#ladivina

[chictape]

Frida Aasen - LaDivina Swim

[joansutherlandfan]

Today's #tbt go back to November of 1952, Joan was just a newcomer at the opera house team. She was lucky enough to be in the cast (as Clothilde) of Norma with the legends - the mezzo Ebe Stignani and soprano Maria Callas at the height of her powers. Joan always said Callas, despite her temperament, was very nice to her. And these excerpts show us this side:

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[...] Callas was easy to work with and appreciatively considerate of others. As she and Joan stood together in the wings on the opening night, whilst Ebe Stignani sang the part of Adalgisa, Callas, enormous arms folded, said: "Please be my eyes, Joan. Make sure I'm in the right position for the steps." Almost blind, without her glasses, Callas had paced everything out in rehearsal, but it was useless her counting paces, as she moved across the stage, if she started off slightly in the wrong direction and so strode briskly into the orchestra pit. Stignani was singing superbly and Callas and Joan listened contentedly together. Suddenly Callas hissed: "God, I should've done a pee before I came up. This great long scene... Ah well!" Her duet Mira o Norma with Stignani was expected to be the highlight of the performance. "I must sing it down for Stignani, "Callas murmured regretfully, well aware of how brilliantly she would have been able to sing it 'up'; but knowing also that this was a duet and that both tradition and Stignani's voice were to be respected utterly. Callas listened again; and then said: "God, how she can sing! [...]" Taken from Joan's biography by Russell Braddon.

[crazycatsiren]

[oliviad134]

Maria Callas - Lucia di Lamermoor, 1959

[parisfind]

Visiting the special #exhibit dedicated to #MariaCallas #LaCallas #LaDivaassoluta #LaDivina #images, #costume #personaleffects and sound at the #exhibition space of #laseinemusicale #lileseguin #boulognebillacourt #Paris (at La Seine Musicale)

[aapproach]

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"...I don't like the kind of voice I have. I really hate listening to myself! The first time I listened to a recording of my singing... they made me listen to the tape and I cried my eyes out. I wanted to stop everything, to give up singing." - Maria Callas __________________________________ Do you hate the sound of your own voice? Well, let me tell you about Maria Callas a.k.a. #LaDivina... Callas is considered by many to be one the greatest singers of all time, if not THE greatest - a soprano who, in her prime, was "capable of singing ANYTHING written for the female voice". Still... Critics frequently described her voice as "ugly". Harsh. Masculine. Strident. ____________________________ According to her interviews, she never grew to like her voice, but she did learn to appreciate the uniqueness of her gift. Ironically, it was her tonal "ugliness" that gained her such widespread adoration and attention. She didn't sound like all the other sopranos, so she stood out! __________________________ What I love about Callas is how polarizing she was. I love that she hated her own voice but kept singing and SUCCEEDING anyway. For the record, I don't consider her voice "ugly" at all. I think that such descriptions were largely sexist in nature. Opera is an old world art form that still subscribes to the idea that women are to be seen and heard in a very specific/limited capacity. I think Callas' wanton use of chest voice (a "masculine" quality) is what drew such ire from her detractors, but it's also what made her singing so THRILLING 🙌🏽. Her voice had so many colors!!! It's hard for me to enjoy cookie cutter sopranos, all striving for an ideal of sound, refusing to let their own authentic tonal qualities come through. The lesson I take away from Callas is that "fitting in" is unnecessary; the beauty is in the uniqueness itself.

[theessentialshandbook]

:: Maria Callas

[chictape]

Frida Aasen - LaDivina Swim