Customer Reviews

Greek Fire: The Story of Maria Callas and Aristotle Onassis

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

As a long time Callas fan, I grabbed this book the minute it hit the bookstores. And I read it in about a day. Of course, it is extremely well researched, and probably the definitive book on the Callas-Onassis affair/relationship. Maria the woman is very well depicted, and made a touching, if not sometimes infuriating character and it is obvious that Mr Cage is more interested in her than in Callas the Artist. But in spite of the dichotomy between the two, Callas was an Artist even when she let her love for Onassis lead the way. I may not have been on that fateful cruise, or at the Paris Opera when she sang her last "Norma", but from the recordings, the videos, the interviews, it seems that right until the end, she remained a dedicated musician, always respectful of her Art. This book makes it seem like music became a nuisance for her after she had met Onassis. It doesn't sound that way when one listens to the material she recorded during that time. The "Gioconda" she recorded in Milan a few weeks after she met Onassis and while she was separating from Meneghini is musically and emotionally perfect. It doesn't sound like it was a chore recording it. And all those Verdi, Rossini, Donizetti arias she recorded in the studio after 1959 are musical masterpieces. The voice may be frayed at the edges but she sings with such soul and commitment that it is obvious she loved her music right until the end. Reviews from performances she gave after 1960 are very scarce in the book, and there is one small technical error. Giuletta Simionato, who was interviewed for that book, was a mezzo-soprano, and not a soprano. It is not very important but it shows that music was not Mr Cage's main focus, although it seems to have been very much in Maria Callas' thoughts right until the very end. There is a recording of her singing "Madre pietosa Vergine" from Verdi's "Forza Del Destino" taped in her apartment days before she died and again she treats this material with utmost respect and passion. No mention is made of all the singers she received in her apartment at the end of her life and how she coached them. Singers such as Montserrat Caballe, Shirley Verret or Sylvia Sass have recounted numerous time how Callas would spend time with them and be generous with her advice. Maria the Woman may have had a tragic life but Callas remained an incredibly gifted and generous Artist until the end of her life and that needs to be acknowledged, if only out of respect for what she contributed to the world of music and opera in the past century.

This book is a convincing portrait of 20th century jet-set society as lived in Greece and Monte Carlo and aboard Aristotle Onassis's yacht Christina. This society comes off as duller than one would imagine, yet thanks to the author's power, I couldn't put the book (which was given me as a Christmas gift) down.

Aristotle Onassis is rendered as a figure out of Greek literature. He's as wily, competetive, manipulative as Odysseus--almost always a winner. But in the end he's undone by his own hubris, fulfilling his classic tragic destiny. The parts telling of his childhood in Smyrna are riveting, and terrifying. The story of Turkish massacres of Greeks and Armernians shed light on the ethnic hatred toward all Muslims still felt by many Orthodox Greeks.

Onassis is neither a likeable nor an admirable hero, yet Gage does a convincing job of letting us see him in all his Greekness, and somehow we accept that he charmed almost everyone he met. Especially the great prima donna, Maria Callas.

Gage doesn't do as well with Callas as with Onassis. I think you wouldn't understand her greatness from reading this book, yet she was very great indeed. To hear Calla sing is to understand all opera is capable of, yet her voice gave out earlier than is the case with most singers for reasons no one understands. Onassis is sometimes blamed for her problems with high notes, but Gage points out that the problems were there before she met Onassis. He doesn't present her as a particularly intelligent, complex or interesting woman, just one undone by her grand passion for Aristotle Onassis. I suspect, given her incredible understanding of tragic heroines in song, there was a lot more to her than this book shows.

Worshippers of the late Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis (and there are many) are definitely not going to like the portrait painted here!

The respected Greek-American journalist and biographer Nicholas Gage has written an exhaustive chronicle of perhaps the most sensational episode in Maria Callas' sensational life--her stormy and ultimately tragic involvement with Aristotle Onassis, the Greek shipping magnate.

The tale of Callas' life and art, of course, has been told and retold in many volumes of varying worth, but biographically Mr. Gage's carefully researched and verified effort cannot fail to impress. Due to his dual subjects, his chronology largely limits itself to the last two decades of Callas' life (she became seriously involved with Onassis in 1959), but within this time frame he has come up with some startling new revelations, including the astonishing assertion (supported by convincing evidence) that Callas gave birth to a son by Onassis in 1960. The baby died the same day it was born, and this tragic event affected the entire rest of their relationship. There is a reverent, almost mystical tone in Gage's writing about the pair, a feeling that their romance was fated to happen and should have turned out much more happily than it did. This is backed up by the opinions of numerous people close to the couple that Onassis' impulsive pursuit of and marriage to Jacqueline Kennedy was the greatest mistake of his life.

Undoubtedly Onassis and Callas come vividly to life in these pages as people, warts and all. About Callas the musician Gage is less convincing. Although he speaks denigratingly about the false stories of the diva that have been uncritically perpetuated by biographers copying from each other, Gage himself does the same on occasion. For example, he repeats the standard tale of the January 1958 Rome Opera "walkout," that Callas was voiceless and struggling against hecklers from the very start of the performance. In fact, as Michael Scott has pointed out, a broadcast tape is readily available of the performance which belies both these contentions. Overall, too, Callas, even with her voice in decline, remained much more interested in singing after she met Onassis than the rather indolent portrait that emerges from these pages would indicate. Post-1960 there were several complete opera recordings, and numerous collections of arias released on disc, and these are just the commercial studio efforts.

Still, Callas the artist has been well-served in much other writing, notably that of John Ardoin. Gage's book corrects many more errors than it perpetuates. It is obligatory reading for any fan and, for that matter, anyone who wishes to know more about this eternally glamorous and fascinating pair.

It's Monday afternoon. I bought this book on Saturday afternoon and have been reading it almost non-stop. Just glanced at the Sunday papers.

In the Forward the author writes that biographies are difficult as different people tell what happened at one particular time or event in different ways. It is hard to know what is the truth, but in this case he was able to interview people who are still alive and could provide insight.

I had never known much about Maria Callas before I read this, but have so enjoyed reading her story. She was larger than life and things that happened to her reflect that.

After reading about all of the affairs, power plays, wasted lives, etc, of these supposedly "beautiful people", I am glad that my life has been boring.

I grew to dislike Onassis as the book went on. He wasn't a very nice person. Don't feel one bit sorry for him for all the trouble he had in his last years.

Many pictures, that I'd never seen before, added to book. I'm so glad the author wrote this.

My grandmother gave me my first opera recording when I was 11 years old - the second Callas Tosca, and I spent much time later as an adult buying every recording she made and reading every book I could get my hands on to discover as much about this compelling artist as I could. At last, here is the definitive version of her great love affair, told impartially from many sources close to the heart of their relationship. I had always known that tabloid gossips had put a wrongful spin on what was going on, and it is refreshing to read the facts here, and have many longstanding falsehoods exposed. I knew absolutely nothing of Onassis before reading "Greek Fire", and this book gives a good general overview of his life and rise to being one of the richest men in the world. Onassis does not come off as the villian here - forcing Maria to give up her singing, to have an abortion, and then dumping her for Jackie Kennedy. The intricate byplay of these very public figures is chronicled extremely well, with each side of the "triangle" treated fairly. If anything, it is Jackie who comes off as the greedy, material, and socially power hungry villian, concerned only for herself, finally hooking the wealthiest man she could get her hands on. Since he is not a musical scholar, Gage does not discuss in depth the decline of Callas' voice prior to meeting Onassis, but it is fairly indicated, so at last here is a biographer that does not spin the familiar "Callas gave it all up for Onassis" story. Having read virtually every book published about Callas, I can say that this is certainly one of the best out there. I read it over one weekend, and immediately started reading it again. It was compelling.

I read this book as soon as it hit the stands in 2000. With every book ever written about Maria Callas on my shelves, and her every recording in my heart, I thought, "What more could possibly be said about Callas?" The photo of Maria's prematurely delivered infant on p. 206 tipped the scales in favor of adding yet another Callas biography to my collection.
But it wasn't until a few months ago when, at my hairdresser's salon, I sat next to a woman who spoke of her next trip to Greece. She was Joan Gage, Nicholas Gage's wife. I went to my shelf and read the book again, as rapt as I was ten years ago, and got Mr. Gage's autograph!
This is, without question, the definitive work on the intimate life of Maria Callas. Her turbulent childhood, separation from her father, her ambitious mother, and Callas' own driving ambition and dedication to her art. These stories are all well documented here as in her other biographies. What makes this stand out are the personal interviews and the meticulous detail with which Gage's research is conducted. One feels the vulnerable spirit of Callas alive on every page, from her meek, apologetic beginnings to her beyond- the-grave rage when the wind changes direction to blow her ashes into the choking faces of her estranged mother and sister.
Gage's treatment of Meneghini, Callas' husband and mentor, is less than respectful. He refers to him as a clumsy, bumbling, uni-lingual Italian who, more or less (more than less) simply gets in the way of Callas' new found jet set. The fact is that Callas might very well have remained Kalogeropoulos and gone back to working in a New York department store without Giovanni Batista Meneghini's financial and moral support. He deserves considerable credit. Disrespect to Meneghini notwithstanding, I won't demote this outstanding effort to a four star review.
This was a tremendous undertaking and a must read for any and all Callas fans and is considerably noteworthy for those interested in the inner workings and competitive edge of the Greek shipping magnates with their advantageous marriages and business deals. Onassis' appreciation of her art was nil. He was once quoted as saying, "Why do they have to spend so much time singing something when they could just say it?" Ultimately everything for Aristotle Onassis was a business deal with the ultimate goal of his own self-aggrandizement: from ships, to Tina Onassis, to Maria Callas, to Jacqueline Kennedy.
Gage's meticulous attention to detail deserves a wide readership for its in-depth reporting on this eternal "Prima Donna Assoluta."

I bought this book at a Supermarket Charity book sale, and I liked it. It told of the relationship between Ari and Maria as well as Jackie. I couldn't put it down, and it is a great summertime reading book.

Engrossing tale of a magnificent love story and the lives of the rich and famous. Intrigueing that a man so astute in business could be so dumb in the choice of the women that he ended up marrying. The author manages to hold attention to the end of a very well researched and readable book. I loved it!

This book really gives you an insight into both the late Ari Onassis and the late
Maria Callas with an in between look at Jackie Kennedy Onassis. It was not an easy
read, but it was interesting and I knew alot more about these three fascinating people
than I did before I read it...

This is a great vacation book, well researched and by a very good reporter. The trouble is, should we care about the melodramas therein? I would arge yes, as they were outsized personalities and changed their times as much as reflected them.

The reader will be treated to a real view of the glitterati, from Callas and Onaissis, to Jackie Kennedy as she used the designer dresses he would buy to "launder" money by reselling them. It is sleaze at its best and a first-rate reporter to look under all the rocks for the voyeur, that is, me and you.

Recommended.