Maria Callas Commendatore OMRI (born Maria Anna Cecilia Sophia Kalogeropoulou; December 2, 1923 – September 16, 1977) was an American soprano. Critics praised her special singing style, wide vocal range, and dramatic performances. She performed many types of operas, including classical opera seria, bel canto works by Donizetti, Bellini, and Rossini, as well as operas by Verdi and Puccini. In her early career, she also performed music dramas by Wagner. Her musical and dramatic skills earned her the nickname "La Divina" ("The Divine One").

She was born in Manhattan and grew up in Astoria, Queens, New York City, to Greek immigrant parents. Her mother, who wanted a son, was very strict. At age 13, Maria received her musical training in Greece and later built her career in Italy. She faced challenges during the 1940s, including poverty and near-sightedness that made it hard for her to see on stage. Throughout her career, she dealt with personal struggles and public scandals. She lost weight during her career, which may have affected her singing ability and led to her career ending earlier than expected.

The media often reported on her emotional behavior, her rivalry with another singer named Tebaldi, and her romantic relationship with Greek businessman Aristotle Onassis. Onassis’s wife, Athina "Tina" Onassis Niarchos, divorced him after learning about his affair with Callas.

Although her personal life and tragedies often received more attention than her artistry, her work was highly respected. Composer Leonard Bernstein called her "the Bible of opera," and her influence remained strong. In 2006, Opera News stated, "Nearly thirty years after her death, she's still the definition of the diva as artist—and still one of classical music's best-selling vocalists."

After her death, her ashes were scattered over the Aegean Sea on June 3, 1979, as she wished.

Life and career

Maria Callas was born with the name Sophie Cecilia Kalos on her New York birth certificate. However, she was given a religious name, Maria Anna Cecilia Sophia Kalogeropoulou (Greek: Μαρία Άννα Καικιλία Σοφία Καλογεροπούλου). She was born on December 2, 1923, at Flower Fifth Avenue Hospital (now the Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center) to Greek parents, Elmina Evangelia "Litsa" (née Demes, originally Dimitriadou; c. 1894–1982) and George Kalogeropoulos (c. 1881–1972). George changed their family name from Kalogeropoulos to Kalos and later to Callas to make it easier to say.

George and Litsa Callas had a difficult relationship from the beginning. George was relaxed and not interested in the arts, while Litsa was lively and wanted a life in the arts, a dream her parents had discouraged when she was young. Litsa’s father, Petros Dimitriadis (1852–1916), was sick when Litsa introduced George to her family. Petros warned Litsa, "You will never be happy with him. If you marry that man, I will never be able to help you." Litsa ignored his warning, but she later realized he was right. George cheated on Litsa, and their marriage suffered. The birth of their daughter Yakinthi (later called "Jackie") in 1917 and their son Vassilis in 1920 did not improve their relationship. Vassilis died from meningitis in 1922, which hurt their marriage further.

In 1923, when George learned Litsa was pregnant again, he moved his family to the United States. Yakinthi later said this decision caused Litsa to scream and George to slam doors. The family arrived in New York in July 1923 and first lived in an apartment in Astoria, Queens.

Litsa believed her third child would be a boy. When she gave birth to another daughter, she was very upset and refused to look at the baby for four days. Maria was given a religious name in 1926 at the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity. When Maria was four, George opened a pharmacy, and the family moved to Manhattan on 192nd Street in Washington Heights, where Maria grew up. Maria showed musical talent at a young age, and Litsa encouraged her to sing. Maria later said she hated being forced to sing when she was only five. George was unhappy with Litsa favoring their older daughter and the pressure she put on Maria. Litsa grew angry with George’s absence and infidelity and often criticized him in front of their children. Their marriage worsened, and in 1937, Litsa returned to Athens with her two daughters.

Callas’s relationship with her mother became more difficult during her time in Greece. This became a topic of public interest, especially after a 1956 Time magazine article about their relationship and Litsa’s 1960 book, My Daughter Maria Callas. Callas later said she disliked her childhood, when her mother forced her to sing and work. In 1957, she told a radio host, "There must be a law against forcing children to perform at an early age. Children should have a wonderful childhood. They should not be given too much responsibility."

Biographer Nicholas Petsalis-Diomidis wrote that Litsa’s harsh treatment of George in front of their children caused Callas to resent her. Callas’s husband and friend Giulietta Simionato said Litsa pushed Callas to "go out with various men," including Italian and German soldiers, to earn money and food during World War II. Simionato believed Callas avoided such situations but never forgave her mother for what she saw as forced prostitution. Litsa had a lifestyle that included pushing her daughters into difficult situations to support her financially and entertaining soldiers during the war.

Callas tried to mend her relationship with her mother by taking her to Mexico in 1950, but this only made their old conflicts worse. After that trip, they never met again. Callas stopped talking to her mother after Litsa sent angry letters blaming her for her father and husband.

In 1955, Time magazine wrote about Callas’s response to Litsa’s request for $100, "for my daily bread." Callas replied, "Don’t come to us with your troubles. I had to work for my money, and you are young enough to work, too. If you can’t make enough money to live on, you can jump out of the window or drown yourself." Callas said she felt no guilt or gratitude and would not expect help from others if she needed it in the future.

Callas received her musical training in Athens. Her mother tried to enroll her at the Athens Conservatoire but failed. At the audition, Maria’s untrained voice did not impress the director, who refused to accept her without completing music theory lessons. In 1937, Litsa asked Maria Trivella, a teacher at the Greek National Conservatoire, to take Maria as a student for a small fee. Trivella remembered Maria as a young girl who wore thick glasses for her poor eyesight.

Trivella agreed to teach Callas for free but soon realized Maria was not a contralto, as she had been told, but a dramatic soprano. They worked to change the range and tone of Maria’s voice. In 1938, Maria performed a duet from Tosca at the Parnassos music hall, ending a class recital. Callas later said Trivella helped her develop her chest voice, but in an interview, she credited her next teacher, Elvira de Hidalgo, for this.

Callas studied with Trivella for two years before her mother arranged another audition at the Athens Conservatoire with de Hidalgo. Callas performed "Ocean, Thou Mighty Monster" from Weber’s Oberon. De Hidalgo said she heard "tempestuous, extravagant cascades of sounds, as yet uncontrolled but full of drama and emotion." She agreed to take Callas as a student, but Litsa asked her to wait a year so Maria could finish her studies at the National Conservatoire. In 1939, Callas played the role of Santuzza in a student production of Cavalleria rusticana and enrolled at the Athens Conservatoire in de Hidalgo’s class.

In 1968,

Voice

Maria Callas's voice caused people to have very different opinions. Walter Legge said that Callas had one of the most important qualities for a great singer: a voice that was easy to recognize.

During "The Callas Debate," Italian critic Rodolfo Celletti said, "The sound of Callas's voice, when considered only as sound, was not very pleasing. It was thick and dry, and it lacked qualities like softness and shine. However, I believe part of her appeal came from this. Why? Because even though her voice was not naturally soft or shiny, it could create unique sounds and tones that were unforgettable." In his review of Callas's 1951 live recording of I vespri siciliani, Ira Siff wrote, "Many people believed Callas had a voice that was not attractive by traditional standards and had problems that would get worse over time. But listen to her entrance in this performance, and you hear a rich, smooth sound that is beautiful by any standard. Her high notes are steady, her lower notes are not forced, and her middle range does not have the rough quality that became more common as she aged."

Nicola Rossi-Lemeni said that Callas's teacher, Serafin, used to call her "Una grande vociaccia." He explained, "Vociaccia means an ugly voice, but grande means a big voice. So, it was a big, ugly voice." Callas did not like how her own voice sounded. In one of her last interviews, when asked if she could listen to her own voice, she said,

Carlo Maria Giulini described the appeal of Callas's voice:

Callas's voice was hard to classify using modern systems for singing voices. She performed roles that required the heaviest dramatic soprano voices as well as roles usually sung by the lightest and most agile coloratura sopranos. Serafin said, "This woman can sing anything written for the female voice." Michael Scott argued that Callas's voice was naturally a high soprano. Rosa Ponselle also believed that "At that stage of her development, her voice was a large, dramatic coloratura soprano with strong abilities, not the other way around." On the other hand, music critic John Ardoin said that Callas was like the 19th-century soprano sfogato, or "unlimited soprano," a type of singer for whom famous bel canto operas were written. He said that like singers such as Maria Malibran and Giuditta Pasta, Callas was naturally a mezzo-soprano, but her range was extended through training and effort. This resulted in a voice that "lacked the smooth, even sound once valued in singing. Parts of her voice were difficult to control. Many who heard Pasta, for example, said her highest notes seemed unnatural, a claim later made about Callas." Ardoin pointed to writings by Henry Chorley about Pasta, which closely resemble descriptions of Callas:

Callas agreed with Ardoin's view that she started as a mezzo-soprano and saw similarities between herself and Pasta and Malibran. In 1957, she described her early voice: "The sound was dark, almost black—when I think of it, I think of thick molasses." In 1968, she added, "They say I was not a true soprano, I was rather toward a mezzo." Regarding her ability to sing heavy and light roles, she told James Fleetwood,

Rodolfo Celletti said, "Her voice was strong and clear. The volume was average, but the strength and sharpness of her voice (which sometimes sounded rough) made it easy to hear anywhere in the theater." Celletti wrote that Callas had "a large, clear, and dark voice." After her first performance of Medea in 1953, a critic for Musical Courier wrote that "she showed a vocal strength that was surprising in its size and resilience." In a 1982 Opera News interview with Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge, Bonynge said, "Before she slimmed down, her voice was huge. It poured out of her, like Flagstad's did. Callas had a huge voice. When she and Stignani sang Norma, at the bottom of the range you could barely tell who was who. It was colossal. And she took the big sound right up to the top." Michael Scott noted that before 1954, Callas's voice was a "dramatic soprano with an exceptional top," but after she lost weight, it became, as one Chicago critic described it in Lucia, a "huge soprano leggiero."

In performances, Callas's vocal range was almost three octaves, from F-sharp below middle C, heard in "Arrigo! Ah parli a un core" from I vespri siciliani, to E-natural above high C, heard in the aria "Mercè, dilette amiche" in the final act of the same opera, as well as in Rossini's Armida and Lakmé's Bell Song. Whether Callas ever sang a high F-natural in performance is still debated. After her June 11, 1951, concert in Florence, Rock Ferris of Musical Courier said, "Her high E's and F's are taken full voice." Although no clear recording of Callas singing high Fs has been found, a poor-quality bootleg recording of Rossini's Armida—which may not be accurate in pitch—has been called a high F by Italian musicologists and critics Eugenio Gara and Rodolfo Celletti. However, Callas expert Dr. Robert Seletsky said that since the finale of Armida is in the key of E, the final note could not have been an F, as it would have been out of tune. Author Eve Ruggieri said the penultimate note in "Mercè, dilette amiche" from the 1951 Florence performances of I vespri siciliani was a high F; however, this claim is refuted by John Ardoin's review of the live recording and by the review in Opera News, both of

Artistry

Maria Callas's own thoughts about music and singing can be found on Wikiquote.

Many people admired Callas, but she was also a subject of debate. Though some saw her mainly as an actress, Callas believed she was first and foremost a musician, meaning she considered herself the main instrument in an orchestra. Grace Bumbry said, "If I looked at the musical score while Callas sang, I would see every note, every change in loudness and speed, and everything was followed exactly. Yet it wasn’t lifeless; it was beautiful and moving." Victor de Sabata told Walter Legge, "If the public understood how deeply musical Callas was, they would be surprised." Serafin described her musical ability as "extraordinary, almost frightening." Callas had a natural sense of balance and proportion, and she had an unusual ability to control timing. One of her colleagues said she had "a sense of rhythm within rhythm."

Callas’s technical skill was noted by Celletti, who said, "She could perform all types of musical decorations, such as quick notes, trills, scales, and more." D'Amico added, "Her technique was based on her ability to use a wide range of tones, combining loudness and sound quality. This gave her the freedom to choose how to use her voice as a tool to express ideas." When reviewing recordings of the difficult aria "D'amor sull'ali rosee" from Il trovatore, Richard Dyer wrote,

Callas also had a special talent for language and how it was used in music. In parts of operas where characters speak, she knew exactly which words and syllables to highlight. Michael Scott said, "If we listen carefully, we can hear how her smooth singing helps express the punctuation and meaning of the text." Technically, she could perform very complex music easily and used each musical decoration not just for show, but as a way to express emotions. Soprano Martina Arroyo said, "What impressed me most was how she made runs and cadenzas sound like words. It always amazed me. I always felt like I was hearing her speak, not just sing notes. That alone was an art." Walter Legge said,

Regarding Callas’s acting, vocal coach and critic Ira Siff said, "When I saw her final two performances of Tosca at the old Met, I felt like I was watching the real story behind the opera." However, Callas was not a realistic or naturalistic actress. Her physical acting was "supporting the deep artistic work of expressing the characters’ emotions through music and singing." Soprano Augusta Oltrabella agreed, "Despite what people say, she was an actress in how she expressed the music, not the other way around."

Matthew Gurewitsch said,

Ewa Podleś said, "It’s enough to hear her. I’m sure! Because she could say everything with her voice. I can imagine everything, I can see everything in front of me." Opera director Sandro Sequi, who saw many of her performances, said, "For me, she was very stylized and classic, yet also human—but on a higher level, almost divine. Realism was not her style, and that is why she was the greatest opera singer. After all, opera is not realistic. She was not suited for realistic roles, even Tosca, no matter how well she could act them." Scott added, "Early nineteenth-century opera is not just the opposite of reality—it also needs highly stylized acting. Callas had the perfect face for it. Her strong features matched its grand style and spoke clearly from a distance."

About Callas’s physical acting, Nicola Rescigno said, "Maria had a way of changing her body to fit the needs of a role, which was a great achievement. In La traviata, everything showed sickness and weakness. Her arms moved as if they had no bones, like great ballerinas. In Medea, everything was sharp and angular. She never made soft movements; even her walk was like a tiger’s." Sandro Sequi remembered, "She was never in a hurry. Everything was measured, classical, and precise. She was powerful but very stylized. Her gestures were few—no more than 20 in a performance. She could stand for 10 minutes without moving, making everyone watch her." Edward Downes recalled Callas watching her colleagues with such focus that it seemed the drama was happening in her mind. Sir Rudolf Bing also said, "In Il trovatore in Chicago, it was Callas’s quiet listening, not Björling’s singing, that made the drama powerful. He didn’t know what he was singing, but she did."

Callas said that in opera, acting must be based on music, quoting Serafin’s advice to her:

Callas’s most special quality was her ability to bring characters to life. Matthew Gurewitsch said, "Among her many talents, Callas had the gift to turn small details of a life into the tone of her voice." Italian critic Eugenio Gara added:

Ethan Mordden wrote, "Her voice had flaws. But Callas used these flaws to express human emotions. The sadness and strength in her voice became parts of her singing. These were real weaknesses in her voice, but she turned them into strengths." Giulini believed, "If melodrama is the perfect mix of words, music, and action, it is hard to imagine an artist where these three were more united than Callas." He remembered that during her performances of La traviata, "reality was on stage. Everything behind me—the audience, the theater, La Scala itself—seemed like art. Only what happened on stage felt real." Sir Rudolf Bing said similar things:

To Antonino Votto, Callas was:

In popular culture

• Terrence McNally's play Master Class, which first performed in 1995, shows Maria Callas as a powerful, dramatic, and humorous teacher who gives a voice lesson. She is both surprised and impressed by the students who perform for her. During the play, she shares memories about her own life and career, ending with a speech about the sacrifices she made for her art. Some scenes include recordings of Callas singing. On Broadway, Callas was played by Zoe Caldwell (1995), Patti LuPone (1996), Dixie Carter (1997), and Tyne Daly (2011). Caldwell won a Tony Award for her role. Faye Dunaway performed in the 1996 national tour.
• In 1997, she was one of 18 important historical figures in Apple Inc.'s Think different advertisement.
• In 2002, Franco Zeffirelli made a film called Callas Forever, which tells a fictional story of Callas's final months. The film features Fanny Ardant as Callas and shows her making a movie of Carmen, lip-syncing to her 1964 recording of the opera.
• In 2007, Callas received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award after her death. That same year, she was named the greatest soprano of all time by BBC Music Magazine.
• A special €10 coin was made in 2007 to honor the 30th anniversary of Callas's death. The coin shows her image on one side and Greece's national emblem with her signature on the other.
• On December 2, 2008, officials from Greece and Italy placed a plaque in her honor at the hospital where she was born, now called the Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center. The plaque, made of Carrara marble and engraved in Italy, states: "Maria Callas was born in this hospital on December 2, 1923. These halls heard for the first time the musical notes of her voice, a voice which has conquered the world. To this great interpreter of the universal language of music, with gratitude."
• In 2012, Callas was added to Gramophone magazine's Hall of Fame.
• An asteroid, numbered 29834, was named Mariacallas in her memory. The naming was officially announced by the Minor Planet Center on January 31, 2018.
• In 2017, Tom Volf released two books: Maria by Callas, which includes quotes and photos, and Callas Confidential. He also created an exhibition called Maria by Callas at La Seine Musicale in Boulogne-Billancourt from September 16 to December 14, 2017. That same year, a documentary by Volf titled Maria by Callas was released, using her interviews, letters, and performances to tell her story.
• Non-operatic singers such as Anna Calvi, Linda Ronstadt, and Patti Smith have said Callas influenced their music. Opera-turned-pop singer Giselle Bellas credits Callas as an influence; her song "The Canary" from her debut album Not Ready to Grow Up was inspired by Callas's relationship with Onassis. Other musicians have honored Callas in their work:
• Enigma used samples of Callas's voice in their 1990 song "Callas Went Away" from the album MCMXC a.D.
• Celine Dion's 2007 French album D'elles includes the song "La diva," which is about Callas. The track uses a recording from Callas's 1956 performance of La bohème.
• In the 2018–2019 season, BASE Hologram Productions performed Callas in Concert in the United States, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Europe.
• In 2019, Volf's book Maria Callas: Lettres & Mémoires was published, based on Callas's letters and autobiography.
• Monica Bellucci portrayed Callas in a theater show called Maria Callas' Letters and Memoirs, directed by Volf. The show began in Paris in late 2019 and toured Europe, ending in Los Angeles and New York City in January 2023. Bellucci wore two Yves Saint Laurent dresses that belonged to Callas.
• In 2021, the first annual Maria Callas Monaco Gala & Award, supported by HSH Albert II, Prince of Monaco, was held at the Hôtel de Paris in Monte Carlo.
• In October 2021, a 1.8-meter-tall statue of Callas, created by Aphrodite Liti, was placed at the base of the Acropolis in Athens. The statue was criticized in cartoons and sparked online discussions.
• In November 2021, Spanish actress Mabel del Pozo played Callas in the play Maria Callas, sfogato, written by Pedro Víllora.
• In 2024, Angelina Jolie portrayed Callas in the film Maria, directed by Pablo Larraín. The movie shows Callas in the 1970s during her decline. The film premiered at the 81st Venice International Film Festival, where Jolie received a standing ovation lasting eight minutes.
• In June 2024, Callas was posthumously inducted into the Women Songwriters Hall of Fame.
• In 2025, the European Central Bank announced that Callas would appear on the obverse of 5 euro banknotes in a future redesign, as part of a theme called "European culture."

Notable recordings

All recordings are in mono unless otherwise stated. Live performances are usually available on multiple labels. In 2014, Warner Classics (formerly EMI Classics) released the Maria Callas Remastered Edition, which includes her complete studio recordings spread across 39 albums in a boxed set. The recordings were remastered at Abbey Road Studios using 24-bit/96 kHz digital sound from original master tapes.

• Verdi, Nabucco, conducted by Vittorio Gui, live performance, Napoli, December 20, 1949
• Verdi, Il trovatore, conducted by Guido Picco, live performance, Mexico City, June 20, 1950. In the aria "D'amor sull'ali rosee," Callas sings Verdi's original high D flat, as she also did in her 1951 San Carlo performance.
• Wagner, Parsifal, live performance conducted by Vittorio Gui, RAI Rome, November 20–21, 1950 (Italian)
• Verdi, Il trovatore, live performance conducted by Tullio Serafin, Teatro San Carlo, Naples, January 27, 1951
• Verdi, Les vêpres siciliennes, live performance conducted by Erich Kleiber, Teatro Comunale Florence, May 26, 1951 (Italian)
• Verdi, Aida, conducted by Oliviero De Fabritiis, live performance, Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City, July 3, 1951
• Rossini, Armida, live performance, conducted by Tullio Serafin, Teatro Comunale Florence, April 26, 1952
• Ponchielli, La Gioconda, conducted by Antonino Votto, studio recording for Cetra Records, September 1952
• Bellini, Norma, conducted by Vittorio Gui, live performance, Covent Garden, London, November 18, 1952
• Verdi, Macbeth, conducted by Victor de Sabata, live performance, La Scala, Milan, December 7, 1952
• Donizetti, Lucia di Lammermoor, conducted by Tullio Serafin, studio recording for EMI, January–February 1953
• Verdi, Il trovatore, live performance conducted by Votto, La Scala, February 23, 1953
• Bellini, I puritani, conducted by Tullio Serafin, studio recording for EMI, March 1953
• Cherubini, Médée, conducted by Nicola Rescigno, live performance at the Dallas Civic Opera, November 6, 1958; considered Callas's most notable performance of Cherubini's opera (Italian)
• Donizetti, Lucia di Lammermoor, conducted by Tullio Serafin, studio recording for EMI in stereo, March 1959
• Ponchielli, La Gioconda, conducted by Antonino Votto, studio recording for EMI in stereo, September 1959
• Bellini, Norma, conducted by Tullio Serafin, studio recording for EMI in stereo, September 1960
• Callas à Paris (excerpts from Gluck's Orphée et Eurydice, Alceste, Thomas's Mignon, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Bizet's Carmen, Saint-Saëns's Samson and Delilah, Massenet's Le Cid, Charpentier's Louise), conducted by Georges Prêtre, studio recording for EMI in stereo, March–April 1961
• Callas à Paris II (excerpts from Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride, Berlioz's La damnation de Faust, Gounod's Faust, Bizet's Les pêcheurs de perles, Massenet's Manon, Werther), conducted by Georges Prêtre, studio recording for EMI in stereo, May 1963
• Mozart, Beethoven, and Weber (excerpts from Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, Weber's Oberon), conducted by Nicola Rescigno, studio recording for EMI in stereo, December 1963–January 1