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Maria Callas was a Greek-American soprano and perhaps the best-known opera singer of the post-World War II period to the present. She combined an impeccable bel canto technique with great dramatic gifts, making her the most famous singing actress of the era.
Greatly admired by many opera fans, disliked by others, Callas was a controversial artist. Her supporters called her "La Divina" and raved about the dramatic intensity and ravishing portrayals she brought to the opera stage. Callas' detractors believed that she regularly pushed her voice beyond its natural limits, achieving her dramatic effect at the expense of beauty of tone.
Born Maria Anna Sofia Cecilia Kalogeropoulos to Greek parents in Brooklyn, New York, she moved with her mother to Athens, Greece at the age of 13. There she received her musical education and became a pupil of the well-known soprano Elvira de Hidalgo at the Athens Conservatory. After a few appearances as a student and in secondary roles, she made her professional debut at the Athens Opera on July 4, 1941, as La Tosca, going on to sing Santuzza and Leonora during the next three years. In 1947, Callas made her Italian debut at the Verona Arena in La Gioconda under the baton of Tullio Serafin. Together with Serafin, Callas subsequently recorded and performed many bel canto operas, contributing greatly to the bel canto revival of the 1950s.
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Throughout the 1950s, Callas made numerous appearances at the world's great houses: La Scala Milan, Opera Garnier Paris, the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House and the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. By the mid 1950s, strain on her voice started to become apparent; by 1958 it reached a point where she was no longer suitable for many roles. Her later stereo recordings evidence masterly musical interpretations with an increasingly unstable higher register that wobbled uncontrollably at times.
In 1969 the Italian filmaker Pasolini cast Callas in her only non-operatic acting role, playing the legendary greek sorceress Medea. Unfortunately the film was not a success in any commercial sense, but is nevertheless as cinematically interesting as any Pasolini film. Callas' only film appearance offers clear evidence of her legendary and charismatic stage presence: her ability to hold an audience's attention while standing still, revealing an economy of gesture and movement that makes her stand apart from most other opera performers.
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From October 1971 to March 1972, Callas gave a series of master classes at the Juilliard School in New York before a full house of students and spectators. (These classes later formed the basis of Terrence McNally's 1995 play Master Class).
Philippine Opera Company is proud to present the Tony Award-winning play, MASTERCLASS, about the legendary opera diva Maria Callas.
Terrence McNally's Master Class was first produced by the Philadelphia Theatre Company in March 1995; it opened at the Golden Theatre in New York City in November of the same year. The play is based on a series of master classes given by the renowned opera singer Maria Callas at the Juilliard School of Music in New York in 1971 and 1972. Callas (1923–77), was the greatest dramatic soprano of her generation and also a controversial figure. Her restless and tempestuous personality often led her into disputes with opera managements and feuds with rival singers. However, she was adored by her fans and was the subject of constant media attention, including gossip about her jet-set life with the wealthy Greek shipowner Aristotle Onassis.
Although Master Class does delve into the triumphs and tragedies of Callas's life, its primary focus is the art of dramatic singing. As McNally's fictional version of Callas teaches her class, she explains to her students, two sopranos and a tenor, just what it takes to invest the music with real feeling, revealing as she does so how demanding the profession of opera singing is. She also reveals her own contradictory personality—proud and egotistical yet also vulnerable and self-pitying. In spite of all the flaws of its main character, however, Master Class, written by a man who has been a Callas fan since he was a teenager in high school, is a tribute to the dedication of a great singer and actress to her chosen art.
Although the play touches on many of the main events of Maria Callas' life, it is not in essence a biographical portrait. Rather, it is an exploration of the nature of artistic creation, as applied to operatic singing and acting. Maria makes clear that art is serious business that cannot be done by half measures; it demands total commitment on the part of the singer/actress. Being an opera singer can never be an easy career; the singer must give everything to the demands of her craft. This means intense discipline over a lifetime.
Witness one of Philippine cinema's living legends CHERIE GIL in a very rare performance as the opera icon Maria Callas.
Asked what made her agree to portray a very difficult role? "I read the script over and over and constantly ask myself what I got myself into? Maria Callas is larger than life and always known to be the epitome of discipline, having an intense passion and love for her art. I was compelled to get to know her though II knew it would be a very difficult show to fill.. To be able to acquire even just an iota of her essence would be a gift. Perhaps, I personally was looking into seeing my own art through her eyes and finding a fresh start to loving my craft all over again." says Cherrie.
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Playing the students in her master class are Jack Salud as Anthony Candolino, Florence Aguilar as Sophie de Palma, Deeda Barreto as Sharon Graham, Ceejay Javier as the pianist Manny and Michael Williams in a cameo role as the stage manager.
MASTERCLASS will run at the Carlos P. Romulo Theater, RCBC Plaza on October 17, 18, 23, 24 and 25, 2008 at 8:00 p.m.
Master Class is presented by the Yuchengco Group of Companies, Lyric Piano, Power Mac Center, Frederick Peralta, Flowers and Foliage, Brooklyn Pizza, Raymund Isaac, Make Up Forever, 92.3 XFM.
For block ticket sales please call Philippine Opera Company at 892-8786 and TicketWorld at 891-9999 or log on to www.philippineoperacompany.com
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