| TIME Europe (www.timeeurope.com)
publishes a special issue to celebrate 60 years of TIME
magazine publishing in Europe, entitled ’60 Years
of Heroes’. Among them Maria Callas: to her is
dedicated an article by the great singer Cecilia Bartoli,
and her name is in the first page close to Charles de
Gaulle, Nelson Mandela, Vaclav Havel, Helmut Kohl, Francois
Truffaut, Madre Teresa and Franz Beckenbauer. Once more
a celebration of the Myth of the glamorous star Maria
Callas, a role model for every female opera singer.
“Maria Callas – writes
Cecilia Bartoli, who is a world-renowned mezzo-soprano
and is best known for her Mozart and Rossini roles –
remains an icon with an instantly recognizable voice.
But she was also the first opera singer to be equipped
with the ingredients of international celebrity: charisma,
glamour, wealth, she had it all, together with the touches
of scandal and tragedy that made her story so compelling.
Since her time, every female opera singer has been measured
against this powerful role model.
Callas had a direct influence on the
first steps of my career. At 19, I was called to perform
at a gala in Paris devoted to her memory. There, the
conductor Daniel Barenboim discovered me and he consequently
guided me to Mozart, a composer who became one of the
foundations of my life and career.
Callas modernized our metier. Her life
was a tireless creative search. She was one of the first
to recognize the importance of being an actress as well
as a singer, and was uncompromising in her belief that,
in order to achieve a complete dramatic performance,
all aspects of the operatic genre require equal attention.
She was a pioneer in restoring forgotten repertoire
and in exploring new ways of musical interpretation.
To this day, I find that many of her exemplary recordings
are astounding”.
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