PETER HUDSON PRESENTS 

MARIA CALLAS    1923 - 1977

"PRIMA DONNA ASSOLUTA"

A CELEBRATION

There have been many great female opera singers of the past, but Maria Callas was undoubtedly the greatest opera singer and actress of the 20th Century, with a voice that can only be described as magic,unique and something quite out of this world.The pride of place she still holds in the public's affection is indicated by the sales of her legacy of wonderful recordings, which are higher now than in her lifetime. Her life was one of triumph and tragedy. She was a perfectionist, and because of this many opera house directors and indeed her fellow performers found her a very difficult person to work with. However, this did not detract from her performance and the magic she created whilst on the opera stage or concert platform. Noel Coward said of her after seeing a performance of 'Medea' at Covent Garden in 1959, "She is one of the few really great artists that I have ever seen in my life", and Joan Sutherland, who started her career in 'Norma' with Callas said, "She was always indefatigable. You couldn't fault her, and after seeing her 'Norma' and the presence she gave to the role, who could ever surpass that?"

In her short, triumphant but turbulent and ultimately tragic life, she appeared in nearly every great opera house in the world. Her passionate love affair with the Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, who used her for his own ends and then just as suddenly discarded her, and married Jacqueline Kennedy, was really the beginning of the end of her career, for she truly worshipped the ground he walked on and was completely besotted by him. He had a very powerful personality and could charm all who met him, but he was a ruthless businessman, and, sadly for her, she fell under his spell and was just one of the many trophies he collected. 

 

Maria gave everything of herself to her art. She was not only a great singer but was recognised by her peers as a truly great actress. Her special voice, which had a range no singer to the present day has been able to surpass, spanned three octaves and her repertoire moved through such diverse roles as Wagner's 'Brunnhilde', to Verdi's 'La Traviata'. Her performance and that magic voice always held her audience spellbound, for she always evoked such strong emotions whilst in a particular role that the public were literally hypnotised by her tremendous voice and magic personality. Maria made the Bel Canto style all her own, and her most famous role, that of the Druid Priestess Norma, from the opera of the same name by Bellini was, and is the one always associated with her, for she made it her own and one can never forget her rendition of the famous aria 'Casta Diva'. Equally, her portrayal of 'Floria' in Puccini's 'Tosca' was possibly the second of her most famous roles. Indeed it was as 'Tosca' that she started and ended her operatic career. Her 1953 recording of the opera with Victor de Sabata conducting has been hailed as a bench-mark recording, even today.

 

Throughout the 1950's and 1960's Maria was a glamour icon, dressed by all the most prestigious couture houses of Europe, namely Balmain and Dior. Along with her famous jewellery and fame, this elegant woman travelled the world and mixed with all the

wealthy and society people of the time. Her premature departure from the opera stage at the age of forty-one is a sad fact indeed, but her hectic social life and months without practice had taken its toll, both on Maria and her voice. She was becoming more and more nervous and found high notes very difficult to achieve. What is very evident is that she put her private life before her career and could have, if she had so wished, carried on singing for another twenty years. We must be grateful that in 1952, after much persuasion, she agreed to sign an exclusive contract with the HMV recording company and today her many recordings are testament to her special talent and enduring and steadfast popularity. 

Maria Callas the Prima Donna Assoluta died at the untimely age of fifty three, in September 1977, in her beloved Paris, and robbed the opera world of a truly great singer.

 

2013 will see the 90th anniversary of the birth of Maria Callas.

 

This tribute is presented by Peter Hudson, Music Reviewer, Lecturer, Researcher, and Exhibition Organiser. He has a vast archive of music and music related items and an archive of over 16,000 photographs relating to opera and popular music. Peter has hosted many major exhibitions, and has lectured on Maria Callas for the past twenty years.

 

For further information, please contact

Peter Hudson, Tel:- 07833370191

 

 

Thanks to Larraine Anderson for page creation

 

 

 

Copyright Peter Hudson 2012   

 "Sometimes I just want to be Maria Callas, not La Divina"