''To sing is an expression of your being, a being which is becoming''- Maria Callas
Introduction
She was the greatest soprano of the 20th century. She was the greatest diva of all time and the most significant figure in opera. Her emblematic voice and outstanding talent opened the door to opera worldwide. She was a real artist who lived by her instinct and was the inspiration for all that followed. She was not only a soprano, but according to Leonard Bernstein she was ''The Bible of Opera''. She was a myth, an unforgettable legend. She was the Golden Voice of the century, a wonderful gift from God to the world. She was Maria Callas. She is Maria Callas.
The early years
Maria Callas was born in New York on December 2, 1923 to Greek parents.1 She was the daughter of George Kalogeropoulos, a pharmacist from Meligalas, Messinia and Evangelia Dimitriadis (known in the family as ''Litza'') from Stilida, Fthiotida. Her parents had two other children, Vasily (who died of typhoid fever when he was only 2 years old) and Yakinthi (called Jackie). Callas's birth name was Maria Cecilia Sophia Anna Kalogeropoulos. In 1929, her father shortened his last name first to Kalos and later to Callas.
Maria's involvement with music began very early. She took her first piano and solfege lessons at the age of 8 and her talent was immediately evident. In fact, Maria Callas won her first prize in a singing competition for kids at the age of eleven, whilst she had her first professional experience at twelve. The little Maria Callas nicknamed ''Nina Foresti'' sang the aria ''Un bel di Verdermo'' from Giacomo Puccini's opera ''Madama Butterfly''. In 1937, Maria Callas returned to Greece with her mother and sister, following the separation of her parents. Upon her return, she enrolled at the National Conservatory in Athens and started singing, piano and melodrama lessons with great teachers. As soon as she started singing, Maria felt free from all fears. Her first teacher Maria Trivella immediately recognized Maria's divine talent. From the beginning, Maria Trivella showed her desire to support and help the talented student. She even managed to convince Callas's mother to change her daughter's age in order to get a conservatory scholarship. The authorities accepting that Maria was sixteen and not thirteen, agreed to pay for her music lessons (Huffington, 2002). From this, it is clear that Maria Trivella wasn't only Callas's first teacher, but also her ''spiritual'' mother. She gave Callas courage and helped her to believe in her talent, in her beautiful voice. Maria Callas, on the other hand, drew from her teacher the strength to fight for her passion. From that point on, she worked very hard and nothing could distract her. She gave all the energy she had towards her dream, which was her voice, her singing.
In addition to her teacher and guide Maria Trivella, Callas had two other excellent teachers. George Karakandas taught her acting at the Academy and David offered her additional singing lessons at home. After a lot of work and countless hours of study, Maria Callas made her stage debut at the age of fifteen as Santuzza in a school production of Pietro Mascagni's opera ''Cavaleria Rusticana'' and she won the first prize with applause.
A year later, Maria enrolled at Athens Conservatory and then the famous Spanish soprano Elvira de Hidalgo, who had sung with Enrico Caruso, walked into Maria's life. Her apprenticeship next to Elvira de Hidalgo took her to the next level. Maria learned the high technique of roles in the Italian romantic repertoire. Under Hidalgo's tutelage, she was constantly discovering herself, her voice and her power. She began to use some techniques and dramatic strengths she never thought she had and then she discovered the range of her voice (until then, many teachers at the conservatory said she was a mezzo- soprano, when in fact she was a soprano). Everyday Maria arrived at the conservatory at ten in the morning and studied with Elvira until eight at night, with a short lunch break . For Maria, the conservatory was her home. However, Elvira de Hidalgo taught her not only how to sing, but also how to dress, how to walk on a stage and on a street, how to move and how to stand. With Elvira's advices, Maria recognized herself and her incredible talent and beauty. Elvira was thus Maria's spiritual guide and not just her teacher. It can be noted that in 1957, Callas wrote about Elvira de Hidalgo: ''It is to this illustrious Spanish artist, whom the public and the old subscribers at La Scala will certainly recall as an unforgettable and superlative Rosina and as a splendid interpreter of other important roles, it is to this illustrious artist, I repeat, with a moved, devoted, and grateful heart, that I owe all my preparation and my artistic formation as an actress and musician. This elect woman, who, besides giving me her precious teaching, gave me her whole heart as well ....''
On November 27, 1940, during the War years in Athens, Greece, Maria made her professional stage appearance at the National Lyric Theatre with the operetta ''Boccaccio'' by Suppé, to great success. Afterwards, Maria played the leading role in the opera ''Tosca'' by Giacomo Puccini (1942,1943). The success of ''Tosca'' was followed by the Greek premiere of Eugen d'Albert's opera ''Tiefland'' on 22 April 1944 and in the summer of the same year, Maria had a small part in the modern opera ''O protomastoras'' (The Master Builder) by Manolis Kalomiris. On August 14, she sang Leonora in the Greek premiere of Beethoven's opera ''Fidelio'' at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus. Maria was famous and she had sung very demanding operatic roles with great success.
In 1945, Maria returned to the United States of America. According to studies, upon her return, she decided to change her last name from Kalogeropoulos to Callas. An important date is August 3, 1947, when she appeared at the Arena di Verona in the opera ''La Gioconda'' by Amilcare Ponchielli, singing in front of an audience of 25.000 Italians and winning recognition once again. After her debut in Italy, she married the businessman Giovanni Battista Meneghini. With his help, Callas's career in dramatic coloratura soprano roles took off. The same year, Maria interpreted Isolde from Richard Wagner's famous opera ''Tristan and Isolde'' in Venice. She also made debuts in Turin, Florence, Udine, Trieste, Genoa, Rovigo and Rome and each time she captivated the audience with her voice. In 1949, she appeared in Norma at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. It is worth noting that Maria Callas sang Norma ninety times in eight countries (!) and as she said in 1961 ''Maybe Norma is something like my own character''. Of course, the technical demands of Norma required absolute virtuosity and complete emotional commitment. Moreover, Maria made her first commercial recording in November 1949, which included a selection of Wagner and Bellini arias, whilst within the next fifteen years, she recorded all her most famous and difficult roles, such as Norma, Lucia, Medea, Tosca, Violetta, as well as operas that she never performed in the theatre. There are also recordings and live performances from the most prestigious opera houses and concert halls in the world. This is our treasure. ''Everything I have to say is in the music. It is all there in my records'', as Maria Callas had said.
Maria Callas: La Divina
Maria Callas had become famous touched the soul and heart of every listener with her unique voice and interpretation. In Italy, her fans called Callas ''La Divina'', because she reigned like a goddess in the opera. A milestone in her career came on December 7 , 1951, when Callas opened the season at ''La Scala'' in Milan, singing in Verdi's ''I vespri siciliani'', an appearance that offers her a great reputation and recognition. For the next seven years, La Scala would be the scene of her greatest triumphs in a variety of roles. She also appeared in Covent Garden, London, as Norma in 1952. In 1955, she appeared in Berlin in Donizetti's opera ''Lucia di Lammermoor'', conducted by Herbert von Karajan. In the same year, Maria plays the leading role in Giuseppe Verdi's '' La Traviata''. It was a historic performance, directed by Luchino Visconti. It was a triumph! After her performance at ''La Scala'', it was the New York Metropolitan's Opera turn to bow to Maria Callas. On October 27, 1956, she appeared at the New York Metropolitan Opera as Norma in the homonymous opera of Vincenzo Bellini. Almost a year later, on August 5, 1957, Maria returned to Athens, Greece and appeared at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus in the context of the Athens Festival and she was adored. At the beginning of June 1958, Maria Callas arrived in London to celebrate the centenary of Covent Garden. On the night of June 10, 1958, Maria sang the Mad Scene from the opera ''I puritani'' by Vincenzo Bellini and was called back eight times. Once again, la Divina Maria Callas shone. In 1960, Maria sang Norma again at the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus and the success was huge. In fact, the moment she sang Casta Diva air there was a storm of applause! The audience's enthusiasm was so great that they called Callas to the stage ten times(!). This performance was historic, because in addition to Callas's excellent interpretation and stage presence, the scenography was handled by Yannis Tsarouchis, the costumes were designed by Antonis Fokas and the direction was in the hands of the great Alexis Minotis. This was a flawless collaboration between great artists. A year later, Maria performed Luigi Cherubini's Medea with the National Opera of Greece at the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus. It was an another triumph for her, given that she was adored and applauded by 17.000 people. In July 1965, Maria made her last appearance at Covent Garden singing Tosca, directed by Franco Zeffireli and the performance was applauded by the critics. Franco Zeffireli admired Maria Callas and had characteristically said about her: The magic of Callas is a quality few artists have. Maria is always a miracle''.
In 1969, Callas starred in the film version of Euride's tragedy ''Media'', directed by Pierre-Paulo Pasolini. On December, 8, 1973, Maria made an appearance at Paris Opera House, where the audience applauded her ten times as she took the stage. At the same time, she was recording records, conducting master classes at The Julliard School of Music in New York (1971-1972) and giving recitals with the Italian tenor Giuseppe Di Stefano. However, Callas's personal life has always been in the spotlight and the intrigues of Callas's private life soon overshadowed her professional life, affecting her health. Her last performance was on December 11, 1974 in Sapporo, Japan. Following this performance, Maria Callas locked herself away in her apartment in Paris. Until then, she had sung more than 40 different and demanding roles and recorded more than 20 complete operas. She is undoubtedly an invaluable treasure and we are grateful for all we have learned and lived through this divine voice and presence.
Conclusion
Although 44 years have passed since this unsurpassed voice passed into eternity, she will resonate forever and she will continue to nurture new generations of performers as well as to captivate, illuminate and move new audiences. She was the ultimate performer. She had a flame in her soul that came out on stage. When Maria Callas was on stage, she transformed into all these unforgettable women. She was Norma, Aida, Medea. She was a legend. Maria always attached importance to music. She felt what the composer wanted to express and she gave life to every musical note. She was connected to the composer, to the music, to the heroine. As she herself had said, Maria Callas listened with her soul, not with her ears, and that made her a real artist. Callas sang with great authority. Her performances were rarely filmed. However, the second part of Giacomo's Puccini opera ''Tosca'' was filmed in 1964 at Covent Garden. In ''Tosca'', the heroine lives and dies for love and art and in some ways this mirrors the life of Maria Callas. Inevitably, the words of Tosca's great aria come to mind: ''Vissi d'arte, vissi d'amore'' (I have lived for art, I have lived for love).
Undoubtedly, her personal life wasn't as glamorous as her career. There were several dark backgrounds in her life. However, song was the medicine that healed her wounds. Her voice was the voice of humanity. Working with the greatest personalities of her time, she revived the art of lyrical theatre, which she popularized with audiences by highlighting almost every work in the lyrical repertoire. Today, who does not feel a palpitation of heart when he hears this glorious, soulful voice? You can admire this wonderful voice through Radio Art's Channel ''Maria Callas''. Close your eyes and let this angelic voice speak to your soul. Live! Feel! Live for art, live for love, live for life!
