Maria Callas is a woman whose voice is called a phenomenon. An opera singer whose performance made and still makes the listener hold her breath, and “Casta Divo”, “Bachiana” and “Ave Maria” are still loved by fans of classical opera. After the death of Maria Callas, the famous music critic of the time, Pierre-Jean Remy, would write:

“After Callas, opera will never be the same.”

However, few people know that in addition to applause and universal adoration, the biography of Maria Callas was filled with the pain of disappointment and loss.

Childhood and youth

Maria Cecilia Callas, baptized Maria Anna Sophia Kekilia Kalogeropoulou, was born on December 2, 1923 in New York City. The birth of the girl was preceded by a tragedy in the family: the parents lost their only son, Basil. A terrible shock pushed Georges, Maria's father, to decide to move from Greece to the United States. Mary's mother, Evangelia, was carrying her third child at that time (the family already had eldest daughter Cynthia). The woman dreamed of giving birth to a boy who would replace her deceased son.

The birth of her second daughter was a blow for Evangelia: the mother refused to even look in the direction of the newborn for several days after the birth. It quickly became clear that the girl was born gifted. Maria listened to classical music from the age of three; the girl’s toys were replaced by records with opera arias. Maria Callas spent hours listening to pieces of music without feeling bored. At the age of five, the girl began to master the piano, and at eight she began taking singing lessons. Already at the age of ten, Maria impressed listeners with her extraordinary voice.

Mary's mother seemed to be trying to make up for the disappointment of giving birth to a girl, constantly insisting that she achieve perfection, deserving good attitude from the parent's side. At the age of 13, the girl participated in a popular radio show, as well as in a children's vocal competition in Chicago.

The constant demands of her mother left an indelible mark on Maria’s character: until the last hour, the singer will strive for perfection, overcoming herself and external circumstances. Sister Callas would later recall that the beautiful and talented Maria considered herself fat, mediocre and clumsy.

Her mother's dislike forced the girl to look for flaws in herself and strive to prove her own worth. This childhood trauma will remain with Callas for the rest of her life. Already famous, the woman admits to journalists:

“I am never confident in myself; I am constantly plagued by various doubts and fears.”

When Maria was 13 years old, the girl’s mother, having quarreled with her husband, took her daughters and returned to her native Athens. There, the woman made every effort to get her daughter to study at the Royal Conservatory. The catch was that admission was only allowed from the age of 16, so Maria lied about her age. Thus began the serious creative path of Maria Callas.

Music

Maria studied with pleasure, making progress. At the age of 16, the girl graduated from the conservatory, winning the main prize in the traditional conservatory graduation competition. Since then, the young diva began to earn money with her extraordinary voice. During the war years, this could not have come at a better time: the family had no money. When the girl was 19, she sang her first role in the opera Tosca. The fee at that time turned out to be royal - 65 dollars.

In 1945, Maria Callas went to New York. The meeting with his beloved father was overshadowed by the presence of the man’s new wife: she did not like Maria’s singing. The next two years were marked for Callas with constant castings and auditions in New York, Chicago and San Francisco.

Finally, in 1947, Maria was offered a contract to perform in Verona, Italy. There, triumph awaited the singer: her parts in “La Gioconda” and “Puritans” shocked the musical community. Callas was constantly invited to new roles, thanks to which Maria visited Venice, Turin, and Florence.

Italy became a new home for the woman, giving Callas recognition, admiration and a loving husband. The singer’s career was going uphill, there was no end to invitations, and photos of Maria Callas were adorned with numerous posters and posters.

In 1949, Maria performed in Argentina, in 1950 - in Mexico City. Constant travel began to have a negative impact on the diva’s health: the woman was gaining weight, which threatened to become an obstacle to further performances. However, longing for loved ones and her native Italy forced Maria to “eat up” her experiences.

Finally, returning to Italy, Maria made her debut at the iconic La Scala opera house. The woman got "Aida". The success turned out to be colossal - Callas was recognized as a brilliant singer. However, Maria’s strictest critic was still herself. The childhood fear of being rejected by her mother constantly lived inside Callas, forcing her to strive for perfection. The best reward was an invitation to the official La Scala troupe in 1951.

In 1952, Callas performed Norma at the Royal Opera House in London. 1953 is marked by “Medea” at La Scala. Unpopular until then, “Medea” becomes, as they would now say, a hit: Maria Callas’s sensual performance gave the musical work new life.

Maria Callas in the play "Norma"

Despite her stunning success, Callas suffered from constant depression. The woman was trying to lose weight, stress due to malnutrition was supplemented by tedious travel from city to city and long rehearsals. Nervous exhaustion began to take its toll, and Callas began to cancel performances.

This could not but affect public opinion: the singer gained the reputation of an eccentric and capricious woman. Canceled performances led to legal proceedings, and devastating articles in the press only aggravated Maria's stress.

The subsequent events in her personal life further undermined the reputation of Maria Callas. In 1960 and 1961, the singer performed only a few times. The diva performed her last role in the opera Norma in 1965 in Paris.

In 1970, the singer agreed to star in the film: Maria Callas was invited to play the role of Medea. The director was the brilliant Pasolini. Later the master will say about Mary:

“Here is a woman, in a sense the most modern of women, but inside her lives an ancient woman - strange, mystical, magical, with terrible internal conflicts.”

Personal life

Maria Callas's first husband was a man named Giovanni Battista Meneghini. Callas met him in Italy. Giovanni passionately loved opera, and no less passionately fell in love with Maria. Being a wealthy man, Meneghini abandoned a successful business in order to devote his life to his beloved. Meneghini was twice Callas' age, and perhaps due to the age difference, the man managed to become a lover and friend, a sensitive father and an attentive manager for his wife.

In 1949, the lovers got married in catholic church. After 11 years, this fact will become an obstacle to Mary’s union with her new lover: the Orthodox Greek Church will refuse the woman a divorce. The first years of marriage with Meneghini were happy; Maria even thought about leaving the stage, having a child and devoting her life to her family. However, this was not destined to come true.

In 1957, Maria met Aristotle Onassis, a wealthy shipowner and businessman from Greece. Two years later, doctors recommended that the singer spend more time at sea: the sea air was supposed to help the woman cope with fatigue and nervous exhaustion. So Maria meets with Onassis again, accepting an invitation to take a cruise on the billionaire’s yacht.

This trip was the last point in Callas's marriage. A passionate relationship began between Mary and Aristotle. The attractive man turned the opera diva's head, who later admitted that at times she could not breathe from her overwhelming feelings for Aristotle.

After the cruise, Maria moves to Paris to be closer to her lover. Onassis divorced his wife, ready to marry Maria, but the wedding in the Catholic Church did not allow the woman to break off her previous marriage, especially since Meneghini made a lot of efforts to postpone the divorce.

Despite the storm of feelings, Maria Callas’s personal life was not at all cloudless. In 1966, a woman became pregnant by Aristotle, but he was categorical: abortion. Maria was broken. The woman got rid of the child out of fear of losing her lover, but until the last she regretted this decision.

Discord began to brew in the relationship, the couple constantly quarreled. Maria Callas tried to keep her love alive by turning down concerts and canceling performances just to be near Aristotle. Unfortunately, as often happens, the sacrifices were in vain. The couple broke up, and in 1968 Aristotle married. After breaking up with Onassis, Maria Callas was never able to find her happiness.

Death

The departure of her lover, the end of her career and previous nervous shocks undermined Maria’s will to live and health. Last years The former star spent her life alone, not wanting to communicate with anyone.

Maria Callas died in 1977, the woman was 53 years old. Doctors will name the cause of death as cardiac arrest, which was caused by dermatomyositis (a serious disease of connective tissue and smooth muscles), diagnosed to the singer shortly before her death.

There is also a version that the death of Maria Callas was not accidental. Allegedly, the singer was poisoned by Vasso Devetzi, Maria’s friend. However, this story was not confirmed. The ashes of the diva, according to Mary's will, were scattered over the Aegean Sea.

In 2002, Franco Zeffirelli, former friend Maria, directed the film “Callas Forever.” The singer was played by the inimitable.

Maria Callas parts

• 1938 - Santuzza
• 1941 - Longing
• 1947 - Gioconda
• 1947 - Isolde
• 1948 - Turandot
• 1948 - Aida
• 1948 - Norma
• 1949 - Brunnhilde
• 1949 - Elvira
• 1951 - Elena

Fans called Maria Callas nothing less than La Divina, which translated means “divine.” Her irregular soprano gave people love - the very feeling that the singer always lacked.

Childhood

The future opera star was born into a Greek family that emigrated to America and settled in New York. A year before Maria was born, her brother died from a serious illness, so her parents wanted a boy. They even called in astrologers to help: they calculated the most suitable day for conception.

But instead of a boy, the Lord gave them a daughter, and after such a “catastrophe” the mother did not want to see the baby for a whole week. Already as an adult, Callas recalled that all parental love and the care went to Jackie - her older sister. She was slender and beautiful, and the plump younger one looked like a real ugly duckling next to her.

Maria's parents separated when she was 13 years old. The daughters stayed with their mother, and after the divorce, the three of them went to Greece. Mom wanted Maria to become an opera singer, to make a career in this field, and from an early age she forced her to perform on stage. At first, the girl resisted, accumulated resentment and quite rightly believed that her childhood had been taken away from her.

Education and the path to fame

She was unable to enter the conservatory, but her mother insisted on her own and even persuaded one of the teachers to study with Maria separately. Time passed, and the student turned into a hardworking perfectionist who devoted herself entirely to singing. This is how she remained until the end of her days.

In 1947, after performing on the outdoor stage of the Arena di Verona, Callas got her first taste of fame. The superbly performed role of Mona Lisa instantly made her popular, and from that moment on, many well-known personalities in theater circles began to invite the singer.

Including the famous conductor Tullio Serafin. In the 50s, she conquered all the world's best opera stages, but continued to strive for excellence. And not only in music. For example, long time tortured herself with different diets: she performed Gioconda with a weight of 92 kg, Norma with 80 kg, and for the part of Elizabeth she lost weight to 64. And this with a height of 171 cm!

Personal life

Back in 1947, Maria met the major Italian industrialist Giovanni Meneghini, who became her manager, friend, and husband at the same time. 2 years after their first meeting, they got married, but long-time love haunted her.

It was the wealthy shipowner Aristotle Onassis, because of whom his marriage to Meneghini ended successfully in 1959. The rich Greek showered his beloved with flowers, gave him fur coats and diamonds, but the relationship did not go well. The couple quarreled, made up, then quarreled again, and so on endlessly.

She was going to give birth to his child, and he forbade her to even think about it. In the end, everything ended very sadly for Maria. In 1963, Onassis turned his attention to Jackie Kennedy, and 5 years later he married her, leaving Callas heartbroken. Despite what happened, she continued to sing, and in 1973 she toured Europe and America with concerts.

True, now they no longer applauded her magnificent voice, but the legend, the faded star, the great and unique Maria Callas!

Sophia Cecelia Kalos (December 2, 1923 – September 16, 1977) was a Greek and then American opera singer who received worldwide recognition for her unrivaled voice.

Childhood

Maria Callas was born on December 2 in New York City, into a family of Greek immigrants. The girl's father was a military man and was blown up by a mine, just a few weeks before the birth of the child. Over the years, the mother worked as a teacher at school, and also tried with all her might to teach her daughter musical art- something that I myself dreamed about at one time, but could not learn due to the difficult situation in the family.

Thus, young Maria was taken to theaters from early childhood and taught to play the piano. By the way, the girl had an excellent ear for music, so the lessons were easy for her, and the process brought great pleasure.

Initially, the mother took the girl to a music school located in New York itself, where the family lived. However, urban education at that time was not so good, so the caring parent dreamed of returning to her historical homeland, where her daughter could become not only a professional musician, but also a very famous person.

However, such an opportunity presented itself only in 1936, and the mother, having promised the child a great future in the musical field, happily moved to Athens, where she sent Maria to a specialized school for talented youth.

Youth

At the age of 14, the young talent entered the Athens Conservatory, where another emigrant, this time from Spain, Elvira de Hidalgo, became her teacher. Since the woman was immersed in music and opera singing throughout her life, she knew her business very well, so from the very first days she saw enormous potential in the girl.

However, the dreams of the girl and her mother about a successful career were overshadowed by the outbreak of World War II, because of which Athens, like many other cities, turned out to be an occupied territory, and only a few managed to go beyond its borders. Maria found herself in a difficult situation. On the one hand, Callas’s influential friends could take her abroad, but in that case her mother would remain in Athens. And since this was the only relative, the girl decides to stay with her mother until the last. In the same year, 1941, Maria Callas made her debut on stage as an opera performer.

Career

As soon as World War II ends, Maria and her mother immediately return to New York, where the girl plans to start a serious career. But here begins what she least imagined - the first failures. Despite the fact that literally every second resident in Athens knew the surname Callas, in New York she was one of the many aspiring opera singers who searched for themselves every day by turning to theaters.

Having decided that she will not give up her dream so easily and simply, Maria also begins to look for a place for herself where she could show her true talent and at the same time learn something from professionals. But both the Metropolitan Opera refuses her, citing her sufficient weight, and the Lyric Opera, for the revival of which the singer herself so hoped.

As a result, in 1947, Maria Callas began performing at the Arena di Verona, where she was taken with great reluctance due to her difficult, very stubborn and secretive character. However, from the very first days, the directors realize their mistakes and unanimously begin to assert that she has incredible talent. First, she takes part in the opera La Giaconda, followed by roles in the plays Hades and Norma.

Another successful work is two parallel parts of operas by Wagner and Bellini, which were absolutely incompatible for one performer due to their complexity. But Maria copes successfully, after which she receives first world recognition from audiences and music critics. And having performed in La Scala in 1950, she forever receives the title of “Queen of Italian prima donnas.”

Personal life

Exists erroneous opinion that throughout her difficult but extremely productive life, Maria Callas avoided male attention and was, rather, a feminist, and therefore never married anyone. However, this is not at all true.

She met her first husband during a tour of Italy. He was a local industrialist, therefore, thanks to his connections, Callas could freely perform in absolutely all establishments. After a few months of a whirlwind romance, industrialist Giovanni Battista Meneghini sells his entire business and completely surrenders himself into the hands of an opera singer, with whom he was fascinated literally from the first seconds of meeting him.

In 1957, while celebrating the birthday of journalist Elsa Maxwell, Maria meets the incredibly charming and luxurious Aristotle Onassis. Giovanni, who at that time was already the opera singer’s husband, fades into the background for her.

The couple begins to quarrel, and a few months later Callas files for divorce, hoping for a future together with Onassis. But then the second serious setback in her life happens - already being a divorced woman, she loses contact with Aristotle for some time, and when he appears in the city again, the woman becomes aware of his recent marriage to Jacqueline Kennedy. So Maria Callas is left alone, with her hopes destroyed and music as a consolation.

Name: Sofia Cecilia Kalos (baptized Maria Anna Sofia Kekilia Kalogeropoulou)

State: USA

Field of activity: opera

Greatest Achievement: one of the most famous and great opera singers of the 20th century

It is probably not an exaggeration to say that the name of Maria Callas is familiar even to those who have never been to the opera and have not heard her marvelous voice (even in a recording). Her brilliant career was a kind of payment for the failures in her personal life that filled the singer’s life.

Biography

The future star was born in New York on December 2, 1923 in a family of immigrants from Greece. Unfortunately, even before birth, while in her mother’s womb, Maria seemed to feel that even for the love of her parents she would have to fight. While living in Greece, the parents of the future singer experienced a tragedy - the death of their son. A daughter, Cynthia, was already growing up in the family. Evangelia, Mary's mother, was pregnant when Georgios Kalogeropoulos, the father of the family, decided to move from sunny Greece to the United States, away from bitter memories. The family settled in New York.

The parents were really looking forward to the birth of their son to replace Basil, but another girl was born. This was a real blow for the mother. During the first days after giving birth, the mother refused to even look at the baby, but over time, the parents reconciled and began raising their daughter.

Growing up, adults began to understand that the girl was growing unusually talented. Maria began listening to classical music at the age of 3, at five she began playing the piano, and at eight she began studying vocals with a teacher. In addition to music education, the mother devoted a lot of time to books and constantly took her daughter to the library.

In 1936, Maria and her mother travel to Greece to continue their education in their historical homeland. The girl enters the Athens Conservatory, where Elvira De Hidalgo, a then famous opera singer with an amazing coloratura soprano, becomes her mentor. Maria's debut as a singer took place in 1941. It was Puccini's opera Tosca.

Mother was very demanding in relation to Maria, constantly criticizing and achieving perfection in everything. Subsequently, this was reflected in Callas’s future life - she will always strive for excellence in performance, no matter what the circumstances. Maria had a bright appearance, but her mother’s demands nurtured an inferiority complex in her - she thought she was ugly, clumsy, fat, and had no voice. Even when life and fan recognition proved the opposite.

In 1945, Maria Callas returned to America. Her real creative journey begins, but so far without success - her performances were accompanied by a series of refusals. Finally, in 1947 in Verona, on the stage of the amphitheater, spectators for the first time could see a new star in the opera La Gioconda, led by conductor Tullio Serafin. It is her acquaintance with him that Maria associates with the beginning of her dizzying career, because it is he who becomes her guiding star and provides roles in “Aida”, “Valkyrie”, “The Puritans” and other opera performances.

Just 2 years later, in 1949, Maria went on her first big tour to Latin America, where she also met with success. But it was Italy that became her new home, which gave her the opportunity to perform. In 1950, she sang at the legendary La Scala, which by opera standards is the height of prestige and recognition.

Italy also gave Maria the opportunity to change her personal life - in Verona she met businessman Giovanni Meneghini, who was a big fan of opera. Despite the significant age difference - almost 20 years - Maria accepted his marriage proposal, and in 1949 they got married. Giovanni becomes the star's producer and Maria's most devoted fan. It would seem that this is happiness - full auditoriums applaud Callas, a faithful husband is waiting for her at home, who loves her more than life itself. But fate prepared an even more difficult test for Mary. In 1957, in Venice, at one of the social events, Maria met the Greek shipowner and millionaire Aristotle Onassis.

Then there was no spark between them, but Maria noted to herself the impressive Greek. Their next meeting took place 2 years later. Onassis invited the opera diva and her husband to take a trip on his yacht. This became the starting point in their relationship - Onassis filed for divorce from his wife, Maria left her faithful husband, and the couple began to appear everywhere together. Maria moved to Paris to be closer to Aristotle. There was talk about a wedding, but the deceived husband Callas did everything to prevent a divorce, delaying this process as soon as he could. In addition, she and Giovanni got married in a church, and in those days this was considered inviolable - the Vatican categorically refused to annul the singer’s marriage.

Aristotle and Mary began to live in a civil marriage, but it could hardly be called a calm existence. Constant quarrels accompanied their union. In 1966, Maria found out that she was expecting a child. Onassis was categorical - only abortion.

Afraid of losing her love, Callas did it and regretted it for the rest of her life. the decision taken. In the meantime, she tried to spend all her time with her lover, even canceling performances, which is why she gained a reputation as a capricious diva. The disrupted performances cost a lot of money (payment of penalties), but Maria could not be stopped. The joint torment continued for another two years, and then Callas learned that Aristotle was going to marry the former first lady of the United States, widow Jacqueline.

last years of life

The devastated star preferred to live alone in Paris. Her career was also coming to its logical end - her voice began to give out, her health was failing. Even in her youth, Maria was eating up a crisis in her life, because of which the extra pounds were rapidly added, and she seemed even more unattractive to herself. In the early 1970s, she became a teacher, teaching at the Juilliard School, one of the most prestigious music schools. In 1977, Maria Callas died in an apartment in Paris, completely alone due to cardiac arrest. She was cremated, her ashes were scattered on the waves of the Aegean Sea, and the empty urn was placed in a columbarium at the Père Lachaise cemetery.

Name the greatest opera singer of the twentieth century, Maria Callas has always been surrounded by legends. All her life she gave rise to gossip: both when she managed to lose weight from 92 to 64 kg, and she kept her weight loss methods secret, and when, while still married, she went on a sea cruise with a Greek billionaire Aristotle Onassis, and when she lost her voice and left the stage, and when she lived out her days completely alone. The death of Maria Callas left no fewer unanswered questions than her life: there was a version that the singer was poisoned, and in order to hide traces of the crime, the body was cremated.

Maria Anna Sofia Cecilia Kalogeropoulou was an unwanted child - her parents were expecting a boy, and after the birth of her daughter, the mother refused to even look at her for several days. Soon the parents separated, and the mother and daughters returned from America to their homeland, Greece. At the age of 5, Maria began taking piano lessons, and at the age of 8 she began studying vocals. She continued her studies at the conservatory, where experienced teachers immediately recognized her talent.

On the big stage, Maria made her debut at the Athens Theater - she sang a part in Puccini's Tosca. She performed in Greece until the end of World War II, but real popularity came to her in 1947, after her appearance at the Verona Opera Festival. Then the famous Italian conductor Tullio Serafin drew attention to her and invited her to the Venice Opera House. In Italy, fate brought the singer together with an opera fan, wealthy industrialist Giovanni Batista Meneghini, who soon became her husband.

Maria Callas's path to success was endless work on herself. Outwardly, she managed to change almost beyond recognition. Maria recorded the results: “Gioconda 92 kg; Aida 87 kg; Norm 80 kg; Medea 78 kg; Lucia 75 kg; Alcesta 65 kg; Elizabeth 64 kg.” At the same time, she never talked about ways to lose weight, which gave rise to various speculations - for example, about surgical intervention.

In 1957, at a ball in Venice, Maria Callas met her fellow countryman, billionaire Aristotle Onassis. This meeting became fatal for her. Aristotle invited her and her husband on a sea cruise on his luxurious yacht Christina. Causing shock among those around her, Maria and Aristotle retired to his apartment.

For the sake of Aristotle, Mary left her husband, but he was in no hurry to divorce his wife. In addition, he deprived her of the opportunity to give birth to a child - the billionaire already had heirs, and he categorically did not want children. Many years later, fate severely punished him for this: his son died in a car accident, and his daughter died from a drug overdose. In the end, Onassis married Jacqueline Kennedy, and Maria was left alone. “First I lost weight, then I lost my voice, and now I lost Onassis,” she told reporters besieging her.

The last time Callas appeared on stage was in 1974. After that, she practically did not leave her apartment until her death in 1977. According to the official version, Maria Callas died of a heart attack. But another version was widespread among her fans. It was said that Maria was poisoned by her pianist Vassa Devetzi. Allegedly, she wanted to take possession of Callas’s property, and for this purpose she protected her from communicating with people, added tranquilizers to her medications, aggravating her depression. However, this version has not been proven. According to Maria's husband, Giovanni Battista Meneghini, the singer committed suicide.