The Teatro alla Scala Museum dedicates an unprecedented exhibition to Maria Callas on the 100th anniversary of her birth

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Maria Callas (New York, 1923 - Paris, 1977), the Teatro alla Scala in Milan presents, from November 17, 2023 to April 30, 2024, the new exhibition Fantasmagoria Callas, dedicated to the soprano, curated by Francesco Stocchi with staging by Margherita Palli. The exhibition is staged at the Museo Teatrale alla Scala and is part of the CALLAS 100 program.

Deeply linked to the history of La Scala, which saw her perform twenty-three opera titles in twenty-eight performances from 1950 to 1961, including six season openings, Maria Callas has left an indelible mark on the collective imagination. For this reason, the exhibition aims to celebrate her myth through an itinerary divided into five stages where each chapter is entrusted to a different artistic expression. The myth of Maria Callas is thus told through the interpretation of fashion designer Giorgio Armani, musician and composer Alvin Curran, contemporary artists Latifa Echakhch and Francesco Vezzoli, and director Mario Martone.

The exhibition route then plunges into the five-voice score designed for the occasion and inaugurated by the intervention of musician and composer Alvin Curran. Focusing his attention on Maria Callas’ voice as the founding element of her figure, Curran builds an unprecedented musical composition taken from the vast collection of recordings and conceived to restore the layers of timbre that has always been the soprano’s stylistic signature.

It continues with artist Latifa Echakhch’s installation, which delves into the aspect of Maria Callas’ stage presence. Beyond a curtain of red and white pearls, the soprano’s ghostly silhouette is revealed to the audience, rendered as a vision of beauty and fragility beyond a curtain that evokes the elements of tears and blood.

Director Mario Martone focuses on the meeting between Maria Callas and Ingeborg Bachmann, which took place in Milan in 1956 during a rehearsal of La Traviata. The filmic performance, performed by Sonia Bergamasco, recounts the impact the meeting had on the Austrian writer and poetess and creates a deeply human portrait of the soprano figure, told not as a diva to be idolized but as a profound and singular personality.

This is followed by the interpretation of artist Francesco Vezzoli, who presents an installation where Maria Callas’ face, laser-printed on canvas, is repeated sixty-three times. Each frame is enriched with light blue metallic embroidery intended to evoke the idea of make-up, constructing a reflection on the soprano’s stage face and the intimate relationship she built with the characters she had to play.

The path closes with designer Giorgio Armani’s interpretation of Maria Callas’ voice in visual form. Created for the 2021 Giorgio Armani Privé collection, the magenta-red evening gown presented in the exhibition combines fabric and body in a representation of intensity and grace.

Fantasmagoria Callas opens with a selection of costumes that the soprano wore, which are currently preserved at the Teatro alla Scala Historical Archives. They testify to the influence that Maria Callas has always exerted on the arts the brown silk dress made by Pietro Zuffi for Alceste and the two costumes designed by Nicola Benois for Poliuto and Don Carlo, up to the one painted by Salvatore Fiume for Medea in 1953. The Theatre Tailoring course of the Accademia Teatro alla Scala paid tribute to Maria Callas by reconstructing two of the costumes that the soprano wore in La traviata signed by Luchino Visconti for the 1954/’55 season, designed by Lila de Nobili and lost under unclear circumstances. The costumes on display were made by drawing on iconographic material from the La Scala Archives and the direct testimony of Anna Gastel-Chiarelli, the director’s niece.

Completing the exhibition is the documentary, directed by Francesca Molteni and editorially curated by Mattia Palma, which recounts the five projects and the making of the exhibition, through the voices of Giorgio Armani, Alvin Curran, Latifa Echakhch, Mario Martone and Francesco Vezzoli.

The title of the exhibition refers to the theatrical form of phantasmagoria, which traditionally deploys stage illusions to recreate phantasmal effects and supernatural visions, in order to restore the impression of Maria Callas’ many traces, influences and testimonies over time.

“These portraits represented in the Museo Teatrale alla Scala cultivate the vivid beauty, power and emotion of Maria Callas as the ’divine,’” explained Francesco Stocchi, curator of the exhibition. “Her intensity on stage and commitment to her art earned the Greek soprano a reputation as an unwavering perfectionist. Callas’s true heir is Callas herself. Her temperament, charisma and voice imbued with eternity, have outlined the traits of the 20th century diva.”

The exhibition was made possible thanks to several Partners: American Express and LaCimbali with MUMAC, Cimbali Group’s Coffee Machine Museum. Thanks are due to Kartell for setting up the rooms of the Museum and for creating a special Louis Ghost, a unique piece, dedicated to Maria Callas. Samsung is the exhibition’s Technology Partner.

Hours: Daily from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

The Teatro alla Scala Museum dedicates an unprecedented exhibition to Maria Callas on the 100th anniversary of her birth

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.