The Secret of Maria Callas

8/4/2019 The Secret of Maria Callas

1/32

FERRUCCIO BUSONI WEBSITETHE SECRET OF MARIA CALLAS

by Ren Leibowitz

Translated from the original Frenchby Bruce Charles
http://www.rodoni.ch/busoni/indexx.htmlhttp://www.rodoni.ch/busoni/indexx.htmlhttp://www.rodoni.ch/busoni/indexx.html


2/32

The extraordinary success ofMaria Meneghini Callas couldappear, at first glance, to be one of the strangest phenomena in
http://www.rodoni.ch/busoni/callas.jpg


3/32

the world of "show business" of our time. Uniquely hers, thereputation of this distinguished singer has been able tocompletely transcend the boundaries normally reserved for eventhe most celebrated of the great artists of lyric art. There havebeen those who have evoked enthusiastic reaction and evenbeen able to unleash passions, but this always occurs within arelatively limited circle, composed uniquely of lovers of a specifictype of opera, which we usually call "bel canto". The case of ourdiva is entirely different. Her name is familiar, even to thosewho have no real contact with opera, nor even with the art ofsinging in general. One need only consult the latest "tabloid" or"photojournal" to be completely up-to-date with "la Callas", withthe slightest of her movements, with her scandals, her habits,even the fluctuations in her weight, a privilege normally

reserved for movie stars. Her private life, Callas' very existenceseems to belong to all of us, to all those, at any rate who knowhow to read, and of whom--it is curious to note--only a smallnumber has actually heard the voice which is at the root of thisexceptional success. Along these same lines, the recording ofCallas are the only recordings of so-called "serious music",whose sales rival those of the biggest names in "pop", whilethose of the other leading opera stars are far from achievingsimilar results. So, here again our diva has far transcended that

which should comprise her niche, and to which her "colleagues",even the most well-known, are limited.It would seem apparent that, by the very nature of herexceptional success, the career of Callas is one of the mostsuccessful imaginable. She has arrived at the very apex of thatwhich a career of this type consists, namely, to satisfy, in thetruest sense of the term, the desires of all the public, from themost serious to the most frivolous.From another angle however, all is not perfect in this immense

concert of praise which allows us, here and there, a glimpse ofstrong discord. Curiously, it is above all among the real lovers ofopera (or more exactly, lovers of singing) that we find this"resistance" to the art of Callas. Her voice doesn't always have abeautiful tone, it is uneven, her highs are "strident", herintonation is not always "absolutely perfect", she sings too manyroles that do not always "suit her", and therefore no longer has


4/32

any roles which are really "hers"; these are some of the majorreservations and criticisms which we hear regarding the vocalart of our singer.All this is obviously no put forth in such a straightforwardfashion, and there are many who, all the while giving sincerepraise to Callas' exceptional dramatic gifts, and to her stunningartistic mastery and even to her equally stunning physicalappearance, prefer-- as far as the art of singing is concerned--the voice of a Tebaldi, for example, a less spectacular artistsurely (in every sense of the term) but more moving, because abetter singer.

*Must one take sides? Must we believe without reservation, orside with the critics? Are we to see in the immense success ofCallas, something suspect which would justify the attacks ofcertain serious music lovers? Should we even attribute part ofthis success to certain shortcomings inherent in the art of oursinger? It seems to us that we should rather try to understandexactly what this art consists of, and how it differentiates itselffrom that of most of today's singrs. In short, we must first findthe answer to one simple question: how does Maria Meneghini

Callas sing?

I. A FEW CONSIDERATIONS ON THE ART OF SINGING

A. The actual categories of the soprano voice

As simple as it might seem, such a question, to really beunderstood, implies a certain amount of knowledge regardingthe art of singing in general. We will attempt here to offer someremarks which will give a resume" of the essential points whichwill guide-us in this effort.Most people know, of course, that Callas has a soprano voice,but this very general term encompasses several distinctcategories. Today indeed, we distinguish between-in addition tothe mezzo-soprano voice (which is a low soprano)--three typesof actual soprano voice. These are: the light soprano, the lyric


5/32

soprano and the dramatic soprano. These three types possess,grosso modo, the following characteristics: the light soprano hasa clear and agile voice, a very great ease in the upper register(being able to climb to F and even higher); generally, such avoice is of weaker volume, especially in the lower and middleregisters. The dramatic soprano, on the other hand, has apowerful volume (in all registers); but this voice is generally lessagile (because heavier) and it does not normally have the abilityto climb to the very high register. The lyric soprano is situatedbetween these two extremes. It is quite clear, sometimes quitelight and relatively agile; what's more, its volume is relativelypowerful (the actual timber of this voice being more emphaticthan that of the light soprano, it is nevertheless able to create akind of illusion of power); finally, the lyric soprano is often

characterized by a rather easy high register, though it canseldom attain the highest notes of the light soprano.The lyric repertoire offers us an abundance of roles, eachcharacteristic of these different types of voice.For example: roles of servants or very young heroines (Gilda inRigoletto) for the light soprano; tragic roles (in particular certainroles in Verdi and Wagner) for the dramatic soprano; youngheroines, but here, more "developed" than those sung by a lightsoprano (Marguerite in Faustor Mimi in Bohme) for the lyric

soprano. What's more, certain Italian composers have created akind of intermediary between the dramatic soprano and the lyricsoprano, the lirico spinto. This calls for a powerful voice, whichcan also take on a dramatic role. Numerous operas of Verdi andPuccini require this type of voice.The Germans as well, differentiate between a type of voice theycall Zwischenfach (medium use), which is equivalent to the liricospinto and that which they call hochdramatisch (highlydramatic). The first is suited to some of the less dramatic roles

of Wagner (such as Elsa in Tannhuser, Eva in Die Meistersingerand even Sieglinde in Die Walkre), whereas the second type--which paradoxically has the characteristics of the dramaticsoprano--is suited to the great Wagnerian roles like those ofBrunhilde, Isolde and Kundry.We should note now that, if today these different types of voiceare firmly established and universally recognized, it was not


6/32

always thus. We surely owe the creation of the three maincategories of opera that we have just described, to certainMozart operas, (in particular Don Giovanni, in which the roles ofDonna Anna, Donna Elvira and Zerlina are sung by a dramaticsoprano, a lyric soprano and a light soprano, respectively).However--despite the fact that Mozart's operas constitute realexceptions to the rules of his day [1]--the types of roles inquestion were not as clearly defined as they are today. It isparticularly the voice of the dramatic soprano which correspondsthe least to the concept we have of it at the present time.Indeed, the role of Donna Anna, for example (and we can saythe same thing regarding the role of Fiordiligi in Cos fan tutte),which calls for none of this kind of dramatic inflection,nevertheless requires an agility and a lightness that we rarely

find in the authentic dramatic sopranos of our time.


7/32


8/32

MARIA CALLAS AND FRANCO ZEFFIRELLI

Among the successors of Mozart, even composers such asBeethoven and Carl Maria von Weber (who we can consider the

actual creators of German opera) remain faithful--the latterabove all--to this type of voice (dramatic soprano capable ofvocalizing with agility). Witness the grand aria of Leonore inFidelio and above all, many pages in the roles of Agathe in DerFreischtzor of Euryanthe and Rezia in Oberon.If, as we leave German opera, we turn toward Italian dramaticopera of the first half of the 19th century, this same state ofaffairs is even more evident. Indeed, a very great number of theheroines of the operas of Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti as well as the

first operas of Verdi (up to Trovatore and Traviata) call for asoprano voice (sometimes even a mezzo-soprano--which iscertainly the case in many of Rossini's operas and also in Verdi'sMacbeth) capable of being both dramatic and light. Protagonistsof this type are often given roles whose dramatic characteristicsrequire the gifts of a tragedian, as well as a voice with poignantand impassioned inflections. At the same time these rolesinclude bravura passages (generally entire arias), in which thevocal virtuosity is expressed in melodic figures which have since

become the virtual domain of the light soprano.This kind of specific conception of the soprano voice (ormezzo-soprano as the case may be) presents numerousproblems and obstacles today, when the "compartmentalizing"of vocal types, unheard of in former times, makes difficult, andat times even prohibits the correct execution of certain works.Until quite recently, the role of Rosina, in the Barber of Seville[2] was given to a light soprano, while the role in fact wasconceived to be sung by a mezzo-soprano, able to vocalize. Indoing this, one was obliged not only to sacrifice or else

transpose a great number of passages because of the lowregister, but also to undermine the dramatic sense of the role.The young heroines of Rossini's operas are very "practical" girlswho know exactly "what they want", and not at all these weakand almost unreal characters as they are presented to us whenportrayed by a light soprano.


9/32


10/32

MARIA CALLAS AND LUCHINO VISCONTI IN MILAN DURINGA REHEARSAL OF TRAVIATA (MILAN 1955)

La Traviata is a good case in point. Because the role of Violettahas a number of agile passages, it is often sung by lightsopranos who do quite well (technically speaking) with the vocaldemands of these passages, but who completely undermine thedramatic sense of the role in the following acts. On the otherhand, it sometimes happens that the role is sung by dramaticsopranos (lirico spinto ) who are able to give the weightnecessary for the tragic moments of the work, but whose lack ofagility is cruelly evident during the first act.From the preceding it is clearly shown that the conception ofcertain types of voice and even of the art of singing in general

have changed markedly in the hundred or so years since thenworks of Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti and the youthful works ofVerdi, and thus it should be evident that these composers havewritten their roles for the types of singers that were as commonfor their times as they are rare today.What has been this evolution? Just what are the profoundchanges that have shaken the artof singing, and what were thecauses? It is to these questions that we must try to respond.

B. The evolution of the art of singing in relation to theevolution of opera

The evolution of the art of singing is intimately linked to that ofopera in general. Without being able to go into this questionhere, in the depth it merits, suffice it to say that one of the mostimportant factors in this evolution has proven to be an evergreater tendency toward an art which, for the lack of a betterterm, we can call realist. Indeed, there can be little doubt thatthe first operas--this is more or less true up to Mozart--limited

themselves in great part to a purely symbolic and highly stylizedrepresentation of different elements of the story. The action isgenerally rather static, the psychological conflicts and thepassions of the different characters are expressed--one couldsay almost without exaggeration--in quite conventionalformulas. Generally speaking, we are not dealing here withmusical dramas, but with sung musical representations, and it is


11/32

solely the art of singing which is called upon to create thesymbols and the stylistic elements necessary to lay out dramaticcontent. Consequently, we can say that lyric art before Mozartwas, above all, a pretext for "exhibitions" in singing, and thisstate of affairs is perfectly evident when we muse over the factthat at the time, the roles of the principal heroines were notsung by women, but by castrati. The very presence of castratiproves to us that what really mattered was not realism(psychological or otherwise), but a certain manner of singing.Thus, these castratiwere virtuosiin the art of singing. Most ofthe techniques of which vocal virtuosity is comprised wereinvented and perfected by them. We can state here that ingeneral, the art of singing is confounded with this vocalvirtuosity. Of what does this vocal virtuosity consist? Principally,

of a certain number of melodic figures, ornamental in character:trills, mordants, different types of appogiaturas, arpeggios,roulades, rapid scale passages, (diatonic or chromatic). Thecorrect execution of all these figures constitutes the veryfoundation of the fine art of singing. Because all these figuresdecorate and the vocal melody, this manner of singing is calledbel canto[3].

*However opera could hardly stop there. It seems to me thatMozart was the first to want to imbue lyric opera with a moreconcrete and realistic content. Most of Mozart's operas do awaywith the castrati. His characters leave their symbolic and stiltedpedestals to become real "flesh-and-blood" beings, dramaticaction is intensified, the desires and conflicts become alive,nuanced and complex. It is clear that works like The Marriage ofFigaro or Don Giovanniare no longer just pretexts for vocalvirtuosity, or demonstrations of bel canto art, but that here we

have "musical dramas"[4].It goes without saying that works of this type should relegatesimple vocal virtuosity to the background. However, eventhough it no longer constitutes a basic element, this vocalvirtuosity does not disappear from Mozart's work entirely.Indeed we know (and we have just spoken about this) that


12/32

many Mozart roles call for certain principles rooted bel canto.The same is true Mozart's German successors (Beethoven andWeber) and is even more the case with his Italian successors.Indeed, bel canto experienced a triumphant period, if I daresay, in Italian romantic opera during the first part of the 19thcentury, extending from the operas of Ro'ssini, through those ofBellini and Donizetti, right up to the first operas of Verdi.

*It is true however, that while it was used in the works of thisperiod to underscore and characterize certain concrete dramaticelements, bel canto gave way, little by little, to an ever stronger"realist" tendency which was to make itself felt in the evolution

of lyric art in the following period [5]. Indeed, vocal virtuosity,in and of itself, can only subsist here as specialmeans ofexpression, I would venture to say, as a characterization of thisor that particular dramatic element. And, as aflert means ofexpression, it was to eventually disappear, because theexhibition of vocal virtuosity alone is not thought of as "serious",when realism constitutes the essential task. Such a state ofaffairs is played out especially in a work like La Traviata (one ofthe last works to still call for certain elements ofbel canto). This

work-which by the way, is perhaps at the origins of that whichwe would later call realism--pushes this pre-occupation withrealism further than any previous work (it is without doubt, thefirst opera to be in a contemporaneous setting). Thus thecharacter of Violetta, the principal heroine, is a tragic personagewho expresses herself in a language which is passionate yetsober, completely stripped of all "fluff". The only two momentswhere this "fluff" has legitimacy correspond to very specificsituations in the middle of the first act: the duo with Alfredo,when Violatta takes on a rather frivolous air; Violetta's aria ever

Sempre libera where after the departure of her guests, ourheroine lapses into a kind of hysterical joy at the thought ofbeing able to take advantage of that which life still has in storefor her.If, in La Traviata, the juxtaposition ofbel canto and realism isstill played out in a single character, the separation of these two


13/32

styles of singing, still brought with it, at that time, ever greaterspecialization. Here, I mean that bel canto is as much as itsucceeded in continuing as a style, became the domain of asingle category of singer, namely the light soprano [6]. It couldbe, in fact, that this specialization was actually introduced in thefirst half of the 19th century in the French grand opera ofMeyerbeer and of Halvy [7]. Be that as it may, this was anestablished fact by the second half of the 19th century.Thus, we now come to the opera of Wagner, one of whosefundamental pre-occupations was, the revolt against traditionallyric conventions, and as a result of which, the art ofbel cantonow lost all legitimacy, and wherein is created this new type ofhighly dramatic singer to which we have already referred. Thesame is true of Puccini, where realism is taken to new heights.

We will find, in all the works of Puccini, but a single characterwho has recourse to--and again, very sparingly--this vocalvirtuosity, the frivolous Musetta, from La Bohme.On the other hand, Puccini very often adopts the highlydramatic type of Wagner, particularly in La Tosca (characters ofFloria Tosca and Mario Cavaradossi) and above all, in Turandot(princess Turandot' s character).

II. MARIA CALLAS AND THE ART OF SINGING

A. The rebirth ofbel canto and the extension of vocalmeans

To summarize: opera tends more and more toward realism,culminating in the work of Puccini. In so doing, bel canto beginsto disappear and now exists only as a kind of speciality reservedfor the light soprano voice. Generally speaking, a concern forpsychological and dramatic believability calls for a greater

choice, a more nuanced variety of vocal classifications than waspreviously available; this brings with it an ever greaterspecialization of singers, according to the type specificallydesired. This was, grosso modo, the state of affairs in the art ofsinging in the first half of the 20th century.We are now able to weigh the advantages as well as thedisadvantages of this situation. The positive side to the ledger is


14/32

easy to see because it is the result, rather inevitably, of theactual requirements of the works composed over the lasthundred years. On the other hand, it is clear that this situationbrings with it some very real disadvantages, for it becamealmost impossible to perform a vast and very large part of thelyric opera repertoire in the correct manner.We have already alluded to the fact that most of Rossini'soperas had disappeared from the repertoire, and that even awork like The Barber of Seville had only managed to survive bya special remedy, namely the transposition of the mezzo-soprano role into the range of a light soprano. The same is truefor a great number of other operas of the period, solelymaintained thanks to similar "adaptations". There was only onesolution: allow this state of affairs to continue, or find

interpreters capable of reviving this repertoire; in other words,of rendering justice totally and with authenticity, to the vocalrequirements this implied.There can be no doubt that in Maria Meneghini Callas we aredealing with one of the first interpreters of this kind.


15/32

Consequently, here is a first and very significant reason for theabsolutely unique success of "La Callas": it is possible to say,that this singer has almost nothing inccommon with the other


16/32

singers of our time. Her voice cannot be neatly classified intothe normal categories, because it represents a kind of synthesisof all these types. It is true that in this sense, she represents aphenomenon which is not altogether new, because she onlyreturns to a type of voice which necessarily existed before thisspecialization according to distinct categories, the reasons forwhich we have tried to understand. It remains nevertheless,that one of the original characteristics of Callas' art (and we willsee later on, that in this she was not alone) resides in anextremely lucid consciousness of the necessity to re-establishbel canto.It is impossible for us to say how Callas arrived at such a result:we can only presume that, having discovered Italian romanticrepertoire at a given point in her career, she decided to forge an

instrument required for its interpretation. This is simply to saythat she set out to study the precise technique, more or lessforgotten, ofbel canto. Once again, here we---are not able tosay by which means our artist proceeded, but we can state that--probably alone among lyric artists of our time--Callassucceeded in completely mastering the exact principles of thistechnique. The facts are there, and they are convincing: Callaswas able to execute to perfection all the ornamental figures(trills roulades, arpeggios, appogiatura, rapid diatonic and

chromatic scales) which make up the fundamental elements ofbel canto. But there's one thing more: the register of Callas'voice covers more than two and a half octaves, from a low Gsharp up to a high E flat. This is another characteristic that sheis probably alone in possessing. Here again, it could be that thisphenomenon is not entirely new. It seems that artists such asLa Pasta, La Falcon and La Malibran possessed similar ranges;nevertheless the fact of having developed such a registerhighlights our diva's merits even more.

One thing is clear and undeniable: the perfect mastery of the artofbel canto, as well as her extreme vocal range, enabled Callasto give authentic and convincing interpretations to a greatnumber of the heroines of the lyric repertoire. Callas destroyeda certain number of false traditions, according to which theseroles had been assigned to different types of singers. Callascould alternate, with the same ease, from "dramatic" Norma to


17/32

"light" Amina of Bellini [8]; from the "low" Lady Macbeth to the"high" of Verdi's Violetta and even from the mezzo-soprano ofRosina [9] to the light soprano of Donizetti's Lucia [10] or therole of Gilda from Rigoletto [11].


18/32


19/32


20/32

But we could ask whether Callas was equally at home singing allthese roles? Is she capable of giving an impeccableinterpretation to each of these roles or were there not someroles to which she was better suited than others? One otherthing: in continually going, from one kind of a role to another,calling for very different qualities, did this not constitute anabuse, from which the vocal and artistic gifts of our singerwould in the end suffer? It is here that we must interject certainconsiderations related to the different conceptions about the artof singing, considerations without which we would hardly beable to answer such questions.Though it would be impossible to offer any proof, I can readilyimagine that the vocal instrument of Callas was much like thoseof the great singers of the first half of the 19th century (of

whom we have already named several). In other words, we canget an idea about the art of a Pasta, of a Falcon or of a Malibranby listening to Callas sing, and vice versa. Thus it seems evidentfrom the roles they sang (a great number of which werecomposed specifically for them) that they like Callas, were ableto go with ease from one role to the other. We have alreadypointed otit that Bellini composed for Pasta two very differentroles, Norma and Amina. We also know that Falcon had anextremely wide range, from a deep somber bass like that of a

real mezzo-soprano, up to a high register with great ease.The same must have been the case with La Malibran who was asfamous for her mezzo-soprano roles in Rossni as she was forthose of the tragic heroines of the operas of Bellini.Consequently, what is striking in all these singers is not onlythat they were able to transcend these categories (stillinexistant in their times) of specialized soprano voices, but thatthey were actually able to combine the voice of a mezzo-soprano with that of an actual soprano. The impression one

gets. from all this is that our artists must have been, above all,mezzo-sopranos who were able to develop an extended higherregister (doubtless thanks to the vocal ease afforded them bythe bel canto technique [12]. It is perhaps, above all, thiscombination of two types of voice which characterizes the art ofthese singers of the last century just as it does that of Callas.But speaking of such a combination of different voices implies,


21/32

of course, a hetrogeneous quality and it is here that we touchupon one of the delicate points of the question. Indeed, it is justthis hetrogeneous quality of Callas' vocal instrument whichconstitutes the aspect of her art for which she is most heavilycriticized. It is readily pointed out that Callas' voice does nothave the same timber in the high register as it does in the lowerrange, that we are dealing, in fact, with two different voices. Wecompletely agree, and we will repeat that it could hardly beotherwise, because for us, Callas represents just this type ofsinger, whose mezzo-soprano voice succeeded in allying itselfwith that of an actual soprano [13]. However we do not agreewith those that see in this a shortcoming. In fact, theappreciation of this point is entirely dependent on the ideas wehave about the art of singing itself. It is evident that for today's

ears, used to "specialized" voices, evenness: of vocal timberconstitutes an essential quality, a kind ofconditio sine qua nonin the fine art of singing. But let's wipe the slate clean for amoment of these traditions and let's try to listen to the music ofItalian romantic repertoire, forcing ourselves to grasp theseheroines in their authenticity. We will see then, that their veryexistence owes itself, not to the beauty of this or that singer,nor to any evenness of, timber, but to a certain number of veryspecific musical inflections which call for a great variety of

timber, a very extended vocal qapaciy, qualities which are, inlarge part, incompatible with the homogeneity of the voice.It is precisely here that lies one of the "secrets" of Callas' [14]art . She was one of the first singers who had the courage tobreak with certain traditions, encrusted in the art of singing, andthus to risk--by extending considerably its vocal possibilities--the wrath of a great number of "connoisseurs" according towhom she would thus sacrifice vocal beauty, for themegalomania of the self-absorbed "star". And, it is because she

did not fear-making certain sacrifices regarding this narrow andconventional notion of vocal beauty, that she succeeded inbreathing new life into an entire :repertoire, a great number ofprestigious roles, and thus to a body of authentic musicaltreasures that had seemed destined for oblivion.


22/32

B. The Modernism of Callas

Until now, we have limited our analysis of Callas' singing to itsretrospective aspect, for we have only spoken of the manner inwhich our artist was able to breath new life into certain

historical particularities of the art of singing. Thus she is able togive authentic interpretations of a body of work, certainly verybeautiful, but-that the bulk of which was over a hundred yearsold. Isthis all she succeeded in doing?If this had been the case, her success would have already beengreat. Yet it would have somehow been tainted, because itwould mean that our artist had systematically ignored some ofthe most recent innovations in the art of singing. She wouldhave thus sidestepped an evolution, not only very justified and

necessary (being that it sprang forth from a group of authenticmasterpieces) but which greatly enriched the world of vocal artas a whole. We will try to show here that this is not the case,and that Callas' art constantly strove to integrate everythingthat recent lyric repertoire had created in the way of newermeans of expression, and in so doing, our artist actuallyresponded to the requirements of modern opera.

*I don't know which Italian critic invented for Callas the termvoce di soprano assoluta, meaning, that in the end there was nosoprano role which Callas would not be able to take on. Theterm seems to me to be well-chosen because it corresponds, inlarge part, to reality. Indeed, we have seen that Callas was ableto bring back successfully this universality of vocal technique asit existed before the "specialization" which has come tocharacterize the modern art of singing. We need to try tounderstand in what manner our singer was able to take on

exactly these "specialized" roles and in what manner she wasable to go from one specialty to another.There exists among fans of Callas, a category of listeners that,while acknowledging her vocal and artistic qualities when itcomes to the older repertoire, would bar her access to modernopera. Their arguments are the following: on the one hand the"abstract" voice of Callas, trained in the school, is not at all


23/32

suited to the realistic heroines of verist opera; and that, as shetakes on verist opera, Callas must force her voice, this can onlybe to her detriment. Such arguments have never convinced me,above all, because they are based on a kind ofmisunderstanding. Indeed, the science ofbel canto has neverkept our diva from seeking to give dramatic content to theromantic heroines she portrayed. In other words, this sciencehas never, for Callas, represented an end in itself; instead, it isa technical means without which it is impossible to give justiceto certain roles. It would, on the other hand, be completely falseto believe that composers such as Rossini, Bellini and Donizettiwrote their operas solely to show off the vocal gifts of theirprotagonists. It seems evident to me, that in creating the rolesof heroines as passionate as Semiramide, Norma or Lucia, they

intended to portray their passions as well as the resultingconflicts, in a very concrete and palpable manner. And, to dothis, as opera composers, they had a means of expression thatwas both effective and precise: vocal writing. vocal writing inthis period was affected, above all, by a specific andconventional technique: bel canto.Could one say that things have since changed in any essentialway? I don't believe so. Certainly the actual conception ofmusical drama has undergone transformations, as has the art of

singing. But has musical drama--verist though it be--reallybecome something else. Can a work of so called realist art,actually be confounded with "life"? Does not remain--in spite ofthose aesthetic tendencies which animate it, or that itexpresses--an "unreal" object, whose sense can only betransmitted by conventional means of expression? It seems tous, that lyric art of the past hundred years, while introducingmeans of expression, often of very great novelty, has not reallychanged the actual essence of musical drama, whose

fundamental problem is always the same: to somehow createcharacters, passions and conflicts by musical means, by anensemble of elements which make up a conventional system.Consequently, we can hardly agree with the point of view thatCallas' voice, and her art of singing were suited to a certainaesthetic of musical drama, but that they would be ill-suited to astyle belonging to another aesthetic. It only remains for us to


24/32

ask ourselves if our singer was able to master the new vocalmeans required by the most recent operas.Here, our response could only be in the affirmative. Indeed,there can be little doubt, that in the strict sense, the roles of alyric soprano (such as Puccini's Manon, Mimi and MadamButterfly) are perfectly suited to Callas' art. The lightness socharacteristic of her voice, allowed her to give these youngheroines very convincing interpretations; likewise, the well-known inflections of Callas were able to express the tragicaspect of these characters. It is significant to note the mannerin which Callas was able to transport this vocal virtuosity to aplane which is the very foundation of modern singing, namely,the purity of timber. She did this thanks to a unique science ofproducing sound; she has the capacity for example, to string

together sounds in a manner which is almost unheard of today,being able thus to rival the greatest "specialists" (La Tebaldiamong others) on their own ground. What's more: here, as in allthe roles she sings, Callas knows full well how to express theslightest fluctuations in dramatic sense by perfect musicalphrasing. This sense of phrasing proves to just what point shegrasps the real musical problems in the works she interprets.But if it is relatively easy to accept Callas in the roles of adramatic soprano, she encounters strong resistance as soon as

she takes on roles which are dramatic, in the strict sense. Theexample of comes to mind, and it is here that even some of themost ardent Callas supporters have thought themselves justifiedto rise in protest. And yet, I confess that her art has entirelyconvinced me. Certainly I can see, as well as anyone else, thosepassages where her voice seems forced; I've noted the highnotes almost cried out, as well as a lack of homogeneous timberin general. But, after all, is Floria Tosca's character the type tobe re-created with an even and consistent vocal sound with pure

timber? It seems to us rather that this character, among themost "realist" and dramatic, can only be convincing if she isportrayed by one who has recourse to the widest range of vocalmeans possible; from the smoothest, purist sound, to a cryingout, from the deep chest-like and somber lows, all the way tothe most sudden and even strident highs, from a sound ofsonorous and delicate ease, to a violent and forced attack. Here


25/32

again--in the interpretation of our artist--all the vocal resourcesconstantly rely on a profound musical sense, which allows her tofind just the right musical phrase, thus transmitting toperfection, the slightest inflection of the text [15].


26/32

CALLAS AS TOSCA


27/32

Again, it seems to me, that in the present case, Callas has beenable to sacrifice certain elements of conventional singingtechnique, and "put it all on the line" to arrive at as convincing aportrayal as possible, of a complex character and to articulate itwith a great variety of means.In drawing attention to this notion of "risk", which is one of themost characteristic aspects of all of Callas' work [16], it seemsto us that we have touched upon one of the essential elementswhich constitute the modernism of our artist. To conclude, wewill try to communicate in an even more precise manner, thisquality that makes Callas such a unique phenomenon today.

CONCLUSION

We have seen that one of the essential merits of Callas residesin the fact that she has been able to go beyond the limitationsto which the vocal categories of the soprano voice had beensubjected for nearly one hundred years... [17] Here as well isfound one of the most revolutionary aspects of her art.We have spoken, among other things, of the tremendous carewith which Callas seemed to prepare her roles, in order to giveall the characters she portrayed--however diverse they might

be--the most convincing interpretation possible. What is,striking about this activity, is not only the extraordinaryintelligence which Callas has been able to ally with her artisticinstinct, but perhaps more essentially, this heightenedawareness of the specific problems which face the modernsinger as Callas conceives them. We have confined ourselves inthe scope of this study to purely vocal and musical problems;we should add here that pre-occupation with dramatic problemswas just as important to Callas, and the solution to these she

pursued in no less a novel and radical manner. In this way, herthrust was that of a great actress. Here as well, her results (andthis would merit a study in and of itself) are due to a deepunderstanding of the troubled state of modern lyric theater.Because of the tendency over the past hundred years toward anever more pronounced realism, dramatic believability requiresdramatic surroundings which are at least adequate. In other


28/32

words, it is not enough just to sing well, one must also knowhow to give their role a convincing scenic aspect. Such anecessity--let us repeat, springs from the very evolution of lyricart--also implies certain-"conditions" for the physicalappearance of the characters. Given the fact that each dramaticelement find itself more and more "fixed" (and thus distancedfrom any primitive representation) it is imperative that eachcharacter have, a suitable physique [18]. Here again, Callashas been able to innovate in a radical manner. Defying theconventional myth of the overweight diva (today we still' hearthe theory that a singer ks to be heavy to sing well), our singerhas not retreated in the face of the health risks posed by losing,at the start of her career, a considerable amount of weight. Wenow see fofl the publicity surrounding such a metamorphosis,

that it did not constitute a vain attempt to capture theimagination of a public hungry for inanities, but that it was thenormal consequence of a real act of courage inspired by anauthentic and modern artistic necessity [19].It is said that she was very unattractive at the start of hercareer. I do not know if this is true, but if this was indeed thecase, how has she been able to transform herself into themarvelous beauty which appears before us today? But here ourabilities to investigate come to an end, for it is perhaps here

that the Feal secret of "la Callas" lies.

NOTES

[1]See R. Leibowitz: Histoire de l'opera. Our thesis held thateven the Italian operas of Mozart did not actually belong to theItalian tradition (universal at the time), but constituted thebudding of future German opera.

[2]One of the rare Rossini operas that has survived--but verypoorly as we will understand shortly--the scarcity of singerscapable of getting through the title roles.

[3] We see then, that this term has a very precise significancewhich has been forgotten today. This means that at present, we


29/32

have a general notion ofbel canto which is false. It is evident,for example, that Puccini's operas do not offer the opportunityto showcase bel canto, because they do not contain anypassages of this vocal virtuosity as we have just defined it. Evena singer such as Caruso, for example, could in no way beconsidered a representative ofbel canto given that he was notparticularly well-versed in the art of melodic embellishment byway of the precise ornamental figures which we have justmentioned.

[4] Let's specify that this term is also subject to confusion. Wegenerally attribute it to Wagner, but we forget that Mozartalready calls his Don Giovanni "dramma giocoso"; Donizetti callsLucia di Lammermoor "dramma tragico"etc. As a general rule

we find the term "melodramma", used by the Italiansthroughout the 19th century.

[5] It should be said nevertheless, that the art of bel cantocontinued to be a fundamental occupation in the instruction ofsinging throughout the 19th century. This is why, even inGermany, theoretician Richard Dannenberg published a treatise(Handbuch der Gesangskunst, the first edition of which was in1889, but which saw three other successive editions up to

1912), in which a large chapter is devoted to vocal agility(kehlfertigkeit). This chapter deals with all the elements oftechnical Ornamentation which we have Just detailed and whosemastery constitutes, strictly speaking, the art ofbel canto. Thesingers themselves, on the other hand, make use, less and less,of this instruction.

[6] The light soprano is often called a coloratura soprano.

[7] A score like that of Halevy's is characteristic of this. The"serious" character of Esther is continually expressed in a soberand "realistic" vocal style, whereas the "fluff" is reserved for thefrivolous character of the princessefEudoxie. Similar distinctionsare found in the operas of Meyerbeer.

[8] Distributing these two roles to two different singers can only


30/32

be at variance with tradition, because Bellini composed then foronly one and the same singer, Giuditta Pasta.

[9] It. is here that, singing the role in its original tessitura,Callas sings--in her recording ofThe Barber of Seville-- the Gsharp and A flat basses.

[10] Where she sings a high A flat.

[11] It is perhaps not without some interest to relate thefollowing: the excellent orchestral conductor, Carlo Maria Giulini,told me that in a conversation he had with Toscanini in the lastyears of the great maestro's life, Toscanini told him that, in hisopinion, the role of Gilda could only achieve its real meaning if it

were sung by a dramatic soprano. This opinion, which goesagainst current thought and all convention, proves just howmuch the real vocal tradition as well as a true understanding ofthe dramatic sense remained living things in the psyche of oneof the greatest interpreters of Italian repertory. Indeed,Toscanini seems to have grasped very clearly that the tragicquality in the role of Gilda (a quality, that in any case,dominates the last act) evaporates, more or less, when this roleis conferred upon a light soprano. The maestro's opinion also

harkens back to a nostalgia for a kind of dramatic singerpossessing complete agility in the higher register, as well as, areal bel canto technique.

[12] Reynaldo Hahn (in his collection of conferences intitled, DuChant) cites this anecdote from Legouve's "Souvenirs: "Mmme.Malibran's voice was that of a mezzo-soprano... Well! aconquering kind, trapped between two neighboring states is lesstormented by the need to venture into his neighbors than was

La Malibran as she made the trip to the outskirts of hers... Whata surprise for us then, to one day hear her execute a trill on theextfeme note of a soprano!" Along these same lines, we knowthat the celebrated Piasaroni possessed a contralto voice.However, Stendhal heard her in Rossini's Semiramide(considered a soprano role) and it seems that she garnereduniversal praise.


31/32

[13] To know whether Callas was originally--like La Pisaroni orLa Malibran--actually a contralto of mezzo whose voice would bedeveloped upwards, or vice versa, is not of primary importanceto us here. Suffice it to say, that she was indeed able to unitethese two types of voice.

[14] Here again, her detractors are right, when they speak ofthe lack of homogeneity of her voice; her sometimes stridenthighs, etc. It seems that the contemporaries of Pasta andMalibran also noted similar characteristics regarding thesesingers. However, their observations did in no way implycriticism. Indeed it was here that they-saw the very high pointof portraying, by voice, the heroines of opera of their time.

[15] I am speaking here of a recording, having never seenCallas on stage in this role. It should be noted that the other bigname on this recording is the great conductor Victor de Sabata,who gives a deep and searching interpretation to this work. Idon't know to what extent this conductor's conception of thework influenced in any case, the collaboration of these twogreat. artists gave birth to a success of an absolutelyexceptional character.

[16] Did she not quite recently take on one of the mostdemanding roles for dramatic soprano: that of Princess Turandotin the work of Puccini? Perhaps it is possible to say, of herinterpretation--at least that which she realized in her recording(the only one we know of)--that she gives evidence of a certainlack of vocal volume. On the other hand, the voice has beenable to find an extremely penetrating quality, an output whichcompensates for this shortcoming, and which confers upon this

particularly cruel character, an extraordinarily dramaticbelievability.

[17] It goes without saying that what is true for women'svoices is true for men's voices as well. The specialization wehave lamented is a general phenomenon which has determinedthe evolution of all voices. This is why today we find as many


32/32

categories of tenor voice as is the case with the soprano voice:light tenor, lyric tenor, lirico spinto and dramatic. It is clear thatthis specialization of men's voices had its reasons and originssimilar to those which had determined the specialization inwomen's voices. There would be therefore, a place today for arevolution in the realm of men's voices identical to that broughtabout by Callas, in the world of women's voices. To myknowledge only two men have mafia a similar attempt: thetenor Jan Peerce and the bass-baritone Marcello Cortis. Bothhave a real knowledge ofbel canto; both have had the courageto take on very different types of roles which require a widevariety of vocal resources. Obviosly we can't go great detailhere on this topic. It seems clear to us that those who havefollowed our text up to this point will understand what we mean.

[18] Indeed, why try to create an exacting decor, or whysituate the action in a specific setting, if on the other hand, thephysical representation of the character has little realbelievability?

[19] My friend Michel Leris tells me of an article that he hasjust read about the famous singer Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, who isnow attempting to lose weight. Leris adds that, by all accounts,

Callas keeps her colleagues awake at night. This also does notseem to us to be a futile consideration.http://www.rodoni.ch/busoni/callasleibowitz.html

Documents

The Secret of Maria Callas