Maria Callas

"Maria Callas: Sacred Monster," by Stelios Galatopoulos. Simon & Schuster. 564 pages. $35.Whether staring out of Apple's "think different" ads, re-created in the Tony Award winning play "Master Class," or blown up to the size of a billboard as backdrop for the opera "Harvey Milk," Maria Callas remains a stronger presence two decades after her death than any opera singer currently gracing the stage of the Met. By demanding that opera be a dramatic experience -- often at the sacrifice of vocal beauty -- she earned the nickname "La Divina" though there were an equal number of opera fans who considered her nothing less than the Antichrist.

Of all the incisive moments in Terrence McNally's "Master Class," his Tony Award-winning tribute to the astonishing Maria Callas, the most compelling may be when "La Divina" - as her devoted fans called the soprano - mentions criticisms she received: "They said they didn't like my sound. But they didn't like my soul." When Tyne Daly delivers that line in the Kennedy Center's exhilarating new production of the play, you feel all the truth and pain behind it. By that point in "Master Class," it's kind of hard to remember that the real Callas isn't on the Eisenhower Theater stage revealing her inner self, so persuasively does Daly animate the character.

Midway through Jonathan Demme's film "Philadelphia," there is a supercharged scene in which Andrew Beckett (played by actor Tom Hanks) attempts to explain to his lawyer, Joe Miller (Denzel Washington), what opera means to him.As Maria Callas' recording of "La mamma morta" from Giordano's "Andrea Chenier" begins softly in the background and then swells to fill the theater, Andrew translates the words and conveys the passions and emotional meanings behind this operatic excerpt.It is the most vividly remembered moment after the drama has been played out and the film has ended; so much so that record stores nationally have had a recent run on Callas' recordings.

More than 30 years after her death, soprano Maria Callas remains the benchmark for interpretive intensity and insight in opera. That's one reason why Terrence McNally's first Callas-centric play, "The Lisbon Traviata," has retained such potency since its 1985 premiere. The other reason for this comic-tragic work's success, of course, is that it's just so entertaining, a point reaffirmed by the Kennedy Center's handsome new production -- one of three operatically attuned plays by McNally being presented at the center.

George Bernard Shaw coined the expression: "He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches." And near the end of her life, when her voice failed, legendary soprano Maria Callas exemplified that notion by teaching a series of master classes at Juilliard.Playwright and Callas devotee Terrence McNally was in the audience at those classes, which form the basis for "Master Class," now at Washington's Kennedy Center prior to Broadway. But this latest script by last season's Tony Award-winning playwright is much more than a fictionalized transcription or a valentine to "La Divina" from an ardent fan. It is that rare example of a play that does what it is about: It not only professes the power of art, it demonstrates it.McNally wrote "Master Class" for Zoe Caldwell, and much of its power is due to the actress' tour-de-force, Tony-caliber transformation into Callas, under Leonard Foglia's direction.

The first time I heard the voice of Maria Callas, I laughed. The setting was a college professor's home. He had invited his music history class over one night so that we could all listen to a complete opera together. His choice was a recording of Rossini's defining comedy The Barber of Seville starring Callas as Rosina. No sooner did she start in on her first aria than I got the giggles. "It sounds like she has marbles in her mouth," I said, feeling quite the astute little critic. The teacher just gave me a pity-the-poor-rube smile and let the records play on. With the 25th anniversary of the soprano's death looming next month, I find it hard to believe I ever disliked, let alone giggled over, her incomparable, indelible singing.

Maria Callas: An Intimate Biography, by Anne Edwards. St. Martin's Press. 332 pages. $27.95. Maria Callas has become the Marilyn Monroe of the opera world. The soprano's darkly beautiful face is in itself an icon; her voice is more marketable than ever; the story of her brilliant career, tabloid-feeding love life and pathetic, premature death at 53 guarantees a constant stream of books about her. Last year, Greek Fire, the ambitious biography by investigative reporter Nicholas Gage, looked deeply into the soprano's affair with tycoon Aristotle Onassis and came up with a dead baby.

"Greek Fire: The Story of Maria Callas and Aristotle Onassis," by Nicholas Gage. Knopf. 407 pages. $26.95. On July 22, 1959, a super-luxurious yacht set sail from Monte Carlo for a cruise that would take its passengers through the waters of the once-great empire known as Byzantium. The warships of that ancient state, writes Nicholas Gage, "were famous for bombarding enemy vessels with 'Greek fire' -- an incendiary mixture of mysterious compositions that engulfed and destroyed everything it touched."

ITALIAN tenor Carlo Bergonzi, in town for his farewell appearance as Nemorino in the Baltimore Opera Company's production of Donizetti's "L'Elisir d'Amore," recently regaled visitors with stories of the great divas he has worked with.Of Maria Callas: "Of course she was a great interpreter and to sing with her was a very emotional experience. By that I don't mean just being on the same stage with Callas -- after all, I had my own part to think of during a performance -- but her artistry, her total dedication to the work.

More than 30 years after her death, soprano Maria Callas remains the benchmark for interpretive intensity and insight in opera. That's one reason why Terrence McNally's first Callas-centric play, "The Lisbon Traviata," has retained such potency since its 1985 premiere. The other reason for this comic-tragic work's success, of course, is that it's just so entertaining, a point reaffirmed by the Kennedy Center's handsome new production -- one of three operatically attuned plays by McNally being presented at the center.

A very important Elvis day is coming up this week. Friday, Aug. 16, will mark the 25th anniversary of the King's death, from drug-induced cardiac arrest on the toilet in his second-floor bathroom at Graceland. Big things of a strangely religious sort are likely in store for that day in his hometown, though that is nothing new. It was clear back in 1987, at the 10th anniversary, when 50,000 "Presleyterians" gathered in the steamy heat of Memphis, Tenn., for a candlelight graveside vigil: Elvis Aron Presley had reached the status of secular saint, with Graceland his Jerusalem, complete with its solemn rituals (vigils)

Maria Callas: An Intimate Biography, by Anne Edwards. St. Martin's Press. 332 pages. $27.95. Maria Callas has become the Marilyn Monroe of the opera world. The soprano's darkly beautiful face is in itself an icon; her voice is more marketable than ever; the story of her brilliant career, tabloid-feeding love life and pathetic, premature death at 53 guarantees a constant stream of books about her. Last year, Greek Fire, the ambitious biography by investigative reporter Nicholas Gage, looked deeply into the soprano's affair with tycoon Aristotle Onassis and came up with a dead baby.

"Greek Fire: The Story of Maria Callas and Aristotle Onassis," by Nicholas Gage. Knopf. 407 pages. $26.95. On July 22, 1959, a super-luxurious yacht set sail from Monte Carlo for a cruise that would take its passengers through the waters of the once-great empire known as Byzantium. The warships of that ancient state, writes Nicholas Gage, "were famous for bombarding enemy vessels with 'Greek fire' -- an incendiary mixture of mysterious compositions that engulfed and destroyed everything it touched."

"Maria Callas: Sacred Monster," by Stelios Galatopoulos. Simon & Schuster. 564 pages. $35.Whether staring out of Apple's "think different" ads, re-created in the Tony Award winning play "Master Class," or blown up to the size of a billboard as backdrop for the opera "Harvey Milk," Maria Callas remains a stronger presence two decades after her death than any opera singer currently gracing the stage of the Met. By demanding that opera be a dramatic experience -- often at the sacrifice of vocal beauty -- she earned the nickname "La Divina" though there were an equal number of opera fans who considered her nothing less than the Antichrist.

There's a scene in the second act of "The Lisbon Traviata" when an opera aficionado tries to explain the appeal of the genre to a skeptic. "Opera is about us, our life-and-death passions -- we all love, we're all going to die," he says.That, in a nutshell, is what this Terrence McNally play -- receiving its Baltimore premiere at Everyman Theatre -- is all about.Actually the play is more like two operas. Act One is comic opera; Act Two, tragic. But both are savage, and although the humorous first act is the one for which the play is better known, at Everyman it is the serious second act that succeeds best.

THE BALTIMORE premiere of playwright Terrence McNally's "The Lisbon Traviata" at Everyman Theatre last week provided yet another reminder that the gay cult of Maria Callas continues apace.In McNally's play, four gay men struggle to come to terms with the frustration they experience in love and relationships. The title refers to a legendary performance of Verdi's "La Traviata" that Callas recorded in Lisbon late in her career, and one character's search for that cult object sets the dramatic action in motion.

WE SPED down to Washington Monday night to hear the local girl make good."This will be something special," I confided to Wife as we cruised down the parkway. "Keyontia Hawkins of Baltimore will one day be recognized as our fair city's fairest bequest to the grand opera houses of the world.""You are talking like a libretto," Wife complained. "And besides, you have a tin ear."That hurt my feelings. Didn't Wife know perfectly well that I had been struggling diligently for years to overcome the limitations of a tin ear by practicing Gilda's aria from "Rigoletto," Il caro nome, in the shower each morning?

THE BALTIMORE premiere of playwright Terrence McNally's "The Lisbon Traviata" at Everyman Theatre last week provided yet another reminder that the gay cult of Maria Callas continues apace.In McNally's play, four gay men struggle to come to terms with the frustration they experience in love and relationships. The title refers to a legendary performance of Verdi's "La Traviata" that Callas recorded in Lisbon late in her career, and one character's search for that cult object sets the dramatic action in motion.

"Rent" -- a groundbreaking rock musical about starving artists -- took home a wealth of Tony Awards at last night's ceremony in New York.An updated retelling of Puccini's "La Boheme" set in New York's East Village, "Rent" won a total of four Tonys, including those for its score and book, both by the late Jonathan Larson, who died at age 35, shortly after the show's dress rehearsal. Larson's sister Julie accepted the awards, saying that her brother "dreamed of creating a youthful, passionate piece that would be pertinent and would bring a new generation to the theater.