Maria Callas

Maria Callas, was a Greek-American soprano, and one of the most renowned and influential opera singers of the 20th century. Many critics praised her bel canto technique, wide-ranging voice and dramatic interpretations. Her artistic achievements were such that Leonard Bernstein called her "the Bible of opera" 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.

Maria Callas´s 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, to the music dramas of Wagner. Her musical and dramatic talents led to her being hailed as La Divina.

THE VOICE

“If you want to live in harmony with yourself, you have to work. Work very hard. I don’t agree with Descartes: ‘I think therefore I am.’ I work therefore I am.” Maria Callas

THE FACE

THE FIGURE

height: 173cm
weight: 58kilos / 130lbs
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THE LIFE

I am a creature of destiny. Destiny chose me, wanted me this way. I am outside myself and watch my life from the outside.”

--Maria Callas

Maria Callas as Ifeginia at Teatro alla Scala, Milan

1954: year of transformation.

Maria Callas lost 30 kilos, the duckling was transformed into a white swan

Maria Callas and Leonard Bernstein backstage in 1955, Credit: Erio Piccagliani

Maria Callas, Ischia, 1956, Credit: Marzotto Archive Collection

Maria Callas at the Odeon theatre in Paris.

1957: love of her life: Aristotle Onassis

In 1957, while still married to husband Giovanni Battista Meneghini, Maria Callas was introduced to Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis at a party given in her honor by Elsa Maxwell after a performance in Donizetti's Anna Bolena. The affair that followed received much publicity in the popular press, and in November 1959, Callas left her husband.
The very public affair lasted over a decade until Aristotle Onassis left her for Jacquelin Kennedy and later married her, but he later resumed to meet her again in Paris when his marriage with Jacqueline Kennedy was in trouble.