The evening, held at the Olympia Theater on February 9, was dedicated to the centenary of the birth of Maria Callas. Arias and duets from the extensive repertoire of the Greek diva were performed by two sopranos, the Hungarian Clara Kolonic and the Greek Maritina Tabakopoulou, together with the Frenchwoman Karine Deshayes. The symphony orchestra and the choir of the municipality of Athens were led by the main Italian musician Sebastiano Roli.

One more voice would be needed if one wanted to include Puccini’s vocally demanding Princess Turandot and the heavy dramatic roles from the German repertoire that Callas performed at the beginning of her career, such as Leonora from Beethoven’s Fidelio, Marta from Cambo D’ Albert and especially the heroines of Wagner’s operas Isolde (Tristan und Isolde), Wunhild (Valkyrie) and Strana (Parsifal). Four different voices for what she could interpret as one and in fact in parallel, and not at successive stages of her career, as happens in some cases: Bellini and Wagner alternately. It is as if Karine Dieu, who had splendidly performed a passage from Cherubini’s Medea in the French original, then conveyed the “scene of madness” from Donizetti’s Lucia, which she skillfully performed at the end of her career as the excellent Clara Colonic. And she, in turn, interpreted Sanduza’s dramatic aria with a colossal voice and the passion that Maritina Tabakopoulou did. Classicism, romanticism, verismo: three eras, three styles. And, especially, Wagner. The opportunity to do this appeared only once in the history of the opera and, most importantly, is still a standard not because of the uniqueness of the phenomenon, but because of the quality of performance. That’s why she was important, and that’s why we celebrate her.

Three lyrical singers performed arias from the extensive repertoire of the Greek diva.

Looking back at recordings of Kallas performances made seventy years ago, even today it is difficult to find Lucia with such a transparent sound that would also convey the atmosphere of horror that the composer wanted to convey with the eerie sound made by glass when a hand strokes it (glass harmonica). Or, again, Medea with such grief in her plea to Jason, in a last attempt to keep him close to her.

In doing so, and also because life goes on, the three ladies of the tribute evening, at different points in their careers, did very well in the quotes they chose to present. Di is imposing, in addition to Medea, even in the role of Alcestis Gluck and Armida Rossini, Kolonic is convincing in the role of Violetta (La Traviata) and Norma. Tabakopoulou’s exuberant talent is undeniably impressive, but it still needs work and definitely needs attention when choosing actors to stand the test of time. There was less enthusiasm for the orchestra and its strings.