maria callas (la divina)
My father was a fan of the opera and had a great appreciation for the voice of Maria Callas. I recently came upon a recording of hers that belonged to him, and have been moved by the prevalent emotion that comes forth in her performances. I've been so captivated that I've devoured multiple biographies of her life and have watched what I can find of her performances and interviews on youtube. Hers was not a voice that was considered classically beautiful, yet its power is unmistakable. Her personal life was somewhat tragic, yet she lived with the same passion evident in her art.
There are times when certain people are blessed - and cursed - with an extraordinary gift, in which the gift is almost greater than the human being. Callas was one of these people. It was as if her own wishes, her life, her own happiness were all subservient to this incredible, incredible gift that she was given, this gift that reached out and taught us things about music that we knew very well, but showed us new things, things we never thought about, new possibilities. I think that is why singers admire her so. I think that's why conductors admire her so. I know it's why I admire her so. And she paid a tremendously difficult and expensive price for this career. I don't think she always understood what she did or why she did it. She usually had a tremendous effect on audiences and on people. But it was not something she could always live with gracefully or happily. I once said to her, "It must be a very enviable thing to be Maria Callas." And she said, "No, it's a very terrible thing to be Maria Callas, because it's a question of trying to understand something you can never really understand." She couldn't really explain what she did. It was all done by instinct. It was something embedded deep within her.
- John Ardoin
Art is the ability to express the life of emotion. - Maria Callas
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Reader Comments (3)
Thank you again for introducing her music and life to me....I am so glad that you found that recording that belonged to your father. I imagine it is like having a piece of him holding your hand and enjoying the music by your side.
Oh, I love this. I am at the library and will have to pop over and see if I can check out any of her music.
she was amazing. a passionate voice. i'm getting into biographies right now, i would enjoy reading hers i think.
thanks for sharing with us, how wonderful for you to have had a father that shared this with you.