Rare Exhibition of Maria Callas’ Costumes, Jewelry, Photos and Memorabilia

LOS ANGELES, CA.- Just over fifty years since Maria Callas’ historic debut at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, the spirit of “La Divina” returns to the City of Angels at the Istituto Italiano di Cultura (Italian Cultural Institute/IIC) through April 23, 2010 in the exhibition Maria Callas: A Woman, a Voice, a Myth and book release The Young Maria Callas, celebrating the greatest opera singer of the twentieth century.

Opera soprano Maria Callas played the title role in the film "Medea," which was shot in Rome, July 23, 1969

An impressive collection of Maria Callas’ historic stage costumes and personal attire, stunning jewels, rare documents, books and letters passionately gathered over many years by Bruno Tosi, President of the Associazione Maria Callas, as well as photographs lent by the Hellenic Parliament Foundation for Parliamentarism and Democracy, will be exhibited at the IIC in an installation created by Barton Myers Associates and Sussman/Prejza & Co. The exhibition is a must for all lovers of the arts, culture, opera, fashion, and design. The show will also include a special screening of the documentary BIOGRAPHY®: Maria Callas courtesy of the BIO. channel. Part of the exhibition will then travel to Venice, Italy to be installed in the soon to be inaugurated Maria Callas Museum at Scuola del Cristo, San Marcuola-Cannaregio.

The heart of The Young Maria Callas is a previously unpublished diary full of her dreams as a young woman and complimented by the reminisces of friends who knew her well through her triumphs and struggles. The book is published with the support of all the Italian Cultural Institutes in the United States (San Francisco, Chicago, Washington, and New York). “In thinking of Maria Callas,” Plácido Domingo has said, “I have only one regret: being too late to have had the experience of singing with her.”

Maria Callas: A Woman, a Voice, a Myth is organized by the Istituto Italiano di Cultura in collaboration with the Consulate General of Italy and the Consulate General of Greece, with Associazione Culturale Maria Callas, the Hellenic Parliament Foundation for Parliamentarism and Democracy, LA Opera, Patina V and designer Juan Carlos Malpeli, under the auspices of the City of Los Angeles, Department of Cultural Affairs and with the support of Fay and Frank Mancuso and the Italian Heritage Culture Foundation.

Share