Maria Callas

One of the most celebrated sopranos of the twentieth century, Maria Callas breathed new life into the great bel canto repertoire and transformed the art of operatic interpretation through the dramatic intensity of her singing.

Biographical milestones

Born Maria Anna Cecilia Sofia Kalogeropoulos on 2 December 1923 in New York, to Greek parents, she received her musical training in Athens, notably under the soprano Elvira de Hidalgo, before establishing herself as one of the greatest sopranos of her time. Her voice, her musical intelligence and her dramatic presence profoundly renewed the interpretation of opera.

A driving force behind the revival of bel canto, she helped rediscover a long-neglected repertoire and revealed its full expressive power. She performed on the greatest international opera stages — La Scala in Milan, Covent Garden in London, the Metropolitan Opera in New York and the Paris Opera — in roles that became emblematic, from Norma to Tosca, from La Traviata to Lucia di Lammermoor and Medea.

After gradually withdrawing from the operatic stage in the mid-1960s, she died on 16 September 1977 in Paris, leaving behind a considerable artistic legacy.

Timeline

2 December 1923

Born in New York, into a family of Greek immigrants.

1937

Moves to Athens with her mother; first singing studies at the Greek National Conservatoire.

1939

Enters the Athens Conservatoire in the class of soprano Elvira de Hidalgo, who passes on to her the art of bel canto.

1941-1942

Professional debut at the Greek National Opera; at eighteen, her first major role: Tosca.

2 August 1947

Italian debut at the Verona Arena in La Gioconda, conducted by Tullio Serafin — the conductor who would shape her career.

1949

In Venice, within a single season, she sings both Brünnhilde (Die Walküre) and Elvira (I puritani) — the range of an extraordinary voice is revealed. She marries Giovanni Battista Meneghini.

7 December 1951

Opens the season at La Scala in Milan in I vespri siciliani: the beginning of the great Milan years, alongside Visconti, Zeffirelli, Giulini, Bernstein and Karajan.

1952-1956

Debuts at Covent Garden (1952), in Chicago (1954), then at the Metropolitan Opera in New York (1956) — each time in Norma. First great studio recordings, including the 1953 Tosca.

19 December 1958

Paris debut at the Palais Garnier: a legendary gala broadcast across Europe — restored by the Foundation as Callas – Paris, 1958.

5 July 1965

Final operatic appearance: Tosca, at Covent Garden. The Foundation preserves the costume of her last Paris Tosca, given that same year.

1969

Pier Paolo Pasolini's Medea, her only film role.

1971-1972

Masterclasses at the Juilliard School in New York: transmission, already.

1973-1974

Farewell tour with tenor Giuseppe Di Stefano; last public concert in Sapporo, Japan, on 11 November 1974.

16 September 1977

Dies in Paris, in her apartment at 36 avenue Georges-Mandel. Her ashes were later scattered over the Aegean Sea.

Her roles

Norma, Tosca, Violetta, Medea, Lucia, Anna Bolena… Maria Callas is best told role by role: where she sang them, what she changed in them, and what remains of them in the Foundation's collection.

Discover Callas in her roles

A living legacy

The Foundation bears the name of Maria Callas as a standard to uphold: that of art lived to the full, passed on with rigour and generosity. To preserve her memory is also to prepare the future of operatic art.

By preserving the largest Callas collection in the world and by supporting exhibitions, events and audiovisual productions, the Fund carries on the spirit that was the artist's own and makes her legacy a source of inspiration for the generations to come.