A collection without equal

The Maria Callas Foundation preserves the most significant private collection in the world devoted to Maria Callas — assembled piece by piece from her friends, her associates and collectors across the world, so that it would never be scattered.

The collection in numbers

• 200 hours of original recordings — recitals, rehearsals and working tapes, many of them unpublished
• 30 hours of original films, performances and interviews, including personal Super 8 reels
• 5,000 original photographs, public and private, many never published
• 150 original handwritten letters
• Stage costumes and jewellery — among them the costume of her final Tosca (Paris, 1965) and the crown of Turandot
• Personal documents, albums, programmes and belongings

What makes it unique

This is not a record collection: the Foundation's holdings are original, physical and largely unpublished — the negatives, the tapes, the letters in her hand. They document the artist at work as much as the woman in private: rehearsals no audience ever heard, photographs no magazine ever printed, correspondence never opened to the public.

From these archives came the film Maria by Callas, the exhibitions of Paris and Monaco, the book of her letters and memoirs, and the cinema restoration of her legendary 1958 Paris recital — each project returning a piece of the collection to the public. See ten years of achievements.

Preservation is a race against time

Magnetic tapes, negatives and fabrics are fragile. The Foundation's first mission is their conservation, restoration and digitisation — work that depends entirely on private support. The collection's future home is the Maria Callas Museum in Paris, planned for the fiftieth anniversary of her passing. Discover the museum project.

Consult, exhibit, license

The Foundation supports and creates exhibitions, publications, films and recordings drawing on its collection. Institutions, publishers and producers can request access to licensing ; scholars and journalists may contact the Foundation.

Help preserve this collection — make a donation or join the Friends of Maria Callas.