GREAT CALLAS EXHIBITIONS 2008 IN LISBON
THE NINETY-EIGHT YEARS OLD MEZZO-SOPRANO GIULIETTA SIMIONATO HAS CLOSED THE EXHIBITION “MARIA CALLAS” IN LISBON. 70.000 VISITORS.
Lisbon, October 2008. “I formally declare that with this exhibition of Lisbon, dedicated to Maria Callas, my career has come to an end. I’m honoured and touched by the invitation to come to Lisbon after so many years, to “my” Sao Carlos Opera House, where I sang so many times and to recall Maria, my best friend and colleague”. The 98 years old Giulietta Simionato, last living myth of the “great opera”, has come for this event from Rome, where she lives, to the Portuguese capital for the closing ceremony of the exhibition “Maria Callas”, that, in a little more than three months, has counted more than 70.000 visitors, at least 3.000 only the last day. G.Simionato has been invited in Lisbon by Sao Carlos Opera House, by Fundaco EDP (Museu da Electricidade) and by Bruno Tosi, President of the cultural Association Maria Callas, who has arranged, for the exhibition, a great deal of his rich collection of memorabilia concerning the “Divina”. The Italian mezzo-soprano has also been special guest at Sao Carlos Opera House for the last performance of “Sigfrido”. When it has been announced she was in the royal box, the audience have risen and acclaimed her. “Giulietta Simionato’s presence-Tosi said- is highly significant because, since she was Callas’s great friend and colleague, she was the first one to support the idea of Callas Association, becoming honorary President since its foundation in 1992. Moreover she performed in Lisbon for seven years, from 1952 to 1959, singing the most famous operas, from “Carmen” to “Cenerentola” and “Mignon”. Her performances are still remembered by the Portuguese who have risen for a standing ovation. The ceremony, involving a lot of authorities as the Italian Ambassador Luca del Balzo di Presenzano, has taken place at the Museu da Electricidade, where the exhibition was opened on July 12th by the President of the Republic, Mario Cavaco Silva. In the background of the original scene of the second act of “Traviata” at Sao Carlos, as 50 years ago for the unforgettable performance by Maria Callas, the spectators could hear G.Simionato and M.Callas in the duetto “Mira or Norma” from Vincenzo Bellini’s masterpiece, live recorded at the Scala in Milan in 1955. The next stages of the exhibition will be New York, Los Angeles, Chicago Tokyo and Beijing before the foundation of the museum dedicated to Maria Callas in Venice. Bruno Tosi has in fact announced his will to donate to his native town his collection, which is the most complete one in the world. Besides, Callas loved so much Venice, the town where in January 1949 she had her first international success with “The Puritans” at the Fenice, and where, on September 3rd 1957, she met for the first time Aristotele Onassis at the Maxwell ball at Danieli Hotel, a circumstance that definitely changed her life.
Bruno Tosi con l’Ambasciatore d'Italia Luca del Balzo di Presenzano e Giulietta Simionato
Nuno Humberto Pólvora Santos e Fernando Manuel Ribeiro de Carvalho
Giulietta manda un bacio al pubblico che l’acclama al Museo dell’Elettricità
Giulietta ospite d’onore nel Palco Reale al San Carlos
Bruno Tosi e Giulietta all’aeroporto di Lisbona
Giulietta con Fernando Carvalho al Museo dell’Elettricità
PROROGATA LA MOSTRA DI LISBONA
CHIUDERA’ IL 19 OTTOBRE 2008
Il Museo dell’Elettricità che ospita la Mostra “Callas a Lisbona”
(un grande successo: 50.000 visitatori) rimarrà aperta 24 ore al giorno
nella prossime feste e ai fine settimana fino al 19 Ottobre data di chiusura della Mostra.
Museu da Electricidade de Lisbon
On the next July 11th 2008 at 9,30 p.m. there will be the opening of the exhibition in Lisbon to recall the triumphal “Traviata” of Maria Callas at the Teatro Nacional de Sao Carlos, fifty years after the unforgettable “Violetta” with the very young but nevertheless extraordinary Alfredo Kraus. The exhibit will be hosted in the exceptional location of the Museu da Electricidade de Lisboa, which has supported the event together with the Teatro Nacional de Sao Carlos. The exhibition will be open till September 21st 2008.
July 11th 2008, 9, 30 p.m.: Exhibition inauguration. BY INVITATION ONLY
July 12th 2008, 10, 00 a.m.: Exhibition opening to the public
We will give you further details about these extraordinary events.
 visit the official web site of the Callas exhibition: WWW.CALLASLISBOA.COM
(NEWS in Portuguese)
O Museu da Electricidade está aberto até às 24 horas todas as sextas e sábados até 18 de Outubro, inclusive, num esforço para facilitar a visita do público à Exposição sobre Maria Callas.
Entretanto, na próxima segunda-feira, dia 6 (Dia Mundial da Arquitectura), o Museu não fechará e terá, mesmo, um programa muito especial, com duas visitas guiadas (às 11 e às 15 horas) à Central (exterior, circuito normal, pisos das caldeiras, salas dos reóstatos e do tapete e terraço): O tema das visitas é "O edifício da Central Tejo" - Origem e Evolução.
Promovida e apresentada pela Fundação EDP e pelo Teatro Nacional de São Carlos, a 12 de Julho abrirá ao público em Lisboa uma Exposição que recorda a triunfal « Traviata » de Maria Callas no Teatro Nacional de São Carlos, cinquenta anos depois da inesquecível « Violetta », ao lado do muito jovem e igualmente extraordinário Alfredo Kraus, encerrando a 21 de Setembro.
Outros acontecimentos decorrerão durante o período de Junho a Setembro, dos quais daremos notícia oportunamente.
Maria Callas nel camerino del San Carlo di Lisbona
dopo la trionfale Traviata del 1958.
Museu da Electricidade de Lisboa
PHOTOGALLERY
LA DIVINA REGRESSA...
con il sostegno del Casinò
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