Maria Callas: The Woman behind the Legend (Paperback)

~ Arianna Huffington (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Legendary soprano Maria Callas, whose singing was as sensational as her life, is the subject of this biography by author and columnist Huffington. Huffington tells of Callas' transformation from a shy, chubby girl into one of the greatest opera singers of

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Cooper Square Press; 1st Cooper Square Press Ed edition (December 25, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0815412282
• ISBN-13: 978-0815412281
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #392,560 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Biography I've Ever Read, January 28, 2006

By	April Pastis "GreetingsfromApril" (Visalia, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Maria Callas: The Woman Behind the Legend (Hardcover)

I can't believe no one has reviewed this book...so although I have never written one before here goes....
Critics say that this is the best book on the intensely private yet captivating Maria Callas. I'll go farther than that and say that it is the best biography I have personally EVER read and I am a huge fan of biographies. Yet, I can't quite put my finger on why its so good. Maybe its because Arianna Stassinopoulos shows a profound empathy for the diva or perhaps it's because she interviewed practically every living person who knew her. Maria Callas, the love interest of Aristotle Onassis who later dropped her for Jacqueline Kennedy, and of course the greatest dramatic opera singer who ever lived, is brought to life right in front of you in this fantastic, well ..... just read this book. You'll love it as much as I do.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a page-turner, August 5, 2006

By	ronaldbrian (Quezon City, Philippines) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Maria Callas: The Woman Behind the Legend (Hardcover)

(To the reviewer before me: Now we're two.)

I have not read any other biography on Callas, but I listen to her avidly (her La Wally aria is particularly addictive) and have her Tosca performance on DVD as well as the documentary Maria Callas: Life and Art. But Callas's music alone has always made me wonder about her. Such deeply mined emotions in her singing, such ferocity, such purity, such power. How does she get all these in her performances? Where does she mine them? Zefirelli has compared her to Michelangelo, Bernstein has called her the greatest artist in the world. This book answers these questions and explains why. I have to say that it is a compulsive page-turner, even now in the twenty-first century where opera is no longer mainstream. There's always something interesting in each page. At the same time the biographer doesn't belabor a particular episode or detail in Maria's life as to make it boring or overly dramatized. And Arianna Stassinopoulos is no Kitty Kelly: everything seems very well-researched and reliable.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent biography. Read it when it first "came out!", September 10, 2007

By	Barbara Stienstra (Goshen, New York United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Maria Callas: The Woman Behind the Legend (Hardcover)

The number one recall I have about this book still haunts me to this day... her abortion. Onasis giving her the choice, him or the child.
Haunting. Horrible.
Above all, this book was a major "undertaking" for the author which she executed superbly! What a story! What a book!