On October 29, 1956, Maria Callas made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in the role of Norma from Vincenzo Bellini’s opera of the same name. It was not foreseen that the aria “Casta Diva” from Norma would find in Maria Callas one of its most famous interpreters: “Norma” was still quite unknown to the audience of the Met and many spectators were only coming to see Callas live for the first time.
Maria Callas: The Chanting Puma (2.)
Arriving in New York and staying with her father, who lived there, little promising happened at first: more than once she recited for other opera singers and directors, who always told her that she still needed to work on her voice.
Maria soon suspected that she would have little chance of launching a career in New York.
Maria Callas: The Chanting Puma (1.)
By the end of 1956, Greek-American opera soprano Maria Meneghini Callas had several offers on her desk from well-known publishing houses, all competing to publish her memoirs. She turned down all the offers.
Now she was faced with the problem that many inaccuracies or, much worse, untruths about her person and her career were spreading.
Dagmar Koller: From Musical Star to First Lady
In 1975 Dagmar Koller, the most photographed woman in Austria, appeared on stage together with Zarah Leander in “Das Lächeln einer Sommernacht“ (The smile of a summer’s night). The world premiere of the musical, which was originally a movie with Ingrid Bergman in 1955, marked the end of Zarah Leander’s career, while Dagmar Koller’s career was just beginning to take off.
Khatia Buniatishvili: Motherland
The Georgian-French pianist Khatia Buniatishvili released her album “Motherland“ in 2015: “Motherland“ brings together interpretations of classical music by a wide variety of composers, all of whom have one thing in common: They set out in search of their “Motherland“.
Zarah Leander: Unforgotten melodies
The longing melody of “Lang ist’s her“ (It’s a long time ago) is the first tune on this compilation. Zarah Leander recorded the song on …
Max Raabe: A chanson goes around the world
As co-founder and singer of the Palast Orchester from Berlin, Max Raabe sings numerous songs that for many people have long been a part of …