Name: Maria

Surname: Callas



Maria Callas, stage name of Maria Anna Cecilia Sofia Kalos, contraction of the original surname Kalogheropoulou (New York, 2 December 1923 – Paris, 16 September 1977), was an American soprano of Greek origin, naturalized Italian and subsequently Greek. Equipped with a voice with a non-homogeneous timbre and great volume, Maria Callas developed masterful control of the voice, notable extension and agility thanks to the bel canto training received from the soprano Elvira de Hidalgo. Combined with her great musicality and dramatic nature, this strong technical background made her the architect of the rediscovery of the Italian repertoire of the first half of the nineteenth century together with the conductors Tullio Serafin, Antonino Votto and Nicola Rescigno, in particular Vincenzo Bellini and Gaetano Donizetti . Following the historic revivals of the roles written for Maria Malibran and Giuditta Pasta, critics reintroduced the term dramatic soprano d'agility. We remember Rossini's Armida and Il Turco in Italia, Bellini's The Pirate, Donizetti's Anna Bolena, Gluck's Alceste and Iphigenia in Tauris, Spontini's La Vestale, Verdi's Macbeth, Cherubini's Medea, often celebrated as historical performances by critics. Her artistic success and subsequent media exposure due to her extra-theatrical social interactions have built a myth around her, giving her the nickname of Divine.

Autograph type: Autograph on photograph