As part of the celebrations marking the centennial anniversary of Callas’ birth, the Greek National Opera presents a video recital featuring the repertoire performed by Maria Kalogeropoulou in Athens from 1937 through until 1945, either for her conservatoire exams, or as part of production performances, auditions, events, and recitals. The video recital is set to premiere on 16 December 2023 on GNO TV and will be available to stream for free through until 31 December 2024 here: www.nationalopera.gr/gnotv.

The eminent opera artist and Callas expert Aris Christofellis presents a video recital produced under his artistic direction. Featuring performances by the emerging and established soloists Fanie Antonelou, Artemis Bogri, Vassiliki Karayanni, Maria Kostraki, Nina Koufochristou, Violetta Lousta, Chrissa Maliamani, and Mary-Ellen Nesi, the recital is a unique tribute offering both international audiences and coming generations an audio-visual treasure trove capturing –in chronological order, and meticulous historical detail– the “Greek” repertoire of Maria Callas. Sofia Tamvakopoulou performs on the piano. Also featuring the bass Tassos Apostolou.

Great arias of the repertoire, operas she would never sing again, Tosca and Cavalleria rusticana translated into Greek, songs by Greek composers, and popular “easy-listening” hits of the time –such as the celebrated “La Paloma”– comprise the “first, formative repertoire” of Callas’ career, shaped during those years in which she laid the foundations for her later professional path that would take her to the very top.

The arias and songs to be performed as part of this tribute will offer modern-day audiences a complete overview of her repertoire across the eight years she spent in Athens, and serve as invaluable touchstones for understanding the highly particular and pivotal nature of her training and early professional appearances. They also affirm the unprecedented abilities of the then still up-and-coming singer, and the influence Greece had on forging her star quality.

True to the spirit of those times, the works will be performed in the Greek language (in point of fact, in the exact same translations Callas herself sang), and it is worth noting here that most of these works were never to be performed again by the soprano at any point in her ensuing career. It is on precisely these works –the ones we have never heard her perform, and those she sang in Greek translation– that this tribute will focus its attentions.