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Philip Tsaras's Reviews > Callas: The Art and the Life - The Great Years

Callas by John Ardoin; Gerald Fitzgerald
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it was amazing

Written before Callas's untimely death in 1977, this is arguably the best coffee table/picture book ever written about the genius that was Maria Callas.
First we get a potted history of her life by John Ardoin, which concentrates on the musician and the qualities that made her unique, rather than the scandals that dogged her for most of her life, and then we get a section of photos, sorted into chapters, of many of the productions she appeared in at La Scala, starting with I Vespri Siciliani in 1951 up to her last production at the theatre, Medea in 1962. We finish with two productions mounted specially for her by Zeffirelli (Tosca at Covent Garden and Norma at L'Opera de Paris) and a chapter of photos from Pasolini's film of Medea.
Some, those from Visconti's La Traviata for instance, are so many and so detailed, that you can almost match photo and gesture to exact moments in the score, and the commentary vividly brings the productions, and Callas's unforgettable presence, to life.
Long out of print, but well worth seeking out.
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Finished Reading
November 13, 2016 – Shelved

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