'This woman is a miracle!' Elisabeth Schwarzkopf's exclamation still resonates a century after Maria Callas's birth, celebrated this December. Recent years have seen the continuing apotheosis of the singer dubbed 'La Divina' during her lifetime. The mounting tributes are testament to the enduring breadth and depth of the Callas legend.
Hundreds of books in dozens of languages explore every detail of a complex, eventful life. Recordings, good and bad, continue to be rediscovered, remastered, repackaged and rereleased, as every advance in technology attempts to capture the 'real', unvarnished voice of Callas. Exhibitions abound, devoted to the photographs, costumes, fashion and jewellery that show Callas, after her notoriously punishing regime of weight loss, in perfect tune with the style of the 1950s and '60s.
CALLAS'S LIFE AND ART HAVE been captured in plays, films and documentaries, portrayed by performers as diverse as Meryl Streep, Fanny Ardant and most recently Marina Abramović, whose 7 Deaths of Maria Callas toured the world before arriving at English National Opera earlier this season. In this work, the celebrated performance artist portrays Callas on her deathbed in Paris, revisiting her life through the 'alter egos' she inhabited on stage, exploring the notion of immortality through art.
This story is from the December 2023 edition of BBC Music Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the December 2023 edition of BBC Music Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
FESTIVAL GUIDE 2024
It's that time of year again... Spring has finally sprung, and along with the promised sunshine we welcome a brand-new season of glorious summer music.
The mighty Sampson
As soprano Carolyn Sampson turns 50, she tells Ashutosh Khandekar about the development of her voice through a remarkable catalogue of recordings
Music to die for
From wrathful Verdi to ethereal Fauré, there are many different ways to compose a Requiem, as Jeremy Pound discovers
Avian anthems
From Vivaldi to Messiaen, composers have often been inspired by birdsong. But accurately mimicking chirrups and tweets in music is far more difficult than it sounds, finds Tom Stewart
THE BIG 400!
BBC Music Magazine has reached its 400th issue! To celebrate, we look back over eight milestone issues since the very firstin 1992
Northern light
From her first piano lesson, composer Errollyn Wallen has lived and breathed music; and though inspired by a range of styles, her composing is a deeply personal expression, as she tells Kate Wakeling
Felix Mendelssohn Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor
Jo Talbot celebrates the Mozart of the 19th century’ as she searches out the finest recordings of this masterful work for piano, violin and cello
Antonio Salieri
Forget the hate-filled murderer of Mozart, says Alexandra Wilson; the real Salieri was an opera composer of considerable standing
Aix-en-Provence France
Rebecca Franks breathes in the spring air in the popular southern city, where the music making sparkles and the sun always shines
Composing is like breathing. It's just something I do, like a hobby, really...or an addiction
The world's most performed classical composer, a small, black-suited figure with a mop of white hair and mutton-chop whiskers, stands on the huge Brucknerhaus stage, almost invisible among the sea of musicians.