Aida

Aida was one of the pillars of Maria Callas's early career — the great Verdi role by which a soprano was then measured against the most exposed repertoire. She sang it for the first time in Turin in 1948, then carried it across Italy, Argentina and Mexico, in the years when her career caught fire.

It was in Mexico City, in 1950 and 1951, that her Aidas entered legend: performances of famous incandescence, in which she crowned the Act II finale with an unwritten high E-flat — one of the most celebrated moments in the history of opera captured live. The story travelled the world; above all, it tells of the nerve of a twenty-seven-year-old singer before one of the most demanding audiences anywhere.

Callas gradually set the role aside as her repertoire moved towards the bel canto revival she was leading. She nevertheless left a studio recording in 1955, conducted by Tullio Serafin — the pharaoh's captive daughter sung not as a fresco but as an intimate drama.

In the Foundation's collection

Photographs and documents from Callas's formative years and first great tours — the years of the Aidas — are preserved in the Foundation's collection. Discover the collection · Licensing

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