An orchestra conductor's honest review of MARIA (Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas, Netflix movie)

[@howimettheopera]

Hey everyone! Very interested to hear your thoughts, specially on the whole "art as suffering" topic if you are a part of classical music/art making; and also what you thought about MARIA if you've seen it ( but please keeping it respectful ;)

[@kbhprinsesse]

Callas herself said in an interview "You must suffer to be an artist". I do however think that that was an opinion she adopted in her later years; in her early career when her voice was in good shape and as a consequence she was less scared of going on stage, I think she perceived being an artist in more direct musical terms.

[@TheRealBrook1968]

@@howimettheopera there is a reason to make the distinction between sympathy and empathy. As time progresses add a person embraces life and suffering in a healthy manner, they move from the realm of being able to be a concerned companion into sharing the n the joy and pain of another.

[@hansmahr8627]

I think there are important nuances when it comes to this topic. Obviously there's a toxic element to it when people say that you need to suffer for your art which can lead artists to not seek help when they need it. But then there's also a positive side in that art can be a way to deal with suffering. It's a field where you can succeed despite mental health struggles, you can even transform them into something positive. If you suffer from issues with mental health, it can be quite uplifting to see how many great artists created amazing works despite suffering from the same issues. And sometimes these struggles can even lead you to insights and new perspectives, turning your weakness into a strength. Virginia Woolf for example talked about how she took a lot of inspiration from her psychotic episodes when writing her books. You obviously don't need to suffer from schizophrenia to become a great writer but if you do suffer from it, you can make use of it for your art. That's the positive angle of the whole 'art from suffering' narrative. To take another example, consider the origin of Blues. It was developed by disenfranchised people with roots going all the way back to slavery. The great names in early blues history were all poor, they all faced discrimination and intense racial hatred, they struggled with addiction and other issues. And this suffering had a huge impact on the development of the blues, it was a way to cope with the suffering, to transform it. That's the power of art, it can give you hope and help you survive even in the darkest times.

[@alopezgorham4479]

I would like to gently push back on the comparison you made between yourself as an orchestra conductor and Callas, an opera singer. While you are both technically artists…the two art forms require vastly different their talents. An opera singer is an actor and they have to build character and that can be mentally and emotionally draining. Callas was a child of the War and endured many traumas, the thin line between suffering in her own life and the character’s life may have created its own unique suffering, each performance. All while maintaining her extraordinary vocals … it must have been draining. Many performers/actors do have a hard time shaking off characters… And I particularly have great empathy for Callas, since she most definitely never had therapy after her wartime trauma and it’s clear it greatly affected all aspects of her life and art.

[@TheRealBrook1968]

@@howimettheopera Involuntary or consequential suffering is part of the human condition that can become a creative or destructive force. The direction it takes depends upon the character of the sufferer.

[@googlefan8990]

'Maria' is a movie about Angelina Jolie - not Maria Callas. I you want a see a movie about Maria Callas - watch 'Maria by Callas' - 2017 movie - very, very good and stars Maria Callas herself.

[@edglebennett6312]

??? "I you want a see a movie" What?

[@Alpha-Andromeda]

Angelina didn’t even take the time to learn the hand mannerisms and cadence of speaking of Maria Callas. It was a poor choice and it’s unfortunate because Maria was so enthralling to hear speak and sing. So yes, you must be right, this is a movie about Angelina. It’s definitely not a movie with the essence of Maria in it.

[@fp5206]

@@edglebennett6312 Obviously If... just a typo

[@edglebennett6312]

@@Alpha-Andromeda I thought she did a wonderful job! Maybe you could do it better.

[@edglebennett6312]

@@fp5206 I'm not coming you. I just thought you might want to go back and edit.

[@juanloaezaviadas500]

Honestly, Maria Callas is one of the greatest artists of the past century. I wish there was a movie about her glory days in the 50's. There's plenty of drama there also, but we would at least get a glimpse on why she is so important, why after almost 50 years after she died we still talk about her. And, as you say, she was the most dedicated profesional. Look up the interview with the great Teresa Berganza. She perfectly describes her commitment to the artform and her generosity as a colleague. I hope we get that portrayal one day. She deserves it.

[@barcher]

Exactly

[@Aotearoa0]

BS, I enjoy all types of music and my first introduction would've been our own Kiri TeKanawa Opera and all types of music is a personal choice. I have seen Andrea Bocelli twice in Brisbane and absolutely fantastic. Opera is not elitist, it's available to everyone. I enjoyed Angelina Jolie's performance very emotional. Maria was Aristotle 's love of his love 💕💕.

[@shaundudley4576]

Hallelujah. i think they despair at the herculean challenge of doing justice in that medium to the Callas Phenomenon. And rightly so.

[@fp5206]

Absolutely! That's what I thought when I watched the first 20 minutes of the movie I could stand. They did exactly the same with Judy. Movie and and TV makers today seem to focus on the dark and ugly stuff.

[@ina5587]

@@fp5206Of course.

[@___efff]

LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK! Bravo. The way you articulated these concepts was so satisfying to hear. Thank you so much for sharing this.

[@andjelasubotic7227]

Great video, and as a classical singer myself, I agree with everything you said. I also want to add that as someone who admires Callas’s music and artistry, I did not appreciate the movie or what it portrayed.

[@demeter120]

I have read several biographies of María Callas and it is sad that the movies only focus on her last days and her relationship with Onasis. The life of Maria Callas is fascinating because it was the struggle of a woman who had everything against her to succeed in the difficult world of opera and yet managed to dethrone the queen of Scalla, the great Tebaldi and revolutionize opera. Maria Callas was a kind of Rocky Balboa in the world of opera.

[@OffbeatsMusic]

I love that reference 🙂

[@mysticskexis7459]

Thank you for your perspective. I am a retired ballerina and I often worry about the death of the appreciation of art forms like opera, ballet, and symphony orchestras. I feel that anything that might spark interest into the younger generation is a net positive. I don't want the live performance of fine art to fizzle away.

[@prototropo]

@@mysticskexis7459 Yes! I lament the declining attendance at ballet, symphony, opera, string quartet performances. These are the gens of civilization. We risk plunging into another dark ages if video games and hip-hop consume the attention of every generation.

[@CentraalHub]

I hate it how they always depict Maria as a has been, delusional, solitary and desperate woman. If u watch her interviews in the 70s - like the clips u shown here, close to her death, she is always DOWN TO EARTH, when they keep comparing her to her prime days, she always admits "I don't sing like when I was 20 and I'll never sing like that anymore, people change with age" she is never that delusional woman who thinks she will be back to singing like when she was younger. About Onassis, she was always ok in being his mistress, she speaks about him with love even when the press want to make a big tabloid drama. She knew her craft sooooo well. About 20 years ago they did another biopic about her with that same "she is crazy and alone and delusional". She was never like that! The big drama in her life was: her mother pushed her to be a singer, she never wanted to be a singer, her mother made her even lie her age to get into the conservatory, her close family kind took advantage of her. She wanted to be an actress, the whole being the best singer ever was an accident for her, it was never her goal. This was her big drama. Also they always treat her like she is that impossible demanding woman, if u listen to her masterclass or watch her interviews, she is never like that, she is direct because she understands her craft, but she always value the crew. I guess Hollywood can't sell her true story.

[@prototropo]

@@CentraalHub Exactly right.

[@peterbreis5407]

She did have a disastrous come back. That was a big part of her later life.

[@CentraalHub]

@peterbreis5407 look at her interviews, she talks about that. The thing is: press treated it like a big let down, but she herself would say "the press expects too much from me, I will never sing like before". What I am saying is: they act like she had the fantasy she was singing like her prime and that she couldn't face the truth and this is not the truth. Also when she talks about Onassis, she NEVER say a bad thing about him or about Jacqueline. She never tried to end their marriage. Just go watch her 70s interview, she is NOTHING like what is portraied in the movies. She knew sooooo much about her craft and that is the reason she couldn't be delusional about it. Also, singing was not that important to her. She never wanted to be a singer, it was never her dream. I dont think she had that need to be the best later at her carreer. There is an amazing doc i dont remember the name is something like "callas on her own words" and that gives much more insight. As a said her trouble was almost being a hostage to a talent that wasnt her choice. This movie is BS.

[@peterbreis5407]

@@CentraalHub I haven't seen the movie so can't comment on that but she did try to revive her career at a point she could only disappoint. Opera singers really have no room to move, it is all about the voice. Jazz, popular and Rock singers can fake it with "character" or by drowning it out with the instruments but that won't cut it in Opera.

[@prototropo]

@@CentraalHub I think the admiration nurtured for Callas by people like those here, posting, is wonderful evidence for her authenticity and legacy for beneficence. We who care are the guardians of her memory and presence!

[@nw6070]

That "im in the mood for adulation" line is so revolting. Anyone who has studied all her interviews will know that at heart she was actually an incredibly humble woman who put her art above her persona. She even likened a cleaners work as equally valid to her. She also spoke out against idolatry. So for the film maker to mischaracterise her for views is so vulgar and ironically a continuation of the injustice she faced in her life.

[@shaundudley4576]

Yes, that line is particularly bad. It shows that not only don't they know Maria, they despise her. cheap stereotyping

[@2violettina]

@@shaundudley4576 do you think you have missed the irony of the scripting given this is an art film that underscores an ungrateful public and Callis’s desire or raw need for the adulation of an audience that she desperately needed? The line speaks to her performative psychological defense mechanisms developed in childhood. Instead she gets derision from an ungrateful, self absorbed public. I actually think the line that you so excoriate is far more subtle than you perceive.

[@CentraalHub]

This makes me so mad. Her interviews from the 70s, u see how much she understand her art and how much she understand she is not at her prime and how she is not trying to be like when she was younger because it is impossible, the body changes etc. She is never delusional, weak or a impossible woman. Her true drama was the fact her mother pushed her into this life and she was forced to make a lot of sacrifices, her family kind leeched on her even after her death, there is even a video from her sister giving talks about her in the 80s/90s for fans (charging them). Also how they treat her like she never goes out of her apartment lol, she was a private person and there are several paparazzi pics of her going out of her building in Paris during her last years. It is kinda like what they did to Greta Garbo who just didn't want to be famous anymore and was bullied for it till her death.

[@2violettina]

Thank you for one of the most insightful and sensitive readings of this cubist collage of an art film I have seen to date. As an art historian/critic and teacher I found the film shaded by tints of Fedora and the last year of Dietrich and was reminded of Marlene singing “just a giggling” as no one slse could giving it a nuance and emotional pathos that is staggering. This is similar to what happens in the final aria. I thought the film was a little too long but in general it was an artistic attempt to reveal the passion and tragedy of Maria the woman and La Callis the performative self the an abused and sexually assaulted girl developed for self protection from a killing world. In this she is not unlike many creatives who are told early on” you’re too sensitive” My mother used to add for your own good. Many people here will disagree here will disagree with you. But I say Brava for your love, knowledge and sensitivity to what being in a creative league of one’s own requires. I believe Jolie and Callis both are superb!

[@shaundudley4576]

@@2violettina I have not yet had the opportunity to see the film yet, but this scene has been shown repeatedly so indeed the context might give redeeming nuance. I hope so For I dearly want this to be good. Two things: it reinforces the stereotype too crudely and Callas knew she had no need to doubt her reception anywhere in Paris at the time her fame and adulation was universal and transcendent in the Parisian scene.

[@greglemke4131]

Agree wholeheartedly with this perspective. As an aside, the Mike Wallace interview with Maria Callas is just insufferable.

[@prototropo]

@@greglemke4131 Truly. He's an embarrassing bully. I never liked his gratuitous "hard-line" interviews. His questions weren't probing, they were provoking. Like Barbara Walters', his goal is clearly grandstanding, not illumination.

[@prototropo]

Maria, like Judy Garland, deserved much more respect, at least from crass media wolves like Mike Wallace.

[@kbhprinsesse]

Also from over-personal fans who call her by her Christian name even though they never met her.

[@alexeios]

@@kbhprinsessewe know her as Maria lmao what is your problem, you never met her either yet here you are being a weird white knight

[@melindamercier6811]

@@kbhprinsesse🙄

[@jeffreypaszko3473]

Mike Wallace interviewers a travesty to say the least . It is pretty obvious that he does not understand. opera and the passion that music gives.... Maria always a class act makes Wallace look like the Neanderthal that he was..... Bravo Callas. !!!

[@prototropo]

@@kbhprinsesse You refer to a cultural convention, not a lack of respect.

[@DavidHalChester]

Mike Wallace was one of the most obnoxious "interviewers" of all time. He would ask the cruelest and essentially most pointless questions of A-List Talent. I'm sorry that Maria had to endure him.

[@KathyCowan-r5z]

I so agree with you. It was ugly

[@carjam49]

I couldn't have said it any better. What a complete jerk.

[@Pylypczak]

yes, he’s a DOG!!

[@nicholasschroeder3678]

Remember the Mad Mag spoof: "Mike Malice"😂

[@OffbeatsMusic]

Oh, that is horrible. I didn't realize 😞

[@margaretkeefe2567]

I have listened to Maria Callas for fifty years. I am deeply grateful. I thought Angelina palpably channeled Maria’s pain and isolation. Angelina drew me in. For me the film was another opportunity to contemplate Maria.

[@margaretkeefe2567]

This is an addition to my comments above. I truly appreciate the work you put into this video. Brava. However, one small issue: Your comment about singing being beautiful singing before Callas’ time is not entirely accurate. I remind that Verdi wanted an ugly voice for his Lady Macbeth and so rejected the singer selected for the premiere as having too beautiful a sound. And speaking of Tosca, we opera buffs and sopranos have great fun listening to all the great sopranos do the blood curdling final phrase “O Scarpia, avanti a Dio.” It’s widely accepted that Maria Callas especially excelled in the Belle Canto repertoire and in the tens years especially between ‘48 and ‘58 she was perfect. Thank you Maria for you, your emotion, your voice, your intelligence your musicianship, your very hard work 🙏

[@hrvoje14]

EXCELLENT analysis! Thank you from a Callas fan.

[@sophiesoprano]

I am an educated singer. Before my education, I spent countless hours on KZbin listening to Callas in interviews, masterclasses, and recordings. I feel as if I had known her personally, even as if she knows me! And I love her dearly. The biggest thing for me with her was her dedication to her art. I really appreciate all your points in the video. I don’t feel like watching Angelina Jolie play Callas. The casting immediately makes me know the movie couldn’t be good. Luckily, there is so much real footage of Maria - she is like her own movie. It’s totally possible to do an interpretation of her, but the talent of those making the movie just wasn’t there, it seems.

[@judyannkiwi]

It was a good film I watched it today

[@MM-pw4ln]

Most intelligent and best review I have ever witnessed.

[@gowanhewlett745]

Brava. Your intelligence and honesty are so welcome. Callas would applaud you.

[@stephenfletcher6801]

You’ve given us a very thoughtful and respectful review. Thank you!

[@emagreene9775]

Thank you so much. I love listening to Maria Calkas and was truly hoping to learn what to expect from the movie. I still will watch it.

[@adamusher468]

I think the media treatment of Maria Callas is seen so often when the artist is intelligent and has strong opinions. If you are a man, this is so often seen as assertive and strong, but for a female are features of a diva. The media so often wants females to be simply timid and pretty. I thought your reflections on suffering and empathy were very interesting. Thanks for the engaging video.

[@howimettheopera]

Completely agree! and thank you for watching

[@nicholasthill7151]

So much so, she became a pop icon and wildly adored in her own genre.

[@sarahwestmusic]

Such important points. LOVE your analysis. I personally am offended by this movie: 1) mixing Maria Callas' voice with anothers - horror 2) actor playing Maria Callas is horrible. The way she uses a haughty stance throughout this movie as if aloof, haughtiness is what Maria Callas was and as if this is "art". Maria Callas can be listened to to truly know her. Anything less, heellywud/peedoowud trying to make money on the rare beauty of Maria Callas' soul expressing through her beautiful being is just wrong in every way. Many will never go further than this movie which portrays Maria Callas' in every way wrongly. I so appreciate your sharing the truth behind the horrific rituals of slander, humiliation and canceling that is slowly moordorooz just like they have done to sooo many women in our world throughout the ages to try to break them to control them or destroy them. This is what they did to Maria Callas on purpose. It was an engineered effort by those who believe they can "own" people and that people are theirs to enslave or worse. For those hearing Maria Callas through this movie and watching the horrendous lip-singing of Jolie, I feel sorry for the nightmare that will never leave their memories of having watched the horrorshow that is this movie with Jolie pretending to be Maria Callas by walking around with her chin jutting out wearing high fashion as if fashionable clothes wearing makes a "diva." The reason we know the name Maria Callas has zero to do with her clothes. Zero to do with her chin in the air and zero to do with her hair styles etc. We know the name Maria Callas because Maria Callas moves us-to tears, to catharsis, to open our hearts, to the freedom we all long for but don't always know how to get to on our own. Maria Callas touches our soul. Maria Callas touches our spirit. Maria Callas evaporates time and space and collapses existence into the eternal present where we can feel fulfilled by the raw essence of pure beingness. Maria Callas brings us all home to ourselves which we so much abandon in the stress of our divided daily lives. The way "society" has been structured by the bangksturzz who run our world, who have destroyed millions, billions of communities, tribes, families for 1000s of years, we have lost our connections to ourselves and each other and the safety net of true love and true support through the fracturization of our human race. Maria Callas we listen to to remember what it's like to be loved, to be loving, to BE love. She embodies love-not just loss, but love itself. This is why we listen to Maria Callas. Jolie cannot embody this as a mimicker of materialistic media mayhem that is the parasitic machine that started and is hellywud. To know Maria Callas is only to listen to her herself: listen to her operas, her interviews, her letters: HER. Thank you for playing parts of the interviews of her showing how the interviewers were so atrociously disrespectful and offensive and explaining a bit about how the propaganduh machine worked then just as it does now. There are so many examples of how they have done this to women over centuries and millennia.

[@shaundudley4576]

@@sarahwestmusic I am so grateful for this magnificent piece. You have said it all. Loving Maria is both the easiest and the hardest thing to do. Easiest because once you get her, she keeps on giving like nothing and no-one else. Hardest because being the lover of such a woman and such an artist in this grotesque world where misogyny is cool again has driven me to despair for humanity. And quite frankly it too frequently is her biggest "fans" that disappoints most egregiously. Where are the serious scholarly studies of the Callas Phenomenon? Feminist scholarship is practically non-existent. How does that work? How can the woman who singularly and spectacularly conquered the most elitest male dominated cultural edifice in western civilization and paid the price for it (was destroyed because of it) be of so little serious concern to the very scholars that has precisely that as their core remit. It speaks volumes. Anyway, you have inspired me greatly. Thank you.

[@ZENOBlAmusic]

That is not really true, even in the 50's. I think the Italian tabloid press was simply merciless. I have seen negative articles were the press calls Corelli a divo, because of his disagreements with conductors. One article even said that Corelli is a diva just like Callas. They did this to men as well, and he was often objectified as well. These things doesn't just happen to women, even in the 50's.

[@RonaldBarone]

Her influence continues to be felt in the way we perceive and celebrate the most captivating and larger-than-life performers, both in the classical and popular music realms.

[@rickyestevez4698]

This is an excellent analysis and shows Maria Callas as more than just caricature of a difficult opera diva caught up in her own hype. However, my comment is more about the film itself. My question: Did anyone else feel that Jolie, as hard as she may have tried, fails to really make us believe that she's Callas and not Jolie trying to be Callas. As hard as I tried, I couldn't get past the feeling that I was just watching an actor playing a role. For contrast, Marion Cotillard as Piaf or Theron as Wuornos. Those actresses gave themselves completely over to those roles and we believed them. Here I just couldn't and it's a shame.

[@prototropo]

@@rickyestevez4698 I haven't seen the movie yet but I think it typical for many American actors to "star" in a role, in contrast to the lovely ensemble engagement with which other cultures seem to approach drama. Even Meryl Streep, whom I love, is guilty of "acting alone" in her films. Emma Stone might be an exception to that dynamic.

[@Pylypczak]

Excellent examples! You are so right

[@cctreadway8962]

I've only seen Jolie transcend her own persona once in a film, and that was Gia. Otherwise, she holds back and hides in her shell. This is why I likely wont watch "Maria."

[@nigihayami6]

Its too simplistic as analisis to say María was recognized as the singer that was commited to express emotion when nobody was doing it. In that period, there was a lot of expressive singers, but more of the verismo school. She was a great actress, by instict, and she had a peculiar sound and a very personal way of singing. Later, she excelled at the bel canto roles, which were in that time sunged by singers without the adecuate tecnique for belcanto. She mastered belcanto given her schooling, and was indeed very expressive in those roles, vocally and phisically. Thats why her Lucia was clearly distinguishble, along with her Elvira, and later Ana Bolena, and of course Norma. She was a mix of a very compelling, charismatic, and stage actress, a great musician, and a very intelligent woman with a very personal voice.

[@howimettheopera]

thank you for expanding on this, I didn't want to get too technical so for whoever is interested in a more in depth/opera specific explanation of why her approach was so special this is a great explanation.

[@nigihayami6]

@@howimettheopera Thank you for responding! I hope i didnt sound harsh or mean, i wasnt trying to be that. I happen to appreciate María very much. I am also chilean, like Pablo Larraín, but that doesnt make me like his work very much. He has an eye for aesthetic, beauty, maybe, but i dont know. I havent seen the movie, but from the clips they have released i really dont think its a movie for Callas fans, opera fans, singers or musicians. Im still gonna watch it, but my expectations will be low.

[@castoputa]

All we needed to know was that Angeline Jolie knew so little of her legend she saw fit TO SING IN THE FILM!

[@Tdvc]

right? out of all singers in history she would pick the greatest one lol. Skills aside, Callas´ power were the emotions.

[@Pylypczak]

I agree with this a million percent. That is just EGO Angie.. nobody wants to hear you. desecrate that voice-she probably wanted to sing the whole thing

[@erickent4248]

Lots of creative people do have loneliness and depression, but we don't create out of that space, that side of us hurts our art, not helps it. We create out of our hope, our desire to transcend our basic forms, to become eternal, to communicate with the planet. I totally agree that I am tired of hearing people say that suffering is the key to art. Nice video (okay movie).

[@howimettheopera]

Very well said, thank you!

[@alexeios]

speak for yourself lmao some of the greatest artists who ever lived created out of profound sadness. Van Gogh is a perfect example. he was in so much pain and that’s part of what made his art so beautiful - the way the world treated him did not affect how he saw it or portrayed it. Dostoyevsky is another example. that man was deeply sad, because he understood too much. and as a result - his books.

[@monicacall7532]

Thank you for saying this! I’m a professional musician (a cellist) and am very tired of the “Musicians must suffer for their art.” trope that many biopics emphasize. Sure, my sad, bad, terribly painful experiences have helped me to be able to interpret and express certain pieces of music in a more meaningful way, but, as you say, to wallow in those emotions in order to make the music more authentic is counterproductive and, frankly, a load of hogwash. If you’re in the depths of depression, trauma or grief it’s extremely difficult to even play or sing. I know from personal experience. How I wish that film and television productions about musicians would instead focus on the absolute joy, delight and outright fun making music and performing for and with others most often is. The scene in “Maestro” where Leonard Bernstein is conducting the Mahler Second Symphony at Ely Cathedral is fantastic in portraying the joy in making music. Every musician in the orchestra, the soloists and Bradley Cooper/Leonard Bernstein are visibly having the time of their lives, and the “audience” is genuinely caught up in the experience. I suppose this may not be sexy or interesting enough for some people, but it is the truth so much of the time, at least in my own experience. Let’s hope that we can get rid of the “suffering musician” trope for good! 👏❤️🎵

[@victorialukens5632]

Based on the trailer, no way could I sit through this new film with Jolie.

[@virginiaalonso6172]

Excellent! Thank you for your intelligent and insightful analysis! You are so correct.

[@VocalEdgeTV]

First time visitor. So well done.

[@MalissiaCreates]

Same here😊

[@joannaRB]

Thank you very much for your critique. Very well thought out and reasonable.

[@MrWphilips]

This is a fragmented film, leaving the audience with little understanding of what is happening! Just a ghostly extended story of unexplained decline and death! Ultimately, nothing but an unfulfilling mystery, for those too young to know her story!

[@lizmedina2527]

What a marvellous review of the film and explanation from your perspective as an authentic artist!! Maravilloso. Me has hecho querer ver la película y aprender más sobre La Callas.

[@sergiolalaian1558]

Great commentary I really enjoyed it.

[@BethGreenTV]

I hated the movie. Not too long into it, I had to turn it off. It felt like a series of postures, rather than the story of an amazing woman. I appreciated many of your comments, but I just wanted to add that Maria Callas did not feel like a real woman here. Just for background, I was trained as a classical pianist, but now I only improvise and continue performing.

[@irinadavidofflavrentyeva798]

I am an actress, singer, pianist and a huge fan of opera and Maria Callas! Being a conductor and an actor are two different things. Yes, as an inspired conductor you get emotional from the great, genuine music you hear. But we, dramatic actors are all alone on stage.We are the creators of all emotions our character is going through. The suffering in real life, indeed, in many instances, can help us to fulfill our performance with more sincere - genuine emotions. I knew one, very good actress, who, unwillingly brought in her stage roles more tragic depth, after death of her newly born twins.I remember how my personal suffering, helped me to deliver much more powerful, tragic performance. Moreover, we've been taught to utilize any life experience, which would help us to enrich the role. Callas didn't suffer all her life. Yes, she had a conflict with her mother, but her personal tragedy came later - when she met "playboy"- A.Onasis and when she lost her magnificent voice! Callas, with her Greek roots, was able to convey the geniun tragedy of her images suffering. For more than decade she as a one of the greatest operatic performers, sang and played with an absolute authentisity the most tragic roles in Operas: Macbeth, Anna Boolean, Aida, Traviata, Lucia, Ohio-Chio- Sun, La Boheme, Andre Shenier, Don Carlos and Tosca! Her suffering human soul was crying in her final Tosca, in 1965 and this is what made her performance is absolutely unforgettable! About Jolie in the role of Callas.As I see, Jolie has been praised primarily for hard working over the role and persistent efforts, to achieve the similarity with Callas Jolie could only pretend to be Callas because she had nothing to bring into the role of Callas.Her blank face looks just like a caricature on herself. Callas godgess face was always inspired from within, animated with emotions, passion and intellect.So, there s no way for Jolie to be even close to the genous operatic Diva of all times! You have to be a Diva to play Diva. Would be real great to make a movie about the amazing Callas's life, from the beginning,, highlighting her unique, breathtaking performances.

[@sigridmaes2627]

Agreed. The film is a caricature of the diva she never was. Such a shame. Can we now stop vilifying women who are artists?

[@beqamarsagishvili6988]

I'm sorry but when was she vilified in the film? They did it in the most respectful way. Also this happened in the 70s and even before so no1 knows what really happened and they did their approach.

[@sigridmaes2627]

@@beqamarsagishvili6988 She was vilified in the press, as an unreliable, fickle diva. I think the movie further mythologizes her. When in fact she was a very talented, hardworking woman.

[@beqamarsagishvili6988]

@sigridmaes2627 I thought you were talking about the film, in general I do agree, It's not fair how she was treated in the last years especially, she worked very hard but because of health issues she couldn't continue, which of course wasn't her fault.

[@b1i2l336]

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THESE TRUTHFUL INSIGHTS! I hope it gets through to non-musicians! Sincerely, a professional pianist/voice coach/conductor.

[@grantc61]

Watching that horrific interview with Callas, where the interviewer brutally attacks her, is disturbing. It would have happened close to her retirement in the late 60s/early 70s, when she was still only in her 40s - she looks terrible. Callas was not a martyr for her art; she simply wasn't respected enough.

[@melindamercier6811]

Smoking didn’t do her any favors either.

[@MrElliotc02]

Excellent analysis...very wise. Have a happy Christmas.

[@makingupthemagic]

Art is discipline. Movies can never show all the hours spent working on the craft. No one wants to see that. Hence movies cannot convey artists as it takes a lot of time to be an artist! ❤

[@arialight77]

They don't have every right to portray it as they see it fit. it's not about a fictional character but a real person, with a real life, feelings, dreams, dissapointments, a human. A human with a huge time permeating legacy they ought not only respect, but honor. Taking these kinds of liberties are director-ego-centered, and they don't genuinely serve as a portrait of the character, but rather an interpretation of the director themselves, which inherently may end up deviating substantially from the reality. Additionally, using the expression "shed a tear" showcases remoteness and distance to feeling. Empathy is about identifying, not merely sympathising with a situtation and that's what makes art, Art. That's what distinguishes minor artists with perfect technique, from great artists who move your soul and bring you "to tears", whether it's joy, or sadness or both. You shouldn't be afraid to let go and let it break you. Especally for Opera, you cannot have opera without "much". Maria Callas was a huge person on the inside and that was reflected in her voice. Her voice was her character and her soul. At the same time she was sweet and she carried the Greek temperament of drama in her voice, and the extemities of war and poverty in her mind. Having someone like Angelina Jolie portray her, although she did try, she could never be close to enough for such a role. I doubt anyone from mainstream stardom could actually be, given the mostly pampered lives they have and also not being Greek. Thing with Maria Callas was that she was unconventional, kind and that's why she received so much backlash. She was a good person, she didn't pretend to be who she was. She had no need for that and that's why next to her light, other's darkness was exposed. Onassis was a sick narcissist and through her childhood wounds found ground to destroyed her. It's better to read the books with her letters to better understand her. Movies like these, sorry but are, rubbish.

[@yekaterinaignatova1415]

arialight77, What a beautifully written, thoughtful, trustworthy detailed argument. Thank you. I share almost every thought you vocalized here.

[@prototropo]

@@yekaterinaignatova1415 And I agree. That was a gorgeous perspective on the whole situation.

[@veramayer9571]

Her letters are indeed one of the best ways of getting to know her. And her interviews, and her recordings, obviously. The impression I got, after having read some of her correspondence, was that she longed to be loved - not admired, just loved by those near and dear to her; and that she would give love freely. In the case of Onassis, she clearly gave more love than she got back. Then, there's a sense of poise and dignity, and also, I think, a great sense of humour. And of course, as an artist she was uncompromising and very intelligent. It's a lot to portray, and a feature movie may not be the best option if you want this kind of nuance and complexity.

[@ellendillon4493]

This is an excellent analysis. Thank you so much.❤❤❤

[@marcosalterio6306]

Ana, thanks for clarifying lots of those "scandals" with facts, and also for making it clear regarding what could be a liberty for film from what it was actually the reality of facts. I have been listening to Callas for 30 years, and I adore her. I think the movie does incredibly well in period reconstruction, as well as in the cinematography/art departments, but lack emotion or depth. I feel like people that do not know much about opera or Maria, will be lost in translation....But again, this is not meant to be a documentary, it is a movie. Saludos from Buenos Aires 😘. Callas Forever.

[@joyanngoddard2033]

Brilliant video! Thank you. All makes so much sense. Love your push back!

[@ritasjourney]

I’ve been watching a documentary about her so this was really interesting. I appreciate your take on this. She had a very traumatic upbringing. It’s very sad when people pile on top of someone who’s hurting. I doubt I will go see this movie. Can’t even stand Angelina Jolie anyway.

[@lindalaw8368]

Your comments strike a cord as I am 75 and was an adult when many of history’s events happened. I agree with most of your comments and observations. The greatest or one of, opera’s voices is undeniable. Supreme pleasure to have heard her!!!❤❤🎉

[@mariajosemaranon9728]

Excellent analysis! Intelligent and honest.

[@andypianoman]

Thank you for this video. You've convinced me not to finish watching the movie. I watched the first couple of minutes of it and it felt a little off. I had a feeling it wasnt going to be good so I'm glad I saw this video to get a better look at what the movie missed out. Much rather watch a documentary about Maria Callas than this movie.

[@berdalee8468]

dear "I Met". i enjoyed and appreciated your perspective on the 'callas' production as well as how you feel as an artist relating to their art. i am grateful to a few good friends who were/are opera-lovers who inspired me to do some exploring of the very rich genre of the opera and you have inspired me to pick up the trail once more. thankyou, a new subscriber

[@caninbar]

You, as many others, have not understood why Maria Callas changed the world of opera. She brought forgotten opera back to life and the uniqueness of her voice and technique allowed her to sing operas of such contrasting nature as Parsifal by Wagner and Il turco in Italia by Rossini. Yes, her pathos and expressiveness, and the colour of her voice were unique and captivating. This latter point is what has made her famous with the general public.

[@karmalama8642]

I admit that I got introduced to Maria Callas because of this movie and having looked up some of her performances on youtube, I totally get what you're saying. She actually acts out the part while singing. Very theatrical and dramatic. I never knew Opera singers could perform like that. I had the impression that they just stand sill and sing.

[@willrobinson1229]

Art is essentially a discipline. Any emotions that the audience experiences is their response to the result of hours and hours of preparation and practice by the performers.

[@aysegshanal2670]

As a soprano who sings similar repertoire to Callas, I totally agree with everything you said, Maestra. Thank you for your insight.

[@carolwyban3947]

This portrays her end of life. Comparing your temperament to hers doesn’t make for a good assessment. She is a different person, of a different past etc. For example did you live in a country occupied by the enemy? We’re you pimped out by your mother? She suffered her past, she was traumatized.

[@michaelwright2986]

I don't actually follow this comment. It seems you think the video is attacking Callas? But as I see it, it's showing how much she was misrepresented and vilified by a sensationalist press that was looking for a misogynist shock story, not at all concerned with the truth.

[@Twisterjoe]

Thank you for this. You give so much respect for the woman and artist that she was. How impossible it must have felt to have to be Maria La Divina, every single time, and that everyone is already testing you against your best ever, and then be ill treated for being human or for succeeding, either one.

[@SabaKeve]

A wonderfully thoughtful and well-stated "essay" on the movie and the person. Thank you. The idea of Art and Suffering and "Suffering for Art" has pervaded our schools and our culture. People truly believe that Shostakovitch could become great only because of his suffering at the hands of Soviet dogma. We actually find it difficult to imagine a great artist who's also a happy and "contented" human. Again, thank you for your video. I will watch the movie tonight!

[@waterwitch-rhythm]

I agree with your assessment of the lack of popularity of classical music in modern times; it's a shame that people are missing all that, especially in the US. As you state, all this drama does not help. Classical music is pure joy and emotion, as are rock, jazz, hip hop, etc.

[@catheadoff]

I’m a proffesional singer, composer and musician (play instruments) and visual artist… “art as suffering” is just in the moment the ideas coming and you try to make everything come to this world…Then, we are normal people and happy (not all moment) like EVERYBODY does! 🙂‍↕️

[@shirleybarredo1732]

We love Angelina forever ❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@kimaholland3423]

I hope she has seen the film 'Amadeus' from 1984 💖

[@SmilerBFC]

The best music is always created from true emotions.

[@zip8444]

Your "two cents" is worth more than you will ever know for all of us! Also, thanks for "How I Met The Opera" ! Kilroy NYC

[@deadpoet50]

Thank you for this video. Particularly the exposure of the press mistreatment of Callas. Too many news reporters and interviewers become idolized and feel they have a right to intrude abruptly in people’s lives. I once had to call one out asking him to respect a family (for which he felt highly offended and argued he was only doing his job”. He obviously didn’t know how 😏

[@ZENOBlAmusic]

Another biopic, of course of these biopics really started because of the Queen/ Freddie Mercury biopic. He was very much the opposite of an artist constantly suffering , he loved life, and wrote very positive and joyful music, he was not a depressed musical genius, but of course he was portrayed that way. They picked the wrong period of life for this Maria movie. They could have told a very different and positive story if they had focused on the young Callas. They could have showed her getting started working hard to perfect her craft, her struggles with her mother and her sister, surviving during WII in Greece by singing to the soldiers. Her first performances at La Scala and the Met, her work with some conductors, her work with Visconti. Her weight loss. They could have ended the movie with Callas' big comeback to the Met in 1965. There would have been a lot of material, and the movie could have had a more positive focus of a poor immigrant girl who really makes it. All of these biopics have the same standard formula, Maria is too late, it is another biopic in a long line of biopics, it will not get that much attention. The Queen biopic partly stood out because it ends on such a massive high with one of the band's biggest triumphs of their career. I think they should have used that formula for this Callas movie. Artists do need some life experience to appear authentic. But that is also no indicator of a great artist. There are singers and musicians with difficult lives who still does not produce great art.

[@TheRealBrook1968]

Having to address adversity and having personal success is the only way to build character. Don't look for suffering but rise above and conquer the suffering that comes into your life.

[@sarahwestmusic]

so well said!

[@KlausToth]

These aggressive journalists should have been ashamed to attack sensitive and fragile Maria in such a despicable way. It's like kicking someone, who's already on the floor.

[@karenglobaltravel1578]

Thank you for your thorough review. I watched Maria twice and thought it was now 3rd film by Larrain showing intense suffering by 3 famous women. Callas was one of a kind, a fabulous opera singer. Unfortunately, Maria only captures last week of her life before her untimely death. The movie does not capture the brilliance of Callas as an opera singer nor the humble person she was. She took Mandrex to escape early childhood trauma caused by her mother, but she overcame much to be a superb opera singer.

[@nancylee8061]

I am a musician. I experienced discrimination when I was young because I was female. It was rampant. When I was auditioning were very few women in major orchestras. I can say that, presently, strong women are still treated badly. Maria Callas was a wonderful musician and one of the greatest opera singers in history. All I can say is, "Brava Diva!" I am grateful that she was in our world for a time. As for emotional experience? I do believe that if one has never suffered some grief they are somewhat handicapped. While I agree that your (and my) students can approximate emotion and learn to be empathetic, until one's heart has been broken, it's hard to express the depths of sadness, grief, anger, retrospect (etc.) that enables one to express the full range of human emotion. This does not mean that a musician/artist must live a life of prolonged suffering! I am saying it is life experience that makes the all the difference.

[@cctreadway8962]

Thanks for this video. I did a senior thesis on creating art from joy and spiritual connection, not just pain. Nothing wrong with pain, but art is life, and it is not necessary to be depressed to be an artist. I went on to teach programs for 20 years on this same subject. As a classical singer myself, I find it laughable that anyone would think a classical singer so frail, because it takes tremendous strength - physically, mentally and emotionally to sing and perform in this way. If you add fame on top of that, then you would be the strongest type of person. It seems to me, what has frightened people since the dawn of time, is an emotionally self-sufficient, powerful and successful, single woman. That being said, people did not have the opportunity to work through trauma like we do now. I'm not sure if I will watch the Netflix film since I've never been a fan of AJ's acting, but I will learn more about Maria Callas.

[@patrickhenry2845]

Someone a while back, a friend who couldn't make a Sarah Brightman concert gave me two concert tickets because of something very important he and his wife had to address. It was my first ever opera concert. I took my father. I must admit being a pop, rock n roll, rhythm and blues, and jazz music fan. I found that concert to be awesome. Sarah came out with a beautiful dress and sang many songs. My mother loved Luciano Pavarotti, and whenever he was on TV, she was tuned in. Afterward, I began to research other opera singers such as Maria Callas and Placido Domingo. I rented some time ago, a movie titled Carmen featuring Placido Domingo. And even my mother liked it. Maria was an American of Greek ancestry, which I found surprising. I thought she was born in Europe.

[@musicfcboston674]

There is a lot here that I agree with disagree with. For example, I disagree that she didn't look like she was singing in the closeup scenes. I was actually very impressed with the way she looked while singing. I was a singer and worked as a concert artist and soloist with big orchestras and in opera and some of that movement was very organic to actual operatic singing. It shocked me actually how convincing it was. Some of the finer points about the emotionality of it...the suffering, the sadness, so much of it is a very real thing. Especially the fragility of the voice as you get older, or when you have not been singing. You are your voice, and you cannot separate yourself from it. Your baton you can put in a case the voice lives with you at all times. The description that you gave of her using her voice and understanding the characters on stage dramatically was great and this is definitely part of using the depth of suffering. My teacher was a famous one that had sung with her (in Normal!) and she said to sing with her you could hear the entire tragedy of her life in that voice. It's hard to understand if you are not a singer. I don't want you to think I didn't appreciate all the very valuable points you brought out. I felt it was very well prepared. I love your channel and watch a lot of your videos! I left a 20-year career as a singer and I am now conducting! Thank you for your opinions and input. Until the next video!

[@maruhdez4783]

Very good analysis!

[@kananiwolf256]

I enjoyed your analysis. Though Angelina never convinced me that she actually sang. Especially the opening sequence!

[@shaundudley4576]

Thank you for this. Your critiques rang true to me and resonated profoundly. I have a lot more to say but I cannot do better than sarahwestmusic does below. She does Maria proud and those of us who truly get it.

[@Jan0Van0Eyck]

This fim is a portrait of Angelina Jolie, not Maria Callas.

[@Maliceless100]

Optimal visuals don't always match optimal audio, while filmmakers want optimal both for a film. Even though ADR was used, Angelina definitely sang; she'd never risk her credibility by claiming a feat _(to the world)_ she hadn't actually achieved. *You are totally correct about mass media's power to steer public opinion irresponsibly.*

[@KathyCowan-r5z]

Thank you for this very thoughtful review. It was just so ridiculous for those interviewers to ask her so much about her relationship with AO. Ask about her art!!!

[@s.heinrich5543]

For me, Maria Callas was always an incredibly strong and disciplined woman, she certainly had her rough edges, we all have them. But I also believe that it was a lot more difficult as a woman in this profession at that time than we can imagine today. I haven't seen the film yet, but I'm a bit worried that there will be a lot of emphasis on ‘suffering’ again. Pablo Larrain also seems to have a certain soft spot for suffering women (i must confess, i found ‘spencer’ hardly bearable). Based on your review, I'm a little worried that it will be similar here (is this perhaps a ‘male thing’: strong women must suffer and be terribly unhappy??). But maybe I'm wrong and Maria Calla's strength and assertiveness is also shown in this film to an appropriate degree. And by the way: is it actually possible not to love her voice and her singing? Unimaginable for me.

[@johnsarkissian5519]

Thank you!

[@p8ntrgodess]

This really was about A.J.

[@julianaandrade2575]

Great reporting.

[@dianewien683]

Thank you for comments. I'd like to see the film but unfortunately I'm not a big Angelina fan. However, I will remember that the film is going to be an introduction to Ms. Callas, not a documentary and I can learn more from books, music commentaries and other video sources . I'm glad to have this introduction from you!

[@KiaraKoala-ke6tl]

Missing is that Jolie can’t act, and very likely, can’t sing either?

[@LoneWulf278]

It really makes me wonder.. I’ve liked Jolie in many [very particular] roles. Roles like this really aren’t her strength. This type of role seems like something I’d rather see from Monica Belluci.

[@beqamarsagishvili6988]

Hater alert 😂 You can't change the fact that she can act and she can sing no matter how hard you try.

[@Sunflower-lv9iu]

She’s been great in other roles, but Angelina Jolie simply did not capture Maria Callas’s essence. Something was missing. I wonder how Penelope Cruz or even Lady Gaga would have done? Side note* it felt like I was watching the movie The Tourist part 2 🤣 you know that one movie Angelina made with Jonny Depp.

[@LoneWulf278]

@@Sunflower-lv9iu I would’ve loved to see Penelope Cruz in the role.

[@ctmagnus760]

Dear God, the interviewers.... Absolutely crass. She had a right to be every inch the wronged woman when they carried on the way they did in interviews. Monsters. Excellent, Excellent talk, Maestra!

[@beqamarsagishvili6988]

All the Opera snobs complaining in the comments or somewhere else but fact is I that never was fan of Opera and started because of this film, so it's definitely not unapproachable + If some of you have seen Larfain's last two films, they also focus on specific period, something I really like. All the work Angelina put in this + trained and sang everything live on set and then it was mixed with Maria's voice something you can feel and hear in some scenes. In general loved the film and Angelina is brilliant in it.

[@mauricefranco9787]

VERY AWESOME YOU GIVE A MORE REALISTIC PERSPECTIVE, VERY GREATFUL TO U!!

[@sarahwestmusic]

Such important points. LOVE your analysis. I personally am offended by this movie: 1) mixing Maria Callas' voice with anothers - horror 2) actor playing Maria Callas is horrible. The way she uses a haughty stance throughout this movie as if aloof, haughtiness is what Maria Callas was and as if this is "art". Maria Callas can be listened to to truly know her. Anything less, heellywud/peedoowud trying to make money on the rare beauty of Maria Callas' soul expressing through her beautiful being is just wrong in every way. Many will never go further than this movie which portrays Maria Callas' in every way wrongly. I so appreciate your sharing the truth behind the horrific rituals of slander, humiliation and canceling that is slowly moordorooz just like they have done to sooo many women in our world throughout the ages to try to break them to control them or destroy them. This is what they did to Maria Callas on purpose. It was an engineered effort by those who believe they can "own" people and that people are theirs to enslave or worse. For those hearing Maria Callas through this movie and watching the horrendous lip-singing of Jolie, I feel sorry for the nightmare that will never leave their memories of having watched the horrorshow that is this movie with Jolie pretending to be Maria Callas by walking around with her chin jutting out wearing high fashion as if fashionable clothes wearing makes a "diva." The reason we know the name Maria Callas has zero to do with her clothes. Zero to do with her chin in the air and zero to do with her hair styles etc. We know the name Maria Callas because Maria Callas moves us-to tears, to catharsis, to open our hearts, to the freedom we all long for but don't always know how to get to on our own. Maria Callas touches our soul. Maria Callas touches our spirit. Maria Callas evaporates time and space and collapses existence into the eternal present where we can feel fulfilled by the raw essence of pure beingness. Maria Callas brings us all home to ourselves which we so much abandon in the stress of our divided daily lives. The way "society" has been structured by the bangksturzz who run our world, who have destroyed millions, billions of communities, tribes, families for 1000s of years, we have lost our connections to ourselves and each other and the safety net of true love and true support through the fracturization of our human race. Maria Callas we listen to to remember what it's like to be loved, to be loving, to BE love. She embodies love-not just loss, but love itself. This is why we listen to Maria Callas. Jolie cannot embody this as a mimicker of materialistic media mayhem that is the parasitic machine that started and is hellywud. To know Maria Callas is only to listen to her herself: listen to her operas, her interviews, her letters: HER. Thank you for playing parts of the interviews of her showing how the interviewers were so atrociously disrespectful and offensive and explaining a bit about how the propaganduh machine worked then just as it does now. There are so many examples of how they have done this to women over centuries and millennia.

[@alexeios]

you know what’s ridiculous about this hoity toity analysis? the fact that I had no idea who Maria Callas was until Angelina came out with this movie, and because I love and respect Angelina Jolie as an actress and person, I was immediately invested, and now I love Maria Callas and empathize with her story - a story I knew nothing about 6 months ago. sometimes hop off the high horse and have a wider lens by which you view the world.

[@parisbreakfast]

THANK YOU! These narcissistic, egotistical actors think they can replicate an ineffable legend of music. Simply impossible. I feel sorry for anyone who thinks they have been introduced to Callas by this idiotic bio-pic. Go and simply 😊listen to the music. C’est comme ça.

[@alexeios]

@@parisbreakfast are you slow?

[@alexeios]

@@parisbreakfast I WAS introduced to Maria Callas by this movie, but because I’m not brainless like you, I checked her out before the movie even came out, because unlike you, I have a brain that understands movies are movies and they’re meant usually only to tell a story, and though sometimes that story is based in reality, they’re only shadows of the real thing. get off your high horse

[@minoozolala]

@@alexeios Chill. Sarah gave an excellent critical analysis. Not "hoity-toity" at all.

[@grantc61]

This is very sad. Callas was well known to be a consummate professional and she experienced a lot of hostility both personally and professionally. The clips from the movie appear to illustrate a pathetically hackneyed profile of a deluded, broken person. Callas was famed as a singular genius.

[@vinylisland6386]

The mistreatment of great talents by the classical music industry during the 1950 (Michael Rabin, exhaustive touring, trying to maintain stands of utter perfection) was common, and with female artists was also much much worse because of the endemic sexism of the time. Nobody would have interviewed Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau during the 1950 or 60solr even 70s and asked him about his love life. Or Benjamin Britten, for that matter. This sensationalism of the press then is matched by the sensationalism of Hollywood now. The problem about the depiction of classical music by mass media is that it is the depiction of a subtle and sophisticated art form by a crude and sensationalist one and emotional pain and suffering is something they milk cynically in order to manipulate the audience. Art = suffering, therefore Brahms and Schumann must be great, all of Mahler's children died, Bruckner never had a woman, Tchaikovsky was gay, yadda. Yet, oddly, two of the greatest classical musicians were both married, one had lots of children, one was feted during his young adulthood as a great composer, and both clearly found it easy and not in the least bit painful to write great music very quickly and easily. The equation doesn't work, but as a popular myth it is regularly plundered by film makers. Ken Russell made a whole carrer out of tormented artists films, which got steadily worse as he went on. The worst example of the myth that singing is painful (something which anyone who has done it knows is utter rubbish) is popular singers pulling faces of emotional pain when singing one or two notes which are quite easy to reach with a mediocre voice and idiots praising them as one of the best singers of all time. Interesting that in the Disney world or world of musicals; characters sing when they are happy or excited or in love. So make up your minds, mass media, music is the expression of joy or suffering? Or could both be a partial truth and that, like everything else, music, like the life which it attempts to mirror, at its finest, expresses both?

[@mademsoisellerhapsody]

The Carolina wren opens its throat and sings the triplet three times without a care

[@bradharris5306]

In fact, Callas corrected Lord Harewood in an interview when he asked about how she summoned so much willpower- she said it was not will but Love that empowered her

[@LitsaPodara]

Haven't seen the film, but Jolie looks nothing like Callas. Perhaps her acting is more up to par than her appearance. Callas was not in a love triangle, she was in a dark place waiting for Aristotle to divorce and marry her, who betrayed her and went for Jackie instead. Your video is honest and a good presentation of the facts overall.

[@yureino]

Lmaoo you act like you know her personally and knew exactly what happened in her life based on the paparazi’s report.

[@amandamorgan2802]

Sorry.Have not seen the movie.But, Angelina Jolie as Maria C? I do not know about that one.. .

[@CentraalHub]

Angelina Jolie is not a great actress, she always give that tabloid version of people, she did the same to Gia biopic. If u look to Gia's real life pics, she always extremely sultry even when doing naked pics, she brought class to her sexuality, when u see Angeline in the movie, it looks like a cheap adult movie, vulgar.

[@LitsaPodara]

@@yureino I've read her story.

[@jennifergongora9727]

GREEK FIRE !! Read it ,,,You well LOVE IT !!!

[@troygaspard6732]

Yes, movies like Tar will not garner new classical music lovers Callas doesn't need another bio. She is beyond belief.

[@thomastimmann6200]

Please search for: "Eternal Source of Light Divine", Edita Gruberova & Wynton Marsalis.Listen to it and may Maria Callas rest in peace.

[@animalsarebeautifulpeople3094]

Some suffering is so terrible that it actially sucks the life out of you ... such as when Oscar Wilde was put in prison he came out totally destroyed... however having said that I must also point out that some amount of personal suffering is what gives one an insight into life itself. Yes we can all empathize with those who suffer, regardless, but if you have never suffered yourself, just how deep can your empathy be?

[@aurumdream9693]

With those NONSTOP hand gestures!! Oh, you got to be an orchestra conductor.

[@lewashcliffe]

Thank you for your perspective on this movie. I watched it and came away feeling disappointed, mostly because I felt it was too much Angeline Jolie and too little of Maria Callas. And, what there was of Maria was too much focused on the unhappy aspects of her life and not her artistry or vocal prowess. Yes, much of her life was a total mess, from her mother to her dependence on the approval of dominating men in her life, especially Onassis. But, for a long-time vocal student and former singer, Maria Callas was for me a monument to the best of what great singing was at a time when the Golden Age of singing was coming to a close. That part was mostly glossed over in this movie.

[@Kerwin-Kendell]

Also, aside from my wife, most of the people I know (& have known) don't listen to classical music (or Jazz). I rarely talk about it with anyone I meet. And I think dressing up is the right way to go for such performances. Callas & Onassis lived in a great time for fashion & style.

[@mekylieme]

Thank you for your insight! The closest I have to classical music and opera is six years of open-hole flute and drama class, as well as listening. I am so intruegued by Maria Callas. I have only heard her name a few tmes in my life. I love stories about women and how they dealt with struggles.

[@sterlinglewis5700]

Excellent review - thank you. I would add that the whole 'concept' of the suffering artist is a product of early 19th Century Romanticism, and we seem not to have lost it. The artists and singers I have known take great JOY in their art, and in their ability to communicate authentic feeling and truth to an appreciative audience. Whatever goes on in their personal life is an entirely different issue, but if there should be 'suffering', it has an ADVERSE affect on one's art. It also should not be glossed over that Mme Callas made her professional debut in Greece in 1938. [!] By the time she got to La Scala, the claque system was in full flower. This means that people were hired to sit in the audience and boo or hiss - or applaud and throw "vivas" - at particular performers. Opera was not sometimes referred to as a "blood sport" for nothing! Some of the so-called controversy stems from these paid-for 'fans', which Mme Callas never hired for her own aggrandizement. It is a fact that her singing did become controversial. The old style of 'bel canto', featuring the 'bird-brained', chirping soprano, did not die easily for many observers. There does exist a certain type of opera-goer who is more interested in acrobatic high Cs, Ds and Es than in 'real' drama. The Callas revolution was that she looked for, and found, the dramatic Truth of every character she portrayed. She was REAL. I have seen times where the singers simply 'phoned in' their performance, completely uninvolved in the play. In the profession, Mme Callas was always respected for her professionalism, and commitment to artistry. The conductors she worked with all testified to that: Karajan, Giulini, Serafin, Prêtre, and on and on. To be frank, we could use a LOT more of that kind of professionalism these days.

[@briandubois-gilbert8182]

This film maybe fascinating for those familiar with her artistry and are fans of Callas, but it fails to attract younger viewers or those unfamiliar with Callas’ talent by not highlighting/portraying her more spectacular performances as an operatic singer on stage. I felt the film focused more on her complex personality and relationships rather than on her music. This film is painful to watch. It’s certainly not a celebration of her musical prowess.

[@beqamarsagishvili6988]

Not true, many people including me started listening to Opera and especially to Maria thanks to this brilliant film and. I was never fan before.

[@merianaki1]

Well said in all aspects dear