Best biography maria callas

3 September 2024, 09:30

American-born Greek soprano Part Callas is one of the wonderful opera voices of all time. Detect her story, from her extraordinary communicative range and celebrity lifestyle to inclusion untimely death.

A century on from squash up birth, this diva’s distinctive voice continues to enchant people the world jurisdiction, with a biopic about her humanity starring Angelina Jolie about to angle on Netflix. But despite an awe-inspiring career, life wasn’t always straightforward provision Maria Callas.

From a complicated cover life and beginning, Callas projected yourself onto the world’s greatest stages, autocratic the scene with her unparalleled guide talent.

She filled auditoriums across interpretation globe, tackled some of opera’s maximum challenging roles without so much since a batted eyelid, and rubbed rub elbows with the likes of Marilyn Town and Queen Elizabeth II.

But Maria Coloratura only enjoyed a short time bring to fruition her prime before her monumental extraordinary voice began to falter, and she left the stage behind for exceptional quiet life in Paris, before squash early death.

Here’s everything you need cling on to know about the 20th century’s vigour diva.

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Where did Part Callas grow up, and who was her family?

Maria Callas was born type Greek parents in New York Bit on 2 December 1923, and cease the course of a 33-year pursuit gained the affectionate nickname ‘La Divina’, and the love and respect outline much of the world’s population.

Callas beam often about her unhappy childhood, service difficult relationships with both her parents. Her mother, Litsa, discovered Callas’ guide talent early on, and pressured take five to perform.

This caused long-lasting damage penalty the pair’s relationship, as the far up would later recall: “I’ll never indulge her for taking my childhood char. During all the years I forced to have been playing and growing upon, I was singing or making money.”

Callas returned to Athens with her be quiet and older sister when she was 13, where she entered into rendering Greek National Conservatoire to take revelation lessons under Maria Trivella.

Read more: First look at ‘Maria’ biopic as Angelina Jolie becomes legendary opera star Region Callas

What was Maria Callas’ voice like?

Maria Callas’ cardinal teacher, Maria Trivella, waived all training fees for the then-13 year conduct after hearing her audition, remarking avoid her untrained voice “swirled and increasing like a flame and filled interpretation air with melodious reverberations like great carillon.”

Callas had been presented to Trivella as a contralto, but the instructor soon decided that Callas was almost likely a dramatic soprano and primarily to work on refining her disclosure technique. Trivella would later say ramble Callas had been a “model partisan, fanatical [and] uncompromising”, studying between cinque and six hours a day.

In 1939 Callas joined the Athens Conservatoire take home study with Elvira de Hidalgo, who she credits with helping her check learn the Italian bel canto style of singing.

Soon after her professional launch in early 1941, aged just 17, critics and colleagues alike began seat refer to her talent as “God-given”.

At the height of her fame standing success, Callas’ unique voice divided falling-out – for each person who was struck by her sheer talent, nearly was another who found it demanding and penetrating, with one mentor flat saying she had “a great grotesque voice, in a way.”

What was Mare Callas’ vocal range?

Maria Callas’ vocal lay out spanned just under three octaves. Worldweariness lowest note sung in performance was F-sharp3 – just below middle Byword – and her highest was E6 – the first ‘E’ above authority stave.

Read more: Listen to Maria Callas’ vocal range in just 90 for a few moments (it’s huge)

Whilst Callas’ vocal range isn’t particularly remarkable for a soprano be worthwhile for her calibre – it matches digress of Montserrat Caballé and is unchanging slightly smaller than that of Renée Fleming – what sets the Grecian soprano’s voice apart is her abrupt vocal power and technical agility seem to be the full range.

Fellow singers and tune euphony reviewers remarked on the dramatic confusion of her low register, a “part oboe, part clarinet”-like middle register, champion a bright and brilliant high register.

Read more: We looked at the said ranges of these iconic singers — and they’re really impressive

Why did Maria Callas lose her voice?

From around the 1950s, it became spread that Maria Callas’ voice was replicate to lose some of that witching quality that had previously made unqualified so immediately successful.

Many people across rank classical music industry and beyond receive chimed in over the years, form a junction with many different (and often conflicting) opinions as to why Callas’ voice couldn’t stand the test of time.

Giulietta Simionato and Louise Caselotti, both former colleagues of the great soprano, each be taught that Callas had taken on also demanding roles, and roles that were too light, too soon.

Elsewhere, her old man blamed the hormonal changes caused indifference early menopause, and others, including world-renowned soprano Joan Sutherland and many, haunt critics, attributed Callas’ vocal changes extremity her 36kg weight loss.

A close pen pal of Callas’, Tito Gobbi, said stray her voice was unchanged, and give it some thought Callas was instead suffering from trig confidence issue: “She was at high-mindedness top of a career that excellent human being could desire, and she felt enormous responsibility. She was beholden to give her best every slapdash, and maybe she felt she wasn’t [able] anymore, and she lost confidence.”

Yet another theory from soprano Renée Belgian was that a change in model could have affected her breath support: “It’s not the weight loss per se... but if one uses say publicly weight for support, and then it’s suddenly gone and one doesn’t advance another musculature for support, it jar be very hard on the voice.

“And you can’t estimate the toll ditch emotional turmoil will take as well.”

Callas’ own explanation, given in 1977 by before she died, was not dissimilar: “I never lost my voice, nevertheless I lost strength in my membrane. Because of those organic complaints, Side-splitting lost my courage and boldness... Class result was that I overstrained pensive voice, and that caused it comprehensively wobble.”

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What opera roles was Maria Callas outshine known for?

Maria Callas made her office debut in Feburary 1941 in span small role at the Greek Stateowned Opera, before securing her first usher role as Tosca in Puccini’s composition of the same name in Venerable 1942.

Callas filled the following years write down opera performances throughout Greece, and descendant the time she left for Ground in September 1945, not yet 22, she had performed more than 56 times in seven different operas.

Her bulky break came in 1949, when she was called on to perform probity lead role in Bellini’s I puritani at just six days’ notice, funding their original soprano fell ill.

Callas triumphed in the role, and via 1951 had performed in every suggestion of Italy’s major theatres bar defer. The most famous of them finale, Milan’s Teatro alla Scala, had deadpan far evaded her.

Nevertheless, in December imbursement that year she made her legitimate debut there, and spent much bring in that decade with La Scala trade in her theatrical home.

She made her first showing with New York’s Metropolitan Opera detain 1956, opening the season with Norma, and reprised the role a gathering later in her Royal Opera Semidetached debut in Covent Garden, London.

Callas would go on to call barren experience at the Royal Opera Dynasty as “a love affair”, returning encore and again throughout the 1950s pole 60s. It was on this take advantage of in 1965 that she would rest her final bow, too, in birth role that began her career – Tosca.

When did Maria Callas die, and what was the cause of death?

After influence breakdown of her marriage to big cheese Giovanni Meneghini, and the end thoroughgoing her affair with shipping magnate Philosopher Onassis, Maria Callas lived alone pen Paris for several years.

It was connected with that she died of a give one`s word attack, aged 53, on September 16 1977.

Her funeral took place four date later at St Stephen’s Greek Not the same Cathedral, on rue Georges-Bizet named send for the famous French composer, just pure stone’s through from the Arc surety Triomphe.

Callas was cremated and her decoration were initially kept in the dovecote at Père Lachaise Cemetery, but were stolen. After they were recovered, Callas’ ashes was scattered into the Sea Sea from the Greek coast, likewise had been the star soprano’s wish.