Maria Callas Biography

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FAMOUS WOMEN AND BEAUTY FEATURING: Maria Callas Biography December 2, 1923 – September 16, 1977 Maria Callas, opera singer

Maria’s sister Jackie was six years older. Slim and strikingly beautiful, Jackie had a strong resemblance to her mother. Growing in the shadow of Jackie's beauty was not easy for the younger Maria. She wished she looked just like her mother and sister. Instead, she ended up having many complexes about her own appearance. Although Maria always had a pretty face, it would take long years for her to acknowledge it. To make her problems even worse, Maria suffered badly from overweight. The same as with her appearance, it would take many years before she managed to figure out the way to keep her figure slim.

At school, Maria was a loner. She was not allowed by her ambitious mother to socialize with children after classes nor invite kids to her house. In her free time, Maria studied and practiced. Her classmates would remember her as a very quiet child, who only became expressive at the times when she had to perform on stage.

Maria loved music. At the age of thirteen she entered the competition "Major Bowes Amateur Hour". To be qualified for the contest, her mother raised her age to sixteen. At that time, the judges or this competition were not able to recognize her talent.

Maria Callas Biography – moving to Greece

Maria’s father opened his own pharmacy at Thirty-seventh Street, but his enterprise was doomed. The store was opened few months before the Wall Street crash, and the Depression killed this business. George Kalogeropoulos was not ambitious and he soon got over his failure. His wife, however, was not be able to accept the new financial status, and after some time Evangelia decided to move with her children to Greece. Her husband would remain until the end of his life in the United States.

Maria’s love and sympathy always remained with her father, whom she adored. According to her, she had always been his favorite child. His failures and her fame would never change their relationship.

Maria Callas Biography – years at Conservatory

In Athens, Maria was admitted to the Athens Conservatory. She was too young, but her mother added two years to her daughter’s age. Callas was the youngest student the conservatory had ever had. Maria Trivella, and then two years later, Elvira de Hidalgo, became the first Maria’s teachers in Athens. In the later years, Elvira Hidalgo described her first impression of Maria:

"Maria was sixteen when I first saw her. It was laughable to think this youngster wanted to become an opera singer. She was very tall and fat… I heard a violent cascade of sound not yet in control, but dramatic and moving. I had secretly been looking and waiting for that voice for some time. It was as if it were an appointment with destiny."

On October 28, 1940, the war had been declared between Italy and Greece. The Germans invaded Greece in April of the following year.

Maria Callas Biography – opera singer

As the war developed, Ms. De Hidalgo managed to place Maria as a full-time opera singer at the opera. For the first time in her life, Maria could earn a modest salary for her roles. In August 1942, the nineteen-years-old Maria sang her first Tosca. Her performance received an ovation and earned praises for her voice and acting abilities.

Myopia and the fact that she could not possibly wear her glasses during the performance, was one of her first challenges onstage. Maria could not see the conductor's baton, therefore she had to memorize every note on a score. In the end, learning to cope with her disability had turned it into a powerful asset: it allowed her to move and act more freely onstage.

At that time, German and Italian occupying troops were the supporting forces of the Athens Opera House. Maria worked hard, and she did not let war and rivalries interfere with her career.

Her talent, determination and professional intuition brought her the first admirers. According to the opera reviews of 1944, Maria sang with such an emotion that the audience burst into endless ovation in the end of her performance.

In October 1944, Greece was liberated. Shortly thereafter, the civil war broke out. When the Royal Theatre reopened its season after the civil war, in 1945, Maria Callas was no longer the leading soprano. Her jealous collegues removed her from all the leading parts which gradually lead to her decision to leave Athens.

A letter from Maria’s father urging her come back to America, was the important reason for her not to follow the advice of her mentor Elvira de Hidalgo to look for the professional opportunities in Italy.

Maria Callas Biography – return to America

"I am an American with the mentality of an emigree," said Maria years after. The joy of re-uniting with her father, godfather and old friends, was soon replaced with the feeling of professional emtiness. She was unknown, provincial, fat and agressive. She visited endless auditions to become even more determined each time she was rejected. Her dream to work for Metropolitan Opera was not destined to come true. At least not at that time…

Nevertheless, as ever before, Maria worked relentlessly on her voice, never missing a chance of another audition. When Giovanni Zenatello, the legendary tenor and the artistic director of the Verona Festival, came to New York to search for the new voices, Maria was one of those who came for an audition. Zenatello was so deeply impressed with her voice that he insisted on singing with Maria himself. He offered Maria six performances of Gioconda in Verona, Italy, the offer which she quickly accepted.

Maria Callas Biography in books

Maria Callas Biography – Italy.

It was the end of all her hopes. On August 1, 1947, "La Gioconda" opened Verona’s first opera season after the war. Opera was well received, but Maria Callas was not noticed. More importantly, she had not succeeded in making any more professional engagements to follow after "Gioconda".

In these dark days for Callas, there was a person who was truly intrigued with her voice and who wanted to help. Mr. Meneghini was a gentleman well-known in business and musical circles of Verona. Apart from his construction business, his passion was opera. Having heard Maria’s unusual voice, he did his best to support keeping her in Italy. Meeting another important person who subsequently played an important role in her career, was a matter of chance…

Maria Callas Biography – Tullio Serafin

Tullio Serafin had a reputation of a coach who discovered and formed voices. He wanted to stage Wagner’s "Tristan and Isolde", and his problem was to find a singer who could sing Isolde. He offered a six-months training to prepare Callas for the role. Meneghini was readily available to settle all the practical and financial matters for her.

Under the guidance of Serafin, Maria's voice significantly improved. Her success in "Tristan and Isolde" had made a powerful beginning of her subsequent successful years in opera. Later, Maria would often say that after her teacher Hidalgo, Serafin was the one who made her.

Maria Callas Biography – professional qualities

By then, Maria had a reputation of being an exceptional professional. Her willpower, energy and enormous demands she made to her voice and body, fascinated everyone who knew her. Her voice and personality were overpowering. Inspite of being quite big at that time, she never looked clumsy. The gracefulness of her characters on stage and her acting were so fascinating that the public forgot about her shape. She became her characters, and her singing and actions seemed so natural that the whole theatre stood up at the end of her performance.

Maria Callas Biography – marriage and work

On April 21, 1949, Maria Callas was married to Battista Meneghini. With love and devotion of her husband, Maria accepted readily the heavy artistic commitments. In 1948-1949 she sang eleven demanding roles, some of them with different vocal tessituras. Maria’s wide-ranging voice and her musicality were so perfect that some specialists called it "almost frightening".

Other experts pointed out that, until Maria Callas came along, some operas had been abandoned because it was impossible to find profficient singers for the roles.

Maria Callas Biography – from prima donna to style icon

Until 1952 Maria Callas had been a prima donna loved for her performances, not for her looks. Media attention to her figure and speculations about the diets she was supposed to follow, had made her weight problem even more urgent than ever.

It was reported that she had been trying various diets and body treatments, however up to 1952 her efforts to reduce her weight and change her fashion style had remained not successful.

Then, in the period between 1952-1955 she lost 65 pounds as a result of a severe diet. Her body changed, and so did her state of mind. She, who had never been suitable for wearing designer clothes, became a style icon herself.

Maria Callas Biography – fashion and style

She became a client of Dior and Biki Bouyeure. Alain Reynaud, the son-in-law of Biki Bouyeure, had become an important fashion advisor and designer for the diva. He taught her everything: the rules of color, choosing her outfits, walking on high heels, knowing how to drape a shawl… According to Reynaud, Maria’s greatest asset was her ability to listen carefully and apply everything she had learned. Until her death, Alain Reynaud remained Callas’ trusted friend and designer.

Maria Callas Biography – fame

Her image change had transfered Maria Callas into one of the most beautiful opera singers ever. Her popularity had increased dramatically. People idolized her, and Maria felt obliged to give them her talent and affection in return. After her stage performances she often to gave second performances in her dressing room. Her energy seemed boundless, and she looked radiant. The fans followed her every step. She was also known as one of the few opera singers who never refused to sing when asked on informal occasions. She just started singing at once, without any warm-ups. "It is so tiring to be with people," Maria Callas later admitted to John Ardoin, "because they all see me as a goddess, so I have to be a goddess for them."

A big scandal in 1958 in the Rome Opera altered her attitude to the public. The performance of "Norma" was attended by the president of Italy. Maria was not well, but she felt that she did not have any other option than to sing. She finished the first act with difficulties, and realized that she could not continue. She announced that she had to cancel the performance due to high fever. The enraged crowd demanded refunds, shouting: "Callas get out of Rome!" Although Callas personally apologized to the President and the public, it did not save her reputation, and the story became a national scandal.

"The public can be so cruel. They… neither forgive nor forget your failures," Maria Callas often said to her friends afterwards.

Maria Callas Biography – marriage problems

In 1950’s Maria Callas became an international celebrity. Her life style had changed, and her vision of life reflected it. After several happy years of marriage, the period when all the financial matters had been fully entrusted to her husband, she started noticing his possessiveness in professional matters and learned that he had made many investments in his own name.

At the time Callas met Onassis in 1957, her bond with Meneghini was not strong any more. The first signs of problem with her voice frightened Callas, and she wanted to retire. According to her husband, she could not afford a retirement, because her money had been blocked in long-term investments.

Maria Callas Biography – relationship with Onassis

Onassis was instantly drawn to unattainable Callas. They had a lot in common: their background, tastes, their magnetic personalities. Finally Maria fell in love and it was all that mattered to her. She did not feel guilty for breaking up Onassis marriage. Neither did she feel responsible for breaking her husband’s heart. Callas felt she just followed her destiny. And the media followed her everywhere.

The relationship of Callas and Onassis was intense and complex. Onassis often mocked her art and her personal insecurity in the presence of other people. However, even after the nasty breakup with her and his subsequent marriage to Jackie Kennedy, Onassis still remained a very special person for Callas until the end of her life.

Maria Callas Biography – problems with voice and retirement.

Despite her infrequent appearances in opera, Maria’s popularity had increased. On the other hand, her problems with voice became even more obvious. Some experts blamed her weight loss for these problems. Others pointed out reasonably, that Callas disregarded the rules of opera singer’s discipline when she busied herself with intensive social life.

Finally, in 1965, Callas retired from opera. According to her friend, she took this decision after she had understood that she could not sing "Norma" again.

Maria Callas Biography – death

Her breakup with Onassis and his marriage to Jacqueline Kennedy had been a terrible blow to Maria. She felt betrayed and suffered a lot. However, her relationship with Onassis continued until his death in 1975.

Maria Callas died on September 16, 1977, in her apartment in Paris, as a result of heart failure. Although her life and her career had a tragic end, her artistic genius made her one of the most distinguished opera divas ever.

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