President Giorgio Napolitano has granted the High Patronage of the President of the Italian Republic to the Gala Evening officially scheduled for the multimedia show at the Rome Opera House on Monday January 28th at 8.30 p.m.
It is an imaginary embrace, a symbolic reconciliation between the Roman public and the greatest singer of our times: MARIA CALLAS. The title of the show is significant: ROME AND MARIA CALLAS: CLOSER THAN EVER. Many opera lovers and Maria Callas’ myriad fans will certainly remember that the great Primadonna walked out on the title role of “Norma” after the first act, on January 2nd 1958.
It was the opening night of the Opera House and the then President of the Republic, Carlo Gronchi was present. It was an enormous scandal.
Before the performance, Callas had asked to be replaced, saying that her throat complaint, tracheitis, had worsened. But she was asked to perform anyway, as there was no understudy and the gala audience had come to hear her sing.
This celebration performance was advocated by the Cultural Committee of the Municipality of Rome, in particular by its President, Pino Galeota, and by the Rome Opera House, in collaboration with the Maria Callas Cultural Association. The President of the Association, Bruno Tosi, inspired the event, together with Tony Shargool, who has created and will produce with his company, Media Picture International, the eagerly awaited Gala. As well as the High Patronage awarded by President Napolitano, the event had previously been awarded Patronage of the Prime Minister’s Office.
The evening will be presented by the RadioRai 3 opera gurus, Michele Suozzo and Enrico Stinchelli, presenters of the programme “La Barcaccia”. The programme will show historical footage of Maria Callas, beginning with her “Casta Diva” sung live (the first Eurovision) from the Rai Auditorium on December 31st 1957, together with other footage of the Istituto Luce and the Settimana INCOM, which gave a lot of coverage to the interrupted Norma. The famous actress Piera degli Espositi will read some extracts from Callas’ account of the event, written the following day. In it the diva insists that she was ill at the time, refuting the opinion of those who believed her clamorous gesture nothing more than a capricious whim. The evening will end with a tribute to the Divina by the young Greek soprano Dimitra Theodossiou, who will be accompanied by the flautist Giovanni Roselli and the pianist Paola Dal Verme.
The announcement of the extraordinary event has produced an enthusiastic interest and the demanded tickets have been snapped up in a few hours. The two protagonists of the evening have received a triumphal welcome: Piera degli Espositi, who has revived the exciting defence of Maria Callas in 1958, and the young prima donna Dimitra Theodossiou, who has sung Maria’s arias of repertoire, starting with “Casta Diva”, and giving an encore. In the front seats (tout Rome was present), there were people who had been present at the unforgettable “Norma” on January 2nd: Gina Lollobrigida, Silvana Pampagnini, Giulio Andreotti, and of course the great singer Anita Cerquetti who, at that time, replaced Maria Callas, and has been greeted with a really unending standing ovation.
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Anita Cerquetti e Bruno Tosi |
Dimitra Theodossiou |
Dimitra Theodossiou |
Gina Lollobrigida |
lo stilista Balestra |
Piera degli Esposti |
Silvana Pampanini |
Qui sotto, la vetrina del negozio Coin nel cuore di Roma,
con abiti della Callas, Yves saint Laurent e Biki esposti per la prima volta
in occasione della grande serata al Teatro dell'Operra "Callas e Roma: Amici più di prima".
con il sostegno del Casinò
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