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(More customer reviews)This is by far the finest biography I have ever read of Maria Callas. So much of her life is still surrounded by myth (mostly propogated by herself and her hagiographers) that a fascinating, scholarly, non-sensationalistic book is truly special.
This book mostly covers Callas's early years in New York and Greece. Far from being an "ugly duckling" the photos and descriptions of Mary/Maria in this book suggest an attractive, ambitious young soprano who by the time she left Greece already had several lovers and admirers. Nicholas Petsalis-Diomidis somehow managed to interview every surviving neighbor, student, singer, soldier, and friend who knew Callas and her family "way back when" in Athens. He also did the impossible and got Callas's sister Jackie to speak candidly of her much more famous sister. The stories do not always match exactly, and Petsalis-Diomidis is remarkably sensitive to the viewpoints of all the sources. He is careful not to sensationalize anything. Even though the details are often horrifying (including Jackie's essentially becoming a semi-prostitute to support the family and Litsa's crude attempts to prostitute both her daughters) the tone of the book is always scholarly and respectful.
Maria Callas, even in her early years as a teenaged soprano in the Greek National Opera, tended to arouse strong feelings, both positive and negative. To her "enemies", she was crass, grossly ambitious, ruthless, mean, and worst of all, a collaborator with the occupying forces (Italians and Germans). To her admirers, she was enormously talented, intelligent, basically good-hearted, and a worthy investment of time and energy. I came away from the book feeling that both views were essentially right. Petsalis-Diomidis should be congratulated for writing such a fascinating, insightful, scholarly book.
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