This morning I had a few hours to indulge myself before heading off to work so I popped this DVD in the machine and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I checked it out from work the other day after hearing a review on NPR.
The documentary was delightful and so informative, I had no idea who Maria Callas was. I was drawn into the story immediately. The soprano had a colorful life to say the least! The film, directed by Tom Volf, is full of personal letters, interviews, video clips, and the best of all- lots of beautiful performances. The film is mostly told in Maria’s voice. Vintage clips of her singing at the MET and other famous opera stages are included.
The library catalog describes the film as such: The definitive portrait of one of history’s most extraordinarily talented women. Go beyond Callas, the original diva, and meet Maria, the woman who longed for a normal life. Told through private letters, unpublished memoirs, performances and TV interviews, the film is the first to tell the life story of the legendary Greek-American opera singer completely in her own words with never-before-seen footage.
Immediately when I clocked in at the Reference desk I searched our catalog for other items we had on Maria Callas. A few items came up in my search and I chose this one from 2002, The Opera Album. It has performances from many of the great opera singers including Maria Callas. I can’t wait to hear Maria sing Casta Diva by Bellini!
After viewing the documentary, I wanted to know more about Jackie Kennedy and Aristotle Onassis. Maria Callas was dating Aristotle when he suddenly married Jackie and the hurt Maria suffered by this act was felt for many years. She writes a beautiful letter describing her feelings to Aristotle hoping to change his mind and hoping he would return to her. In a recent mini-series Katie Holmes plays Jackie Kennedy in The Kennedys: After Camelot and the reviews of her performance are stellar. The mini-series highlights Jackie’s marriage to Aristotle and I am curious to see how it is portrayed…so I also checked this DVD out from the library. 🙂 This is what usually happens to me, I start going down a rabbit hole when something catches my eye!
I’ll keep you updated on the mini-series as I am waiting for my copy from a MeLCat request. It should be here next week!
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