There are many female artists, but few are granted the privilege of becoming Divine. Perhaps the most divine of all is Maria Callas, whose voice was capable of bringing tears to every audience member at her theater performances.
And it's no coincidence that Italian Opera has become a UNESCO World Intangible Heritage; when you meet artists like Maria, you can understand her full power.
Beyond the incredible emotion of her voice, the myth of the divine was fueled by her impossible love affair with Aristotle Onassis, a Greek shipowner who was then among the richest in the world.
Aristotle loved women and had an intense affair with Maria Callas, but he left to marry the widow of US President JFK. Legend has it that Maria found out about this from the newspapers and that after years of separation, her bond with Aristotle was so strong that she remained close to him during the dark years of his illness.
The story of Maria Callas was told in the show "Gran Galà ricordo la divina Callas, arie e passioni di una diva" (Gran Galà remembering the divine Callas, arias and passions of a diva), part of the Colleferro theater season. A show that was a little gem and a surprise even for me, having followed the rivalry between Maria Callas and Renata Tebaldi since I was a child.
The talented Maestro Stefano Giaroli, who played the piano but also served as the narrator who accompanied us on our discovery of the diva, chose to focus on some aspects of Callas's life that not everyone knows.
Certainly, her childhood in the United States and Greece and the fact that she was practically blind. To overcome her disability and avoid wearing large glasses with thick lenses, Callas learned all the parts of the opera, forcing countless rehearsals before going on stage. This way, she had no problems and did not have to observe the conductor (whom she could not see) but could harmoniously insert herself at the right moment.
Her true revolution, the one that made her a household name in opera history, was that she began to act like a true artist. She was never just a singer assigned an aria, but an actress who sang her story with the joys and sorrows of the character she played.
A truly special evening, thanks also to the splendid voice of soprano Renata Campanella, who sang a selection of significant arias in Maria Callas's life. Her powerful yet graceful voice resonated throughout the theater, resonating with all our emotions and providing moments of rare intensity.
From the stage, greetings were sent to Mayor Pierluigi Sanna, a constant presence at every performance and the true architect of Colleferro's cultural revolution, which has led to the Vittorio Veneto Theater always being filled with an attentive and curious audience.
From Maestro Giaroli's words, it seems that the Colleferro audience could well become the Lazio region's top audience (recalling the importance of that of La Scala in Milan).
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