[ April 19, 2024 ]
Magnificent. What I listened to while I worked this week.
Maria Callas: 15 facts about the great soprano
Maria Callas was one of the outstanding soprano singers of the 20th century. Ninety years after her birth, this diva’s extraordinary voice and acting – captured on albums, CDs and DVDs – continue to enchant people the world over.
Story continues below advertisement
-
1. Viva La Divina!
Born in New York City on 2 December 1923, Maria Callas was adored by both public and critics alike for her vocal technique and dramatic gifts. Her repertoire ranged from serious classical operas to the bel canto works of Donizetti, Bellini and Rossini; to the masterpieces of Verdi and Puccini; and even to Wagner. Her talents led to her being hailed as La Divina. She is seen here rehearsing for her title role in Medea at Covent Garden, June 1959.
2. An unhappy childhood
Callas often spoke of her unhappy childhood. After her mother spotted Maria’s talent for music, the five-year old was pushed into singing lessons. When her parents’ marriage broke down, Maria went to Greece with her mother and sister. There she received her musical education.
3. Model student
Callas’s teacher described her 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.”
4. The “God-given”
After several student appearances, Callas began appearing in secondary roles at the Greek National Opera. She made her professional debut in February 1941. Her first leading role a year later was as Tosca. Following her early performances, even her detractors began to refer to her as “The God-Given”.
5. The turning point
The great turning point in her career occurred in Venice in 1949. Callas was pulled in to cover a soprano role in I puritani. She had six days to prepare – and triumphed. Two years later she debuted at La Scala Milan, and the theatre became her artistic home throughout the 1950s.
6. Star at La Scala
La Scala mounted many new productions especially for Callas by directors such as Herbert von Karajan, Franco Zeffirelli and, most importantly, Luchino Visconti. He stated later that he began directing opera only because of Callas. He mounted lavish new productions of La traviata, La sonnambula and Anna Bolena. Callas is seen here in Donizetti’s Poliuto at La Scala, December 1960.
7. Gaining a reputation
Callas’s Metropolitan Opera debut, opening the season with Bellini’s Norma on 29 October 1956, was preceded by an unflattering cover story in Time magazine, which wrote about her temper, her supposed rivalry with soprano Renata Tebaldi and her difficult relationship with her mother. Callas is pictured here with German soprano Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf.
8. London debut
In 1952, Callas made her London debut at the Royal Opera House. Callas and her London audience had what she called “a love affair” and she returned to the Royal Opera House in 1953, 1957, 1958, 1959, and 1964 to 1965.
9. An outstanding Tosca
It was at the Royal Opera House where, on 5 July 1965, Callas ended her stage career in the role of Tosca, in a production by Franco Zeffirelli and featuring her friend Tito Gobbi. Maria Callas and Zeffirelli are pictured here after the first night of Tosca at Covent Garden, January 1964.
10. Weight-loss
Callas turned herself from a heavy woman into a svelte and glamorous one after a mid-career weight loss, which might have contributed to her vocal decline and the premature end of her career. The director of the New York Met 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.”
The Truth Must be Told
Your contribution supports independent journalism
Please take a moment to consider this. Now, more than ever, people are reading Geller Report for news they won't get anywhere else. But advertising revenues have all but disappeared. Google Adsense is the online advertising monopoly and they have banned us. Social media giants like Facebook and Twitter have blocked and shadow-banned our accounts. But we won't put up a paywall. Because never has the free world needed independent journalism more.
Everyone who reads our reporting knows the Geller Report covers the news the media won't. We cannot do our ground-breaking report without your support. We must continue to report on the global jihad and the left's war on freedom. Our readers’ contributions make that possible.
Geller Report's independent, investigative journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe our work is critical in the fight for freedom and because it is your fight, too.
Please contribute here.
or
Make a monthly commitment to support The Geller Report – choose the option that suits you best.
Quick note: We cannot do this without your support. Fact. Our work is made possible by you and only you. We receive no grants, government handouts, or major funding.Subscribe to Geller Report newsletter here— it’s free and it’s essential NOW when informed decision making and opinion is essential to America's survival. Share our posts on your social channels and with your email contacts. Fight the great fight.
Follow Pamela Geller on Gettr. I am there. click here.
Follow Pamela Geller on Trump's social media platform, Truth Social. It's open and free.
Remember, YOU make the work possible. If you can, please contribute to Geller Report.
Join The Conversation. Leave a Comment.
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spammy or unhelpful, click the - symbol under the comment to let us know. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.
If you would like to join the conversation, but don't have an account, you can sign up for one right here.
If you are having problems leaving a comment, it's likely because you are using an ad blocker, something that break ads, of course, but also breaks the comments section of our site. If you are using an ad blocker, and would like to share your thoughts, please disable your ad blocker. We look forward to seeing your comments below.
28 Comments
4 years ago
Connoisseurs could already recognize the actual cultural decline from our messed up
postmodern “taste in music”. While Pamela appreciates real art, we offer nothing but
tangled synthipop from the electronic tin. A scandal and affliction for every art lover.
4 years ago
Reply to
Newsnet
But nowadays one has to be glad about every commentor who can
write a meaningful sentence without insults with at least five words.
4 years ago
Reply to
Newsnet
Actually a shame: Pamela makes so much effort to bring us all
closer to the richness of facets of an outstanding world artist,
and the entire narcissistic heap is silent or writes nonsense.
4 years ago
Reply to
Newsnet
It must be my further Jewish ancestor por-
tion, which made me wake up in time. But
at least the spark of a hunch is still there.
4 years ago
Reply to
Newsnet
To justice, however, it must be stated that Pam must have two souls in her
breast. Apart from her rare excursions into the world of fine arts, she atta-
ches little importance to the quality of her commentators. Which is no won-
der, because her articles don’t let much of this tenderness shine through.
4 years ago
Reply to
Newsnet
Even the prevented artist Hitler (was rejected by Jewish
professors) would probably only laugh at today’s artists.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/fringe-artist-ban-1.5241033
4 years ago
Reply to
Newsnet
When I hear the Diva singing, what can you write about it if you’re not an art critic? Countless people have spoken about it for decades. Perhaps it’s wise to listen and remain silent. Probably my heart is armored by “Jewish intellectualism”, which keeps me away from too deep feelings.
4 years ago
Reply to
Newsnet
With my narrow knowledge of classical music I can hear that the
lady’s musical accompaniment is just as fantastic. It would be silly
if there was a discrepancy. Great artists have great orchestras.
4 years ago
Reply to
Newsnet
The Greek and the Hebrews are two very ancient peoples. At
that time there was no France, England or Germany. Greeks
were the founders of Europe (the word is Greek), Homer the
first European author, Greeks the first to translate the Bible.
Today we consider this country to be backward and corrupt.
And probably the Greeks of today have little more in common
with their ancestors than their enjoment of life. A once great
nation became a backyard. They all experienced rise and fall.
The fall of America is also imminent in the medium term. Empires
are going down. China will become the new world ruler, there is no
doubt about that at all, even if America still has military superiority.
4 years ago
Reply to
Newsnet
Aha, then we are finally all much smarter and can go to our
bed calmly, with us it is meanwhile 7 o’clock in the morning.
Somerset Maugham is said to have stuttered as a child.
What’s that got to do with me? I’m not fury. On the contrary.
If you mean “Furor Teutonicus”, you’re
wrong about me: I have a Polish name.
4 years ago
Reply to
Newsnet
What’s all this nonsense about “German Harry” anyway?
“Harry” is English, every child knows. And “Marc” French.
4 years ago
Reply to
Newsnet
Reads like one of those many travel novels of that time. What this
Maugham aims at with his typical British Kraut paranoia (islanders
are afraid of their mirror image) cannot be deduced from the chapter.
4 years ago
Reply to
Newsnet
Maugham was once asked for his favorite quote just before
he died. And lo and behold, he quoted Goethe – in German!
Alles geben die Götter, die unendlichen,
Ihren Lieblingen ganz,
Alle Freuden, die unendlichen,
Alle Schmerzen, die unendlichen, ganz.
4 years ago
Reply to
Newsnet
The writing reminds me rather of Hemingway, who allegedly
shot a hundred Germans “like dogs” (later he relativized that).
4 years ago
Reply to
Newsnet
Well, I don’t know what delusion is driving you, but I don’t consider myself this Harry,
not an old bitter man. My guess is Maugham talks about himself and transfers his own
bitterness to his fictitious character (just as you do with me, otherwise you wouldn’t
find any pleasure in this joyless text and wouldn’t have reminded it either). My life runs
to my fullest satisfaction, because I am not like you “at home” here, but with myself.
4 years ago
Reply to
Newsnet
As for the Germans, I have my own theories. In former times of militarism
and imperialism, it was a disadvantage to be in the middle of Europe. To-
day, where the world is “networked and globalized”, it is considered to be
the safest haven in the world. If Germany tips over, the whole of Europe
tips over like dominoes. Countries on the periphery are at disadvantage.
4 years ago
Reply to
Newsnet
Cynically one could say that Isreal can never become Ger-
many. Because it is surrounded by culturally underdevelo-
ped enemies, and that will continue in the next 100 years.
4 years ago
Reply to
Newsnet
Her book Fatwa shows a bit of the human side of Pamela Geller. No, she does not pay much attention to the commenters here. And why should she? She’s got better things to do.
4 years ago
Reply to
Newsnet
Absolutely. It makes the counter-jihad movement look like a bunch of …. well, goons.
4 years ago
Reply to
Liatris Spicata
What do those 70 thousand dead Nigerian Christians make your muslum pets look like worm?
4 years ago
I don’t know what others who have commented here were drinking tonight (they indulged all sorts of idiotic vanity & nonsense!), I, for one, was listening and thoroughly enjoying the great music by one of the great artists of the last century! And although I never had the experience of seeing and hearing her in person, her recordings are a great tribute to her and an endless source of pleasure for her countless fans all over the world! Thank you,Pam Geller, for this wonderful post!
4 years ago
Wasn’t she something? Beautiful! Ms. Geller you not only bring us truth, you bring us beauty. And “could beauty…have better commerce than with honesty?” 😉
4 years ago
Apropos Spanish opera stars: Now the great Plácido Domingo is
on the hit list of the #MeToo terrorists. He’s already banned from
two opera houses. His buddy Pavarotti is lucky enough not to have
to experience the miserable state of our sick “cultural scene” today.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7351217/Women-accuse-opera-legend-Domingo-sexual-harassment.html
4 years ago
Reply to
Newsnet
Absolutely sickening! I love this man. These Me Too jackasses need to stfu and leave this genius alone!
4 years ago
Reply to
MarthaMyDear4TRUMP
There are cultural destroyers at work here, there can be
no doubt about that any more, nothing is sacred to them.
3 years ago
Watch as the Parisians applaud her even in death; shouting: “Bravo Maria! Bravo!” (at the 1:20 mark): http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/2daea413c361299a014bd20d81c51f94
