence last year, I was singing Anna Bolena and Sonnambula, same months and the same distance of time as Giuditta Pasta had sung in the Nineteenth Century. Anna Bolena is a tragedia lirica, or Opera, in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. La sonnambula ( The Sleepwalker) is an Opera semiseria in two acts music by Vincenzo Bellini to an Italian Libretto by Felice Giuditta Angiola Maria Costanza Pasta (née Negri October 26, 1797 - April 1, 1865) born in Saronno, Italy, was . . So I’m really not doing anything extraordinary. You wouldn’t ask a pianist not to be able to play everything; he has to. This is Nature and also because I had a wonderful teacher, the old kind of teaching methods. . . I was a very heavy voice, that is my nature, a dark voice shall we call it, and I was always kept on the light side. She always trained me to keep my voice limber. [25]
Vocal size and range
In the years prior to her weight loss, Callas's voice was a powerful soprano, the sheer size of which was much commented upon,[16] and there were no complaints about unsteadiness even in the most exposed passages. This article is related to a series of articles under the main article Voice type. [8] In his review of Callas's 1951 live recording of I Vespri Siciliani, Ira Siff writes, "Accepted wisdom tells us that Callas possessed, even early on, a flawed voice, unattractive by conventional standards — an instrument that signaled from the beginning vocal problems to come. Les vêpres siciliennes ( The Sicilian Vespers) is an Opera in five acts by the Italian romantic Composer Giuseppe Yet listen to her entrance in this performance and one encounters a rich, spinning sound, ravishing by any standard, capable of delicate dynamic nuance. High notes are free of wobble, chest tones unforced, and the middle register displays none of the "bottled" quality that became more and more pronounced as Callas matured. "[26] In a 1982 Opera News interview with Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge, Bonynge stated, "But before she slimmed down, I mean this was such a colossal voice. WikipediaWikiProject Opera#Infoboxes --> Dame Joan Alston Sutherland, OM, AC, DBE (born 7 November 1926 Richard Bonynge, CBE (last name pronounced "bonning" (born 29 September 1930 is an Australian Conductor and pianist It just poured out of her, the way Flagstad's did. Kirsten Malfrid Flagstad ( 12 July 1895 &ndash 7 December 1962) was a Norwegian Opera singer one of the greatest . . Callas had a huge voice. When she and Stignani sang Norma, at the bottom of the range you could barely tell who was who. Ebe Stignani ( July 10, 1903 1904 - October 5 1974) was an Italian Opera singer who was pre-eminent in the dramatic Mezzo-soprano . . Oh it was colossal. And she took the big sound right up to the top. "[27] In his book, Michael Scott makes the distinction that whereas Callas's pre-1954 voice was a "dramatic soprano with an exceptional top", after the weight loss, it became, as one Chicago critic described the voice in Lucia,[16] a "huge suprano leggiero". Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico (tragic Opera) in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. [8] In performance, Callas's range was just short of three octaves, from F-sharp (F#3) below middle C (C4) heard in "Arrigo! Ah parli ad un core" from I Vespri Siciliani to E-natural (E6) above high C (C6), heard in the same opera as well as Rossini's Armida and Lakmé's Bell Song. Les vêpres siciliennes ( The Sicilian Vespers) is an Opera in five acts by the Italian romantic Composer Giuseppe Armida is a beautiful enchantress in Torquato Tasso 's Jerusalem Delivered, who bewitched Rinaldo one of the Crusaders by her charms as Circe Lakmé is an Opera in three acts by Léo Delibes to a French Libretto by Edmond Gondinet and Philippe Gille, based on the After her June 11, 1951 concert in Florence, Rock Ferris of Musical Courier said, "Her high E's and F's are taken full voice. Events 1184 BC - Trojan War: Troy is sacked and burned according to the calculations of Eratosthenes. Year 1951 ( MCMLI) was a Common year starting on Monday. Events of 1951 January "[16] In a French TV interview, Callas's teacher Elvira de Hidalgo spoke of her voice soaring to a high E, but did not mention the high F. Elvira de Hidalgo (1892 - 1980 was a Spanish -born Soprano and singing teacher whose best known student was Maria Callas. [11] Although no definite recording of Callas singing high F's have surfaced, the presumed E-natural in her performance of Rossini's Armida—a poor-quality bootleg recording of uncertain pitch—has been referred to as a high F. Armida is a beautiful enchantress in Torquato Tasso 's Jerusalem Delivered, who bewitched Rinaldo one of the Crusaders by her charms as Circe [23]
Vocal registers
Callas's voice was noted by Walter Legge and other experts[23] for its three distinct registers. Walter Legge (born 1 June 1906, London; died 22 March 1979, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France) was an influential Her low or chest register was extremely dark and almost baritone-like in power, and she used this part of her voice for dramatic effect, often going into this register much higher on the scale than most sopranos. [22] Her middle register had a peculiar and highly personal sound—"part oboe, part clarinet", as Claudia Cassidy described it[14]—and was noted for its veiled or "bottled" sound, as if she were singing into a jug. Claudia Cassidy (1899&ndash1996 born in Shawneetown Illinois, was a Music, Dance, and Drama Critic. [22] Walter Legge attributed this sound to the "extraordinary formation of her upper palate, shaped like a Gothic arch, not the Romanesque arch of the normal mouth". Walter Legge (born 1 June 1906, London; died 22 March 1979, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France) was an influential [22] The upper register was ample and bright, with an impressive extension above high C, which—in contrast to the light flute-like sound of the typical coloratura soprano—she sang with the same full-throated sound as her lower registers. [14] And as she demonstrated in the finale of La Sonnambula on the commercial EMI set and the live recording from Cologne, she was able to execute a diminuendo on the stratospheric high E-flat, which Scott describes as "a feat unrivaled in the history of the gramophone. La sonnambula ( The Sleepwalker) is an Opera semiseria in two acts music by Vincenzo Bellini to an Italian Libretto by Felice Michael Scott is the founder of the London Opera Society. In his role as the society's sole artistic director he brought to London Marilyn Horne, Joan Sutherland "[8]
The agility of Callas's voice allowed her to sing difficult ornate music with ease and technical polish. In the words of Walter Legge, even in the most difficult florid music, there were no musical or technical difficulties "which she could not execute with astonishing, unostentatious ease. Walter Legge (born 1 June 1906, London; died 22 March 1979, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France) was an influential Her chromatic runs, particularly downwards, were beautifully smooth and staccatos almost unfailingly accurate, even in the trickiest intervals. There is hardly a bar in the whole range of nineteenth century music for high soprano that seriously tested her powers. "[22] As part of her technical arsenal, Callas also possessed a beautiful and dependable trill in every vocal register. The trill is a musical ornament consisting of a rapid alternation between two adjacent notes of a scale (compare Mordent and Tremolo) [28]
This combination of size, weight, range and agility was a source of amazement to Callas's own contemporaries. One of the choristers present at her La Scala debut in I Vespri Siciliani recalled, "My God! She came on stage sounding like our deepest contralto, Cloe Elmo. Les vêpres siciliennes ( The Sicilian Vespers) is an Opera in five acts by the Italian romantic Composer Giuseppe Cloë Elmo ( April 9, 1910, Lecce - May 24, 1962, Ankara) was an Italian operatic Contralto, particularly associated And before the evening was over, she took a high E-flat. And it was twice as strong as Toti Dal Monte's!"[14] For Italian soprano Renata Tebaldi, "the most fantastic thing was the possibility for her to sing the soprano coloratura with this big voice! This was something really special. Antonietta Meneghel ( 27 June 1893 – 26 January 1975) better known by her stage name Toti Dal Monte, was a celebrated Italian WikipediaWikiProject_Opera#Infoboxes --> Renata Tebaldi ( Pesaro, Italy Coloratura has several meanings The word derives from the Italian colorare (to Colour; to heighten to enliven or colorazione (colouring coloration Fantastic absolutely!"[11]
Artistry
Callas's own thoughts regarding music and singing can be found at viewed on Wikiquote.
The musician
Though adored by many opera enthusiasts, Callas was a controversial artist. While Callas was the great singer often dismissed simply as an actress[29] she considered herself first and foremost "a musician, that is, the first instrument of the orchestra. "[9] Maestro Victor de Sabata confided to Walter Legge, "If the public could understand, as we do, how deeply and utterly musical Callas is, they would be stunned. Victor de Sabata ( April 10, 1892 - December 11, 1967) was an Italian conductor and Composer. Walter Legge (born 1 June 1906, London; died 22 March 1979, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France) was an influential "[22]. Callas possessed an innate architectural sense of line-proportion[14] and an uncanny feel for timing and for what one of her colleagues described as "a sense of the rhythm within the rhythm". [3] While reviewing the many recorded versions of "perhaps Verdi's ultimate challenge", the aria "D'amor sull'ali rosee" from Il Trovatore, Richard Dyer writes,
"Callas articulates all of the trills, and she binds them into the line more expressively than anyone else; they are not an ornament but a form of intensification. Il trovatore ( The Troubadour) is an Opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian Libretto by Leone Emanuele Bardare Part of the wonder in this performance is the chiaroscuro through her tone -- the other side of not singing full-out all the way through. Chiaroscuro ( Italian for light-dark) is a term in Art for a contrast between light and dark One of the vocal devices that create that chiaroscuro is a varying rate of vibrato; another is her portamento, the way she connects the voice from note to note, phrase to phrase, lifting and gliding. Vibrato is a musical effect produced in singing and on musical instruments by a regular pulsating change of pitch, and is used to add expression and vocal-like qualities to Portamento is a Musical term primarily denoting a vocal slide between two pitches and its emulation by instruments such as the violin and in 16th century This is never a sloppy swoop, because its intention is as musically precise as it is in great string playing. In this aria, Callas uses more portamento, and in greater variety, than any other singer. . . Callas is not creating "effects", as even her greatest rivals do. She sees the aria as a whole, "as if in an aerial view", as Sviatoslav Richter's teacher observed of his most famous pupil; simultaneously, she is on earth, standing in the courtyard of the palace of Aliaferia, floating her voice to the tower where her lover lies imprisoned. Sviatoslav Teofilovich Richter (Святосла́в Теофи́лович Рихтер Svjatoslav Teofilovič Rikhter) ( &ndash August 1, 1997) was " [30]
In addition to her musical skills, Callas had a particular gift for language and the use of language in music. [22] In recitatives, she always knew which word to emphasize and which syllable in that word to bring out. [14] Michael Scott notes, "If we listen attentively, we note how her perfect legato enables her to suggest by musical means even the exclamation marks and commas of the text. "[8] Technically, not only did she have the capacity to perform the most difficult florid music effortlessly, but also she had the ability to use each ornament as an expressive device rather than for mere fireworks. [31] Soprano Martina Arroyo states, "What interested me most was how she gave the runs and the cadenzas words. Martina Arroyo (born February 2, 1937) is an American Soprano, best known for her performances of the Italian Spinto repertoire That always floored me. I always felt I heard her saying something – it was never just singing notes. That alone is an art. "[31] Callas's singing of the bel canto repertoire "created a furor, not only because she sang the florid music with an accuracy unequalled since the days of Tetrazzini, but also because she undertook it with stunning weight of tone and breath of phrasing, so bringing to it a dramatic perspective. Bel canto ( Bel-Canto) ( Italian, "beautiful singing" an Italian musical term refers to the art and science of vocal technique which originated in Luisa Tetrazzini ( June 29, 1871 - April 28, 1940) was an Italian dramatic Coloratura Soprano. "[8] Walter Legge states that,
Most admirable of all her qualities, however, were her taste, elegance and deeply musical use of ornamentation in all its forms and complications, the weighting and length of every appoggiatura, the smooth incorporation of the turn in melodic lines, the accuracy and pacing of her trills, the seemingly inevitable timing of her portamentos, varying their curve with enchanting grace and meaning. Walter Legge (born 1 June 1906, London; died 22 March 1979, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France) was an influential In Music, ornaments are musical flourishes that are not necessary to carry the overall line of the melody (or harmony but serve instead to decorate or "ornament" Portamento is a Musical term primarily denoting a vocal slide between two pitches and its emulation by instruments such as the violin and in 16th century There were innumerable exquisite felicities – minuscule portamentos from one note to its nearest neighbor, or over widesperad intervals – and changes of color that were pure magic. In these aspects of bel canto she was supreme mistress of that art. [22]
Italian critic Eugenio Gara gave this summary of Callas's musical artistry:
Her secret is in her ability to transfer to the musical plane the suffering of the character she plays, the nostalgic longing for lost happiness, the anxious fluctuation between hope and despair, between pride and supplication, between irony and generosity, which in the end dissolve into a superhuman inner pain. The most diverse and opposite of sentiments, cruel deceptions, ambitious desires, burning tenderness, grievous sacrifices, all the torments of the heart, acquire in her singing that mysterious truth, I would like to say, that psychological sonority, which is the primary attraction of opera. [23]
The actress
Regarding Callas's acting ability, vocal coach Ira Siff remarked, "When I saw the final two Toscas she did in the old [Met], I felt like I was watching the actual story on which the opera had later been based. Tosca is an Opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian Libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on "[32] Callas was not, however, a realistic or verismo style actress:[8] her physical acting was merely "subsidiary to the heavy Kunst of developing the psychology of the roles under the supervision of the music, of singing the acting. Verismo (meaning "realism" from Italian vero, meaning "truth" was an Italian literary movement born approximately between 1875 and 1895 . . Suffering, delight, humility, hubris, despair, rhapsody—all this was musically appointed, through her use of the voice flying the text upon the notes. "[29] Seconding this opinion, verismo specialist soprano Augusta Oltrabella said, "Despite what everyone says, [Callas] was an actress in the expression of the music, and not vice versa. Verismo (meaning "realism" from Italian vero, meaning "truth" was an Italian literary movement born approximately between 1875 and 1895 "[33][34] Ewa Podles likeswise stated that "It's enough to hear her, I’m positive! Because she could say everything only with her voice! I can imagine everything, I can see everything in front of my eye. Ewa Podleś (last name pronounced PODE-lesh) was born April 26 1952 in Warsaw, Poland. "[31] Opera director Sandro Sequi, who witnessed many Callas performances close-up, avers, "For me, she was extremely stylized and classic, yet at the same time, human—but humanity on a higher plane of existence, almost sublime. Realism was foreign to her, and that is why she was the greatest of opera singers. After all, opera is the least realistic of theater forms. . . She was wasted in verismo roles, even Tosca, no matter how brilliantly she could act such roles. Verismo (meaning "realism" from Italian vero, meaning "truth" was an Italian literary movement born approximately between 1875 and 1895 Tosca is an Opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian Libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on "[14] Scott adds, "Early nineteenth-century opera. . . is not merely the antithesis of reality, it also requires highly stylized acting. Callas had the perfect face for it. Her big features matched its grandiloquence and spoke volumes from a distance. "[8]
In regard to Callas's physical acting style, Sandro Sequi recalls, "She was never in a hurry. Everything was very paced, proportioned, classical, precise. . . She was extremely powerful but extremely stylized. Her gestures were not many. . . I don't think she did more than 20 gestures in a performance. But she was capable of standing 10 minutes without moving a hand or finger, compeling everyone to look at her. "[14] Edward Downes recalled Callas watching and observing her colleagues with such intensity and concentration as to make it seem that the drama was all unfolding in her head. Edward Olin Davenport Downes ( August 12, 1911 - December 26, 2001) was an American Musicologist, music critic and quizmaster [13] Sir Rudolf Bing similarly recalled that in Il Trovatore in Chicago, "it was Callas' quiet listening, rather than Björling's singing that made the dramatic impact. Sir Rudolf Bing ( January 9, 1902 &ndash September 2, 1997) was an Austrian-born Opera Impresario. Il trovatore ( The Troubadour) is an Opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian Libretto by Leone Emanuele Bardare WikipediaWikiProject Opera#Infoboxes --> Johan Jonatan (sometimes spelled as "Bjoerling" in English-language sources ( 5 . . He didn't know what he was singing, but she knew. "[21]
Callas herself stated that in opera, acting must be based on the music, saying,
"When one wants to find a gesture, when you want to find how to act onstage, all you have to do is listen to the music. The composer has already seen to that. If you take the trouble to really listen with your soul and with your ears – and I say soul and ears because the mind must work, but not too much also – you will find every gesture there. "[12]
The artist
Callas's most distinguishing quality was her ability to breathe life into the characters she portrayed,[14] achieving this by purely musical means and within the stylistic framework set by the composer, never resorting to melodramatic extramusical excesses prevalent in verismo. Verismo (meaning "realism" from Italian vero, meaning "truth" was an Italian literary movement born approximately between 1875 and 1895 [14][29] She used her many voices to create a different voice for each role, and to make each sentiment pertinent to that particular role. [14] Each character had her own joy, sorrow, hope, despair, love, and disappointment. [14] Furthermore, Callas was able to portray—in no uncertain terms—unvarnished, burning hatred. This added yet another revealing—albeit uncomfortable—truth to her portrayals, especially of Norma and Medea. Norma is a tragedia lirica or Opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini with Libretto by Felice Romani after Norma ossia Médée (French or Medea (Italian German English is an Opéra-comique by Luigi Cherubini. [14] As Michael Scott states, at her best, in the 1950s, Callas's "prodigious technical skills enabled her voice to reveal every nuance she desired to effect, articulating easily the most formidably difficult intricate music", making her unique among the sopranos of the 20th century. Michael Scott is the founder of the London Opera Society. In his role as the society's sole artistic director he brought to London Marilyn Horne, Joan Sutherland [8] Ethan Mordden has said, "It was a flawed voice. Ethan Mordden (born January 27, 1949, Pennsylvania) is an American Author. But then Callas sought to capture in her singing not just beauty but a whole humanity, and within her system, the flaws feed the feeling, the sour plangency and the strident defiance becoming aspects of the canto. They were literally defects of her voice; she bent them into advantages of her singing. "[29] Maestro Giulini believes, "If melodrama is the ideal unity of the trilogy of words, music, and action, it is impossible to imagine an artist in whom these three elements were more together than Callas. Carlo Maria Giulini ( May 9, 1914 &ndash June 14, 2005) was an Italian conductor, and violist. "[8] He recalls that during Callas's performances of La Traviata, "reality was onstage. La traviata is an Opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. What stood behind me, the audience, auditorium, La Scala itself, seemed artifice. The Teatro alla Scala (or La Scala, as it is known in Milan, Italy, is one of the world's most famous Opera houses The theatre was Only that which transpired on stage was truth, life itself. "[14] Sir Rudolf Bing expressed similar sentiments:
Once one heard and saw Maria Callas—one can’t really distinguish it—in a part, it was very hard to enjoy any other artist, no matter how great, afterwards, because she imbued every part she sang and acted with such incredible personality and life. Sir Rudolf Bing ( January 9, 1902 &ndash September 2, 1997) was an Austrian-born Opera Impresario. One move of her hand was more than another artist could do in a whole act. [11]
To Maestro Antonino Votto, Callas was
The last great artist. Antonino Votto ( October 30, 1896 - September 9, 1985) was an Italian operatic conductor When you think this woman was nearly blind, and often sang standing a good 150 feet from the podium. But her sensitivity! Even if she could not see, she sensed the music and always came in exactly with my downbeat. When we rehearsed, she was so precise, already note-perfect. . . She was not just a singer, but a complete artist. It's foolish to discuss her as a voice. She must be viewed totally—as a complex of music, drama, movement. There is no one like her today. She was an esthetic phenomenon. [14]
Callas-Tebaldi controversy
During the early 1950s, controversy arose regarding a supposed rivalry between Callas and Renata Tebaldi, an Italian lyrico spinto soprano renowned for the ravishing beauty of her voice. WikipediaWikiProject_Opera#Infoboxes --> Renata Tebaldi ( Pesaro, Italy Spinto (from Italian "pushed" is a vocal term used to characterize a Soprano or Tenor voice of a weight between lyric and dramatic [14] The contrast between Callas's often unconventional vocal qualities and Tebaldi's classically beautiful sound resurrected an argument as old as opera itself, namely, beauty of sound versus the expressive use of sound. [14][23]
This "rivalry" reached a fever pitch in the mid-1950s, at times even engulfing the two women themselves, who were said by their more fanatical followers to have engaged in verbal barbs in each other's direction. Tebaldi was quoted as saying, "I have one thing that Callas doesn't have: a heart"[5] while Callas was quoted in Time magazine as saying that comparing her with Tebaldi was like "comparing champagne with cognac. For other uses see Time (disambiguation Time is a component of a measuring system used to sequence events to compare the durations of No, with Coca Cola. "[35] However, witnesses to the interview stated that Callas only said "champagne with cognac", and it was a bystander who quipped, "No, with Coca-Cola", but the Time reporter attributed the latter comment to Callas. For other uses see Time (disambiguation Time is a component of a measuring system used to sequence events to compare the durations of [5]
These two singers, however, should never have been compared. [14] Tebaldi was trained by Carmen Melis, a noted verismo specialist, and she was rooted in the early twentieth century school of Italian singing just as firmly as Callas was rooted in nineteenth century bel canto. Carmen Melis (1885 in Cagliari – 19 December 1967 in Longone al Segrino) was an Italian Soprano and teacher Verismo (meaning "realism" from Italian vero, meaning "truth" was an Italian literary movement born approximately between 1875 and 1895 Bel canto ( Bel-Canto) ( Italian, "beautiful singing" an Italian musical term refers to the art and science of vocal technique which originated in [14] Callas was a dramatic soprano, whereas Tebaldi considered herself essentially a lyric soprano. Callas and Tebaldi generally sang a different repertoire: in the early years of her career, Callas concentrated on the heavy dramatic soprano roles and later in her career on the bel canto repertoire, whereas Tebaldi concentrated on late Verdi and verismo roles, where her limited upper extension[23] and her lack of a florid technique were not issues. Bel canto ( Bel-Canto) ( Italian, "beautiful singing" an Italian musical term refers to the art and science of vocal technique which originated in Verismo (meaning "realism" from Italian vero, meaning "truth" was an Italian literary movement born approximately between 1875 and 1895 [14] They shared a few roles, including Tosca in Puccini's opera and La Gioconda, which Tebaldi performed only late in her career. Tosca is an Opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian Libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on La Gioconda is an Opera in four acts by Amilcare Ponchielli to an Italian Libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Angelo by
The alleged rivalry aside, Callas made remarks appreciative of Tebaldi, and vice versa. During an interview with Norman Ross in Chicago, Callas said, "I admire Tebaldi's tone; it's beautiful—also some beautiful phrasing. Sometimes, I actually wish I had her voice. " Francis Robinson of the Met wrote of an incident in which Tebaldi asked him to recommend a recording of La Gioconda in order to help her learn the role. Being fully aware of the "rivalry", he recommended Zinka Milanov's version. Zinka Milanov née Zinka Kunc ( May 17, 1906 in Zagreb, Croatia – May 30, A few days later, he went to visit Tebaldi, only to find her sitting by the speakers, listening intently to Callas's recording. She then looked up at him and asked, "Why didn't you tell me Maria's was the best?"[36]
Callas visited Tebaldi after a performance of Adriana Lecouvreur at the Met in the late 1960s, and the two were reunited. Adriana Lecouvreur is an Opera in four acts by Francesco Cilea to an Italian Libretto by Arturo Colautti, based on the play In 1978, Tebaldi spoke warmly of her late colleague and summarized this rivalry:
This rivality was really building from the people of the newspapers and the fans. But I think it was very good for both of us, because the publicity was so big and it created a very big interest about me and Maria and was very good in the end. But I don’t know why they put this kind of rivality, because the voice was very different. She was really something unusual. And I remember that I was very young artist too, and I stayed near the radio every time that I know that there was something on radio by Maria. [11]
Vocal decline
Several singers have opined that the heavy roles undertaken in her early years damaged Callas's voice. [33] The mezzo-soprano Giulietta Simionato, Callas's close friend and frequent colleague, stated that she told Callas that she felt that the early heavy roles led to a weakness in the diaphragm and subsequent difficulty in controlling the upper register. WikipediaWikiProject Opera#Infoboxes and WikipediaWikiProject Musicians/Infobox --> Giulietta Simionato [37]
Louise Caselotti, who worked with Callas in 1946 and 1947, prior to her Italian debut, felt that it was not the heavy roles that hurt Callas's voice, but the lighter ones. Louise Caselotti (August 23 1910-July 13 1999 was an American mezzo soprano or contralto [3] Several singers have suggested that the heavy use of Callas's chest voice led to stridency and unsteadiness with the high notes. Chest voice is a term used within vocal music The use of this term varies widely within vocal pedagogical circles and there is currently no one consistent opinion among vocal music professionals [33] In his book, Callas's husband Meneghini wrote that Callas suffered an unusually early onset of menopause, which could have affected her voice. Soprano Carol Neblett once said, "A woman sings with her ovaries – you're only as good as your hormones. Carol Neblett (born February 1, 1946, in Modesto, California is an American operatic soprano "[29]
Critic Henry Pleasants has opined that it was a loss of breath support which led to Callas's vocal problems, saying,
Singing, and especially opera singing, requires physical strength. Henry Pleasants (1910-2000 was an American music critic Born in Wayne Pennsylvania on May 12 1910 he studied voice piano and composition at the Curtis Institute of Music from Without it, the singer's respiratory functions can no longer support the steady emissions of breath essential to sustaining the production of focused tone. The breath escapes, but it is no longer the power behind the tone, or is only partially and intermittently . The result is a breathy sound—tolerable but hardly beautiful—when the singer sings lightly, and a voice spread and squally when under pressure. [38]
Michael Scott has proposed that Callas's loss of breath support was directly caused by her rapid and progressive weight-loss,[8] something that was noted even in her prime. Michael Scott is the founder of the London Opera Society. In his role as the society's sole artistic director he brought to London Marilyn Horne, Joan Sutherland Of her 1958 recital in Chicago, Robert Detmer would write, "There were sounds fearfully uncontrolled, forced beyond the too-slim singer's present capacity to support or sustain. "[16]
While there is no filmed footage of Callas during her heavy era, photos from those years show a very upright posture with the shoulders relaxed and held back. All videos of Callas are from the period after her weight loss, and on these, "we watch. . . the constantly sinking, depressed chest and hear the resulting deterioration". [39] This continual change in posture has been cited as visual proof of a progressive loss of breath support. [8][31]
Commercial and bootleg recordings of Callas from the late 1940s to 1953—the period during which she sang the heaviest dramatic soprano roles show no decline in the fabric of the voice, no loss in volume and no unsteadiness or shrinkage in the upper register. A bootleg recording is an audio and/or Video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority [17] Of her December 1952 Lady Macbeth—coming after five years of singing the most strenuous dramatic soprano repertoire—Peter Dragadze would write for Opera, "Callas's voice since last season has improved a great deal, the second passagio on the high B-Natural and C has now completely cleared, giving her an equally colored scale from top to bottom. "[14] And of her performance of Medea a year later, John Ardoin writes, "The performance displays Callas in as secure and free a voice as she will be found at any point in her career. John Ardoin, (born January 8 1935 Alexandria Louisiana – died March 18 2001 San José, Costa Rica) was best known as the music critic of The many top B's have a brilliant ring, and she handles the treacherous tessitura like an eager thoroughbred. In Music, the term tessitura ( Italian for texture) generally describes the most musically acceptable and comfortable Timbre for a given "[17]
In recordings from 1954 (immediately after her 80-pound weight loss) and thereafter, "not only would the instrument lose its warmth and become thin and acidulous, but the altitudinous passages would to her no longer come easily. "[8] It is also at this time that unsteady top notes first begin to appear. [17] Walter Legge, who produced nearly all of Callas's EMI/Angel recordings, states that Callas "ran into a patch of vocal difficulties as early as 1954": during the recording of La Forza del Destino, done immediately after the weight loss, the "wobble had become so pronounced" that he told Callas they "would have to give away seasickness pills with every side". Walter Legge (born 1 June 1906, London; died 22 March 1979, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France) was an influential La forza del destino ( The Force of Destiny) is an Italian Opera by Giuseppe Verdi. [22] When asked whether he felt the weight loss affected Callas's voice, Richard Bonynge stated, "I don't feel it, I know it did. Richard Bonynge, CBE (last name pronounced "bonning" (born 29 September 1930 is an Australian Conductor and pianist I heard her Norma in 1953, before she lost all that weight, and then again afterward, and the difference was incredible. Even more incredible was that the critics didn't write about it. When Callas was at her best vocally, she was fat, but she got only a quarter of the recognition that she got after she had become thin and was a great star. " [40]
There were others, however, who felt that the voice had benefitted from the weight loss. Of her performance of Norma in Chicago in 1954, Claudia Cassidy would write, "there is a slight unsteadiness in some of the sustained upper notes. Norma is a tragedia lirica or Opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini with Libretto by Felice Romani after Norma ossia Claudia Cassidy (1899&ndash1996 born in Shawneetown Illinois, was a Music, Dance, and Drama Critic. but to me her voice is more beautiful in color, more even through the range, than it used to be". [16] And at her performance of the same opera in London in 1957 (her first performance at Covent Garden after the weight loss), critics again felt her voice had changed for the better, that it had now supposedly become a more precise instrument, with a new focus. [16] Many of her most critically acclaimed appearances are from the period 1954–1957 (Anna Bolena of 1957, Norma, La Traviata, Sonnambula and Lucia of 1955, to name a few).
Callas's close friend and colleague Tito Gobbi thought that her vocal problems all stemmed from her state of mind:
I don’t think anything happened to her voice. Tito Gobbi ( October 24, 1913 &ndash March 5, 1984) was an Italian Baritone. I think she only lost confidence. She was at the top of a career that a human being could desire, and she felt enormous responsibility. She was obliged to give her best every night, and maybe she felt she wasn't [able] any more, and she lost confidence. I think this was the beginning of the end of this career. [11]
In support of Gobbi's assertion, a bootleg recording of Callas rehearsing Beethoven's aria "Ah! Perfido" and parts of Verdi's La Forza del Destino shortly before her death shows her voice to be in much better shape than much of her 1960s recordings and far healthier than the 1970s concerts with Giuseppe di Stefano. A bootleg recording is an audio and/or Video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority Ludwig van Beethoven ( English ˈlʊdvɪg væn ˈbeɪtoʊvən, 16 December 1770 &ndash 26 March 1827 was a German Composer and Pianist. La forza del destino ( The Force of Destiny) is an Italian Opera by Giuseppe Verdi. Giuseppe Di Stefano ( 24 July 1921 &ndash 3 March 2008) was an Italian Operatic Tenor whose career lasted from the late [17]
Soprano Renee Fleming has stated that videos of Callas in the late 1950s and early 1960s reveal a posture that betrays breath-support problems:
I have a theory about what caused her vocal decline, but it's more from watching her sing than from listening. WikipediaWikiProject Opera#Infoboxes --> Renée Fleming (born February 14 1959 is an accomplished American Soprano specializing I really think it was her weight loss that was so dramatic and so quick. It's not the weight loss per se. . . But if one uses the weight for support, and then it's suddenly gone and one doesn't develop another musculature for support, it can be very hard on the voice. And you can't estimate the toll that emotional turmoil will take as well. I was told, by somebody who knew her well, that the way Callas held her arms to her solar plexus [allowed her] to push and create some kind of support. If she were a soubrette, it would never have been an issue. But she was singing the most difficult repertoire, the stuff that requires the most stamina, the most strength. [31]
Dramatic soprano Deborah Voigt, who lost over 100 pounds after gastric bypass surgery, expressed similar thoughts concerning her own voice and body:
Much of what I did with my weight was very natural, vocally. A voice type is a particular kind of human Singing voice perceived as having certain identifying qualities or characteristics WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Deborah Voigt (born August 4, 1960) is an American Gastric bypass procedures (GBP are any of a group of similar operations used to treat Morbid obesity —the severe accumulation of excess weight as fatty tissue—and the health Now I've got a different body—there's not as much of me around. My diaphragm function, the way my throat feels, is not compromised in any way. But I do have to think about it more now. I have to remind myself to keep my ribs open. I have to remind myself, if my breath starts to stack. When I took a breath before, the weight would kick in and give it that extra Whhoomf! Now it doesn't do that. If I don’t remember to get rid of the old air and re-engage the muscles, the breath starts stacking, and that's when you can't get your phrase, you crack high notes. [41]
Callas herself attributed her problems to a loss of confidence brought about by a loss of breath support, even though she does not make the connection between her weight and her breath support. Shortly before her death, Callas confided her own thoughts on her vocal problems to Peter Dragadze:
I never lost my voice, but I lost strength in my diaphragm. . . . Because of those organic complaints, I lost my courage and boldness. My vocal cords were and still are in excellent condition, but my 'sound boxes' have not been working well even though I have been to all the doctors. The result was that I overstrained my voice, and that caused it to wobble. (Gente, October 1, 1977)[3]
Whether Callas's vocal decline was due to ill health, early menopause, over-use and abuse of her voice, loss of breath-support, loss of confidence, or weight loss will continue to be debated. Events 331 BC - Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Gaugamela. Also 1977 (album by Ash. Year 1977 ( MCMLXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays Whatever the cause may have been, her singing career was effectively over by age 40, and even at the time of her death at age 53, according to Walter Legge, "she ought still to have been singing magnificently". Walter Legge (born 1 June 1906, London; died 22 March 1979, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France) was an influential [22]
Scandals and later career
The latter half of Callas's career was marked by a number of scandals. During performances of Madama Butterfly in Chicago, Callas was confronted by a process server who handed her papers about a lawsuit brought by Eddy Bagarozi, who claimed he was her agent. Callas was photographed with her mouth turned in a furious snarl. The photo was sent around the world and gave rise to the myth of Callas as a temperamental prima donna and a "Tigress". Originally used in Opera companies " prima donna " is Italian for "first lady"
In 1956, just before her debut at the Metropolitan Opera, Time ran a damaging cover story about Callas, with special attention paid to her difficult relationship with her mother and some unpleasant exchanges between the two. The Metropolitan Opera Association of New York City, founded in April 1880 is a major presenter of all types of opera including Grand Opera. Time (trademarked in capitals as TIME) is a weekly American Newsmagazine, similar to Newsweek and
In 1957, Callas was starring as Amina in La Sonnambula at the Edinburgh International Festival with the forces of La Scala. La sonnambula ( The Sleepwalker) is an Opera semiseria in two acts music by Vincenzo Bellini to an Italian Libretto by Felice The Edinburgh International Festival is a festival of Performing arts that takes place in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, over three weeks from around The Teatro alla Scala (or La Scala, as it is known in Milan, Italy, is one of the world's most famous Opera houses The theatre was Her contract was for four performances, but due to the great success of the series, La Scala decided to put on a fifth performance. Callas told the La Scala officials that she was physically exhausted and that she had already committed to a previous engagement, a party thrown for her by her friend Elsa Maxwell in Venice. Elsa Maxwell ( May 24 1883, Keokuk Iowa – November 1 1963, New York City) was an American Gossip Despite this, La Scala announced a fifth performance, with Callas billed as Amina. The Teatro alla Scala (or La Scala, as it is known in Milan, Italy, is one of the world's most famous Opera houses The theatre was Callas refused to stay and went on to Venice. Despite the fact that she had fulfilled her contract, she was accused of walking out on La Scala and the festival. La Scala officials did not defend Callas or inform the press that the additional performance was not approved by Callas. Renata Scotto took over the part, which was the start of her international career. Renata Scotto (born February 24, 1934) is an Italian Soprano.
In January 1958, Callas was to open the Rome Opera House season with Norma, with Italy's president in attendance. Norma is a tragedia lirica or Opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini with Libretto by Felice Romani after Norma ossia The day before the opening night, Callas alerted the management that she was not well and that they should have a standby ready. She was told "No one can double Callas". [11] After being treated by doctors, she felt better on the day of performance and decided to go ahead with the opera. [8] A bootleg recording of the first act survives reveals Callas sounding ill. [17] Feeling that her voice was slipping away, she felt that she could not complete the performance, and consequently, she cancelled after the first act. She was accused of walking out on the president of Italy in a fit of temperament, and pandemonium broke out. Press coverage aggravated the situation. A newsreel included file footage of Callas from 1955 sounding well, intimating the footage was of rehearsals for the Rome Norma, with the voiceover narration, "Here she is in rehearsal, sounding perfectly healthy", followed by "If you want to hear Callas, don't get all dressed up. A newsreel is a Documentary film that is regularly released in a public presentation place containing filmed News stories Just go to a rehearsal; she usually stays to the end of those. "[42] The scandal became notorious as the "Rome Walkout". Callas brought a lawsuit against the Rome Opera House, but by the time the case was settled thirteen years later and the Rome Opera was found to be at fault for having refused to provide an understudy,[29] Callas's career was already over.
Callas's relationship with La Scala had also started to become strained after the Edinburgh incident, and this effectively severed her major ties with her artistic home. Later in 1958, Callas and Rudolph Bing were in discussion about her season at the Met. Sir Rudolf Bing ( January 9, 1902 &ndash September 2, 1997) was an Austrian-born Opera Impresario. She was scheduled to perform in Verdi's La Traviata and in Macbeth, two very different operas which almost require totally different singers. La traviata is an Opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. Macbeth is among the best-known of William Shakespeare 's plays, and is his shortest tragedy, believed to have been written some time between Callas and the Met could not reach an agreement, and before the opening of Medea in Dallas, Bing sent a telegram to Callas terminating her contract. Médée (French or Medea (Italian German English is an Opéra-comique by Luigi Cherubini. Headlines of "Bing Fires Callas" appeared in newspapers around the world. [5] Maestro Nicola Rescigno later recalled, "That night, she came to the theater, looking like an empress: she wore an ermine thing that draped to the floor, and she had every piece of jewellery she ever owned. And she said, 'You all know what's happened. Tonight, for me, is a very difficult night, and I will need the help of every one of you. ' Well, she proceeded to give a performance [of Medea] that was historical. Médée (French or Medea (Italian German English is an Opéra-comique by Luigi Cherubini. "[43] Bing would later say that Callas was the most difficult artist he ever worked with, "because she was so much more intelligent. Other artists, you could get around. But Callas you could not get around. She knew exactly what she wanted, and why she wanted it. "[11] Despite this, Bing's admiration for Callas never wavered, and in September 1959, he sneaked into La Scala in order to listen to Callas record La Gioconda for EMI. The Teatro alla Scala (or La Scala, as it is known in Milan, Italy, is one of the world's most famous Opera houses The theatre was La Gioconda is an Opera in four acts by Amilcare Ponchielli to an Italian Libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Angelo by The EMI Group is a British music company comprising the major record company EMI Music – which operates several labels and is based in Kensington in [5] Callas and Bing reconciled in the mid 1960s, and Callas returned to the Met for two performances of Tosca with her friend Tito Gobbi. Tosca is an Opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian Libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Tito Gobbi ( October 24, 1913 &ndash March 5, 1984) was an Italian Baritone.
In her final years as a singer, she sang in Medea, Norma, and Tosca, most notably her Paris, New York, and London Toscas of January–February 1964, and her last performance on stage, on July 5, 1965, at Covent Garden. Médée (French or Medea (Italian German English is an Opéra-comique by Luigi Cherubini. Norma is a tragedia lirica or Opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini with Libretto by Felice Romani after Norma ossia Tosca is an Opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian Libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Events 1295 - Scotland and France form an alliance the beginnings of the Auld Alliance, against England. Year 1965 ( MCMLXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. A television film of Act 2 of the Covent Garden Tosca of 1964 was broadcast in Britain on February 9, 1964, giving a rare view of Callas in performance and, specifically, of her on-stage collaboration with Tito Gobbi. Events 474 - Zeno crowned as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire. Year 1964 ( MCMLXIV) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the 1964 Gregorian calendar. Tito Gobbi ( October 24, 1913 &ndash March 5, 1984) was an Italian Baritone.
In 1969, the Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini cast Callas in her only non-operatic acting role, as the Greek mythological character of Medea, in his film by that name. Pier Paolo Pasolini ( March 5, 1922 – November 2, 1975) was an Italian Poet, Intellectual, Film director Medea is a film by Pier Paolo Pasolini based on the plot of Euripides ' Medea. The production was grueling, and according to the account in Ardoin's Callas, the Art and the Life, Callas is said to have fainted after a day of strenuous running back and forth on a mudflat in the sun. The film was not a commercial success, but as Callas's only film appearance, it documents her stage presence.
From October 1971 to March 1972, Callas gave a series of master classes at the Juilliard School in New York. The Juilliard School, located in New York City, is a world renowned Performing arts conservatory. These classes later formed the basis of Terrence McNally's 1995 play Master Class. Terrence McNally (born 3 November 1939) is an American Playwright, considered one of the leading American dramatists still writing today Master Class is a play by Terrence McNally, with incidental music by Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini, and Vincenzo Bellini.
Callas staged a series of joint recitals in Europe in 1973 and in the U. S. , South Korea, and Japan in 1974 with the tenor Giuseppe Di Stefano. South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea and often referred to as Korea ( Korean: 대한민국 tɛː For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. Giuseppe Di Stefano ( 24 July 1921 &ndash 3 March 2008) was an Italian Operatic Tenor whose career lasted from the late Critically, this was a musical disaster owing to both performers' worn-out voices. [5] However, the tour was an enormous popular success. Audiences thronged to hear the two performers, who had so often appeared together in their prime. Her final public performance was on November 11, 1974, in Sapporo, Japan. Events 308 - The Congress of Carnuntum: Attempting to keep peace within the Roman Empire, the leaders of the Tetrarchy declare Year 1974 ( MCMLXXIV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. is the fifth-largest city in Japan by population It is the capital of Hokkaidō Prefecture, located in Ishikari Subprefecture, and an For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics.
Onassis and the final years
In 1957, while still married to husband Giovanni Battista Meneghini, Callas was introduced to Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis at a party given in her honour by Elsa Maxwell after a performance in Donizetti's Anna Bolena. Aristotelis (also Ari or Aristo) Sokratis Onassis (Αριστοτέλης Ωνάσης (January 15 1906 &ndash March 15 1975 was one Elsa Maxwell ( May 24 1883, Keokuk Iowa – November 1 1963, New York City) was an American Gossip Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 &ndash 8 April 1848 was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. Anna Bolena is a tragedia lirica, or Opera, in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. [8] The affair that followed received much publicity in the popular press, and in November 1959, Callas left her husband. Michael Scott asserts that Onassis was not why Callas largely abandoned her career, but that he offered her a way out of a career that was made increasingly difficult by scandals and by vocal resources that were diminishing at an alarming rate. Michael Scott is the founder of the London Opera Society. In his role as the society's sole artistic director he brought to London Marilyn Horne, Joan Sutherland [8] Franco Zeffirelli, on the other hand, recalls asking Callas in 1963 why she had not practiced her singing, and Callas responding that "I have been trying to fulfill my life as a woman. Franco Zeffirelli, KBE (born Gianfranco Corsi on February 12, 1923) is an Italian Film director. "[11] According to one of her biographers, Callas and Onassis had a child, a boy, who died hours after he was born on March 30, 1960. Events 240 BC - 1st recorded Perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. Year 1960 ( MCMLX) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. [44] In his book about his wife, Meneghini states categorically that Maria Callas was unable to bear children. [45] As well, various sources dismiss Gage's claim, as they note that the birth certificates Gage used to prove of this "secret child" were issued in 1998, twenty-one years after Callas's death. [46] Still other sources claim that Callas had at least one abortion while involved with Onassis. [47] The relationship ended nine years later in 1968, when Onassis dropped Callas in favour of Jacqueline Kennedy. However, the Onassis family's private secretary, Kiki, writes in her memoir that even while Aristotle was with Jackie, he frequently met up with Maria in Paris, where they resumed what had now become a clandestine affair. [44]
Callas spent her last years living largely in isolation in Paris and died on September 16, 1977, of a heart attack, at the age of 53. Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city Events 1400 - Owain Glyndŵr is declared Prince of Wales by his followers Also 1977 (album by Ash. Year 1977 ( MCMLXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays Myocardial infarction ( MI or AMI for acute myocardial infarction) also known as a heart attack, occurs when the blood supply A funerary liturgy was held at Agios Stephanos (St. Stephen's) Greek Orthodox Cathedral on rue Georges-Bizet, Paris, on September 20, 1977, and her ashes were interred at the Père Lachaise Cemetery. The Greek Orthodox Church ( Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία Hellēnorthódoxē Ekklēsía) is formed by several autocephalous churches Events 451 - The Battle of Chalons takes place in North Eastern France. Also 1977 (album by Ash. Year 1977 ( MCMLXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays Père Lachaise Cemetery (Cimetière du Père-Lachaise officially cimetière de l'Est, "East Cemetery" is the largest Cemetery in the city of Paris After being stolen and later recovered, they were scattered over the Aegean Sea, off the coast of Greece, according to her wish. Etymology In ancient times there were various explanations for the name Aegean.
Since Callas's death
In late 2004, opera and film director Franco Zeffirelli made what many consider a bizarre claim that Callas may have been murdered by her confidant, Greek pianist Vasso Devetzi, in order to gain control of Callas's US $9,000,000 estate. Franco Zeffirelli, KBE (born Gianfranco Corsi on February 12, 1923) is an Italian Film director. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A more likely explanation is that Callas's death was due to heart failure brought on by (possibly unintentional) overuse of Mandrax (methaqualone), a sleeping aid. Methaqualone is a Sedative drug which is similar in effect to Barbiturates a general CNS Depressant.
According to biographer Stelios Galatopoulos, Devetzi insinuated herself into Callas's trust and acted virtually as her agent. This claim is corroborated by Iakintha (Jackie) Callas in her book Sisters,[48] wherein she asserts that Devetzi conned Maria out of control of half of her estate, while promising to establish the Maria Callas Foundation to provide scholarships for young singers. After hundreds of thousands of dollars had allegedly vanished, Devetzi finally did establish the foundation.
In 2002, filmaker Zeffirelli produced and directed a film in Callas's memory. Franco Zeffirelli, KBE (born Gianfranco Corsi on February 12, 1923) is an Italian Film director. Callas Forever was a highly fictionalized motion picture in which Callas was played by Fanny Ardant. Callas Forever is a 2002 Biographical film directed by Franco Zeffirelli, who co-wrote the Screenplay with Martin Sherman. Fanny Marguerite Judith Ardant (born 22 March 1949 is a French actress. It depicted the last months of Callas's life, when she was seduced into the making of a movie of Carmen, lip-synching to her 1964 recording of that opera. Carmen is a French Opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The Libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based
Pop singer Linda Ronstadt has named Callas as her all time favorite singer, saying, "There's no one in her league. Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15 1946 in Tucson Arizona) is an American popular vocalist and Entertainer whose vocal styles in a variety That's it. Period. "[49]. "Emmylou and I are both Maria Callas fans. Emmylou Harris (born April 2 1947) is an American country, folk, alternative rock, and Alternative country We listen to that all the time. She's the greatest chick singer ever. I learn more about bluegrass singing, more about singing Mexican songs, more about singing rock-and-roll from listening to Maria Callas records than I ever would from listening to pop music for a month of Sundays. " [50].
In 2007, Callas was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award is awarded by the Recording Academy to "performers who during their lifetimes have made creative contributions of outstanding In the same year, she was voted the greatest soprano of all time by BBC Music Magazine.
A number of musical artists have paid tribute to Callas in their own music:
- R.E.M. mention Callas in their song "E-Bow the Letter" from the album New Adventures in Hi-Fi. REM is an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by Michael Stipe ( lead vocals) Peter Buck ( Guitar " E-Bow the Letter " is the first single from REM 's tenth studio album New Adventures in Hi-Fi. New Adventures in Hi-Fi is the tenth full-length studio album by the American band R
- In 2007, the singer Celine Dion paid homage to Callas through her song "La Diva", which was based on a text by Denise Bombardier. Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( OC OQ (born March 30 1968 in Charlemagne Quebec) is a Canadian pop Singer Denise Bombardier (born January 18 1941 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada) is an esteemed yet controversial journalist, Novelist Essayist In the song from Dion's album D'elles, Callas can be heard singing part of the aria "Si, mi chiamano Mimi" from the opera La Boheme at the beginning and the end of the track; the end segment includes Dion mixing her voice with Callas. D'elles (meaning About Them) is the title of Céline Dion 's most recent French-language album
- Enigma named a song which featured samples of Callas's voice, on their 1991 album MCMXC a.D., "Callas Went Away". For the popular musical project see Enigma (musical project. For other uses see Enigma. MCMXC aD ( 1990 in Roman numerals followed by a seemingly incorrect abbreviation of " Anno Domini " is a Concept album created
- Buffalo Tom's 2007 album Three Easy Pieces contains the song "C. Buffalo Tom is an Alternative rock band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in the 1980s Three Easy Pieces is a 2007 album by 90's alternative rock stalwarts Buffalo Tom. C. and Callas", which appears to be about songwriter Chris Colbourn's reflections on Callas.
- Son Lux, aka Ryan Lott, samples Callas for a song on his debut album, At War With Walls And Mazes. Lott splices together several of Callas' vocal samples to form a new arrangement.
- Singer/songwriter Rufus Wainwright mentions Callas in his song Beauty Mark, from his album Rufus Wainwright (album). Rufus Wainwright is the self-titled debut album of Canadian-American Singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright. Rufus is known to be an Opera fan, particularly passionate about Callas' work. In an interview to the Spanish newspaper El País he declared that one of the things anyone should do at least once in a lifetime was to listen to a Maria Callas album after a night out, if possible during sunrise.
Notable recordings
All recordings are in mono unless otherwise indicated. Live performances are typically available on multiple labels.
- Verdi, Nabucco, conducted by Vittorio Gui, live performance, Napoli, 20 December 1949
- Verdi, Il trovatore, conducted by Guido Picco, live performance, Mexico City, June 20, 1950
- Verdi, Aida, conducted by Oliviero de Fabritiis, live performance, Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City, July 3, 1951
- Ponchielli, La Gioconda, conducted by Antonino Votto, studio recording for Fonit Cetra, September 1952
- Bellini, Norma, conducted by Vittorio Gui, live performance, Covent Garden, London, November 18, 1952
- Verdi, Macbeth, conducted by Victor de Sabata, live performance, La Scala, Milan, December 7, 1952
- Bellini, I puritani, conducted by Tullio Serafin, studio recording for EMI, March-April 1953
- Mascagni, Cavalleria Rusticana, conducted by Tullio Serafin, studio recording for EMI, August 1953
- Puccini, Tosca, conducted by Victor de Sabata, studio recording for EMI, August 1953. Nabucco (short for Nabucodonosor, English Nebuchadnezzar) is an Opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian Libretto Vittorio Gui (born 14 September, 1885 in Rome; died 16 October, 1975 in Florence) was an Italian conductor Events 69 - Vespasian, formerly a general under Nero, enters Rome to claim the title of Emperor. Year 1949 ( MCMXLIX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Il trovatore ( The Troubadour) is an Opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian Libretto by Leone Emanuele Bardare Events 451 - Battle of Chalons: Flavius Aetius ' defeats Attila the Hun. Year 1950 ( MCML) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. This article is about the marketing term AIDA For other uses of the term see Aida (disambiguation. Oliviero De Fabritiis ( 13 June 1902 - 12 August 1982) was an Italian conductor and Composer. Palacio de Bellas Artes (" Palace of Fine Arts " is the premier Opera house of Mexico City. Events 324 - Battle of Adrianople Constantine I defeats Licinius, who flees to Byzantium. Year 1951 ( MCMLI) was a Common year starting on Monday. Events of 1951 January Amilcare Ponchielli ( August 31, 1834 &ndash January 16, 1886) was an Italian Composer, largely of Operas La Gioconda is an Opera in four acts by Amilcare Ponchielli to an Italian Libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Angelo by Antonino Votto ( October 30, 1896 - September 9, 1985) was an Italian operatic conductor Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini ( November 3, 1801 &ndash September 23, 1835) was a Sicilian Opera Composer Norma is a tragedia lirica or Opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini with Libretto by Felice Romani after Norma ossia Vittorio Gui (born 14 September, 1885 in Rome; died 16 October, 1975 in Florence) was an Italian conductor WikipediaWikiProject Opera --> The Royal Opera House is an Opera house and major performing Events 326 - The old St Peter's Basilica is consecrated 1302 - Pope Boniface VIII issues the Papal bull Year 1952 ( MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Macbeth is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi, with an Italian Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave and additions by Andrea Maffei Victor de Sabata ( April 10, 1892 - December 11, 1967) was an Italian conductor and Composer. Events 43 BC - Marcus Tullius Cicero assassinated 1696 - Connecticut Route 108, one of the oldest highways Year 1952 ( MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini ( November 3, 1801 &ndash September 23, 1835) was a Sicilian Opera Composer I puritani ( The Puritans) is an Opera in three acts by Vincenzo Bellini. Tullio Serafin ( September 1, 1878 - February 2, 1968) was an Italian conductor of Opera. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Pietro Mascagni ( December 7, 1863 &ndash August 2, Cavalleria rusticana ( Rustic Chivalry) is an Opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian Libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti Tullio Serafin ( September 1, 1878 - February 2, 1968) was an Italian conductor of Opera. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini ( December 22, 1858 Tosca is an Opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian Libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Victor de Sabata ( April 10, 1892 - December 11, 1967) was an Italian conductor and Composer. [51]
- Verdi, La traviata, conducted by Gabriele Santini, studio recording for Fonit Cetra, September 1953
- Cherubini, Medea, conducted by Leonard Bernstein, live performance, La Scala, Milan, December 10, 1953
- Leoncavallo, Pagliacci, conducted by Tullio Serafin, studio recording for EMI, June 1954
- Spontini, La vestale, conducted by Antonino Votto, live performance, La Scala, Milan, December 7, 1954
- Verdi, La traviata, conducted by Carlo Maria Giulini, live performance, La Scala, Milan, May 28, 1955
- Puccini, Madama Butterfly, conducted by Herbert von Karajan, studio recording for EMI, August 1955
- Verdi, Aida, conducted by Tullio Serafin, studio recording for EMI, August 1955
- Verdi, Rigoletto, conducted by Tullio Serafin, studio recording for EMI, September 1955
- Donizetti, Lucia di Lammermoor, conducted by Herbert von Karajan, live performance, Berlin, September 29, 1955
- Bellini, Norma, conducted by Antonino Votto, live performance, La Scala, Milan, December 7, 1955. La traviata is an Opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. Gabriele Santini ( January 20, 1886, Perugia - November 13, 1964, Rome) was an Italian conductor, particularly Year 1953 ( MCMLIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Luigi Cherubini ( September 8 or September 14, 1760 &ndash March 15, 1842) was an Italian born composer who spent most of his Médée (French or Medea (Italian German English is an Opéra-comique by Luigi Cherubini. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes Events 1041 - Empress Zoe of Byzantium elevates her adoptive son to the throne of the Eastern Roman Empire as Michael V Year 1953 ( MCMLIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Ruggero (Ruggiero Leoncavallo (23 April 1857- 9 August 1919 was an Italian Opera Composer. Pagliacci ( Players, or Clowns) is an Opera consisting of a prologue and two acts written and composed by Ruggero Leoncavallo. Tullio Serafin ( September 1, 1878 - February 2, 1968) was an Italian conductor of Opera. Gaspare Luigi Pacifico Spontini ( 14 November, 1774 &ndash 24 January, 1851) was an Italian Opera Composer See also Marie Sallé, whose stage name was "La Vestale" Antonino Votto ( October 30, 1896 - September 9, 1985) was an Italian operatic conductor Events 43 BC - Marcus Tullius Cicero assassinated 1696 - Connecticut Route 108, one of the oldest highways Year 1954 ( MCMLIV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1954 Gregorian calendar) La traviata is an Opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. Carlo Maria Giulini ( May 9, 1914 &ndash June 14, 2005) was an Italian conductor, and violist. Events 585 BC - A Solar eclipse occurs as predicted by Greek philosopher and scientist Thales, while Alyattes is battling Year 1955 ( MCMLV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1955 Gregorian calendar) WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini ( December 22, 1858 This article is about the marketing term AIDA For other uses of the term see Aida (disambiguation. Rigoletto is an Opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian Libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based Tullio Serafin ( September 1, 1878 - February 2, 1968) was an Italian conductor of Opera. Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 &ndash 8 April 1848 was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico (tragic Opera) in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes --> Herbert von Karajan ( April 5 Events 522 BC - Darius I of Persia kills the Magian usurper Gaumâta securing his hold as king of the Persian Empire. Year 1955 ( MCMLV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1955 Gregorian calendar) Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini ( November 3, 1801 &ndash September 23, 1835) was a Sicilian Opera Composer Norma is a tragedia lirica or Opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini with Libretto by Felice Romani after Norma ossia Antonino Votto ( October 30, 1896 - September 9, 1985) was an Italian operatic conductor Events 43 BC - Marcus Tullius Cicero assassinated 1696 - Connecticut Route 108, one of the oldest highways Year 1955 ( MCMLV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1955 Gregorian calendar)
- Verdi, Il trovatore, conducted by Herbert von Karajan, studio recording for EMI, August 1956
- Puccini, La boheme, conducted by Antonino Votto, studio recording for EMI, August-September 1956. Il trovatore ( The Troubadour) is an Opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian Libretto by Leone Emanuele Bardare WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes --> Herbert von Karajan ( April 5 WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini ( December 22, 1858 Antonino Votto ( October 30, 1896 - September 9, 1985) was an Italian operatic conductor Like her later recording of Carmen, this was her only performance of the complete opera, as she never appeared onstage in it.
- Verdi, Un ballo in maschera, conducted by Antonino Votto, studio recording for EMI, September 1956
- Rossini, Barber of Seville, conducted by Alceo Galliera, studio recording for EMI in stereo, February 1957
- Bellini, La sonnambula, conducted by Antonino Votto, studio recording for EMI, March 1957
- Donizetti, Anna Bolena, conducted by Gianandrea Gavazzeni, live performance, La Scala, Milan, April 14, 1957
- Bellini, La sonnambula, conducted by Antonino Votto, live performance, Cologne, July 4, 1957
- Puccini, Turandot, conducted by Tullio Serafin, studio recording for EMI, July 1957
- Cherubini, Medea, conducted by Tullio Serafin studio recording for Ricordi in stereo, September 1957
- Verdi, Un ballo in maschera, conducted by Gianandrea Gavazzeni, live performance, La Scala, Milan, December 7, 1957
- Verdi, La traviata, conducted by Franco Ghione, live performance, Lisbon, March 27, 1958
- Mad Scenes (excerpts from Anna Bolena, Bellini's Il pirata and Ambroise Thomas's Hamlet), conducted by Nicola Rescigno, studio recording for EMI in stereo, September 1958
- Cherubini, Medea conducted by Nicola Rescigno, live performance at the Dallas Civic Opera in 1958; considered to be Callas' most notable performance of Cherubini's opera. Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball, is an Opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi with text by Antonio Somma. Antonino Votto ( October 30, 1896 - September 9, 1985) was an Italian operatic conductor The Barber of Seville or The Useless Precaution ( Il barbiere di Siviglia ossia L'inutile precauzione) is an Opera buffa in two acts by Alceo Galliera (3 May 1910 - 21 April 1996 was a distinguished Italian conductor and Composer. Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini ( November 3, 1801 &ndash September 23, 1835) was a Sicilian Opera Composer La sonnambula ( The Sleepwalker) is an Opera semiseria in two acts music by Vincenzo Bellini to an Italian Libretto by Felice Antonino Votto ( October 30, 1896 - September 9, 1985) was an Italian operatic conductor Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 &ndash 8 April 1848 was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. Anna Bolena is a tragedia lirica, or Opera, in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Gianandrea Gavazzeni (25 July 1909 - 5 February 1996 was an Italian Pianist, conductor (especially of Opera) Composer and musicologist Events 43 BC - Battle of Forum Gallorum: Mark Antony, besieging Julius Caesar 's assassin Decimus Junius Brutus in Year 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar) Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini ( November 3, 1801 &ndash September 23, 1835) was a Sicilian Opera Composer La sonnambula ( The Sleepwalker) is an Opera semiseria in two acts music by Vincenzo Bellini to an Italian Libretto by Felice Antonino Votto ( October 30, 1896 - September 9, 1985) was an Italian operatic conductor Events 836 - Pactum Sicardi, peace between the Principality of Benevento and the Duchy of Naples Year 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar) WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini ( December 22, 1858 Turandot is an Opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, set to a Libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni Tullio Serafin ( September 1, 1878 - February 2, 1968) was an Italian conductor of Opera. Luigi Cherubini ( September 8 or September 14, 1760 &ndash March 15, 1842) was an Italian born composer who spent most of his Médée (French or Medea (Italian German English is an Opéra-comique by Luigi Cherubini. Tullio Serafin ( September 1, 1878 - February 2, 1968) was an Italian conductor of Opera. Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball, is an Opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi with text by Antonio Somma. Gianandrea Gavazzeni (25 July 1909 - 5 February 1996 was an Italian Pianist, conductor (especially of Opera) Composer and musicologist Events 43 BC - Marcus Tullius Cicero assassinated 1696 - Connecticut Route 108, one of the oldest highways Year 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar) La traviata is an Opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. Franco Ghione (1886-1964 was an Italian conductor and violinist Events 196 BC - Ptolemy V ascends to the throne of Egypt. 1309 - Pope Clement V excommunicates Year 1958 ( MCMLVIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Anna Bolena is a tragedia lirica, or Opera, in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Il pirata ( The Pirate) is an Opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani from (Charles Louis Ambroise Thomas ( Metz August 5, 1811 - Paris, February 12, 1896) was a French Opera Hamlet is a Tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601 Luigi Cherubini ( September 8 or September 14, 1760 &ndash March 15, 1842) was an Italian born composer who spent most of his Médée (French or Medea (Italian German English is an Opéra-comique by Luigi Cherubini.
- Ponchielli, La Gioconda, conducted by Antonino Votto, studio recording for EMI in stereo, September 1959
- Puccini, Tosca, conducted by Carlo Felice Cillario, live performance, London, January 1964
- Bizet, Carmen, conducted by Georges Prêtre, studio recording for EMI in stereo, 1964. Amilcare Ponchielli ( August 31, 1834 &ndash January 16, 1886) was an Italian Composer, largely of Operas La Gioconda is an Opera in four acts by Amilcare Ponchielli to an Italian Libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Angelo by Antonino Votto ( October 30, 1896 - September 9, 1985) was an Italian operatic conductor WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini ( December 22, 1858 Tosca is an Opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian Libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Georges Bizet (25 October 1838 – 3 June 1875 was a French Composer and Pianist of the Romantic era Carmen is a French Opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The Libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based Georges Prêtre (born August 14, 1924) is a French conductor. It is her only performance of the role, and her only performance of the complete opera; she never appeared in it onstage. The recording used the recitatives added after Bizet's death. Recitative /rɛsɪtə'tiv/ (also known by its Italian name "recitativo" (/retʃita'tivo/ is a style of delivery (much used in Operas Oratorios Callas's performance caused critic Harold C. Schonberg to speculate in his book The Glorious Ones that Callas perhaps should have sung mezzo roles instead of simply soprano ones. Harold Charles Schonberg (November 29 1915 - July 26 2003 was an American Music critic and Journalist, most notably for The New York Times
- Puccini, Tosca, conducted by Georges Prêtre, studio recording for EMI in stereo, December 1964. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini ( December 22, 1858 Tosca is an Opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian Libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Georges Prêtre (born August 14, 1924) is a French conductor.
References
- ^ "PBS tribute to Callas on the Anniversary of her Death", introduction by Leonard Bernstein, 1983. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes
- ^ Driscoll, F. Paul; Brian Kellow (August 2006). "The 25 Most Powerful Names in U. S. Opera". Opera News 71 (2).
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag Petsalis-Diomidis, Nicholas (2001). The Unknown Callas: The Greek Years. Amadeus Press. ISBN 1-57467-059-X.
- ^ Slonimsky and others have argued that, despite her birth certificate, she was actually born on 3 December
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Stassinopoulos, Ariana (1981). Maria Callas: The Woman Behind the Legend. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0671255835.
- ^ "The Prima Donna", Time, October 29, 1956
- ^ Television interview with Norman Ross, Chicago, 1957. Events 437 - Valentinian III, Western Roman Emperor, marries Licinia Eudoxia, daughter of his cousin Theodosius II Year 1956 ( MCMLVI) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Scott, Michael (1992). Maria Meneghini Callas. Boston: Northeastern University Press. ISBN 1555531466.
- ^ a b c "Interview with Lord Harewood, Paris, 1968", Complete audio recording of the interview, including portions not released on DVD, The Callas Edition, on 3 CDs.
- ^ "L'Invitee Du Dimanche" hosted by Pierre Desgraupes, 1968, released on The Callas Conversations, Vol. 2 [DVD] 2007, EMI Classics
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n John Ardoin (writer), Franco Zeffirelli (narrator). John Ardoin, (born January 8 1935 Alexandria Louisiana – died March 18 2001 San José, Costa Rica) was best known as the music critic of Franco Zeffirelli, KBE (born Gianfranco Corsi on February 12, 1923) is an Italian Film director. (1978). Callas: A Documentary (Plus Bonus) [TV documentary, DVD]. The Bel Canto Society.
- ^ a b c d Maria Callas in conversation with Lord Harewood for the BBC, Paris, April 1968. Maria Callas: The Callas Conversations [DVD]. EMI Classics.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Interview with Edward Downes (quizmaster). Edward Olin Davenport Downes ( August 12, 1911 - December 26, 2001) was an American Musicologist, music critic and quizmaster La Divina Complete, CD 4. EMI Classics.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag Ardoin, John; Gerald Fitzgerald (1974). Callas: The Art and the Life. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. ISBN 0-03-011486-1.
- ^ a b Callas in her Own Words. Audio documentary. 3 CDs. Eklipse Records. EKR P-14.
- ^ a b c d e f g (1986) in David A. Lowe: Callas: As They Saw Her. New York: Ungar Publishing Company. ISBN 0-8044-5636-4.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Ardoin, John (1991). The Callas Legacy. Old Tappen, New Jersey: Scribner and Sons. ISBN 0-684-19306-X.
- ^ von Rhein, John (August 2004). "The Company That Works". Opera News 69 (2).
- ^ Cantrell, Scott (November 2006). "And that Spells Dallas". Opera News 71 (5).
- ^ Davis, Ronald L. / Miller, Henry S. , Jr. ,La Scala West: The Dallas Opera Under Kelly and Rescigno, Texas A & M Univ Press, ISBN 9780870744549
- ^ a b Bing, Rudolf (1972). 5000 Nights at the Opera. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Co. . ISBN 0385092598.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Schwarzkopf, Elisabeth (1982). On and Off the Record: A Memoir of Walter Legge. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. ISBN 0-684-17451-0.
- ^ a b c d e f "The Callas Debate" (September-October 1970). Opera.
- ^ Ponselle, Rosa, Ponselle, a Singer's Life, Doubleday, Garden city, 1982
- ^ Interview with James Fleetwood, March 13 and 27, 1958, New York, release on The Callas Edition, CED 100343, 1998
- ^ Siff, Ira, "I Vespri Siciliani: Verdi:, Online edition of Opera News, March 2008
- ^ Opera News (December 1982).
- ^ Crutchfield, Will (January 1999). "The Trill is Gone". Opera News.
- ^ a b c d e f Mordden, Ethan (1984). Demented: The World of the Opera Diva. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-671-66800-5.
- ^ Dyer, Richard, "The Sopranos", Opera News, March 2001
- ^ a b c d e Whitson, James C. (October 2005). "The Callas Legacy". Opera News.
- ^ Ira Siff, in his interview with Maestro Walter Taussig, "The Associate", Opera News, April 2001
- ^ a b c Rasponi, Lanfranco (June 1985). Walter Taussig, ( February 9, 1908 - July 31, 2003) was a prominent conductor. The Last Prima Donnas. Limelight Editions. ISBN 0879100400.
- ^ Lebrecht, Norman (1985). The Book of Musical Anecdotes. New York: Free Press. ISBN 0-02-918710-9.
- ^ "Diva Serena, Time, November 3, 1958
- ^ Robinson, Francis (1979). Events 644 - Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second Muslim Caliph, is killed by a Persian slave in Medina. Year 1958 ( MCMLVIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Celebration: The Metropolitan Opera. Garden City, New Jersey: Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-12975-0.
- ^ Hastings, Stephen (May 2002). "The Spirit of Giulietta". Opera News.
- ^ Pleasants, Henry, "Maria Meneghini Callas", Opera Quarterly1993; 10: 159–163
- ^ "{{{title}}}" . Opera Quarterly 4 (4).
- ^ Stephanie Von Buchau, "Bonynge on Bel Canto", Opera News, January 22, 1994
- ^ Singer, Barry (October 2006). Events 565 - Eutychius is deposed as Patriarch of Constantinople by John Scholasticus. Year 1994 ( MCMXCIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar) "Turning Point". Opera News.
- ^ (1987). Maria Callas: Life and Art [TV documentary, available on DVD]. EMI.
- ^ Callas in her Own Words, Audio Documentary
- ^ a b Gage, Nicholas (2000-10-03). Greek Fire: The Story Of Maria Callas and Aristotle Onassis. Knopf. ISBN 0375402446.
- ^ Meneghini, Giovanni Battista (1982). My Wife Maria Callas. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux. ISBN 0-374-21752-1.
- ^ A Callas Recording Update
- ^ John Ardoin in Callas, La Divina (film documentary)
- ^ Callas, Jackie (1990). Sisters: A Revealing Portrait of the World's Most Famous Diva. Gordonsville, Virginia: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-03934-4.
- ^ Id. Interview. Retrieved on May 5, 2007.
- ^ New York Times, April 1995. And This Is What 48 Looks Like: by Stephen Holden.
- ^ Paul Gruber (ed. ), The Metropolitan Guide to Recorded Opera, Norton, 1993, p. 415
Bibliography
- Galatopoulos, Stelios, Maria Callas, Sacred Monster, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1998, ISBN 0-684-85985-8
- Seletsky, Robert E. , "The Performance Practice of Maria Callas: Interpretation and Instinct", The Opera Quarterly, 20/4 (2004), p. 587–602.
- Seletsky, Robert E. , "Callas at EMI: Remastering and Perception"; "A Callas Recording Update"; "A Callas Recording Update. . . updated", The Opera Quarterly, 16/2 (2000), p. 240–255; 21/2 (2005), p. 387–391; 21/3, p. 545–546 (2005).
- Stancioff, Nadia, Maria: Callas Remembered. An Intimate Portrait of the Private Callas, New York: E. P. Dutton, 1987, ISBN 0-525-24565-0
External links
- Divina Callas's official website
- Callas Forever at the Internet Movie Database
- Articles on Callas In depth articles discussing Callas's recorded legacy by Dr. Robert E. Seletsky and Milan Petkovic.
- Discography (Capon's Lists of Opera Recordings)
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Callas, Maria |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | American born, Greek soprano |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 2 December 1923 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | New York City |
| DATE OF DEATH | 16 September 1977 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Paris |
Events 1409 - The University of Leipzig opens 1755 - The second Eddystone Lighthouse is destroyed by fire Year 1923 ( MCMXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The City of New York Events 1400 - Owain Glyndŵr is declared Prince of Wales by his followers Also 1977 (album by Ash. Year 1977 ( MCMLXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city
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