Maria Callas, (born Cecilia Sophia Anna Kalogeropoulou). She was a New York-born Greek soprano, one of the most renowned and influential opera singers of the 20th century. Her musical and dramatic talents led to her being hailed as La Divina. Many critics praised her bel canto technique, wide-ranging voice and dramatic interpretations. Her repertoire ranged from classical opera seria to the bel canto operas of Donizetti, Bellini and Rossini, and to the works of Verdi and Puccini, and early in her career, to the music dramas of Wagner.
Timeline:
Dec 2, 1923. Maria Callas is born in New York, U.S.A.
Sept 28, 1937. She moves back to Greece with her mother, and begins training with Madam Elvira Heldago, National Conservatory.
Sept 28, 1940. Her auditions haven't been going as well until she is asked to audition for the General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera. He offers her the leading roles in two productions of the 1946/1947 season. Maria turns down the contract.
November 1, 1940. She makes her professional stage debut in Boccaccio. (age 17)
1941. Makes her debut as Tosca, in Athens.
1947. Earns wide acclaim singing Gioconda at the Verona Arena.
January 19, 1949. I Puritani is performed in Venice shortly
after, starring the Italian soprano Margherita Carosio as Elvira. One
night, Maria begins sight-reading Elvira's music as Carosio falls ill.
Conductor Serafin's wife hears Maria. She is offered the role of Elvira.
April 21, 1949. She marries Giovanni Battista Meneghini, a man almost 30 years her senior.
December 7, 1950. La Scala, the famous Milan theatre offers her a leading role. She opens the 1950/1951 season with I Vespri Siciliani, a success with good reviews.
July 1, 1952. She signs an exclusive recording contract with Walter Legge, EMI director.
1952 & 1956. Her early repertory includes Wagner but soon became identified with bel canto roles, singing Norma at her London (1952) and New York (1956).
December 19, 1958. Maria Callas performs an aria from her signature role, Bellini's druid priestess Norma, with the Orchestre de l'Opera National de Paris and Georges Sebastian. Recorded live at the Palais Garnier on the 19th of December 1958, this concert marked the soprano's debut at the Paris Opera, a major social event for Parisians and for which Callas donned her most elegant couture and a million dollars' worth of jewelry. (Maria Callas sings "Casta Diva" (Bellini: Norma, Act 1). Youtube, uploaded by Warner Classics. Accessed December 19, 2015.)
Maria Callas interpreting Bellini's Norma, "Casta Diva". Act I.
Orchestra of Teatro alla Scala, Milan
Tullio Serafin, Conductor.
Recorded in the Cinema Metropol, Milan, 1954. (Uploaded by Dennis Tschirner. Accessed December 2, 2015.)
January 1, 1942. Nazi Germany invades Greece in April 1941, under
Italian occupation. This day she is asked to perform in Puccini's Tosca at the Athens Opera.