La Divina

I don't really know much about Opera. I can't even honestly say I like the opera. I do, however, love the arias (I think that's what they're called) and I admire the passion behind the music.




Maria Callas as a performer was so amazing. I just finished watching a few youtube videos of her performances and WOW! The range of emotions executed with such fluid grace is heavenly. She is most worthy of the title La Divina.




Five years ago, my daughter and I went to a play written by Terrence McNally, entitled "Master Class". The plot synopsis is as follows:

"At its core is diva Maria Callas, a glamorous, commanding, larger-than-life, caustic, and surprisingly drop-dead funny pedagogue of a voice master class. Alternately dismayed and impressed by the students who parade before her, she retreats into recollections about the glories of her own life and career. Included in her musings are her younger years as an ugly duckling, her fierce hatred of her rivals, the unforgiving press that savaged her early performances, her triumphs at La Scala, and her affair with Aristotle Onassis. It all culminates into a monologue about sacrifice taken in the name of art." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_Class

I had no idea how much of an impact this play had on my daughter who was 17 at the time. Though she was already involved in the musical programs in high school, she was moved to study classical voice in college as a result of this introduction to La Divina.

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–”I am not an angel and do not pretend to be. That is not one of my roles. But I am not the devil either. I am a woman and a serious artist, and I would like so to be judged.” Maria Callas