Latest news with #PabloLarraín
The Hindu
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
The biopic Maria is an ode to an opera legend and a style icon
With the release of Pablo Larraín's new biopic Maria, starring Angelina Jolie, the world is once again drawn into the life of Greek-American opera legend Maria Callas, whose artistry, ambition and isolation were inseparable from her myth. The film premiered at the 81st Venice International Film Festival on August 29, 2024 and has been streaming on Lionsgate Play in India since May 9, 2025. A childhood marked by struggle Maria Anna Cecilia Kalogeropoulos was born in New York in 1923 to Greek immigrant parents. Her childhood was marred by family discords and poverty. When her parents separated, her mother took Maria and her sister back to Athens, just before World War II. Life in wartime Greece was bleak, but within that landscape, a remarkable voice came into being. Maria trained at Athens Conservatoire under soprano Elvira de Hidalgo, who saw not only the potential but the ferocity in her voice. She practised obsessively, isolated from friends, fuelled by her mother's ambition and her own growing hunger for greatness. She would later say her youth was stolen from her by music. A meteoric rise Her professional debut came in the 1940s in Athens, but it was in post-war Italy that her legend started to crystallise. By the age of 25, Maria had conquered the major Italian stages, singing with an intensity that audiences had not seen in decades. At Milan's Teatro alla Scala, she redefined operatic acting. Maria brought Bel Canto opera — long considered decorative and outdated — back into cultural prominence. In works by Bellini, Donizetti and early Verdi, she found emotional depth. Her Norma was torn between motherhood and priestly duty. Her Lucia descended into madness with devastating realism. These were not just performances. They were revelations. Her voice was unusual: expansive in range, volatile in colour, capable of both lyrical delicacy and volcanic force. Critics sometimes called it uneven. But even those who questioned her technique admitted they could not look away. Glamour and grit By the 1950s, Maria had become a global celebrity. Her drastic weight loss transformed her physically and visually aligned her with the 'fashion elite'. Designers such as Dior and Biki dressed her, photographers pursued her , and tabloids devoured every detail of her life. But the transformation was not without cost. Many believed her voice became fragile after the physical change. Others pointed to the sheer emotional toll her performances exacted. Either way, her career began to slow by the early 1960s. Offstage, her relationship with the Greek shipping magnate, Aristotle Onassis, made headlines. When he left her for Jacqueline Kennedy, Maria was devastated. Those who knew Maria, said she never recovered emotionally, though she rarely spoke about it in public. Jolie's Maria In her final years, Maria withdrew from limelight, living in solitude in her Paris apartment. Friends noted her growing frailty (physical and emotional). She concealed her pain behind dark glasses and tailored suits. It is this fragile, human side that director Pablo Larraín explores in Maria, his introspective biopic starring Angelina Jolie. Set entirely in the last years of the singer's life, the film avoids the grandeur of her career, and instead, lingers on the quiet rituals of memory: letters, old videos, echoes of applause. Angelina's portrayal, informed by months of archival research, is inward and dignified. She plays Maria, not as a legend, but as a woman who once commanded the stage, but now, wrestles with silence. What emerges is not a portrait of a diva, but of a woman confronting the ghosts of her former self. A legacy etched in sound Maria died in 1977, at the age of 53. Her ashes were scattered in the Aegean Sea, not far from the land that had shaped her identity. In 2023, Athens inaugurated the Maria Callas Museum, marking her centenary with a collection of personal objects, costumes, recordings and letters. The museum reflects not only her artistic legacy but her enduring relevance to opera, theatre and performance. Her recordings remain widely studied and sold. Even today, no soprano can sing Tosca, Norma or La Traviata without facing comparison to Maria. But her influence is not measured only in sound. She changed the expectations of what an opera singer could be: not merely a singer, but an actor, a thinker and a human being on stage. Perhaps that is why Maria Callas still matters. Not because she was flawless, but because she was fearless.
The Hindu
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Maria Callas's final aria: an ode to a voice that echoes eternity
With the release of Pablo Larraín's new biopic Maria, starring Angelina Jolie, the world is once again drawn into the life of Greek-American opera legend Maria Callas, whose artistry, ambition and isolation were inseparable from her myth. The film premiered at the 81st Venice International Film Festival on August 29, 2024 and has been streaming on Lionsgate Play in India since May 9, 2025. A childhood marked by struggle Maria Anna Cecilia Kalogeropoulos was born in New York in 1923 to Greek immigrant parents. Her childhood was marred by family discords and poverty. When her parents separated, her mother took Maria and her sister back to Athens, just before World War II. Life in wartime Greece was bleak, but within that landscape, a remarkable voice came into being. Maria trained at Athens Conservatoire under soprano Elvira de Hidalgo, who saw not only the potential but the ferocity in her voice. She practised obsessively, isolated from friends, fuelled by her mother's ambition and her own growing hunger for greatness. She would later say her youth was stolen from her by music. A meteoric rise Her professional debut came in the 1940s in Athens, but it was in post-war Italy that her legend started to crystallise. By the age of 25, Maria had conquered the major Italian stages, singing with an intensity that audiences had not seen in decades. At Milan's Teatro alla Scala, she redefined operatic acting. Maria brought Bel Canto opera -- long considered decorative and outdated -- back into cultural prominence. In works by Bellini, Donizetti and early Verdi, she found emotional depth. Her Norma was torn between motherhood and priestly duty. Her Lucia descended into madness with devastating realism. These were not just performances. They were revelations. Her voice was unusual: expansive in range, volatile in colour, capable of both lyrical delicacy and volcanic force. Critics sometimes called it uneven. But even those who questioned her technique admitted they could not look away. Glamour and grit By the 1950s, Maria had become a global celebrity. Her drastic weight loss transformed her physically and visually aligned her with the 'fashion elite'. Designers such as Dior and Biki dressed her, photographers pursued her , and tabloids devoured every detail of her life. But the transformation was not without cost. Many believed her voice became fragile after the physical change. Others pointed to the sheer emotional toll her performances exacted. Either way, her career began to slow by the early 1960s. Offstage, her relationship with the Greek shipping magnate, Aristotle Onassis, made headlines. When he left her for Jacqueline Kennedy, Maria was devastated. Those who knew Maria, said she never recovered emotionally, though she rarely spoke about it in public. Jolie's Maria In her final years, Maria withdrew from limelight, living in solitude in her Paris apartment. Friends noted her growing frailty (physical and emotional). She had become dependent on a particular sedative that was prescribed for insomnia and anxiety during the 1960s and '70s. According to several biographers, Maria's reliance on prescription medication intensified post Onassis's marriage to Jacqueline. She reportedly battled bouts of depression, irregular heartbeat and fluctuating weight in the early 19'70s. Though these were rarely acknowledged in public, Maria too concealed her pain behind dark glasses, tailored suits, and carefully worded silences. It is this fragile, human side that director Pablo Larraín explores in Maria, his introspective biopic starring Angelina Jolie. Set entirely in the last years of the singer's ife, the film avoids the grandeur of her career, and instead, lingers on the quiet rituals of memory: letters, old videos, echoes of applause. Angelina's portrayal, informed by months of archival research, is inward and dignified. She plays Maria, not as a legend, but as a woman who once commanded the stage, but now, wrestles with silence. What emerges is not a portrait of a diva, but of a woman confronting the ghosts of her former self. A legacy etched in sound Maria died in 1977, at the age of 53. Her ashes were scattered in the Aegean Sea, not far from the land that had shaped her identity. Even in death, as in life, she was elusive — no autobiography, no farewell interviews, only an echo of her voice. In 2023, Athens inaugurated the Maria Callas Museum, marking her centenary with a collection of personal objects, costumes, recordings and letters. The museum reflects not only her artistic legacy but her enduring relevance to opera, theatre and performance. Her recordings remain widely studied and sold. Even today,no soprano can sing Tosca, Norma or La Traviata without facing comparison to her influence is not measured only in sound. She changed the expectations of what an opera singer could be: not merely a singer, but an actor, a thinker and human being on stage. The flame that endured Maria was never content to be admired from a distance. She demanded engagement. Her artistry was messy, raw, sometimes painful. She reached into roles and ripped them open. Her voice cracked. She missed notes. But she was never boring. She made the audience feel. In an era of perfection, hers is a voice that reminds us of something more human. She did not hide her pain, but transformed it. In doing so, she changed the face of opera. Perhaps that is why Maria Callas still matters. Not because she was flawless, but because she was fearless.
Indian Express
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Who was Maria Callas, ‘the Bible of opera', brought to life by Angelina Jolie in a new film?
Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larraín's much-anticipated film Maria, starring Angelina Jolie, released in India last week. The movie portrays the last week of the life of famed opera singer and fashion icon Maria Callas, who once ruled concert halls with her distinctive, emotionally charged soprano voice, but lost its fluidity and ability to hit the high notes in her mid 30s. The noted orchestra conductor Leonard Bernstein once called Callas 'the Bible of opera'. Never one to offer superlatives lightly, Bernstein had good reason to praise Callas. Most opera directors and conductors were fascinated by her, even though her voice had them divided due to its tenor. 'Her voice was not of the most beautiful quality, and still she made this instrument the most expressive, the most telling and the most true to the music that she interpreted,' said Italian-American conductor Nicola Rescigno about Callas in the 1987 documentary Maria Callas: La Divina — A Portrait. Callas attracted attention for another reason — back when the belief among the vocal pedagogy was that a larger body could contribute to a richer, more resonant sound, Callas decided to lose around 30 kg in the middle of her very successful career. Early years and learning music Callas was born Maria Anna Cecilia Sofia Kalogeropoulos on the Upper East Side in New York in 1923 to Greek immigrant parents. Her father had a small pharmacy in Manhattan, and, to fit in, he changed their surname to Callas. Since Maria was born after the death of an infant son, her mother, who wanted a boy, rejected her for four days. But her mother was also fond of opera and would play borrowed records, which Maria and her older sister Jackie heard at home. Soon, Maria began to imitate the arias to operas like Tosca and Carmen. So much so that a Swedish neighbour volunteered to teach her for free. Her father's business struggled during the Great Depression and the family found it hard to make ends meet. His infidelity added to the troubles and Callas's mother decided to return to Athens with her two daughters. She had already figured out that her younger daughter could sing and it could help with earning money. The return to Greece plunged Callas into poverty, which some years later, worsened amid the Axis occupation of Greece during World War II. But her mother, who was determined to turn her daughter into a star, sent her to the National Conservatory at 14, lying about her age as the academy only accepted students when they were 16. Callas then honed her skills at the Athens Conservatory, walking long distances to learn as there was no transportation. Callas's relationship with her mother was always complex, something that the Jolie film also touches upon. She begrudged her all her life. It began with her mother always calling her 'fat and ugly' (Callas was overweight as a teenager with thick glasses and acne). During the war, as people died of starvation around her (30,000 Greeks died due to starvation) Callas's mother pushed Jackie to become a mistress to a rich man, who helped support the family in dire times. She also tried to get Maria to sleep with Nazi soldiers, as revealed through Maria's letters later. Once, Italian fascist soldiers came to her apartment where her mother had hidden two British soldiers for money. The punishment for this was execution. Callas sang Puccini's famed opera Tosca for the soldiers, thus distracting them from a search. The soldiers came back with food for the family and praise for Callas. Her mother kept pushing her to sing, often hungry. Many felt that it was the strength she acquired during this period that distinguished Callas from her peers later. 'Only when I was singing did I feel loved,' she said in an interview once. Musical debut and success Callas's debut was Greek National Opera's first staging of Tosca, where she performed during a blackout for the soldiers, not for wages but for food. She kept singing till 1945 when the war ended, and then moved to the US. After struggles and rejection here, she was noticed by Geovanni Zenatello, artistic director and opera singer from Verona. Maria Callas then moved countries again — this time to Italy, to find fame and success. Here, she met and married the 52-year-old brick manufacturer Giovanni Meneghini, who she felt protected her. Meneghini eventually became her manager. Their relationship soured later as Callas alleged he was taking all her money. In 1949, when another soprano fell sick, Callas substituted her as Elvira in composer Bellini's I Puritani (The Puritans), and mastered the part in just a week. Her portrayal of Norma, Violetta and Madea still remains extremely popular. At the famous John F Kennedy pre-birthday party where Marilyn Monroe sang 'Happy birthday', Callas had sung two arias from the famed French opera Carmen, to much admiration. Changing the way opera was sung Bernstein called Callas a 'singing actress' due to her unique theatrical ability to present a score. At a time when technical superiority in singing was imperative, Callas wanted to bring feeling and emotion into opera. She could imbue notes with anxiety and joy and it is the theatrical ability of her voice that is still remembered. She also brought classic operas by Bellini, Donizetti, and Verdi, that had fallen out of standard repertory for being 'too technical' and 'too pretty', back to life. The 1950s was Callas's golden period and gave her the title La Divina (The Divine). Her original recordings, especially of Tosca, still top classical musical sales, almost 50 years after her death. The loss of her voice Callas said she wanted to lose weight to convincingly portray the ethereal heroines she became on stage. Prodded by Luchino Visconti, one of Italy's most significant directors of opera and cinema, she lost nearly 30 kg to play Violetta, a glamorous Parisian courtesan, in Verdi's romantic tragedy La Traviata (The Fallen Woman). Later, as she started losing the strength of her voice, many believed that her dramatic weight loss had a role to play in this, as her lungs lost power and stamina to sustain the high notes. The stress of her tempestuous personal life, including an abusive and passionate affair with Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, who left her to marry Jackie Kennedy, was cited as another reason. Many music writers believed that Callas had sung in various registers all her life and probably strained her voice too much. Callas did try to revive her career by giving masterclasses at New York's The Juilliard School and a few recitals with Giuseppe di Stefano. But her voice wasn't able to carry her. After her final recital in 1974, she withdrew herself from public life and died in her apartment of a heart failure in 1977.
