Marina Abramović on stage at Teatro San Carlo with an opera inspired by Maria Callas

From May 13 to 15, 2022, the Teatro San Carlo in Naples presents 7 Deaths of Maria Callas, the first opera by renowned performance artist Marina Abramović (Belgrade, 1946) in which she addresses the theme of opera. Conceived by the artist (she also directs and sets), with music by Marko Nikodijevic performed by the Teatro San Carlo Orchestra, and co-produced by Bayerische Staatsoper, Teatro di San Carlo, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Greek National Opera Athens, Liceu de Barcelona, and Opéra National de Paris, the opera lasts one hour and thirty minutes and is divided into seven parts, as the title suggests.

7 Deaths of Maria Callas is dedicated to the soprano Maria Callas (New York, 1923 - Paris, 1977), a sublime artist but marked by a most unhappy personal life, as Abramović herself called her; a woman with a heart pierced by love suffering, who died for love just like the many heroines she masterfully portrayed in her career. In fact, the opera is inspired by seven musical theater heroines who die of love or for love, who were played by Callas: Carmen, Tosca, Lucia Ashton, Butterfly, Norma, Desdemona and Violetta Valery. These are performed by seven great performers: Annalisa Stroppa (Carmen), Valeria Sepe (Floria Tosca), Nino Machaidze (Desdemona), Jessica Pratt (Lucia Ashton), Roberta Mantegna (Norma), Kristine Opolais (Cio-Cio-San) and Selene Zanetti (Violetta Valery).

7 Deaths of Maria Callas aims to be a marriage of opera, performance art and video creation, including arias from some of the Greek-American soprano’s greatest roles, evoking the countless women sacrificed at the hands of 19th-century composers. There is no shortage of elements typical of Marina Abramović’s art, such as knives, snakes, and fire, as a kind of identification between the artist and the soprano.

Also starring on video is actor Willem Dafoe, who attempts to eliminate Maria Callas (Marina Abramović) in the final seven.

The show premiered in September 2020 at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich.

Photo by Teatro San Carlo in Naples

Marina Abramović on stage at Teatro San Carlo with an opera inspired by Maria Callas

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