How Does the Newspaper Review (Page 23 of the Assignment Booklet) Help Us to Understand Callas's Reputation as a Diva?
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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...
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...