Maria Callas

Career Trajectory

Beginning her operatic life in Athens in 1941, Maria Callas trained under the Spanish coloratura soprano Elvira de Hidalgo, who recognized the dramatic potential beneath her initial contralto timbre and guided her transformation into a soprano of extraordinary range and interpretive power. Under the mentorship of conductor Tullio Serafin, she became the architect of the bel canto revival, single-handedly resurrecting roles in Bellini, Donizetti, and Cherubini that had been abandoned as vocally impossible, performing them with a dramatic intensity and musical intelligence that redefined soprano singing. From her early Italian successes at the Arena di Verona through her legendary performances at La Scala, the Metropolitan Opera, and the Royal Opera House, Callas established herself as 'La Divina'—the supreme dramatic soprano of the twentieth century—before her career was curtailed by vocal strain and personal upheaval in her final years.