How_Does_the_Newspaper_Review_(Page_23_of_the_Assignment_Booklet)_Help_Us_to_Understand_Callas's_Reputation_as_a_Diva_

How does the newspaper review (page 23 of the Assignment booklet) help us to understand Callas's reputation as a diva' The term diva refers to somebody, usually a female opera singer, with a vast talent to convey her audience. In addition to the talent an extravagant personality is common to the term (Moohan, 2008, p. 163). Maria Callas was a modern diva, an opera singer from the mid-twentieth century (ibid, p. 174). In 1956, Callas performed the role of Lucia in Donizatti’s opera Lucia di Lammermoor at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York. Callas’s voice was not in her best moment but, although the performance was not perfect, the review of Claudia Cassidy praised it. Maria Callas’s voice may have not been the most beautiful to sing certain music, having some tremble in her top register which she could not always control. However, Callas was incomparable in her way of acting and transmitting the emotion of the songs to the spectators (Moohan, 2008, p. 178). Callas’s singing emotional range was very wide, going from a husky and deep quality when she sang softly, and changing naturally to higher and more powerful notes (Moohan, 2008, p. 172). The most fascinating thing about listening to Callas’s performance is her ability to sing the smooth parts or legato as well as the high notes with no major effort. In the specific track related to the newspaper article, the melody starts softly changing to suspense notes at 0’16” for the entry of the vocals. The orchestra accompanies the singer at the same rhythm until 0’39” when the melody fades allowing Callas to demonstrate her talent reaching high notes with a series of ornaments. At 1’47” the music plays pianissimo, only accompanying Callas, changing shortly to fortissimo at 2’41”. From here to the end the orchestra plays pianissimo again being almost imperceptible allowing Callas to shine using her full soprano range (The Diva, 2008, track 2). It is enough to listen to this short track to prove Maria Callas’s talent and it becomes clear why she was considered a diva. During the performance in New York, Callas apparently was suffering of dry throat which did not allow her to sing the high notes as her usual, and provoked an anti-climax at the end. Additionally in the first act, her top notes were insecure (Cassidy, in AA100 Assignment Booklet, 2010, p. 23). Despite the voice problems in this performance, the quality of Callas’s voice was recognized by Cassidy and the performance in general was qualified as beautiful and magnificent with special mention to the ‘exquisite coloratura and fioriture’ (ibid). Not only the review did not destroy Callas’s performance but the writer showed concern for her voice problems and made a call to pay attention to it. The article helps us to understand the reputation of Callas as a diva because even though it established that her voice performance was not one of the bests, the presentation as a whole was considered superb. Callas demonstrated not only that she had a great voice and an incredible control of performances but also that she was able to manage and resolve the problems she was suffering in order to leave the best of her on the scenario. This confirms her immense talent, and justifies her position as a diva. Bibliography Cassidy, C. (1956) review of Lucia di Lammermoor at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, Chicago Tribune, 3 December; available online at http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/frame.htm (Accessed 21 July 2010), reprinted in AA100 Assessment Booklet (October 2008), Milton Keynes, The Open University, p. 23-24. ‘Donizetti, ‘Ohimè! Sorge il tremendo’ , from Lucia di Lammermoor’, (2008) (AA100 Audio CD, Act 3), Milton Keynes, The Open University. Moohan, E., Jones, N. and Philip, R. (2008) ‘The Diva’ in Moohan, E. (eds) Reputations (AA100 Book 1), Milton Keynes, The Open University, pp. 161-96.