Callas and Verona, at the “E. F dall'Abaco” the exhibition for the 100th anniversary of the birth of the divine

Callas and Verona, at the “E. F dall'Abaco” the exhibition for the 100th anniversary of the birth of the divine

Verona continues to dedicate particular pay attention to Callas and its important connection with the city through a major exhibition.

La Divina and Verona, a whole story to tell and celebrate. As the music critic Cesare Galla well remembered “His voice is part of the sound imprint of the twentieth century” and as Alberto Arbasino underlined “His immediately recognizable song of a legendary hoopoe” has reverberated in many summers from the Arena stage.

Reference for all fans of bel canto, Maria Anna Cecilia Sofia Kalogeropoulos, aka Maria Callas, made her debut in Verona in 1947 and lived here until 1954.

As part of the celebrations for the centenary of her birth '2 December 1923', Verona continues to dedicate particular attention to her through a major exhibition - scheduled from 12 January to 28 March 2024 in the spaces of the Conservatory “EF Dall'Abaco” – entirely dedicated to her and her important connection with the city.

For its realization it was established a scientific committee, made up of experts in the sector, who coordinated all the activities, in particular the valorization of the events that marked the years in Verona. It includes the city councilor Pietro Trincanato, Paola Fornasaripatti, professor of the 'EF Dall'Abaco' Conservatory of Verona, expert Anna Chiara Tommasi, Nicola Guerini, president of the Maria Callas International Festival and Vincenzo Borghetti – professor of the University's Department of Culture and Civilization of the Verona Studies, who spoke today at the presentation of the event at the “EF Dall'Abaco” Conservatory.

“We managed in a short time to create a project of high artistic and scientific value – highlighted the city councilor Pietro Trincanato – thanks to the support of an ad hoc Committee that worked jointly on a choral project dedicated to the Divine. The choice of the Conservatory represents the desire to set up an exhibition in one of those places that best define and enhance the world that represented so much for Callas. A highly narrative and multimedia exhibition attentive to the great artist's passage to Verona and her special relationship with our city".

An exhibition itinerary that highlights places and people who have entered into relationships with Callas during his stay in Verona, as well as the five Arena seasons in which he participated and the operas in which he sang, from his debut in Gioconda and then in Turandot, in Aida, in Il Trovatore, in La Traviata and concluding with Mefistofele.

The initiative, promoted by the Municipality of Verona, is part of the broad calendar of Callassian initiatives that were carried out by the Authority, with other city institutions, during 2023.

The exhibition is organized with the contribution of the Veneto Region, in collaboration with E. F Dall'Abaco Conservatory of Verona, University of Verona, Arena Foundation, Tommasoli Archive, Warner Classics and Maria Callas International Festival.

The exhibition is divided into three distinct spaces which host specific thematic sections.

The sections of the exhibition

1 – THE THEATER

Entrance hall and corridor

The installation suggests the point of view of a spectator on the open curtain, which it will be possible to cross, to enter a scenic space in which a video contribution on the art of Maria Callas is hosted.

In fact, in the atrium there are:
– a scenographic installation that evokes the interior of a theatre. In the darkened environment delimited by a backdrop with curtains, filmed images of Maria Callas are projected, creating the illusion that she herself moves and accompanies the visitor within the scene.

– a monitor on which contents linked to Maria Callas' theatrical career flow (theatre posters, scores, stage photos).

A soundtrack evokes the environment of the opera theater with the succession that is recorded during a performance: the vocalizations to warm up the voice that are emitted in the dressing room, the orchestra that tunes up before the director's entrance, the piece that introduces the development of the opera (prelude or symphony), the aria that reveals the sentimental state of mind of the character.

2 – LIFE

Cloister loggia

In the portico that delimits one of the sides of the cloister there are five double-sided banners, curated by Anna Chiara Tommasi, which retraces in stages the entire life of Maria Callas (Athens and New York – Verona – Milano - Milano, Montecarlo, Paris – Paris) and the Veronese years (1947-1954) are explored in depth with rare photographs of scenes and private life and significant words of critics and witnesses.

At the end of the corridor there is a banner with the covers of catalogues, monographs, auction catalogues, illustrated books and graphic novels dedicated to Divina (Anna Chiara Tommasi collection).

3 – THE VOICE

Auditorium atrium

The culmination of the exhibition can only be the voice of Callas, defined as a "dramatic coloratura soprano", indicating her surprising vocal technique.

This last section – edited by Nicola Guerini – is an immersive journey into the “unique” voice of Maria Callas – as her mentor Tullio Serafin defined her – which lives again in the parts she played in the five Arena seasons: in 1947 in Gioconda in Ponchielli's work of the same name; in 1948 in Turandot in Puccini's opera of the same name; in 1952 again in Gioconda and Violetta Valery in Verdi's La Traviata; in 1953 in Aida in Verdi's opera of the same name for the 40th anniversary of the first Aida in 1913 and in Leonora in Verdi's Trovatore, and finally in 1954 in Margherita in Arrigo Boito's Mefistofele.

The Veronese period, inaugurated by the international debut of August 2, 1947, is important to follow her vocal revolution and the evolution of an artist increasingly acclaimed and requested in the major theaters until she became "La Callas".

The plays chosen for the exhibition belong to the studio or live recordings made from '51 to '56, contained in the mastered version in the precious Warner Classics box set THE DIVINE – Maria Callas in all her roles, the most complete collection of Maria Callas recordings ever published, which presents La Divina in the 74 parts of which audio documents exist. The set includes all studio recordings, an extensive collection of her best live recordings, masterclasses held at the Juilliard School, videos, and a bonus CD of previously unreleased recordings featuring alternate takes and session work from the recordings. in the studio of the 60s.

The visitor is welcomed by Maria's words and by the magnetic gaze immortalized in the photo portraying her in theatrical costume, taken in 1953.

A drone sound will envelop the space transforming it into a “suspended” acoustic place which seems to await the voice of the Diva: a tribute to the verses of Timor di me?, from Pasolini's text dedicated to the Divine in which the poet indicates that "there is a void in the cosmos and from there you sing".

Thanks to a tablet and a screen made available, the visitor will be able to choose the audio track and transform the quality of listening also into an aesthetic experience that uses spectrography to highlight all the characteristics on the screen formants of his voice, isolated from the orchestra.

The visitor, in fact, through a QR-Code provided by Warner Classics, will be able to access the playlist of the arias proposed in the installation and see the relative reproduction on a wall where sound waves are projected which give visible form to Callas' vocal and interpretative emission in some of her most beloved arias.

Linked to the exhibition are some conferences organized by the Verona Conservatory, at the Nuovo Montemezzi Auditorium, starting at 17pm:

• Tuesday 16 January, Roberto Calabretto – Singing arias composed by Verdi and turned red with blood…. Pier Paolo Pasolini and Maria Callas.
• Thursday 15 February, Francesco Bellotto – Acting in Opera: gestures and tradition of opera acting. The Callas 'phenomenon'.
• Wednesday 27 March 2024, Tiziana Affortunato – From chrysalis to butterfly: the years of Maria Callas in Verona
• Again, on Wednesday 3 April, at 17pm, at the Verona Literary Society – Callas and Verona, meeting with Maestro Nicola Guerini and the extraordinary participation of Giovanna Lomazzi
• Finally, on Friday 19 January, at 18pm at the Auditorium Nuovo Montemezzi, the theater show 'Maria. La Callas' edited by Modus and Orti erranti Produzioni.

Free entry – booking is recommended on the page disclosures of Modus Verona