# Newly published psychological study on Maria Callas



## Andante Cantabile (Feb 26, 2020)

Re-posted from Opera-L

Here's a latest book on Callas that appeared on the shelf at end of last year:

*Prima Donna: The Psychology of Maria Callas*

(Oxford University Press Inner Lives series)

Published by the Oxford University Press on 22 Dec 2020.

Book website:
https://global.oup.com/academic/product/prima-donna-9780190857738?lang=en&cc=us

Author:

Paul Wink, Professor of Psychology and the Nellie Zuckerman Cohen & Anne Cohen Heller Professor in Health Science at Wellesley College. He is a leading researcher in the area of adult development with numerous publications on narcissism, aging, and religion and spirituality. He is the co-author of _In the Course of a Lifetime: Tracing Religious Belief, Practice, and Change_, and a co-editor of books on the psychology of retirement and spirituality in a diverse world.

Description provided by Oxford University Press:

"_Prima Donna: The Psychology of Maria Callas_ explores the psychological mechanisms underlying the hypnotic power of Callas's artistry and the unfolding of her tragic life story. Although precipitated by the trauma and shame that followed her abandonment by Aristotle Onassis and the rapid deterioration of her voice, Callas's midlife disintegration reflects deep psychological vulnerabilities. In this book, Wink utilizes cutting-edge advances in research on developmental psychology and narcissism to shed light on Callas's puzzling personal deterioration during the last nine years of her life. Lacking a cohesive and integrated sense of self, Callas sought affirmation and vitality from adoring audiences and older men including her husband Battista Meneghini and her long-term partner Onassis. The propensity to fuse her identity with stage roles contributed to her artistic greatness, but envy and the lack of an intrinsic sense of meaning and worth intensified her vulnerability to life's vicissitudes. _Prima Donna_ is both a powerful study of Callas's life and a contribution to the greater body of work on the psychology of artists."

Preview of the contents page and introduction of the book is available on amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Prima-Donn...of+Maria+callas&qid=1611292357&s=books&sr=1-1


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

I just wonder if we really need this. I'd be far more interested in reading analysis of her extraordinary _musical_ skills and innate understanding of style. She did not come from a musical family, nor was she particularly intellectual, though she was undeniably intelligent and yet she was able to understand and interpret the notes and dots on a piece of manuscript, make sense of them and bring them to life in a way that was quite out of the ordinary. Where did it come from?


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## Andante Cantabile (Feb 26, 2020)

Tsaraslondon said:


> I just wonder if we really need this. I'd be far more interetsed in reading analysis of her extraordinary _musical_ skills and innate understanding of style. She did not come from a musical family, nor was she particularly intellectual, though she was undeniably intelligent and yet she was able to understand and interpret the notes and dots on a piece of manuscript, make sense of them and bring them to life in a way that was quite out of the ordinary. Where did it come from?


I guess _Prima Donna_ has been written and published with the larger, celebrity-consuming public in mind as target readers. For a satisfying exploration of what really makes Callas great and special - her _musicianship_, we of course have to look elsewhere.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Always being attracted to what goes on in someone's mind, I would welcome a read on the inner Callas if it is done with depth and sincerity.
I shall have to wait till it comes into the US and learn a bit more before I plunk down yet another Callas contribution. I already own 9.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

This kind of exploration, when the subject is dead, seems suspect to me.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

MAS said:


> This kind of exploration, when the subject is dead, seems suspect to me.


I agree. Armchair psychology is always somewhat suspect, it can only be speculation. There are two Callas books I would like to see: i) The Complete letters (bonus points if they are in the original languages with a translation into English where necessary) and ii) an extensively researched biography/psychological study written by an academic who has read all the letters and watched/read all the interviews as well as all the previous biographies.

This book may be good or it may be another cash in on a great name flash in the pan.

N.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

I decided to check on it to see what it was all about.
I clicked on some of the pages in Amazon and came up with a very negative opinion. I read about 6 different pages, and on every one I noted there was nothing whatsoever on the study of the inner workings of Callas' brain. All that I kept constantly reading were quotes taken from many of the other books written about her. I recalled actual sentences from these books.
So for me, it's a big fat Pass!


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## Andante Cantabile (Feb 26, 2020)

I will give this a big pass too. It basically treats Callas as a celebrity, rather than what she really wanted herself to be remembered - a great musician. What really are of interest are her extraordinary musical and interpretive skills, of which a number of insightful studies (for examples, Robert Seletsky's _The Opera Quarterly_ articles, John Steane's coverage of her in _The Grand Tradition_ and _Voices, Singers & Critics_) are available.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

*Prima Donna: The Psychology of Maria Callas*

Again, *Opera-L* provides a subject for discussion. The new book is interested in the personality, not the opera singer. Would you want to read it?

*Guy Glass*
I finished reading this book recently. It's not a comprehensive biography, but a psychobiography that selectively focuses on Callas's narcissistic psychopathology. 
The author's thesis is that this narcissism doomed her interpersonal relationships and made an unhappy and isolated end inevitable. However, on the positive side it led to her famous perfectionism. It also enabled her uncanny ability to fuse with her roles, intensifying the effectiveness of her performances.

I certainly do not think this should be the first, second or third book someone should read about Callas. But I would recommend it for anyone who is really interested in her and wants to gain deeper insight into her psyche.

Incidentally, I am a psychiatrist, as well as an opera fan, and my review of the book will be appearing soon on the NYU Literature Arts Medicine Database:

https://medhum.med.nyu.edu

*Steve Charitan*
I'm reading Paul Wink's "Prima Donna: Psychology of Maria Callas" and in many ways it's just a rehash of the old "Maria" vs "Callas" trope - the woman struggling with the artist for ultimate survival. Also, books like this are largely irrelevant because if you have an appreciation for what she is capable of doing, all you need to do is put on the recording and let her sing. Her legacy and place in history are secure as soon as you hear the voice and understand its ability to communicate through scrupulous attention to the music.

One thing the book does do well is to put Mamma Callas, Evangelina, into the greater arc of her career without villainizing her. It also exposes her otherwise neglectful, man about town father as the antidote to her driven, rejected mother.

"This is the irony in Maria's estrangement from her mother…Litsa's extraordinary gifts sowed the seeds that gave rise to her daughters rise to fame but those same traits would doom her relationship to Maria…"

The book is for Callas "completists" like me, but if you don't fit that category and have a basic feel for the "Maria vs Callas" dynamic focus on the Ardoin books which discuss the relevant and enduring topic - her Art.


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## Plague (Apr 4, 2020)

We already have a thread about the book:

Newly published psychological study on Maria Callas


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

I wonder if this book would have been published if it hadn’t borne the name of Maria Callas.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Plague said:


> We already have a thread about the book:
> 
> Newly published psychological study on Maria Callas


Oh, thank you! It seemed familiar, but I couldn't find the thread.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

I perused several pages and discovered that I had read a lot of it before in quotes from other Callas books. 
As to entering her brain psychologically, I also discovered that the Emperor has no clothes. Pass!


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

*See also

*Prima Donna: The Psychology of Maria Callas which was inadvertently started on a separate thread.

Apologies for stepping on your toes, Augastine!


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## Andante Cantabile (Feb 26, 2020)

MAS said:


> *See also
> 
> *Prima Donna: The Psychology of Maria Callas which was inadvertently started on a separate thread.
> 
> Apologies for stepping on your toes, Augastine!


You can put up a request to the site administrator (Krummhorn) to remove the duplicate thread.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Augastine said:


> You can put up a request to the site administrator (Krummhorn) to remove the duplicate thread.


I did put in a request as soon as I realized it, but have not heard back.


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## Andante Cantabile (Feb 26, 2020)

MAS said:


> I did put in a request as soon as I realized it, but have not heard back.


It'll take a while. Meanwhile, the further discussions on Opera-L are re-posted here:

*Guy Glass*
I finished reading this book recently. It's not a comprehensive biography, but a psychobiography that selectively focuses on Callas's narcissistic psychopathology. 
The author's thesis is that this narcissism doomed her interpersonal relationships and made an unhappy and isolated end inevitable. However, on the positive side it led to her famous perfectionism. It also enabled her uncanny ability to fuse with her roles, intensifying the effectiveness of her performances.

I certainly do not think this should be the first, second or third book someone should read about Callas. But I would recommend it for anyone who is really interested in her and wants to gain deeper insight into her psyche.

Incidentally, I am a psychiatrist, as well as an opera fan, and my review of the book will be appearing soon on the NYU Literature Arts Medicine Database:

https://medhum.med.nyu.edu

*Steve Charitan*
I'm reading Paul Wink's "Prima Donna: Psychology of Maria Callas" and in many ways it's just a rehash of the old "Maria" vs "Callas" trope - the woman struggling with the artist for ultimate survival. Also, books like this are largely irrelevant because if you have an appreciation for what she is capable of doing, all you need to do is put on the recording and let her sing. Her legacy and place in history are secure as soon as you hear the voice and understand its ability to communicate through scrupulous attention to the music.

One thing the book does do well is to put Mamma Callas, Evangelina, into the greater arc of her career without villainizing her. It also exposes her otherwise neglectful, man about town father as the antidote to her driven, rejected mother.

"This is the irony in Maria's estrangement from her mother…Litsa's extraordinary gifts sowed the seeds that gave rise to her daughters rise to fame but those same traits would doom her relationship to Maria…"

The book is for Callas "completists" like me, but if you don't fit that category and have a basic feel for the "Maria vs Callas" dynamic focus on the Ardoin books which discuss the relevant and enduring topic - her Art.


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## Andante Cantabile (Feb 26, 2020)

Further conversations appearing on Opera-L today:

*Idia Legray*

Interesting to see there are a few who actually thought this was a good psychological study of La Callas.
After just perusing several pages I had a different opinion. The Emperor wasn't wearing any clothes.


*Rich Lowenthal*

So is there any musical analysis in the book, or is it purely about her life? 


*Steve Charitan*

Minimal....He does make an interesting point bookending her 2 runs of Anna Bolena at La Scala (She is on the dust jacket of the book as Bolena). He views the '57 run as the pinnacle of her career. In between that run and its successful return in '58 she canceled Traviata in Vienna over a fee dispute, then the Edinboro Sonnambula where she refused to do extra performances, the San Francisco fracas, and then the Rome Walkout. His inference is that her decline started around the time she peaked.


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## Andante Cantabile (Feb 26, 2020)

Guy Glass' review of the book on NYU Literature, Arts, Medicine Database has just come out:

https://medhum.med.nyu.edu/view/19013

Meanwhile, Karl van Zoggel's review of the book is slated for publication in the March 2021 issue of the Maria Callas International Club's _Maria Callas Magazine_.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

I know a bit about narcissistic personality disorder and Callas doesn't tick enough of the boxes to qualify in my opinion. She was highly ambitious, very self aware (including being realistically self critical, which rules out narcissism in the psychological sense) and had a certain amount of ego, but that's different from having a damaging amount of narcissism. Her mother on the other hand...

N.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Augastine said:


> Guy Glass' review of the book on NYU Literature, Arts, Medicine Database has just come out:
> 
> https://medhum.med.nyu.edu/view/19013
> 
> Meanwhile, Karl van Zoggel's review of the book is slated for publication in the March 2021 issue of the Maria Callas International Club's _Maria Callas Magazine_.


If the reviewer is taking his "facts" about her life from this book, then those "facts" have been massively embroidered to support his thesis.

"Her father is barely able to keep a roof over their heads." Callas herself said they weren't poor, but that it was the depression and they suffered like any other family.

"For a time, she allows Litza to share in her success, even buying her a fur coat. But soon, in response to a request for money, she tells her mother to "jump out of the window or drown yourself" (p. 78), and then never speaks to her again." This is a gross simplification of what led to the the rift between Callas and her mother.

"Nevertheless, she becomes as famous for her bellicose and imperious behavior as for her singing. She kicks a colleague in the shin after a performance so she can take a solo bow. She is publicly fired from the Metropolitan Opera. She incurs scandal by suddenly canceling a performance at which the president of Italy is present." A terrible misrepresentation of the actual facts.

It looks like the author of the book has selected certain disputed "facts" in order to support his dubious theory. I won't be reading this trash. I think it would only make me angry,


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Tsaraslondon said:


> If the reviewer is taking his "facts" about her life from this book, then those "facts" have been massively embroidered to support his thesis.
> 
> "Her father is barely able to keep a roof over their heads." Callas herself said they weren't poor, but that it was ths depression and they suffered like any other family.
> 
> ...


Oh, I'm sure the mythological Callas had NPD, why not? But you and I know that the media portrayal of Callas wasn't anything like the real singer, so yes, this isn't going to be worth reading.

N.


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## Andante Cantabile (Feb 26, 2020)

It seems that the author had relied mainly on published biographies of La Callas as his source materials and not made an effort to gather and analyse in detail the many interviews she gave during her lifetime, as well as her published letters. This itself is a major problem with the book. Overall, I also find the author's approach to his subject highly reductionistic, an issue that is typical with many social scientists' works. To be kind, one can say that he offers one particular perspective in looking at Callas, but strictly speaking it just doesn't tell the whole story and it certainly doesn't add much (in fact very little and even none) to our understanding of her _extraordinary musicianship_, which is THE key to her greatness.


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