Maria Callas… the divine celebrated in Italy
Art, love, music…that’s all I’ve lived for.
No harm have I done to anyone living.
Caring…forgiving…sharing whatever I could with the poor.
If I start singing along at the top of my lungs with this famous piece from Tosca, it’s because I’m imagining myself as the divine Callas. Unfortunately, my voice is not as crystal clear and tends to fail a bit.
This year is the 30th anniversary of the death of Maria Callas and her portrait will appear on 2007 commemorative stamps. There will also be many commemorative events in her honor.
Just a few days ago, Carla Fracci, the world famous prima donna, opened in Jesi, Italy with “From Paris to Milan: a Vestal’s Adventure”, a retrospective dedicated to Callas playing at the Gaspare Spontini Museum House, which was sponsored by the Scala Theatre of Milan.
What a coincidence! This year is also the bicentennial anniversary of the first showing of Spontini’s opera “La Vestale”, in which the divine Maria with her golden voice played the leading role of Giulia.
In Venice, the exhibition “Callas: The Encounter, the Enchantment” - showing Callas’ costumes and memorabilia from worldwide stages - has just closed.
On 16 September, the Fenice Theatre had dedicated a concert to her unforgettable voice honoring the arias which made the Greek soprano “an immortal person embodied by opera”, according to maestro Riccardo Muti.
There will also be many exceptional events at the Scala Theatre of Milan: the world première of Philippe Kohly’s documentary film and the opening of “Stage Costumes”, which will show in the Theatre Museum until 31 January 2008.
Would you like to contribute to immortalizing Maria Callas? I’ve already voted for renaming the Palais Garnier in Paris after her.
