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Summary: Actress Of The Opera: The Life Of Maria Callas
Review: Anne Edwards has written several biographies on famous women, among them actress Katherine Hepburn, singer-actress Judy Garland and legendary actress Vivien Leigh. She does extensive research into the lives of these female artists and their lives, both personal and public, giving us the real scoop on who they were as well as providing the reader with an authentic look at the 20th century. Maria Callas (1923-1977) is synonymous with opera. Any real opera fan will know who she was and what she was all about. She was a legend in the opera world and raised the bar for other sopranos that would follow in her footsteps- among them Leonie Rysanek, Joan Sutherland and Shirley Verrett. This biography describes in detail everything there is to know about Maria Callas - her origins as a Greek immigrant living with her parents in New York City, the frustration she endured after being rejected to perform at the Met, her trouble with her weight (even bulimia), her impressive career, her marriages, the last being wed to Aristotle Onaissis the Greek millionaire who would divorce her to marry the widowed Jacky Kennedy. This is truly an intimate biography as the title reveals and we feel as if Anne Edwards herself had lived as Maria Callas herself.Maria Callas was born in Greece. Throughout her life, though she adopted American culture and nuances (even becoming a staunch follower of Audrey Hepburn's supermodel glamour)she remained innately Greek. Her passion, her fire and her temperament was all expressive of her Greek blood. Yes, she was infamous for her diva attitude (and this was before Diana Ross) and she was even known to have struck a reporter/paparazzi when he dared to get her in business, but we like our Maria Callas that way. Can you imagine how uninspired her performances at the opera would have been had she not been a strong woman ? It is her intensity that most attracts us to the great Maria Callas. Never was her Greek soul more pronounced than in her opera performances. This is why people overlooked her flaws- Maria Callas had faults in her voice (at times her tessitura and dramatic vocals can sound too harsh and scratchy,at times her chest voice was so deep she sounded like a man). One can also comment on the fact that she sang only in Italian, never bothering to expand her repertoire into the German operas of Wagner, Mozart or the French operas of Massenet, Bizet, etc. When she sang Carmen, which was written in French, she sang in Italian and she mostly sang Italian versions of otherwise French or German operas. She overcame these issues by truly delivering drama, acting, for she knew that opera was as much about acting as it was about singing. She reigned supreme in the role of Bellini's Norma, caused a great sensation in the fiery roles of Puccini's Tosca, Turandot, La Vestale and most notably as Medea. For Medea, she appeared in one film version, her only film work she ever did. She was said to be the most acclaimed Violetta in Verdi's La Traviata, the best Lucia of the Donizetti opera, and the best Madam Butterfly. Working with Maria Callas might have proved difficult. She was extremely dedicated but egotistical. Somehow, she managed to work with other such big egos as conduct Herbert Von Karajan and tenors Franco Corelli and John Vickers. Maria's opera performances were a blaze of glory, but all good things come to an end. Eventually, her voice wore thin. By the 70's she was not performing with dynamic frequency if she was performing at all. She was in her 50's when she died, in a luxurious apartment in Paris. She had been addicted to sleeping pills since she had always been a nocturnal woman and had trouble sleeping at night. Contrary to the popular legend, Callas did not die of a broken heart when her last husband millionaire Onaissis divorced her to marry Jackie Kennedy. She was a strong woman who would not pine for a man she loved for very long. She had just simply become tired of life and was decidely single but proud in the last years of her life. And she had reason to be. She had lived quite a life. Behind her was a career in opera that many sopranos still envy
Rating: 
Summary: Nothing new
Review: At first glance, one sees this book and thinks, "what ELSE can posssibly be written about Callas?" Follow your instincts! The cover is beautiful, but inside offers nothing new, with the exception of an evil "friend" readers may not previously have read about (a woman named Vasso). This author does NOT "refute" with any relevant information, that Callas and Onasis did not have a child who died. For the reader who is venturing into the world of Maria Callas for the first time, this is not really a recommended read, as you will not get complete accuracy, and will not find anything you couldn't find in any other Callas book. For Callas officianados, it is a waste of time.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing new
Review: At first glance, one sees this book and thinks, "what ELSE can posssibly be written about Callas?" Follow your instincts! The cover is beautiful, but inside offers nothing new, with the exception of an evil "friend" readers may not previously have read about (a woman named Vasso). This author does NOT "refute" with any relevant information, that Callas and Onasis did not have a child who died. For the reader who is venturing into the world of Maria Callas for the first time, this is not really a recommended read, as you will not get complete accuracy, and will not find anything you couldn't find in any other Callas book. For Callas officianados, it is a waste of time.
Rating:
Summary: Subpar
Review: Edwards' bio of Callas borders too much on the tabloidish side, hardly on her career. Certain sections reads like she was pulling an alnighter in writing it, and the last two pages had serious editing problems. Try Callas works by John Ardoin, Henry Wisneski and Michael Scott
Rating: 
Summary: Warning!!!
Review: I have to admit that I have not read this book. I was reading the reviews published here to decided whether or not to read it. I was amazed at the number of errors in the review by Rudy Avila. For example, Callas never married Onassis...that's a biggie. And, who on earth wouldn't know that Jackie Kennedy is usually spelled with an "ie" and not a "y"? Of course, if he really knew his stuff, he would know that Mrs. Kennedy never referred to herself as "Jackie", preferring the more formal "Jacqueline". If he got his information from this book, then this book is extremely inaccurate and misleading. If he is just making stuff up, he should not be writing reviews. Now that I have gotten myself all worked up over this, I suppose that I will have to read it and write an ACCURATE review when I am done.
Rating:
Summary: Warning!!!
Review: I have to admit that I have not read this book. I was reading the reviews published here to decided whether or not to read it. I was amazed at the number of errors in the review by Rudy Avila. For example, Callas never married Onassis...that's a biggie. And, who on earth wouldn't know that Jackie Kennedy is usually spelled with an "ie" and not a "y"? Of course, if he really knew his stuff, he would know that Mrs. Kennedy never referred to herself as "Jackie", preferring the more formal "Jacqueline". If he got his information from this book, then this book is extremely inaccurate and misleading. If he is just making stuff up, he should not be writing reviews. Now that I have gotten myself all worked up over this, I suppose that I will have to read it and write an ACCURATE review when I am done.
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Summary: An Amazing Book!
Review: I loved this book and I am reading it for my second time. I am 14, I sing opera, and Maria Callas is my idol!
Rating: 
Summary: Not bad
Review: I'd disagree with those here who ... this book. Actually it's about as good as any one-volume Callas bio available. Its focus is very much on the person, not the artist. And Edwards has an irritating habit of not giving years with dates, so that chronology is sometimes hard to follow. But on the whole I found this book consistently interesting and well researched.
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Summary: Another fine effort from Anne Edwards
Review: Not having read any biographies on Maria Callas before, I can't judge against other authors' works on the subjects. ...I really enjoyed this version of Callas' work and art. I will second the ... opinion ... of Anne Edwards omitting dates/years when recounting major events--it did make it difficult to place these events in their proper context/chronology. However, overall I found the book's emphasis on Callas personal life as well as her artistic life to make for a very well-balanced view. I would recommend it to anyone interested not only in opera, but in the life of a great legend! One other shortcoming would be Edwards' lack of attention to the details of Callas' performances--this is not a technical look at her voice, but a general overview of her unique gifts of displaying real emotion through her voice and gestures, both on the stage and in the recording studio. Viva La Divina...
Rating:
Summary: Waste of time
Review: Poor job indeed. It's not just that one wouldn't find anything new in this biography (it's hard to expect anything really new about Callas after all that has been written) but it's not even the story told from a new angle... This book is like a patchwork of things cut and pasted from different sources and lacks consistency in style etc as if Ms Edwards couldn't decide whether she wanted to write just a "documentary" or something more "personal". Anyway, it is a waste of time to read this, if you want a Callas biography get Galatopoulos and Jellinek ones.
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