Maria Callas: Secrets of the Life and Death of a Great Opera Singer. Maria Callas: biography Opera singer Callas
Legendary opera singer of Greek origin, one of the best sopranos of the 20th century.
Her unique voice, impressive bel canto technique and truly dramatic approach to performance made Maria Callas the greatest star of the world opera scene, and her tragic personal life constantly attracted the attention of the public and the press. For her outstanding musical and dramatic talent, she was called by connoisseurs of opera "Goddess" (La Divina).
Maria Callas, born Sophia Cecelia Kalos (Sophia Cecelia Kalos), was born on December 2, 1923 in New York in a family of emigrants from Greece.
Her mother, Evangelia Kalos, noticing her daughter's musical talent, forced her to sing at the age of five, which the little girl did not like at all. In 1937, Maria's parents separated, and she moved with her mother to Greece. Relations with her mother only worsened, in 1950 Maria stopped communicating with her. Maria received her musical education at the Athens Conservatory.
In 1938, Callas had her first public performance, shortly after that she received minor roles at the Greek National Opera. The small salary she received there helped her family make ends meet during the difficult wartime. Maria's debut in the title role took place in 1942 at the Olympia Theater and received rave reviews from the press.
After the war, Kallas went to the United States, where her father George Kallas lived. She was accepted into the prestigious Metropolitan Opera, but soon turned down a contract that offered unsuitable roles and low pay.
In 1946, Callas moved to Italy. In Verona, she met Giovanni Battista Meneghini. The wealthy industrialist was much older than her, but she married him in 1949. Until their divorce in 1959, Meneghini directed Callas' career, becoming her impresario and producer. In Italy, the singer managed to meet the outstanding conductor Tullio Serafin. Their joint work was the beginning of her successful international career. In 1949, in Venice, Maria Callas performed very diverse roles: Brünnhilde in Wagner's Valkyrie and Elvira in Bellini's The Puritans - an unprecedented event in the history of opera. This was followed by brilliant roles in the operas of Cherubini and Rossini. In 1950, she gave 100 concerts, setting her personal best. In 1951, Callas made his debut on the legendary stage of La Scala in Verdi's opera Sicilian Vespers. On the main opera stage of the world, she participated in productions by Herbert von Karajan, Margherita Wallmann, Luchino Visconti and Franco Zeffirelli. Since 1952, Maria Callas began a long and very fruitful collaboration with the Royal Opera in London. In 1953, Callas rapidly lost weight, losing 36 kg in a year. She deliberately changed her figure for the sake of performances. Many believe that the drastic weight change was the cause of the early loss of her voice, while it is undeniable that she gained self-confidence and her voice became softer and more feminine. In 1956, she made a triumphant return to the Metropolitan Opera with roles in Bellini's Norma and Verdi's Aida. She performed on the best opera stages and performed classics: parts in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, Verdi's Il trovatore and Macbeth, Puccini's Tosca. In 1957, Maria Callas met the man who turned her life around - the multi-billionaire Greek shipowner Aristotle Onassis. In 1959, Callas left her husband, Onassis's wife filed for divorce. The high-profile romance of a bright couple attracted the attention of the press for nine years. But in 1968, Callas' dreams of a new marriage and a happy family life collapsed: Onassis married the widow of the American president, Jacqueline Kennedy.
In fact, her brilliant career ended when she was in her early 40s.
She gave her last concert at the Royal Opera in London in 1965. Her technique was still on point, but her unique voice lacked power.
In 1969, Maria Callas acted in films for the only time not in an operatic role. She played the role of the heroine of ancient Greek myths Medea in the film of the same name by the Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini (Pier Paolo Pasolini). The break with Onassis, loss of voice and early retirement crippled Maria.
The most successful opera singer of the 20th century spent the last years of her life almost alone and died suddenly in 1977 at the age of 53 from a heart attack. According to her will, the ashes were scattered over the Aegean Sea.
In 2002, Callas' friend Franco Zeffirelli made a film in memory of the great singer - Callas Forever. The role of Callas was played by the Frenchwoman Fanny Ardant.
In 2007, Callas was posthumously awarded the Grammy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Music.
In the same year, she was named the best soprano of all time by the BBC Music Magazine. Thirty years after her death, Greece issued a €10 commemorative coin featuring Callas. A large number of different artists made dedications to Callas in their work: R.E.M., Enigma, Faithless, singers Celine Dion and Rufus Wainwright.
Name the greatest opera singer of the twentieth century, Maria Callas has always been covered in legends. All her life she gave rise to gossip: both when she managed to lose weight from 92 to 64 kg, and she kept the methods of weight loss a secret, and when, while still married, she went on a sea cruise with a Greek billionaire Aristotle Onassis, and when she lost her voice and left the stage, and when she lived out her days all alone. The death of Maria Callas left no less questions unanswered than her life: there was a version that the singer was poisoned, and in order to hide the traces of the crime, the body was cremated.
Maria Anna Sophia Cecilia Kalogeropoulou was an unwanted child - her parents were expecting a boy, and after the birth of her daughter, the mother refused to even look at her for several days. Soon the parents broke up, and the mother and daughters returned from America to their homeland, to Greece. At the age of 5, Maria began taking piano lessons, and from the age of 8, she began to study vocals. She continued her studies at the conservatory, where experienced teachers immediately recognized her talent.
On the big stage, Maria made her debut in the theater of Athens - she sang the part in Puccini's "Tosca". Until the end of the Second World War, she performed in Greece, but her real popularity fell upon her in 1947, after her appearance at the Verona Opera Festival. Then the famous Italian conductor Tullio Serafin, who invited her to the Venice Opera House, drew attention to her. In Italy, fate brought the singer to an opera fan, a wealthy industrialist Giovanni Battista Meneghini, who soon became her husband.
Maria Callas' path to success was an endless work on herself. Outwardly, she managed to change almost beyond recognition. Maria recorded the results: “La Gioconda 92 kg; Aida 87 kg; Norm 80 kg; Medea 78 kg; Lucia 75 kg; Alcesta 65 kg; Elizabeth 64 kg. At the same time, she never spoke about ways to reduce weight, which caused various speculations - for example, about surgical intervention.
In 1957, at a ball in Venice, Maria Callas met her countryman, billionaire Aristotle Onassis. This meeting was fatal for her. Aristotle invited her and her husband on a sea cruise on his luxury yacht Christina. Causing shock to others, Mary and Aristotle retired to his apartment.
For the sake of Aristotle, Mary left her husband, but he was in no hurry to divorce his wife. In addition, he deprived her of the opportunity to give birth to a child - the billionaire already had heirs, and he categorically did not want children. Many years later, fate severely punished him for this: his son died in a car accident, and his daughter died from a drug overdose. In the end, Onassis married Jacqueline Kennedy, and Maria was left alone. “First I lost weight, then I lost my voice, and now I lost Onassis,” she told reporters besieging her.
The last time Kallas appeared on stage in 1974. After that, until her death in 1977, she practically did not leave her apartment. According to the official version, Maria Callas died of a heart attack. But among her fans, another version was common. Maria was said to have been poisoned by her pianist Vassa Devetzi. Allegedly, she wanted to take possession of Callas' property, and for this she protected her from communicating with people, added tranquilizers to her medications, aggravating her depression. However, this version has not been proven. According to Maria's husband, Giovanni Battista Meneghini, the singer committed suicide.
Maria Callas is an amazing woman with a unique bright voice that has captivated the audience of the best concert halls in the world for many years. Strong, beautiful, incredibly refined, she won the hearts of millions of listeners, but she could not win the heart of her only loved one. Fate has prepared for the opera diva many trials and tragic turns, ups and downs, pleasures and disappointments.
Childhood
Singer Maria Callas was born in 1923 in New York, in a family of Greek emigrants who, shortly before the birth of their daughter, moved to America in search of a better life. Before Maria was born, the Kallas family already had children - a son and a daughter. However, the boy's life was interrupted so early that the parents did not even have time to enjoy raising their son.
The mother of the future world star went into mourning during pregnancy and asked the higher powers for a son to be born - a replacement for the deceased child. But a girl, Maria, was born. At first, the woman did not even approach the cradle of the child. And for many years of life, coldness and a certain detachment in relation to each other stood between Maria Callas and her mother. There has never been a good relationship between women. They were connected only by constant claims and unspoken grievances towards each other. That was the cruel truth of life.
Maria's father tried to engage in the pharmacy business, but the economic crisis of the 30s of the twentieth century that swept the United States left no chance for the fulfillment of a rainbow dream. Money was constantly lacking, which is why scandals in the Kallas family were the norm. Maria grew up in such an atmosphere, and it was a difficult test for her. In the end, after much deliberation, unable to endure a poor, almost beggarly existence, Mary's mother took them with her sister, divorced her husband and returned to her homeland, Greece. Here, the biography of Maria Callas took a sharp turn, from which it all began. Mary was only 14 years old at the time.
Studying at the conservatory
Maria Callas was a gifted child. From childhood, she showed the ability to music, had an excellent memory, easily memorized all the songs she heard and immediately gave them to the judgment of the street environment. The girl's mother realized that her daughter's music education could be a good investment in the prosperous future of the family. The musical biography of Maria Callas began its countdown exactly from the moment when her mother gave the future star to the Ethnikon Odeon Conservatory in Athens. The first teacher of the girl was Maria Trivella, well-known in musical circles.
Music was everything for Maria Callas. She lived only within the walls of the classroom - loved, breathed, felt - outside the school, turning into a girl unadapted to life, full of fears and contradictions. Outwardly unsightly - fat, wearing terrible glasses - inside Maria hid the whole world, bright, alive, beautiful, and did not know the true price of her talent.
Successes in musical literacy were gradual, unhurried. Studying was hard work, but brought great pleasure. I must say that nature rewarded Mary with pedantry. Meticulousness and scrupulousness were very clear traits of her character.
Later, Callas moved to another conservatory - "Odeon Afion", in the class of the singer Elvira de Hidalgo, I must say, an outstanding singer who helped Maria not only form her own style in the performance of musical material, but also bring her voice to perfection.
First successes
Maria tasted her first success after a brilliant debut performance at the Athens Opera House with the part of Santuzza in Mascagni's Rural Honor. It was an incomparable feeling, so sweet and intoxicating, but it did not turn the girl's head. Kallas understood that exhausting work was necessary to achieve true heights. And it was necessary to work not only on the voice. Maria's external data, or rather, her appearance, at that time did not give out a single gram of signs of the future goddess of opera music in a woman - fat, in incomprehensible clothes, more like a hoodie than a concert costume, with shiny hair ... Here what at first was the one that, years later, drove thousands of men crazy and set the vector of movement in style and fashion for many women.
Conservatory education ended in the mid-40s, and the musical biography of Maria Callas was replenished with tours in Italy. Cities, concert venues changed, but the halls were full everywhere - opera lovers came to enjoy the girl's magnificent voice, so soulful and sincere, which enchanted and fascinated everyone who heard it.
It is believed that wide popularity came to her only after the role of Gioconda in the opera of the same name, performed on the stage of the Arena di Verona festival.
Giovanni Battista Meneghini
Soon, fate brought Maria Callas a meeting with her future husband, Giovanni Battista Meneghini. An Italian industrialist, an adult man (almost twice as old as Maria), he was very fond of opera and was very sympathetic to Callas.
Menegini was a peculiar person. He lived with his mother, he had no family, but not because he was a convinced bachelor. It’s just that for a long time there was no suitable woman for him, and Giovanni himself did not specifically look for a life partner. By nature, he was quite prudent, enthusiastic about his work, far from being handsome, and besides, he was not tall.
He began to take care of Maria, give her chic bouquets, expensive gifts. For a girl who had hitherto lived only by music, all this was new and unusual, but very pleasant. As a result, the opera singer accepted the courtship of the gentleman. They merried.
Maria was not adapted to life, and Giovanni was everything to her in this sense. He replaced her beloved father, listened to the emotional anxieties and worries of a woman, was a confidant in her affairs and acted as an impresario, provided life, peace and comfort.
Family life
Their marriage was not built on feelings and passions, it rather resembled a safe harbor in which there is no place for unrest and storm.
The newly minted family settled in Milan. Their beautiful home - a family nest - was under the supervision and strict control of Mary. In addition to household chores, Callas studied music, toured the United States, Latin and South America, and never even thought about adultery. She herself remained faithful to her husband and never thought of being jealous of him or suspecting him of infidelity. Then Callas was still that Mary who could do a lot for a man, for example, without hesitation, leave a career for the sake of the family. You just had to ask her about it...
In the early 50s, luck turned to face Maria Callas. She was invited to perform on stage at La Scala in Milan. It was a truly great proposal, and it was not the only one. Immediately for the singer, Covent Garden in London, the Chicago Opera House, and the Metropolitan Opera in New York opened their doors. In 1960, Maria Callas became a full-time soloist at La Scala, and her creative biography was replenished with the best opera parts. The arias of Maria Callas are numerous, among them are the part of Lucia and Anne Boleyn in Lucia di Lammermoor and in Donizetti's Anne Boleyn; Violetta in Verdi's La Traviata, Tosca in Puccini's Tosca and others.
Transfiguration
Gradually, with the advent of fame and fame, the appearance of Maria Callas changed. The woman made a real breakthrough and over a period of time turned from an ugly duckling into a truly beautiful swan. She went on a severe diet, losing weight to incredible parameters, and became sophisticated, elegant and incredibly well-groomed. Antique facial features sparkled with new colors, a light appeared in them that came from within and ignited millions of hearts around the world.
The singer's husband was not mistaken in his "calculations". He seemed to foresee that Maria Callas, whose photos are now in newspapers and magazines, is a diamond that simply needs to be cut and beautifully framed. It is worth paying a little attention to him, and he will shine with a magical light.
Maria lived a fast paced life. Rehearsal in the afternoon, performance in the evening. Callas had a talisman, without which she did not go on stage - a canvas with a biblical image donated by her husband. Success and recognition required constant titanic work. But she was happy, because she knew that she was not alone, she had a house where they were waiting for her.
Giovanni perfectly understood what his wife had to go through, and tried to somehow make her life easier and easier, trying to protect her from everything, even from maternal worries. The couple had no children - Meneghini simply forbade Mary to give birth.
Maria Callas and Onassis
The marriage of Maria Callas and Giovanni Battista Meneghini lasted 10 years. And then a new man appeared in the life of the opera diva, the only one she loved. Only with him she experienced the whole gamut of feelings - love, crazy passion, humiliation and betrayal.
It was a Greek millionaire, the owner of "newspapers, factories and ships" Aristotle Onassis - a prudent person who did nothing without benefit for himself. He skillfully made his fortune during the Second World War by selling oil to the countries participating in the hostilities. At one time, he married (not just because of feelings, but with a financial perspective) Tina Livanos, the daughter of a wealthy shipowner. In marriage, they had two children - a son and a daughter.
Aristotle was not a handsome man who immediately drove women to insanity. He was an ordinary man, rather short in stature. Of course, it is difficult to say for sure whether he had real, sincere feelings for Maria Callas. This is known only to himself and God, but the excitement, the instinct of the hunter jumped in him - this is undoubtedly. Such an adored Maria Callas, a young 35-year-old beautiful woman, well-groomed and beautiful looking. He wanted to become the owners of this trophy, so desired ...
Divorce
They met in Venice at a ball. Some time later, the spouses Maria Callas and Giovanni Meneghini were kindly invited to the yacht of Onassis for an exciting cruise trip. The atmosphere that reigned on the yacht was unfamiliar to the opera diva: rich and famous people who idly spent their time in bars and at entertainment events; the gentle sun, the sea air and the unusual situation in general - all this plunged Maria Callas into an abyss of previously unknown feelings. She realized that, in addition to concerts and constant work and rehearsals, there is another life. She fell in love. She fell in love and had an affair with Onassis in front of his wife and her own husband.
The Greek millionaire did everything possible to win the heart of Mary. He acted like her servant, trying to fulfill her every whim.
Giovanni Battista noticed the changes that had taken place with his wife, and understood everything. And soon the whole public was aware of what was happening: Aristotle Onassis and Maria Callas, whose photos flaunted on the pages of gossip, did not even think of hiding from prying eyes.
Battista was ready to forgive his wife for her betrayal and start all over again. Tried to get through to the mind and common sense of Mary. But the woman didn't need it. She told her husband that she loved another, and informed him of her intention to divorce.
New unhappy life
Parting with her husband did not bring happiness to Mary. First, there was a decline in her affairs, because there was no one else to take care of her performances and organize her concerts. The opera singer was like a little girl, helpless and abandoned by everyone.
In her personal life, everything was vague. Callas was waiting for the moment when her beloved would finally divorce his wife and marry her, but Aristotle was in no hurry to break family ties. He satisfied all his desires by amusing the male ego and pride; proved to himself that he was able to conquer even the proudest goddess of the opera, so coveted by many. Now there was nothing to try. The mistress gradually began to tire him. He paid less and less attention to her, referring to constant employment and business. Maria understood that the man she loved had other women, but she was unable to resist her feelings.
When Maria was a little over 40, fate gave her the last chance to become a mother. But Aristotle put the woman before a painful choice, and Callas could not break herself and abandon her beloved man.
Recession in work and betrayal of a loved one
Failures accompanied the diva not only in her personal life. The voice of Maria Callas began to sound worse and gave her mistress more and more problems. The woman realized somewhere in the depths of her soul that higher powers were punishing her for her unrighteous lifestyle and for the fact that she had once betrayed her husband.
The woman went to see the world's best specialists, but no one could help her. The doctors shrugged their shoulders, talking about the absence of any visible pathologies, hinting at the psychological component of the singer's problems. Arias performed by Maria Callas no longer caused a storm of emotions.
In 1960, Aristotle received a divorce, but never married his famous mistress. Maria waited for a marriage proposal from him for some time, and then she simply stopped hoping.
Life changed its color and hit the woman on the most sick. Maria's career did not develop at all, she performed less and less. She gradually began to be perceived not as an opera diva, but as the mistress of the rich Aristotle Onassis.
And soon the beloved man hit in the back - he got married. But not on Mary, but on Jacqueline Kennedy, the widow of the murdered president. It was a very profitable marriage, which opened the way for the ambitious Onassis to the world of the political elite.
Oblivion
A landmark in the fate and musical career of Maria Callas was her performance at La Scala with the part of Paolina in Polieukta in 1960, which turned into a complete failure. The voice did not obey the singer, and instead of a stream of bewitching sounds, an opera full of falsehood fell upon the viewer. For the first time, Maria could not control herself. This was the beginning of the end.
Gradually, Callas left the stage. For some time, having settled in New York, Maria taught at a music school. She later moved to Paris. In France, she had the experience of filming a movie, but he did not bring her any joy or satisfaction. The whole life of the singer Maria Callas was forever connected only with music.
She constantly yearned for her beloved. And then one day he came to her with a confession. The woman forgave her traitor. But the union did not work out for the second time. Onassis rarely appeared at Mary's, from time to time, only when he himself wanted it. The woman knew that this man could not be changed, but she loved him exactly the way he was. In 1975, Aristotle Onassis died. In the same year, Athens hosted the opening of the International Opera and Piano Music Competition, named after Maria Callas.
After the death of a loved one, the woman lived for another two years. The biography of Maria Callas ended in Paris, in 1977. The opera diva has died at the age of 53. The official cause of death is a heart attack, but there is another version of what happened: many believe that it was murder. The ashes of the opera singer were scattered over the waters of the Aegean Sea.
Since 1977, the Maria Callas International Competition has become an annual event, and since 1994 it has been awarded the only prize, the Maria Callas Grand Prix.
Sophia Cecelia Kalos (Sophia Cecelia Kalos, December 2, 1923 - September 16, 1977) - Greek and then American opera singer, who received worldwide recognition for her unsurpassed voice.
Childhood
Maria Callas was born on December 2 in New York City, in a family of Greek immigrants. The girl's father was a military man and was blown up by a mine, not having lived just a few weeks before the birth of a child. Over the years, her mother worked as a teacher at a school, and also tried with all her might to teach her daughter the art of music - something that she herself dreamed of at one time, but could not learn because of the difficult situation in the family.
Thus, young Maria from early childhood was taken to theaters and taught to play the piano. By the way, the girl had an excellent ear for music, so classes were easy for her, and the process brought great pleasure.
Initially, the mother took the girl to a music school located in New York itself, where the family lived. However, the city education of that time was not so good, so the caring parent dreamed of returning to her historical homeland, where her daughter could become not only a professional musician, but also a very famous person.
However, such an opportunity presented itself only in 1936, and the mother, having promised the child a great future in the musical field, happily moves to Athens, where she sends Maria to a specialized school for talented youth.
Youth
At the age of 14, the young talent enters the Athens Conservatory, where another emigrant, this time from Spain, Elvira de Hidalgo, becomes her teacher. Since the woman was immersed in music and opera singing throughout her life, she knew her job very well, therefore, from the very first days, she saw great potential in the girl.
However, the dreams of the girl and her mother about a successful career were overshadowed by the outbreak of the Second World War, because of which Athens, like many other cities, turned out to be an occupied territory, only a few managed to go beyond. Maria found herself in a difficult situation. On the one hand, Kallas's influential friends could take her abroad, but her mother would then remain in Athens. And since this was the only native person, the girl decides to stay until the last with her mother. In the same year, 1941, Maria Callas made her debut on stage as an opera performer.
Career
As soon as World War II ends, Maria and her mother immediately return to New York, where the girl plans to start a serious career. But here begins what she least imagined - the first failures. Despite the fact that in Athens literally every second resident knew the name Callas, for New York she was one of the many aspiring opera singers who daily looked for themselves by turning to theaters.
Having decided that she will not give up her dream so easily and simply, Maria also begins to look for a place for herself where she could show her true talent and at the same time learn something from professionals. But the Metropolitan Opera refused her, referring to her sufficient weight, and the Lyric Opera, for the revival of which the singer herself hoped so much.
As a result, in 1947, Maria Callas begins performing at the Arena di Verona, where she is taken with great reluctance due to her difficult, very stubborn and secretive nature. However, from the very first days, the directors understand their mistakes and unanimously begin to assert that she has an incredible talent. First, she participates in the opera "Giaconda", then the parts in the plays "Hades" and "Norma" follow.
Another successful work is two parallel parts of operas by Wagner and Bellini, which were absolutely incompatible for one performer due to their complexity. But Maria successfully copes, after which she receives the first world recognition of the audience and music critics. And speaking in 1950 at La Scala, she forever receives the title of "Queen of Italian prima donnas."
Personal life
There is an erroneous opinion that during her difficult, but extremely productive life, Maria Callas avoided male attention and was rather a feminist, therefore she never married anyone. However, this is not the case at all.
She met her first husband during a tour of Italy. He was a local industrialist, therefore, thanks to his connections, Kallas could perform freely in absolutely all institutions. After a few months of a stormy romance, the industrialist Giovanni Battista Meneghini sells his entire business and completely puts himself in the hands of an opera singer, whom he was fascinated with literally from the first seconds of his acquaintance.
In 1957, while celebrating the birthday of journalist Elsa Maxwell, Maria meets the incredibly charming and luxurious Aristotle Onassis. Giovanni, who at that time was already the wife of the opera singer, fades into the background for her.
The couple begins to quarrel, and a few months later Callas files for divorce, hoping for a joint future with Onassis. But then a second serious failure happens in her life - already being a divorced woman, she loses contact with Aristotle for a while, and when he reappears in the city, the woman becomes aware of his recent marriage to Jacqueline Kennedy. So Maria Callas is left alone, with shattered hopes and music as a consolation.
Name: Sophia Cecilia Kalos (at baptism Maria Anna Sophia Kekiliya Kalogeropoulou)
State: USA
Field of activity: opera
Greatest Achievement: one of the most famous and great opera singers of the 20th century
It is probably not an exaggeration to say that the name of Maria Callas is familiar even to those who have never been to the opera and have not heard her marvelous voice (even in recordings). Her brilliant career was a kind of payment for the failures in her personal life that filled the life of the singer.
Biography
The future star was born in New York on December 2, 1923 in a family of emigrants from Greece. Unfortunately, even before birth, while in the womb, Maria seemed to feel that even for the love of her parents she would have to fight. Living in Greece, the parents of the future singer experienced the tragedy of the death of their son. A daughter, Cynthia, was already growing up in the family. Evangelia, Mary's mother, was pregnant when Georgios Kalogeropoulos, the father of the family, decided to move from sunny Greece to the USA, away from bitter memories. The family settled in New York.
Parents were waiting for the birth of their son to replace Basil, but another girl was born. It was a real blow to the mother. During the first days after the birth, the mother refused to even look at the baby, but over time, the parents reconciled and took up raising their daughter.
Growing up, adults began to understand that the girl was growing unusually talented. Maria started listening to classical music at the age of 3, at five she played the piano, and at eight she studied vocals with a teacher. In addition to musical education, the mother devoted a lot of time to books and constantly took her daughter to the library.
In 1936, Maria and her mother went to Greece to continue their education in their historical homeland. The girl enters the Athens Conservatory, where Elvira De Hidalgo, then a famous opera singer with an amazing coloratura soprano, becomes her mentor. Maria's debut as a singer took place in 1941. It was Puccini's Tosca.
Mother was very demanding towards Mary, constantly criticizing and striving for perfection in everything. subsequently, this was reflected in the later life of Callas - she will always strive for perfection in performance, no matter what the circumstances. Maria had a bright appearance, but her mother's demands nurtured an inferiority complex in her - it seemed to her that she was ugly, clumsy, fat, and she had no voice. Even when life and the recognition of fans proved otherwise.
In 1945, Maria Callas returned to America. Her real creative path begins, but so far unsuccessfully - her performances were accompanied by a series of failures. Finally, in 1947 in Verona, on the stage of the amphitheater, the audience for the first time could see a new star in the opera La Gioconda, which was directed by conductor Tullio Serafin. Maria connects her acquaintance with him with the beginning of her dizzying career, because it is he who becomes her guiding star and provides the roles in Aida, Valkyries, The Puritans and other opera performances.
Already after 2 years, in 1949, Maria went on her first big tour to Latin America, where she was also expected to succeed. But it is Italy that becomes her new home, which gave her the opportunity to perform. In 1950, she sang at the legendary La Scala, which, by operatic standards, is the height of prestige and recognition.
Italy also gave Maria the opportunity to change her personal life - in Verona she met businessman Giovanni Meneghini, who was a big fan of opera. Despite the significant difference in age - almost 20 years - Maria accepted his marriage proposal, and in 1949 they got married. Giovanni becomes the producer of the star and Maria's most devoted admirer. It would seem that this is happiness - full auditoriums applaud Callas, her faithful husband is waiting for her at home, who loves her more than life. But fate prepared for Mary an even more difficult test. In 1957, in Venice, at one of the social events, Maria met the Greek shipowner and millionaire Aristotle Onassis.
Then a spark did not run between them, but Maria noted to herself the imposing Greek. Their next meeting took place 2 years later. Onassis invited the opera diva and her husband to take a trip on his yacht. This was the starting point in their relationship - Onassis filed for divorce from his wife, Maria left her faithful husband, and the couple began to appear everywhere together. Mary moved to Paris to be closer to Aristotle. There was talk of a wedding, but the deceived spouse Callas did everything to prevent a divorce, delaying this process as much as he could. In addition, she and Giovanni got married in a church, and at that time it was considered indestructible - the Vatican categorically refused to annul the singer's marriage.
Aristotle and Mary began to live in a civil marriage, but it was difficult to call it a calm existence. Constant quarrels accompanied their union. In 1966, Maria found out that she was expecting a baby. Onassis was categorical - only an abortion.
Afraid of losing her love, Callas went for it and regretted the decision until the end of her life. In the meantime, she tried to spend all her time with her lover, even canceled performances, which is why she gained a reputation as a capricious diva. The disrupted performances cost a lot of money (payment of a penalty), but Maria could not be stopped. The joint torment continued for another two years, and then Callas found out that Aristotle was going to marry the former first lady of the United States, the widow, Jacqueline.
last years of life
The devastated star preferred to live alone in Paris. Her career was also coming to its logical end - her voice began to fail, her health failed. Even at the time of her youth, Maria was seized by a crisis in her life, because of which extra pounds were rapidly added, and she seemed to herself even more unattractive. In the early 1970s, she became a teacher and taught at the Juilliard School, one of the most prestigious music schools. In 1977, Maria Callas died in an apartment in Paris, all alone due to cardiac arrest. She was cremated, her ashes were scattered on the waves of the Aegean Sea, and the empty urn was placed in the columbarium at the Père Lachaise cemetery.