The Legendary Life Of Opera Sensation Maria Callas

Nearly 47 years after opera sensation Maria Callas’s passing, her life will be brought to the screen in the upcoming Netflix biographical film Maria. With the much-anticipated film slated for a December release, here’s what you need to know about the legendary Maria Callas.

The Bible of Opera: Humble Beginnings

Maria Callas was born on December 2, 1923, to Greek immigrant parents living in the United States. Her father, George Kalogeropoulos, moved to the U.S. in July 1923, shortly before her birth. Settling in Astoria, Queens, he opened his own pharmacy and later moved the family to Manhattan.

Her mother, Elmina Evangelia "Litsa," was a vibrant and socially ambitious woman who dreamt of a life immersed in the arts. However, she resented Maria's birth to such an extent that she refused to look at her newborn daughter for four days.

By the age of three, Maria's remarkable musical talent began to emerge. Her mother, eager to exploit this musical gift, pressured her to sing and perform. As Maria grew older, their relationship became increasingly strained. The tension reached a peak during World War II when Nazis occupied Greece, and her mother forced her to socialize with Italian and German soldiers to bring money into the household.

My sister was slim and beautiful and friendly, and my mother always preferred her. I was the ugly duckling, fat and clumsy and unpopular. It is a cruel thing to make a child feel ugly and unwanted. I'll never forgive her for taking my childhood away. During all the years I should have been playing and growing up, I was singing or making money. Everything I did for them was mostly good and everything they did to me was mostly bad.

Her relationship with her mother remained strained for life, yet was the most discussed and controversial part of her life.

Education & Career Beginnings...

Maria Trivella tutored Callas, completely waiving her tuition fees. She was highly impressed by her ability to sing dramatic soprano. 

A model student. Fanatical, uncompromising, dedicated to her studies heart and soul. Her progress was phenomenal. She studied five or six hours a day. Within six months, she was singing the most difficult arias in the international opera repertoire with the utmost musicality.

Maria Callas eventually completed her education and made her debut in February 1941, portraying a minor role as Beatrice in Franz von Suppé's Boccaccio. In August 1942, she debuted in the lead role of Tosca and later performed as Marta in Eugen d'Albert's Tiefland at the Olympia Theatre. Her performance received rave reviews, earning her the title "The God-Given."

She went on to have a highly successful career as a soprano, performing at major opera houses across Italy. Her powerful voice and mastery of the bel canto technique, combined with her emotionally expressive and wide-ranging vocal abilities, garnered widespread acclaim from critics and audiences alike.

Controversies Couldn't Dim Her Talents

Maria Callas’s life was often under intense scrutiny and became a frequent subject of tabloid gossip. Her weight loss in 1953 was falsely rumoured to have been achieved by consuming tapeworms. Her strained relationship with her mother also made headlines, as her alleged rivalry with fellow opera singer Renata Tebaldi, and so did her divorce from Giovanni Battista Meneghini and her high-profile romance with Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis.

Despite the controversies and frequent discussions of her eccentricities, it was Maria’s unparalleled talent that ultimately earned her widespread appreciation and recognition from both critics and audiences alike.

Maria Callas spent her last years living largely in isolation in Paris and died of a heart attack at age 53 on September 16, 1977. Even after her demise, it is her talent that keeps the legendary artist alive.