Maria Callas
Maria Callas
Maria Callas, Commendatore OMRI, was a Greek-American soprano, and 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. Her repertoire ranged from classical opera seria to the bel canto operas of Donizetti, Bellini and Rossini and further, to the works of Verdi and Puccini; and, in her early career, to the music dramas of Wagner. Her musical and dramatic talents led to her being...
NationalityGreek
ProfessionOpera Singer
Date of Birth2 December 1923
CityNew York City, NY
It takes a little more time to get into the role, but not very much more. In making a record you don't have the sense of projection over a distance as in an opera house. We have this microphone and this magnifies all details of a performance, all exaggerations. In the theater, you can get away with a very large, very grand phrase. For the microphone, you have to tone it down. It's the same as making a film, your gestures will be seen in close-up, so they cannot be exaggerated as they would be in a theater.
An opera begins long before the curtain goes up and ends long after it has come down. It starts in my imagination, it becomes my life, and it stays part of my life long after I've left the opera house.
I belong to the givers. I want to give a little happiness even if I haven’t had much for myself. Music has enriched my life and, hopefully - through me, a little - the public’s. If anyone left an opera house feeling more happy and at peace, I achieved my purpose.
Don't talk to me about rules, dear. Wherever I stay I make the god dam rules.
he said, ''but in her face and eyes you can see what the character she is portraying is wearing, where she is, the setting, the other people who are present, and what her relationship to them is -- not to mention her emotional state.
Love is so much better when you're not married.
First I lost my voice, then I lost my figure and then I lost Onassis.
Good teachers make the best of a pupil's means; great teachers foresee a pupil's ends.
It is like comparing champagne with cognac. No-with Coca-Cola.
I admire Tebaldi's tone; it's beautiful - also some beautiful phrasing. Sometimes, I actually wish I had her voice.
I will not be sued! I have the voice of an angel!
I was always too mature for my age - and not very happy. I had no young friends. I wish I could go back to those days. If I could only live it all again, how I would play and enjoy other girls. What a fool I was.
I cannot switch my voice. My voice is not like an elevator going up and down.
Love is so much better when you are not married.