Maria Callas: biography, personal life, creativity, photo

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The unsurpassed Maria Callas is one of the most famous and influential opera performers of the 20th century. She has been praised by critics for her virtuoso bel canto technique, wide range of voice and dramatic interpretations. Connoisseurs and connoisseurs of vocal art awarded the singer with the title La Divina (divine). The famous American composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein praised the talent of Maria Callas, calling her "pure electricity".

Early years

Maria Anna Sophia Kekiliya was born on December 2, 1923 in New York, in a family of Greek emigrants Georges (George) and Gospel Callas. The marriage of her parents was not happy, the spouses had nothing in common, except for common children: daughters Jackie and Maria, and son Vassilis. Evangelia was a cheerful and ambitious girl, as a child she dreamed of doing art, but her parents did not support her aspirations. Georges paid little attention to his wife anddid not share her love of music. Relations between the spouses deteriorated after the death of their son Vassilis in the summer of 1922 from meningitis.

Having learned that the gospel was pregnant again, George decided to move with his family to America, and in July 1923 they went to New York. The gospel was convinced that she would have a son, so the birth of her daughter was a real blow to her. For the first four days after giving birth, she refused to even look at her daughter. When Maria was 4 years old, her father opened his own pharmacy and the family moved to Manhattan, where the opera diva spent her childhood.

When Maria was three years old, her parents discovered her musical talent. Evangelia sought to reveal her daughter's gift and do for her what her own parents once denied her. Kallas later recalled: "I was forced to sing when I was only five years old and I hated it." Georges was unhappy with the fact that his wife prefers her eldest daughter Jackie in everything and exerts strong pressure on Maria. The couple often quarreled, and in 1937 the gospel decided to return to Athens with her daughters.

Education

Music education Maria Callas received in Athens. Initially, her mother tried to enroll her in the prestigious National Conservatory of Greece, but the director of the conservatory refused to accept the girl, as she did not have the necessary theoretical knowledge (solfeggio).

In the summer of 1937, the Gospel visited the talented teacher Maria Trivella, who taught at one of the Athens conservatories, and asked her to take Mariaas her apprentice for a modest fee. Trivella agreed to become Callas' tutor and refused to take payment for her tuition. Trivella later recalled: “Maria Callas was a fanatical and uncompromising student who devoted herself to music with all her heart and soul. Her progress has been phenomenal. She practiced music for 5-6 hours a day.”

Debut stage performance

The debut of Maria Callas took place in 1939 at a student performance in which she performed the role of Santuzza in the opera Rural Honor. Having successfully completed her studies at the National Conservatory, Callas entered the Athens Conservatory, in the class of the outstanding Spanish singer and talented teacher Elvira de Hidalgo. Kallas came to the conservatory at 10 am and left with the last students. She literally "absorbed" new knowledge and sought to learn all the secrets of the art of opera singing. Maria Callas and the opera were inseparable from each other. Music has become the meaning of life for the aspiring singer.

Opera career in Greece

Kallas made his professional debut in February 1941. She performed a small part of Beatrice in the operetta Boccaccio. The successful performance of the singer caused hostility among colleagues who tried to harm her career. However, nothing could stop Callas from doing what she loved, and in August 1942 she made her debut in the title role, performing the part of Tosca in Puccini's opera of the same name. Then she was invited to sing the part of Martha in Eugene d'Albert's opera The Valley. Arias of Maria Callas calleddelighted the public and received rave reviews from critics.

Until 1945, Kallas performed at the Athens Opera and successfully mastered the leading opera parts. After the liberation of Greece from the Nazi invaders, Hidalgo advised her to settle in Italy. Callas gave a series of concerts throughout Greece and then returned to America to see her father. She left Greece on September 14, 1945, two months before her 22nd birthday. Maria Callas called her career in Greece the basis of her musical and dramatic upbringing.

Flourishing creativity

In 1947, Kallas received her first prestigious contract. The talented performer was to perform the part of Gioconda in the opera of the same name by Amilcare Ponchielli. The performance was conducted by Tullio Serafin, on whose recommendation Callas was invited to perform in Venice, where she performed the main roles in Puccini's Turandot and Wagner's Tristan und Isolde. The audience enthusiastically greeted the arias of Maria Callas from the operas of two of the greatest composers. Even people who criticized her work in the past began to recognize the unique talent of the singer.

Upon arrival in Verona, Callas met Giovanni Battista Meneghini, a we althy industrialist who began courting her. They married in 1949 and lived together for 10 years. Thanks to the love and constant support of her husband, Maria Callas was able to build a successful operatic career in Italy.

Kallas responsibly approachedperformances and constantly improved their musical skills. She paid a lot of attention to her appearance. In the early years of her career, with a height of 173 centimeters, she weighed almost 90 kilograms. Maria began to follow a strict diet and in a short time (1953 - early 1954) she lost 36 kilograms.

At Milan's La Scala Opera House, Callas first performed in 1951 as Elena in Giuseppe Verdi's Sicilian Vespers. In 1956, she triumphantly performed at the Metropolitan Opera, where she appeared before the public as Norma in Bellini's opera of the same name. The aria of Maria Callas "Casta Diva" (Casta Diva) was considered by critics of those years to be the highest achievements of the artist.

Relationship with Aristotle Onassis

In 1957, while married to Giovanni Battista Meneghini, Callas met the Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis at a party held in her honor. A passionate romance began between them, about which they wrote a lot in the newspapers. In November 1959, Callas left her husband. She gave up her career on the big stage in order to spend more time with her beloved.

The relationship between Maria Callas and Aristotle Onassis ended in 1968, when the billionaire left Callas and married Jacqueline Kennedy. The betrayal of a man whom she sincerely loved and was devoted to him was a terrible blow for the opera diva.

Last years of life

Kallas spent the last years of her life in seclusion in Paris. September 16, 1977 inAt the age of 53, she died of a myocardial infarction. Until now, for the biographers of the performer, the question remains open, what caused the worsening of the singer's well-being. Heart failure could develop due to a rare disease diagnosed in her - dermatomyositis. According to an alternative version of doctors, heart problems were caused by side effects of steroids and immunosuppressants that Callas took during the illness.

On September 20, 1977, the funeral of Maria Callas was held in the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of St. Stephen. The ashes of the greatest opera singer, who left behind a rich artistic legacy, were scattered over the Aegean Sea.

Reference in popular culture

The film about Maria Callas was filmed in 2002 by director Franco Zeffirelli. Callas Forever is based on a fictional episode from the life of the singer, brilliantly played by Fanny Ardant.

In 2007, Callas was posthumously awarded the Grammy Award for Lifetime Musical Achievement. In the same year, she was named "Best Soprano of All Time" by the British BBC Music Magazine.

In 2012, Kallas became a member of the Hall of Fame, established by the authoritative British magazine Gramophone.