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Maria Callas [a] Commendatore OMRI [1] (born Maria Anna Cecilia Sofia Kalogeropoulos; [b] December 2, 1923 – September 16, 1977) was an American-born Greek soprano [2] who was one of the most renowned and influential opera singers of the 20th century. Many critics praised her bel canto technique, wide-ranging voice and dramatic interpretations.
May 7, 2021 · John Franks/Getty Images. Maria Callas lost over 80 pounds between 1953 and 1954. Many have likened the transformation of the obese singer into an elegant and svelte prima donna to that of the Ugly Duckling, including Paul Wink in his book, "Prima Donna: The Psychology of Maria Callas."
- Engrid Barnett
Oct 10, 2023 · Elsewhere, her husband blamed the hormonal changes caused by early menopause, and others, including world-renowned soprano Joan Sutherland and many, many critics, attributed Callas’ vocal changes to her 36kg weight loss. Maria Callas with close friend and colleague Tito Gobbi, performing together in ‘Tosca’. Picture: Getty.
- Her Family Was Toxic
- Her Mother Treated Her Horribly
- Her Family Played Favorites
- Her Mother Forced Her Into Singing
- She Was A Child Prodigy
- She Was A Teenage Workaholic
- She Made Fast Enemies
- Her Co-Stars Tried to Ruin Her
- She Was “God-Given”
- Her Voice Was Ugly
Maria Callas had beginnings worthy of one of her operas. Born in December 1923, her parents George and Litsa were Greek immigrants to New York hoping to make a better life for themselves. Sadly, they were doomed from the start: While George was laid-back and unintellectual, Litsa was obsessed with becoming an influential socialite. By the time they...
When Litsa was pregnant with Maria, she had just lost a young son, Vassilis, from meningitis, and she was desperately hoping for another boy to fill the void.When she realized she’d had Maria, her response was bone-chilling. The woman was so crushed at the thought of a girl that no one could get her to even lookat Maria for the first four days of h...
For a while, Litsa continued to ignore Maria, preferring her older, prettier sister Jackie. But when Maria turned three, the family began to notice that their humble little girl had one big voice. So big, in fact, that Litsa began to see dollar signs and society columns whenever she looked at her daughter. Suddenly, she went from neglect to smother...
For the formative years of her life, Maria’s mother virtually forced the girl to sing for her supper, becoming a stage mom extraordinaire. As Maria later recalled, “During all the years I should have been playing and growing up, I was singing or making money.” And honestly, there was an even darker angle to all this.Litsa somehow managed to still f...
In the late 1930s, Maria’s parents had completely dissolved their dysfunctional marriage, and the women of the family moved back to Greece. Here, Maria’s vocal talents only became more obvious, and she eventually won a spot training under Elvira de Hidalgo. The legendary soprano taught the arcane art of bel canto, an 18th-century way of singing tha...
From a young age, Callas had learned from her mother that the only way she was worth anything was when she was working herself to the bone. Although the girl could already sing the most challenging arias in the world when she was barely a teenager, she would still spend 10 hours a day, every day, at the conservatory in Athens. Sure, it paid off—but...
In February 1941, Callas appeared for the first time on stage as a professional opera singer. Although it was only a minor role, she made quite the impression on her co-stars—just not a good one. As one young soprano in the show recalled, Maria was so good in rehearsals that everyone knew she was going to be a star…and two women, in particular, sta...
The other singers in the opera were shaking in their boots about Maria literally upstaging them, so they started actively trying to sabotage her. The established company sopranos, Nafsika Galanou and Anna Remmoundou, even went so far as to rush to the wings whenever Callas was singing so they could throw her off her game and “make remarks about her...
Callas came out on top with the simplest tactic possible—she was just darn good. By 1942, she was starring in operas, and critics were dubbing her “The God-Given” or “La Divina” for the emotional power of her voice. When her rival Remmoundou watched her merely rehearsing for Beethoven’s Fidelio,even she had to ask: "Could it be that there is someth...
One of the first hurdles Callas faced was also her biggest: Her voice itself. To this day, “The Callas Debate” rages about if the sound of her voice was beautiful or disturbing. While it was always moving, some found its roughness and power “essentially ugly,” and her later mentor Tullio Serafin even nicknamed her Una grande vociaccia, which, as he...
Nov 1, 2018 · The most famous case of dramatic weight loss in the opera world is that of legendary Maria Callas. Described as "monstrously fat" by one impresario in 1951, the soprano eventually shed...
Dec 11, 2023 · Derided in her youth for being fat, Callas was later slated for being too thin; her weight loss was said to contribute to her vocal decline, although the intensity and range of her work was...
Defending his decision years later, Bing wrote in his memoir 5000 Nights at the Opera that Callas, in 1951, was “monstrously fat and awkward.” Photos of her in I Vespri Siciliani in 1951 show that she was certainly heavier than the lithe woman she would become a few years later, but she was hardly “monstrously fat,” especially by opera ...
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