# Callas Documentaries



## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

There are a host of film documentaries about Callas life (and to a lesser extent her art). How many have you seen? Which do you recommend? What are your thoughts about the ones you know? Is there a niche that hasn't been covered yet and what would you like to see by the way of Callas documentaries?

N.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

I guess the biggie would be "Maria by Callas: In Her Own Words".
Also the John Ardoin book, "Callas".


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

I have them all, and think the best is the Zeffirelli/Ardoin "*Callas, A Documentary*, released in 1978. It's the best-produced and seems the most factual, and involves many people who actually knew Maria *and* Callas.









Available at Bel Canto Society.

https://www.belcantosociety.org/?attachment_id=1833


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

nina foresti said:


> I guess the biggie would be "Maria by Callas: In Her Own Words".
> Also the John Ardoin book, "Callas".


I'm not sure _Maria by Callas_ is the last word, though there are some interesting film snippets. On the other hadn the John Ardoin/Gerald Fitzgerald book is still the best I've come across.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

I've become obsessed by Callas interviews and documentaries since having watched Maria by Callas and part of the reason I started this thread was to review the ones that I've found. I will start with Maria by Callas, the latest to be made.

View attachment 128203


Pictured is the deluxe collectors edition of the film that includes the French and English soundtracks. Whilst the film was issued in a number of different language editions (French, English, Italian and Spanish - I expect there is also a German language release, although I haven't checked), there is only one visual version of the film contained here. The place descriptions that appear on screen are in French (no problem seeing 'Londres' or 'Hambourg' instead of the more familiar English versions), but right near the beginning of the film one of Callas' letters in Italian is seen on screen with French subtitles (whilst there are optional subtitles in a number of languages they don't show here even if on). Where the film differs is in the soundtrack where Callas speaks in a number of languages in both versions, but it's the extracts that are read from her letters that are in the different languages in the different versions. This means that the subtitles need to be turned on for the bits in a foreign language (unless you are fluent in French, Italian and Greek!) This wouldn't be that bad if the subtitles weren't so full of errors that they appear to have been done by a translating machine without being reviewed by someone who knows the language. (I have only seen the English subtitles, maybe the others languages are ok.)

The film itself has many positive points. There is almost two hours of footage of Callas, most of it in colour (familiar black and white footage has been remastered and colourised - it looks superb!) Visually this is a treat, there is a superb series of performance footage that is shown with the Vespri bolero as a background and this works wonderfully as a collage. In many respects that is what this film is, an artistic collage. Whilst I was impressed with the visual aspect of the film, the soundtrack could be improved. There isn't much of Callas singing here and most of the music is either orchestral excerpts from operas Callas sang in or piano arrangements of arias she is associated with. This soundtrack works perfectly with the images chosen, however I wouldn't want to listen to it without the film, so including it on two discs as a bonus with this set is superfluous in my opinion. I would have preferred a bonus blu ray with the colourised version of the Paris 1958 concert (the Trovatore miserere and Vissi d'arte are included as bonus features on the main disc) and a number of the better interviews (the complete David Frost one and those with Barbara Walters and Mike Wallace which shed much light on Callas' relationship with her mother and Onassis).

The other downside of the film is its skating over Callas' childhood, training in Greece and early Italian career, which are passed over very quickly. On the other hand the film highlights two things that are essential in understanding who Maria Callas was, her quote about her being two people, "Maria" and "Callas" and where she says that she put everything into her art and if anyone wanted to know what she was about, they just had to listen to her singing. Maria is in every phrase she sang, the oppression she suffered at the hands of her mother and her husband, her loneliness and her sorrow, but also the moments of joy and her triumphs when overcoming those who tried to disrupt her performances. This film is worth having for the wonderful quality of the remastered and colourised footage and the artistic collage despite its shortcomings.

N.


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## marceliotstein (Feb 23, 2019)

I would love to see any documentary about her on public television or some other service. It's too bad so many good documentaries are behind paywalls.

I've read a couple of books about Maria Callas, but I've never seen her on video. Her recording of Rosina in "Barbiere di Siviglia" is probably my favorite recorded performance ever.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

marceliotstein said:


> I would love to see any documentary about her on public television or some other service. It's too bad so many good documentaries are behind paywalls.
> 
> I've read a couple of books about Maria Callas, but I've never seen her on video. Her recording of Rosina in "Barbiere di Siviglia" is probably my favorite recorded performance ever.


marceliotstein, I completely agree that programs like the Callas documentaries and other arts videos should be available gratis in Public Television venues. Opera and other arts documentary or performance (except Bocelli, who's very popular) programming is pretty much gone these days, unless there is a pledge drive to raise money for a PBS station. 
That said, collectors like me and others in this forum will usually fall for anything that can bring us closer to our idol(s), like videos and other recordings. 
You can see Callas on YouTube, mostly free?


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

MAS said:


> I have them all, and think the best is the Zeffirelli/Ardoin "*Callas, A Documentary*, released in 1978. It's the best-produced and seems the most factual, and involves many people who actually knew Maria *and* Callas.
> 
> View attachment 128180
> 
> ...


I watched this one yesterday and I enjoyed it. It's flaw is that it repeats the myth that Onassis ruined her voice. Callas' voice started to decline at least a year before she went on the cruise where her 'friendship' with Onassis began. Callas never had totally secure high notes even from the beginning (the final note from her Mexico mad scene goes sour). This ties in with a description that Giulini (I think) makes in this documentary, calling her a mezzo with an extension.

I enjoyed the film and Zeffirelli knows how to turn on the poetry. The excerpts of Callas' singing are well chosen and help show why she was so special. It does a very good job of giving us the bare bones of her life and her art. It overplays the 'lonely diva' trope and gives too much importance to Onassis as already pointed out, but has many strong points.

N.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

This is longer than most of the other Callas documentaries (but not as long as Maria by Callas). The first two thirds are very good, the musical excerpts show what Callas' art was about and Callas' rise in Italy is superbly documented. Whilst little to no footage of these performances exist the filmmakers have found an ingenious way of bringing the diva's successes to life. They have filmed her costumes and show them against a background of a photo of the theatre auditorium or the set designs from that opera. They then show a series of photos from performances. This brings the black and white photos to life since you have first seen the colours of the costumes and sets before seeing a monochrome Callas in action.

Unfortunately towards the end of the film we get the gossip and rumours, some of which aren't important and some of which have been disproved. It doesn't add anything to our knowledge of Callas' art or life to hear what the trash magazines were reporting in the 60s and 70s. The debunked false story about Callas having had a secret child is trotted out as fact here as well.

Having watched a few of these documentaries now most of them have some fiction thrown into the mix and the overall narrative of Onassis having first destroyed Callas the artist and then Maria the woman is all pervasive. I understand the temptation to romanticise her life and turn it into an opera plot (and sometimes more a soap opera than a lyric one!), however, the truth is rarely that simple and in any case Callas' voice was going and had started to be unreliable in 57/58 before she reduced her performances.

N.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

After watching a number of these documentaries one notices that key parts of Callas interviews and Callas footage turns up again and again. De Hidalgo talking about her as a student and Bing talking about 'firing' her and/or Callas' Dallas statement are trotted out time and time again. They also all pretty much follow the same narrative arc when it comes to Maria, the woman ending with a point that has become an unshakable part of the Callas myth, Onassis ruined Callas' voice. This one has some nice moments, but is too full of flaws to be a main contender. I don't need to see this documentary again. Zefirelli is allowed to voice the rumours of Callas being romantically involved with Visconti (I don't like Zefirelli's contributions in general in these documentaries, whilst he praises Callas' genius, he takes away with the other hand by dissing Maria, albeit with hints more than anything else).

I am glad that Lord Harewood gives his opinion about the relationship between Maria and Meneghini being a true love affair. Maria herself said as much and her letters to Meneghini pretty much prove it was the case. John Ardoin doesn't give much information, but mentions the suicide attempt and abortion (both of which are meant to have happened in 1968). I don't know about the suicide attempt, but the abortion seems to be a rumour started by Arianna Stassinopoulos. When this rumour or the one about the secret son are mentioned by friends of Maria I wonder whether Maria told them about it or whether they have just read about it in the sensationalist biographies they appear in and so repeat it from there. There is also the possibility that a person might think that it makes them appear a closer friend than they were if they pretend that they knew about these things.

My overall opinion of this film is that it doesn't tell us anything that the other films don't and has too much of the unsubstantiated gossip to be worthwhile.

N.


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