Maria Callas Remembered

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.

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 cen