Maria Callas
Maria Callas
Maria Callas, Commendatore OMRI, was a Greek-American soprano, and one of the most renowned and influential opera singers of the 20th century. Many critics praised her bel canto technique, wide-ranging voice and dramatic interpretations. Her repertoire ranged from classical opera seria to the bel canto operas of Donizetti, Bellini and Rossini and further, to the works of Verdi and Puccini; and, in her early career, to the music dramas of Wagner. Her musical and dramatic talents led to her being...
NationalityGreek
ProfessionOpera Singer
Date of Birth2 December 1923
CityNew York City, NY
It is like comparing champagne with cognac. No-with Coca-Cola.
Don't talk to me about rules, dear. Wherever I stay I make the goddam rules.
To sing is an expression of your being, a being which is becoming.
You are born an artist or you are not. And you stay an artist, dear, even if your voice is less of a fireworks. The artist is always there.
That is the difference between good teachers and great teachers: good teachers make the best of a pupil's means; great teachers foresee a pupil's ends.
What [Tulio Serafin] said that impressed me was: "When one wants to find a gesture, when you want to find how to act on stage, all you have to do is listen to the music. The composer has already seen to that." If you take the trouble to really listen with your soul and with your ears - and I say soul and ears because the mind must work, but not too much also - you will find every gesture there. And it is all true, you know.
I prepare myself for rehearsals like I would for marriage.
I don't know what happens to me on stage. Something else seems to take over.
The public is a monster and that is why I am not eager to return to the stage.
On stage, I am in the dark.
Only my dogs will not betray me.
When the curtain rises, the only thing that speaks is courage.
Don't come to me with your troubles. I have 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.
[During fee negotiations for singing in Vienna:] I'm not interested in money, but it must be more than anyone else gets.