“LA DIVINA” AND HER ATHENS The life of Maria Callas presented in a magnificent museum Personal effects of the
great diva, including manuscripts, letters, photographs, a handwritten scrapbook from her school days, costumes, awards and her voice, which guides you through this impressive, three-storey neoclassical building... “FIRST AND FOREMOST, I BELONG TO THE GREEK PEO- PLE . I may be married to an Italian. I may have received accolades from all over the world, but my blood is Greek and nobody can change that.” This audio excerpt from a rare 1957 radio interview with Maria Callas plays in the lift as you ascend to the second floor of the new Maria Callas Museum in Athens. It is the first of many audio excerpts that vis- itors get to hear during their tour of the world's first museum dedicated to the life and work of La Divina. It was late last year that the City of Athens inaugurated the long-awaited Maria Callas Muse- um, housed in a three-storey neo- classical building at 44 Mitropoleos Street, opposite the Athens Cathe- dral. The inauguration coincided with the 100 th anniversary of her birth (2 nd December, 1923), adding to the wide range of artistic events that had been held throughout the year in honour of the great soprano. Now open to the public, the muse- um features more than 1,000 items that belonged to or were associat- ed with Callas, including priceless historical artefacts like rare live re- cordings, personal effects, record collections, photographs, dresses, jewellery and much more. The ground floor enables visi- tors to check out the museum’s shop
and pick up some opera memorabil- ia, or to grab a snack at La Divina café/restaurant, which also opens out onto the beautiful Petraki Street to the rear, where you can enjoy an al fresco lunch. The building’s mar- ble staircase is covered in a ceremo- nial red carpet and the third floor serves as a temporary exhibition space, while it is also used for ed- ucational activities, workshops and musical performances, and provides stunning views of the Acropolis. The second floor is home to "The Callas Experience". A route guides visitors through three themed soundproof studios (a forest, a replica of her Paris apartment, a recording studio), where they can sit on bergère chairs and chaises longues and enjoy Callas’s rendi- tions of three epic arias: Norma, Tosca and La Traviata. There’s also a fourth room that allows visitors to observe her teaching process for the masterclasses that she gave at
New York’s Juilliard School in the early 1970s. The first floor presents the core section of the collection, in- cluding over 1,000 items that range from sculptures, books, stage cos- tumes and wigs to a Manolo Blah- nik design inspired by Callas. So, next time you're in Athens, be sure to make time to visit the new Maria Callas Museum and get ac- quainted with the world’s all-time greatest soprano.
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