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Musical scores, glamorous dresses and love letters belonging to Maria Callas will be auctioned next week, offering a glimpse of the private passions of the opera diva whose voice enchanted millions.
The material, released by the estate of Callas' late husband Giovanni Battista Meneghini, unlocks aspects of the
life Callas shared with the man she left before having an explosive relationship with Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis.
Penned before and after her marriage, 63 letters written to Meneghini are being billed as the most valuable items being put up for sale by auctioneer Sotheby's in Milan with a price tag of €50,000 - €70,000 ($94,000 - $131,000).
Written between 1947 and 1950, they unmask Callas' vulnerability and deep affection for the Italian industrialist 28 years her senior who was also her manager.
"To leave you would be too big a punishment for me," she wrote after meeting Meneghini in 1947 in Verona where her career blossomed with a performance of Ponchielli's La Gioconda.
"Dear Love, the day of our encounter is coming! Do you want me? I am yours!" the Greek-American singer wrote in another letter.
The New-York born soprano, who performed at Milan's La Scala opera house, became one of the 20th century music world's best-known figures and is credited with the almost single-handed revival of Italian bel canto opera.
"I am writing today, the day of the crucial test and the day of the great 'bel canto' lesson I will give to everyone all over the world," she wrote from Buenos Aires in 1949, the day of the opening of Norma.
"I want the best in everything but my art comes first," she wrote in another letter.
HIGH INTEREST
There are 330 lots in the collection, including material Meneghini bought at an auction after Callas' death in 1977.
Photographs of La Divina start around the couple-of-hundred euro mark while her metronome is being offered for €1,000 - €1,500 ($1,882 - $2,823).
Also up for sale is a silver bowl given to the singer by US President John F. Kennedy when she performed during his 1962 birthday celebrations, also attended by Marilyn Monroe.
Paintings - including a portrait - musical scores, china and dresses by Milan designer Biki are being offered, as is a hooded Yves Saint Laurent evening cape the singer wore.
Meneghini's diary, in which he recounts his separation from Callas after she and Onassis became lovers following a yacht cruise in 1959, is also being put up for sale for €1,000 - €1,500 ($1,882 - $2,823).
Callas transformed herself from an ungainly young woman to a slim, stylish and elegant diva but a mid-career weight loss might have contributed to her vocal decline.
Her prima donna temper and turbulent life kept her constantly in the spotlight as did her affair with Onassis, said to have broken her spirit and made her a recluse in her later years.
"We all think to know everything about Maria Callas ... so maybe the reality of her life which you see here in all its different aspects brings us back to imagine how she really lived," said Sotheby's Iris Fabbri.
The auction has attracted interest from Athens, which has previously bought relics that once belonged to the soprano.
Born Maria Kalogeropoulos, Callas first performed in Greece when she was 18 and is adored even by those who are not opera fans.
"We are getting some fanatic phone calls from people saying 'Remember this is going to be mine' so I think the interest is of course very, very big," Fabbri said.
Callas died in 1977 aged 53, but her reputation remains strong in the 30th year after her death.
EMI have re-released her commercial catalogue on 70 CDs, while fashion capital Milan is exhibiting gowns by the likes of Gucci and Prada dedicated to the opera diva.
The auction will take place on December 12, while an exhibition will open to the public today.
- REUTERS