Maria Callas

Life Biography of Maria Callas

Maria Callas, whose real name was Cecilia Sophia Anna Maria Kalogeropoulos was born in New York on December 2, 1923 as the daughter of Greek immigrants.Due to economic hardship for her family, she returned to Greece with his mother in 1937. She enrolled at the Conservatory of Athens to study with the Elvira Hidalgo, a renowned soprano and an excellent teacher.

Maria Callas made ​​her debut in 1941 with the work of Puccini's Tosca at the Opera House of Athens a role she would interpret on several occasions, and with which she began her farewell to the stage.
sang in Athens for several years before his Italian debut Ponchielli La Gioconda in Verona in 1947. This production of La Gioconda was conducted by Tullio Serafin , who became his musical mentor.


In the early days of her career, Maria Callas was a great variety of repertoire, including strong roles as Isolde in Wagner's opera, Tristan and Isolde, but soon forgot these works focus on Italian opera, particularly Bel Canto in the works of Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti and Verdi, in the first place.

In 1949, Maria Callas met Giovanni Meneghini, whom he married. Giovanni Meneghini with Tullio Serafin guided his career. They were married for ten years.

She made ​​her debut at La Scala in Milan in 1950, with the representation of Aida. His first appearance was in New York in 1956, representing a Bellini opera Norma, a role that became his specialty.

Maria Callas was always keen to revive operas had been forgotten, representing forgotten works of Cherubini, Gluck, Haydn and Spontini. She worked with some of the most important directors and orchestras of the time, highlighting Luchino Visconti, Leonard Bernstein, Carlo Maria Giulini, Herbert von Karajan. She also developed a musical relationship with many singers, especially the tenor Giuseppe di Stefano and Tito Gobbi baritone, appearing frequently on stage and in recordings. Maria Callas was extremely self-critical and moody and had frequent changes to business owners and managers of theaters.

In 1959, Maria Callas met Greek millionaire Aristotle Onassis, leaving her husband, Giovanni Meneghini. She had a brief retirement during the relationship, but when he came on stage, his voice had obvious signs of decay. In 1965 held its last representation in Tosca at Covent Garden in London . At that time she was 41.Three years later, Aristotle Onassis left Callas for Jacqueline Kennedy.

During the last decade of her life, she lived almost a recluse in Paris. He made ​​appearances with small di Stefano and gave a series of classes in Juilliard School in New York between 1971 and 1972. Maria Callas died in Paris on September 16, 1977. The cause of death was never fully determined.