Maria Callas - 'Diva Extraordinaire'

A 10 part documentary on the life of the extraordinary opera singer, Maria Callas - (1923-1977)

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=mjAyPfK5NJY&feature=related

I've never been much into opera, and she had a reputation for being a b**** to (try to) work with, So I'll pass.

She was an extraordinary woman. Unlike some forms of music where amplification and percussion can hide lots of flaws the great divas of opera (and the great classical virtuosos) are watched and heard by people who know every note and who judge them by their perfomance. Callas really was a phenomenal singer who excelled, most of the time.

I respect the fact you are not much in to opera. Still, I hope you can one day watch it to see just how extraordinary these great performance artists are. Her talents were in bringing some of the greatest, most emotional music ever written. And this she did. In such a unique way. I do think appreciating this is not difficult.


Best wishes

Robert

I have no argument against that. Not that I'm totally innocent of opera, and I have on occasion seen black-and-white TV takes of some of her singing.

Needless to say, she was hardly the only "virtuoso" to be temperamental. I sometimes wonder if it's a case of fame going to their heads, though. Just because one is good doesn't mean he/she is God's right hand. Horowitz, Heifitz, and yes, Fox, had their idiosyncracies. And there seems to be something of a trait among "artists" to be known for their temperaments. Writers and painters, etc. count among those.

Somehow, some seem to escape the sterotype. Isaac Stern seems to have been pretty decent, as is Perlman, and some others.

There for some time, it seemed to me that record companies went fighting over every twelve-year-old oriental girl who picked up a violin. Wonder how they are doing by now.

You are so right about this. Thanks.