Maria Meneghini-Callas by Harold RosenthalMARIA MENEGHINI-CALLAS (the name itself sounds as if it could only belong to a prima-donna) was born of Greek parents in New York in December, 1923, where she spent her childhood. She went to Greece when she was thirteen, and received her musical training at the Athens Conservatory, where her teacher was Elvira de Hildago, a Spanish coloratura soprano, who sang at the Scala, the Metropolitan and Chicago in the 1920s, and, strangely enough, at Covent Garden with the British National Opera Company in Rigoletto in February, 1924!

Callas's debut was made at the Athens Opera in the part of Martha in D'Albert's Tiefland, and she also sang Fiametta in Suppé's Boccaccio and Tosca. She returned to America in 1945, and in 1947 was heard by the famous tenor Zenatello, who recommended her to the Verona Arena, to sing the title role in La Gioconda. (Zenatello had in fact been the originator of the summer seasons in Verona in 1913.) The rest of the cast for La Gioconda was Elena Nicolai, Anna Maria Canali, Richard Tucker, Carlo Tagliabue, Nicola Rossi-Lemeni, and Aristide Baracchi: the conductor was Tullio Serafin. It was Serafin who really saw the potentialities of Callas, and it was with this great conductor that Callas studied many of her now famous roles.

Serafin took the young soprano to the Fenice Theatre, Venice, for the 1947-8 season, where she sang Isolde and Turandot; during the same season she also sang Aida at Rovigo, and her first Norma, at Florence with Barbieri and Picchi. In the summer of 1948 she returned to Verona, to sing Turandot, a part she also sang at the great open-air arena in Rome, the Terme di Caracalla. While in Verona she met Signor Meneghini, a wealthy Italian industrialist, whom she married, and so assumed Italian nationality.

The turning point in her career came during the 1948-9 season at the Fenice, Venice. Callas had been engaged to sing Brünnhilde in Die Walküre; the next opera due for production was I Puritani with Margherita Carosio; Carosio fell ill, and then Serafin suggested to the Sovrintendente that Callas should sing the part of Elvira. This was unbelievable, an Isolde, Turandot, and Brünnhilde, to sing the "delicate" role of Elvira, but she did, and she triumphed. For the first time for many years, there was a dramatic soprano capable of singing florid roles: and why not? After all Lilli Lehmann sang Constanze, Queen of the Night, Norma, Violetta, Brünnhilde and Isolde! A week or so after the Venice Puritani, Callas was off to Rome to sing Kundry in Parsifal.

In the summer of 1949 Callas went to South America for the first time, singing at the Colón, Buenos Aires, in Turandot, Aida and Norma. The next season was a full one in Italy, including Abigaille in Nabucco at the San Carlo, Naples, Aida at the same theatre and at the Scala, Norma in Rome and Venice, Isolde in Rome, and Tosca in Bologna. In the summer she went to Mexico City where she returned in 1951 and 1952; she sang her first Trovatore Leonora there in 1950, and her first Lucia and Gilda there in 1952. In the autumn of 1950 she made an enormous impression at the Teatro Eliseo, Rome, where she sang the part of Donna Fiorella in Rossini's Il turco in Italia. During this year too, she made her three Cetra 78's, the Liebestod*, Casta Diva (Parlo. R30041) and the Mad scene from I Puritani (R3oo43). She also decided about this time to give up her heavier roles (Wagner, Turandot etc.) and concentrate on the Bellini, Donizetti and early Verdi repertory.

The 1950-51 season was the year of the Verdi commemorations in Italy, and Callas sang in Trovatore at the San Carlo, Violetta at Cagliari, and Aida at Reggio Emilia. Then in May at the Florence Festival she was heard as Elena in I Vespri Siciliani under Kleiber, with Christoff and Mascherini: she also sang Euridice in Haydn's opera of Orfeo ed Euridice. Since that date, she has always had a special "old" opera revived for her at Florence, Rossini's Armida in 1952, Cherubini's Medea in 1953, and this year she will sing in Spontini's Agnese.

At the Scala she shares with Tebaldi, the honours of the season; in 1951-2, she sang Norma, Constanze (Seraglio) and Elena: in 1952-3, Lady Macbeth, Gioconda and Leonora in Trovatore; and during the current season, Medea, Lucia, Elisabeth de Valois in Don Carlo and Leonora in Trovatore. The recent Lucia performances evoked the highest praise from the Italian critics ; after the "Mad-scene" curtain calls extended during the whole of the interval; and the general impression was that the evening was one that would go down as one of the greatest in the Scala's history.

Callas came to London in November. 1952, and sang in five performances of Norma at Covent Garden with Stignani, Picchi and Vaghi ; last summer she repeated the Norma, and was heard also as Aida and Leonora in Trovatore.

Callas is a real prima-donna personality; she has an authority and dignity such as one associates with the great singers of the past. Off stage she has a great sense of humour, but is very outspoken. She is a great believer in tradition, and studies her scores with great thoroughness; even if one does not always agree with the way she interprets a part, she has her own good reasons for so doing, which she will explain at great length. Her conception of a role, once thought out is completely logical, and consistent. Her acting is majestic and passionate in turn: those who have witnessed her last act of Norma will probably agree that even if she did not sing a note it would still rank as a great dramatic performance.

Callas acts with her voice ; she is perhaps the only present-day singer who can use coloratura dramatically; she colours her voice as the mood of the music requires her technique is phenomenal; listen to her descending scales in the Puritani, in which each note is crystal clear.

Of course, she has her detractors, what great artist has not? "The voice is ugly", "when she presses sometimes the voice is hard"," she has three voices", are some of the accusations made against her. Perhaps there may be some truth in these statements: but to answer them I would say that the innate beauty of the voice is such as can move the listener to tears in certain passages, and that her dramatic ability enables her to act with her voice like no other singer I know. She is one of the truly greatest of present-day operatic artists, and I venture to say, one of the finest singing-actresses in operatic history.

CALLAS RECORDINGS

In addition to the three "78s" listed in the article, Callas has recorded four complete operas: La Gioconda* (Cetra Set N.I241); I Puritani (Col. 33CX 1058-60); Tosca (Col. 33CX 1094-5) ; Lucia di Lamermoor (Col. 33CX113 -2). *Not available in the U.K.