Greek
Fire : The Story of Maria Callas and Aristotle Onassis
by Nicholas Gage
Nicholas Gage's meticulously documented and consistently absorbing
account chronicles the stormy love affair between Maria Callas (1923-77)
and Aristotle Onassis (1906-75). Gage sees the soprano who reinvented the
art of opera and the tycoon who transformed the shipping industry as kindred
spirits, drawn into romance by a deep connection to their Greek origins
and a shared sense that, despite all they had achieved, something was missing.
They found that absent element in a once-in-a-lifetime passion, which Onassis
betrayed by marrying Jacqueline Kennedy in 1968. Gage appears to share
the view of the tycoon's Greek coterie, who viewed this marriage as an
act of hubris that inevitably led to financial and personal reversals which
embittered Onassis in his final years. But he doesn't blame the tycoon
for Callas's decline, pointing out that by the time they met, she was already
experiencing severe vocal problems and was eager for respite from her taxing
performance commitments. In any case, her career and his business dealings
take a back seat here to Gage's evocative portrait of his subjects' outsized
personalities and the jet-set society in the gaudy postwar years. Some
of the new information is revelatory, particularly Gage's persuasive contention
that Callas bore Onassis a son who died hours after his birth in 1960.
At other times his investigative-journalist approach seems too weighty
for this highly personal story of love, rage, and big, big egos. Fortunately,
these lapses don't seriously mar a text distinguished by smooth prose,
the seamless interweaving of several narrative strands, and a warm sympathy
for its genuinely tragic protagonists. --Wendy Smith - Amazon.com
Hardcover: 422 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.55 x
9.54 x 6.68
Publisher: Knopf; (October 3, )
ISBN: 0375402446
Maria
Callas Remembered: An Intimate Portrait of the Private Callas
by Nadia Stancioff
Nadia Stancioff was Maria Callas's friend during the diva's unhappy
final years, starting as a publicist for Callas's film of Medea. Interviewing
people who had known her earlier, Stancioff sought to explore the woman
from the inside--"Maria," not "Callas." Though the result offers no real
information we haven't seen before, it is delivered in a personal voice
that makes this memoir (first published in 1987) worth reading.
There's plenty about Callas's appearance and love life, but the tone
is chatty rather than trashy. The events that Stancioff herself was there
for were not especially significant (she was present, however, when Onassis
paid his first visit to an agitated Callas after his marriage to Jackie
Kennedy). More valuable are the stories she hears from colleagues, fans,
and the singer's elusive sister. The one subtle, and indeed moving, touch
is something the author doesn't do: she declines to resolve the contradictions
people tell her. Maria's mother pushed her into singing; it was Maria's
own desire. Maria's family was kept in luxury during World War II by her
sister's boyfriend; Maria ate out of garbage cans. In the '40s, the Met
offered her roles that she turned down; there was no offer. The stories
aren't reconciled because Callas can't be: she exists only in the kaleidoscope
of other people's impressions. Stancioff's own Maria is a difficult woman--capricious,
superhumanly insecure--to whom she is utterly loyal.
The unanswered questions surrounding Callas's death have been discussed
elsewhere, such as in Maria Callas: Sacred Monster. As speculated on by
the chorus of voices here, the mystery is particularly unsettling. Neither
Callas nor, perhaps, anyone who cared about her was in control of what
she left behind. It's a sad end to the tale of a tortured woman whose aura
is as strong as ever but who was, ultimately, no more knowable than any
of us. --David Olivenbaum - Amazon.com
Paperback: 258 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.73 x
8.99 x 5.85
Publisher: DaCapo Press;
ISBN: 0306809672
Maria
Callas : An Intimate Biography
by Anne Edwards
Anne Edwards has made a career out of writing intelligent biographies
of prominent women, from the tortured (Vivien Leigh, Judy Garland) to the
indomitable (Katharine Hepburn, Shirley Temple). Her gift for vivid characterization
and lively narrative is once again in evidence in this readable portrait
of opera's revolutionary diva, Maria Callas (1923-77).
Edwards doesn't add anything new to the well-known story of Callas'
tumultuous life, and she disagrees with Nicholas Gage's controversial assertion
(in the book Greek Fire) that Callas bore Aristotle Onassis a son who died
shortly after his birth in 1960. But the author lays out the familiar facts
deftly, nailing each of the forceful personalities who shaped Callas' destiny,
from the obsessively ambitious mother who pushed her into performing and
denied her a childhood to Onassis, the great love of her life, who broke
her heart after a nine-year affair when he married Jacqueline Kennedy.
Most forceful of all is Callas herself, who transformed opera with the
revelation that great singing became even greater when buttressed by great
acting.
Callas' fanatical devotion to the libretto, her deep understanding of
character, and her incomparable musicianship get as much attention from
Edwards as her famous feuds (most notably with Renata Tebaldi), the diet
that transformed her into a sex symbol, and the notorious cancellations
that occurred with increasing frequency to match the worsening of her vocal
problems, which eventually forced her retirement from performing. The result
is an exemplary popular biography that judiciously balances juicy anecdotes
with critical commentary, giving the general reader a colorful, poignant
portrait of Maria Callas the woman without ever losing sight of Callas
the visionary artist. --Wendy Smith - Amazon.com
Hardcover: 400 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.26 x
9.56 x 6.46
Publisher: St. Martin's Press;
ISBN: 0312269862
The
Autobiography of Maria Callas: A Novel
by Alma H. Bond
Alma Halbert Bond is a retired Freudian psychoanalyst whose love of
opera and the fabled soprano Maria Callas led her to write this partly
fictionalized psycho-autobiography, in the form of a novel. This is an
ambitious psychological look at Callas's life, and Bond's claim to authority
is in the analytical end, not the historian's craft, but she has done her
homework. Some intense Callas fans have taken Bond fiercely to task for
even daring to write a book dealing with their goddess's motivations and
feelings. No one can know what goes on in the mind of another, and this
sort of psychological analysis--which does not benefit from any first-hand
consultation with its subject--can only be educated guesswork at best.
Still, many of Bond's educated guesses make sense and help to fill in the
puzzle that was Maria Callas. If the first-person narrative sometimes fails
to work as planned, Bond's love of her subject shines through, and fans
of the great diva should give this book a try. --Sarah Bryan Miller - Amazon.com
Paperback: 224 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.67 x
8.91 x 5.93
Publisher: Birch Brook Pr; 1 edition (May 1, )
ISBN: 0913559482
Callas
by Callas : The Secret Writing of 'LA Maria'
Maria Callas : Sacred Monster
by Stelios Galatopoulos
Maria Callas is a biographer's dream. Born into poverty, she turned
herself from an ugly duckling into a beautiful swan, and in the process
became the most celebrated diva of the 20th century. She breathed life,
drama, and passion into an art form that had hitherto remained the preserve
of an intellectual elite, and was single-handedly responsible for turning
opera from an arts-page sideshow to front-page news. Her bust-ups with
the New York Met and her disastrous love life--culminating in a tragic
obsession with Aristotle Onassis--were as enthralling as her voice, and
there was a depressing inevitability about her mysterious, early death
in 1977 at the age of 54.
It's hardly surprising, then, that there have been any number of books
written about Callas. Most have been little more than well-researched clippings
jobs. Callas spent nearly 30 years in the public eye, and there is any
amount of material about her on public record. What separates Stelios Galatopoulos
from the rest of her biographers is the wealth of previously unpublished
material from which he draws. He is stronger than most on Callas's early
years--particularly the German occupation of Greece during the Second World
War--which is a period many writers try to ignore, as Callas was accused
by many Greek patriots of having been a traitor to her country by continuing
to perform for the Nazis in the Athens opera house. Galatopoulos is quick
to absolve her of any charges of collaboration. This is probably a correct
assessment, though he falls short of labeling Callas and her mother as
the ruthless careerists and opportunists they undoubtedly were.
Herein lie both the strength and weakness of the book. Galatopoulos
was a close personal friend of Callas; as such he was privy to her most
private thoughts and he offers us some fascinating new insights into her
husband, Giovanni Meneghini; her lover Aristotle Onassis; and her mother.
What he doesn't always do, though, is maintain a critical eye. Whenever
he deals with anything controversial, he is happy to give Callas the benefit
of the doubt. But all this is really a minor quibble. Overall, Galatopoulos
does a superb job in re-creating the opera world of the 1940s through to
the 1970s and he excels in his assessment of Callas's artistic achievements.
Maria Callas: Sacred Monster may not be the final word on the diva, but
it's as close as it comes. --John Crace - Amazon.com
Hardcover: 544 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.75 x
10.50 x 8.25
Publisher: Simon & Schuster; (April )
ISBN: 0684859858
Out of Print - Try Used
Books
Maria
Callas : The Tigress and the Lamb
Maria
Meneghini Callas
by Michael Scott
Publisher: Northeastern University Press; (September 1992)
Maria
Callas
Diva
: The Life and Death of Maria Callas
Maria
Callas
Maria Callas : j'ai vâecu d'art, j'ai vâecu d'amour
Out of Print - Try Used
Books
La vera storia di Maria Callas : con documenti inediti
Out of Print - Try Used
Books
Un amore di Maria Callas
Out of Print - Try Used
Books
Kenneth
Harris talking to Maria Callas [and others]
Maria
Callas
Maria
Callas
My Daughter Maria Callas
by Evangelia. Callas
Publisher: Ayer Co Pub; (June 1977)
Out of Print - Try Used
Books
Maria
Callas, a tribute
My Wife Maria Callas
by G. B. Meneghini
Out of Print - Try Used
Books
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Maria Callas CDs |
