14 January 2025
At her considerable best, Maria Callas could lay down a performance which can’t be bettered. Others might do it just as well, differently – but not better. Over the course of a brief career, having been raised by a poor, abusive mother and trained far from the commanding heights of the opera world, she sang an astonishing breadth of roles, including Wagner roles like Kundry that demand sustained strength and power, high coloratura roles in operas by Bellini and Donizetti that demand flexibility and delicacy, and even mezzo-soprano roles like Carmen. To all of them, she brought a deep training in the art of bel canto, scrupulous musicianship and an eviscerating psychological intensity.
