Maria Callas Remembered: An Intimate Portrait of the Private Callas [Paperback]

Nadia Stancioff (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2000

Years after her death Maria Callas remains one of the most renowned and compelling of all divas. Although much has been written about Callas the prima donna, the consummate stage magician, and the tragic lover of Aristotle Onassis, this is the first account of Maria the woman by someone who was close to her. Stancioff, a longtime friend, shares memories of the Maria who gave impromptu concerts of Beatles hits and Mexican ballads; of the Maria who starved herself to conform to the image of a celebrity but would go into rhapsodies about a plate of pasta. And to her own warm reminiscences, Stancioff adds the insights of Maria's friends, colleagues, and family. The figure that emerges is intriguing, infuriating, mystifying—and endlessly fascinating.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Nadia Stancioff was Maria Callas's friend during the diva's unhappy final years, starting as a publicist for Callas's film of Medea. Interviewing people who had known her earlier, Stancioff sought to explore the woman from the inside--"Maria," not "Callas." Though the result offers no real information we haven't seen before, it is delivered in a personal voice that makes this memoir (first published in 1987) worth reading.

There's plenty about Callas's appearance and love life, but the tone is chatty rather than trashy. The events that Stancioff herself was there for were not especially significant (she was present, however, when Onassis paid his first visit to an agitated Callas after his marriage to Jackie Kennedy). More valuable are the stories she hears from colleagues, fans, and the singer's elusive sister. The one subtle, and indeed moving, touch is something the author doesn't do: she declines to resolve the contradictions people tell her. Maria's mother pushed her into singing; it was Maria's own desire. Maria's family was kept in luxury during World War II by her sister's boyfriend; Maria ate out of garbage cans. In the '40s, the Met offered her roles that she turned down; there was no offer. The stories aren't reconciled because Callas can't be: she exists only in the kaleidoscope of other people's impressions. Stancioff's own Maria is a difficult woman--capricious, superhumanly insecure--to whom she is utterly loyal.

The unanswered questions surrounding Callas's death have been discussed elsewhere, such as in Maria Callas: Sacred Monster. As speculated on by the chorus of voices here, the mystery is particularly unsettling. Neither Callas nor, perhaps, anyone who cared about her was in control of what she left behind. It's a sad end to the tale of a tortured woman whose aura is as strong as ever but who was, ultimately, no more knowable than any of us. --David Olivenbaum

From Publishers Weekly

A publicist who met Maria Callas in 1969, when the opera singer was filming Medea, here describes their friendship during the next eight years and disputes myths about Callas. She focuses on the troubled woman rather than on the glamorous diva. Based on interviews with, and largely in the words of, colleagues (like the basso Nicola Rossi-Lemeni), friends and Callas's sister Jackie (who always refers to the singer as Mary), Stancioff describes a vulnerable woman with weaknesses and uncertainties as well as strength and pride, with limitations and inconsistencies as well as courage and determinationa woman of intelligence but no intellect, addicted to TV and films rather than books, a short-tempered actress overconscious of her heavy legs, a wealthy superstar who cadged taxi rides but spent lavishly on clothes. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 258 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (May 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306809672
• ISBN-13: 978-0306809675
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,052,021 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #10 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( C ) > Callas, Maria

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brava!, June 2, 2000

By 

Susanna Hutcheson "Copywriting for the Discri... (Midwest U.S.A.) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Maria Callas Remembered: An Intimate Portrait of the Private Callas (Paperback)

Most people who write a biography of someone, especially a friend or relative, have a vested interest in either making the person sound like a saint or a sinner.

The author of this amazing book, however, portrayed her good friend, Maria Callas, in what can only be best described as a very objective manner.

One comes away from this book with a very real sense of the person who was Maria Calles, not particularly in the legend that was Calles, the great Diva, the great voice of the 20th Century.

And I found this book to be quite a spellbinder. It was very hard to put it down. My feelings toward the subject ran the gamut from immense like and understanding to immense dislike. I found her at once fascinating and brilliant and on the other hand somewhat stupid. One minute I would think of her as a simple, silly twitt and the next I would find myself thinking of her as a very loving and warm rather intelligent woman. In some instances she was very stingy and other instances she was very giving and generous.

But I think the thing that stood out most to me was the fact that she had suffered from a good deal of betrayal in her lifetime. People had used her and emotionally and abused her. She was also financially used. And I think this made up a good deal of the woman she later became.

Like most people, Maria Callas was neither all good nor all bad. She was neither a saint nor a sinner. What I like about this book was that it gave her dignity and it gives the reader a feel for who the real Maria Callas was. Although it's written by a dear friend, someone who obviously thought highly of her, the author was nonetheless very objective in writing the accounts of Maria's life. She also told of the darker side of Maria Callas. But she did not use her own words entirely. In fact, she went to a great deal of trouble to interview other people who knew Maria well and many of them had very differing views from those of others who were interviewed.

So in the end the reader is left to draw his or her own conclusion about the type person Maria Callas was. I personally came away with a feeling of being quite touched by her life. I felt that she had suffered greatly, although she had indeed brought a lot of on herself, as we all do. I found her a very human person and quite different from the legend that we know as Callas.

There is no question that Calles, the legend, was the greatest soprano of the 20th century. She was the divas diva. The living up to the legend must have been very difficult indeed. And we find in this book an idea just how hard it was.

If you want a history of the career of Callas this is not the book you want to read. If you want what I believe to be a very factual and objective rendition of what her life as a woman was, this book has no equal.

And while you will get glimpses of the glamorous life of the diva, you'll also be able to feel the crashing reality of loneliness that was at the depth and center of the person behind the great diva, Maria.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful account of a diva!, July 29, 2003

By 

Octavia Holland "Bookworm" (New York USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Maria Callas Remembered: An Intimate Portrait of the Private Callas (Paperback)

The saga of Callas's life has been told by many people. Some have been close to her and some haven't. Some have been affectionate and some have been cruel. This one was the former. When reading a biography on someone as colorful as Callas you must read everything at face value, however it is nice to know her assistant cared for her. It seemed that she understood her more than anyone and that alone is quite a feat. Callas had so many troubles (family, Onassis, La Scala, press, weight, etc)and Nadia was right there for her.

You must read this as a story of course because the truth we'll never know. Take a read it's worth it for a fan of LA DIVA.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars She really was nuts, September 26, 2009

By 

M. S. Fenton (Morris Plains, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Maria Callas Remembered: An Intimate Portrait of the Private Callas (Paperback)

After I saw the play "Master Class" I became fascinated with Callas. I bought a number of CDs of her work and looked for a book or two to learn if she was as portrayed in the play. This book purports to be the best balanced of all the many books. It's hard to tell, but it certainly doesn't seem to go out of the way to either praise or damn her. I simply recounts a number of events in her life through the eyes of an employee who became a friend. I enjoyed the book a lot and felt it was very believable. It jived with other books/articles I've read but without the starry eyed admiration or vitriol of the others. The bottom line is that Callas was not a person I would like to have known or dealt with. And when you read about the others in her "circle" of lovers/husbands and friends and acquaintances you may conclude she was the most normal of them all.