# Maria by Callas



## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

I was lucky enough last weekend to go and see the exhibition 'Maria by Callas' at La Seine Musicale in Paris.

This wasn't a big exhibition, but was crammed full of items (mainly film footage and audio recordings). Tom Volf, the curator's idea was to let Callas speak directly to us via interviews and her art. Whilst this was a good idea, the choice of material didn't really tell a full story and it wasn't clear what side of Maria Volf wanted us to see. Most of the actual exhibits were old LP albums of Callas live recordings and visitors had headsets through which excerpts from the recordings could be listened to.

The key exhibits were the necklace from the Mexico Trovatore, the Paris Norma costume and the painting that Callas took with her to every performance as a good luck charm. There was also some interesting performance film footage including a bit from the Lisbon Traviata that was synced with the audio from that recording and a few brief excerpts from the Trieste and Paris Normas. One of the interesting things was that some of the black and white footage had been transferred in colour and I wish they would issue this on Blu Ray.

The exhibition was roughly chronological and felt like a collection of items and recordings that happened to be the ones that Volf came upon as part of his journey researching Callas for the past three years. For example there was the Mexico Lucia to listen to, but although it was mentioned, not the Berlin one. Callas' relationship with her mother was examined somewhat, but there was less about her relationships with Menghini and Onassis, although she told us that these were the only two loves of her life.

This was a somewhat mixed bag, but a definite must for Callas fans and if you get the chance I would go and see it.

N.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

I wonder how much Meneghini had to do with the exhibit because from all I have read of her biographies (except for the one Meneghini wrote), she always said that Onassis was her one and only love -- and I believe her.
As to her relationship with her mother: many make it seem like she really hated her mother when in fact she longed so badly for her mother's attention and love (and never got it -- that privilege went to her sister), that she sometimes used cruel means to get even with her mother, but in reality she doted on her mother and craved her affection.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Callas went to Mexico with her mother in 1950 and never saw her again after that. Callas' mother did an interview with the press saying that Callas never visited her and had cut her off. In the exhibition there was an interview with Mike Wallace where Callas said that her mother blackmailed her saying that she would talk to the press and say that Callas treated her badly if Callas didn't do certain things and that was the final straw for Maria as she didn't like blackmail.

There was another interview where Callas said that she had had two loves in her life, her husband and Mr. Onassis, so I think she loved her husband when she met him, but she developed so much over the years that she probably fell out of love with him and then Onassis came along.

N.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

The Conte said:


> Callas went to Mexico with her mother in 1950 and never saw her again after that. Callas' mother did an interview with the press saying that Callas never visited her and had cut her off. In the exhibition there was an interview with Mike Wallace where Callas said that her mother blackmailed her saying that she would talk to the press and say that Callas treated her badly if Callas didn't do certain things and that was the final straw for Maria as she didn't like blackmail.
> 
> There was another interview where Callas said that she had had two loves in her life, her husband and Mr. Onassis, so I think she loved her husband when she met him, but she developed so much over the years that she probably fell out of love with him and then Onassis came along.
> 
> N.


I assume then that you have read "Unknown Callas: The Greek Years", "Greek Fire", "Diaries of a Friendship", "Callas", "Maria: Callas Remembered" and countless others and still came to this conclusion.
I guess we all perceive things differently and that's just fine.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

nina foresti said:


> I assume then that you have read "Unknown Callas: The Greek Years", "Greek Fire", "Diaries of a Friendship", "Callas", "Maria: Callas Remembered" and countless others and still came to this conclusion.
> I guess we all perceive things differently and that's just fine.


I've read about half of those, however if Callas said at one time that the one and only love of her life was Onassis and at another that there were two: Onassis and Meneghini then she contradicted herself. There could be a number of explanations for this, it's not a zero sum game. I just found it interesting that that was the take that the curator Tom Volf presented us with in the exhibition. Perhaps Maria was a human being who felt different things at different times. I don't really need to believe that she loved or didn't love Meneghini, ultimately I will never know.

N.


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## The Wolf (Apr 28, 2017)

Thanks for the review Conte!!!

I guess in the Book of Letters and Unfinished Memories (Fayard), could come to light more details. It is the first time that a document of that type (written by herself) is published.

http://www.mariabycallas.com/#edition

By any chance did you ask, if in the future they intend to publish the books in other languages?


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

The Wolf said:


> Thanks for the review Conte!!!
> 
> I guess in the Book of Letters and Unfinished Memories (Fayard), could come to light more details. It is the first time that a document of that type (written by herself) is published.
> 
> ...


There wasn't really anyone to ask as they didn't have a shop as such (such a missed opportunity), but they had a few items for sale at the rather small cloakroom desk. The big Maria by Callas is a photo book with next to no text so language isn't really an issue (I think there was some English in it as well). The letters and unfinished memories book wasn't even there...

N.


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## Macbeth (Sep 6, 2017)

The Conte said:


> There was also some interesting performance film footage including a bit from the Lisbon Traviata that was synced with the audio from that recording and a few brief excerpts from the Trieste and Paris Normas. One of the interesting things was that some of the black and white footage had been transferred in colour and I wish they would issue this on Blu Ray.
> N.


From the very bief glimpses one can catch from that French TV news video on YT, I noticed too some footage in colour, previously familiar only in B&W, it is real colour isn't it? I mean it's not colorized?

And the Lisbon Traviata excerpt, did it happen to be something different from what we already know?






I've always found these snippets rather intriguing (I bet we all have) as they seem to be professionaly recorded, even if far from the stage, I imagine it comes from some newsreel of the day.
Even more intriguing are those Medea excerpts, as they seem to cover all three acts of the play.

Thank you


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Macbeth said:


> And the Lisbon Traviata excerpt, did it happen to be something different from what we already know?
> 
> Thank you


No, it was the first two minutes of the video you posted on a loop. I'm not sure if any of the footage was new (apart from the Trieste Norma, or maybe it's just me who didn't know about that) and it looked to me as though the footage was colourised (although the Butterfly may have been in real colour), but the 58 Paris gala and 64 Norma Sediziosi voci seemed colourised to me.

N.


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## Macbeth (Sep 6, 2017)

Those of us who are not in Paris can peek a little bit more here.

It's only worth watching from 3:17 onwards, before that, people hosting this tv programme have been ecstatic listening to "ebben ne andrò lontana" from "la Wally"... only problem they couldn't tell the difference despite the aria was being sung by some soprano whose voice bore no resemblance AT ALL with Callas...


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

A published review of the film for those interested

https://observer.com/2018/10/maria-by-callas-review-documentary-reveals-opera-diva-despair/


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## JTS (Sep 26, 2021)

I’ve seen documentaries and read biographies of Callas and I always come away with the deep sadness that here was this very successful stage person who was in fact this highly unsuccessful person in real life relationships. If an absolute toad like Onassis was her ‘only love’ one can only think ‘poor woman’! Of course, when it comes to stage people she is not alone but one of a legion of those walking real-life tragedies who delighted us in fiction.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

JTS said:


> I've seen documentaries and read biographies of Callas and I always come away with the deep sadness that here was this very successful stage person who was in fact this highly unsuccessful person in real life relationships. If an absolute toad like Onassis was her 'only love' one can only think 'poor woman'! Of course, when it comes to stage people she is not alone but one of a legion of those walking real-life tragedies who delighted us in fiction.


I suspect that women have the ability to see beyond the surface the man presents, to the person inside. I often ask myself when I see a mismatched couple: "what does she see in him?" They see more than we men do. But then, I suppose men are often dazzled by the package - we're superficial that way. :lol:


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