7 Deaths of Maria Callas - Greek National Opera (2024)

FAQs

What is the meaning of the 7 deaths of Maria Callas? ›

The “7 deaths” in the title of this opera refer to the deaths of 7 different opera heroines. These were roles that Maria Callas sung extensively throughout her career.

7 Deaths of Maria Callas takes us through seven arias from works by the composers Bellini, Bizet, Donizetti, Puccini and Verdi. These arias were all performed by Callas herself throughout her career. In the opera, these seven arias are sung live in the theatre by seven singers.

In September 1977, she suffered a heart attack which was her unfortunate cause of death.

The opera 7 Deaths of Maria Callas lasts 1 hour and 30 minutes without intermission.

Callas left her $8m estate to her estranged mother, Evangelina, and her sister Jackie by default. But, before they could collect, Meneghini appeared with a will signed in 1954 leaving everything to him.

In her book, Miss Stassinopoulos states that Miss Callas regretfully had an abortion in 1966 at the insistence of her longtime lover, Aristotle Onassis; and that shortly before his death in 1975, Mr.

Their turbulent and passionate affair was flawed because Callas wanted to settle down and have children, but Onassis wasn't ready to take that step with her. Eventually, he married someone else. Tragically, her life was dogged with ill health, and she died alone in 1977.

Callas' own explanation, given in 1977 shortly before she died, was not dissimilar: “I never lost my voice, but I lost strength in my diaphragm. Because of those organic complaints, I lost my courage and boldness... The result was that I overstrained my voice, and that caused it to wobble.”

'' In 1959, Callas abruptly abandoned her husband for Aristotle Onassis. To his dying day, Meneghini never understood why, nor did he ever recover from the shock. Deeply wounded by his wife's inexplicable desertion, Meneghini went into seclusion and rarely made public comments, even after Callas's death in 1977.

In the early years of her career, Callas was a heavy woman; in her own words, "Heavy—one can say—yes I was; but I'm also a tall woman, 5' 8+1⁄2" (1.74 m), and I used to weigh no more than 200 pounds (90 kilograms)."

What was so great about Maria Callas? ›

Soon Callas's extraordinary timbre, the flexibility of her voice and the fanatical dedication of her performances were creating a sensation.

Celebrated soprano Maria Callas dies in Paris at the age of 53. Born in New York City in 1923 to Greek immigrants, Callas demonstrated her talent for singing at an early age.

Her beautiful captivating voice that had such a magnificent presence on stage and the intense emotional notes that she carried out altered simple dramatic performances into serious and entrancing dramatic showpieces.

Callas was cremated and her ashes were initially kept in the columbarium at Père Lachaise Cemetery, but were stolen. After they were recovered, Callas' ashes was scattered into the Aegean Sea from the Greek coast, as had been the star soprano's wish.

Callas earned the sobriquet "La Divina" over a relatively brief singing career that projected her technical brilliance, passion and expressive flair to the world. She also bore the crushing pressures of that status, and was just 53 when she died of a heart attack at her Paris home.