Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Maria!
Pablo LarraÃn Maria was finally released, and here's what happened to Maria Callas' voice, including when and why it diminished. Maria Callas is one of the most legendary opera singers of all time, being an acclaimed artist known throughout the world from the late 1940s until the 1970s. Maria managed to present the works of Maria Callas to a new audiencewith the film covering the final years of the acclaimed artist's life, including her vocal decline.
Maria is the third film in Pablo Larrain's critically acclaimed trilogy that focuses on influential women of the 20th century, following Jackie and Spencer. Very similar to Larrain's previous two films Maria uses fictional stories to investigate what lies behind the public image of the film's titular character, with Maria exploring some of the most notable moments from Callas' final years. Maria attempts to paint a sympathetic picture of its protagonist, with the story of her vocal loss being one of the film's most tragic arcs.
When Maria Callas' voice began to decline and how it changed her opera career
It all started in the mid-1950s
Maria Callas' voice began to decline during the second half of her career, which had a major impact on her opera career. Critics began to notice Callas's vocal decline in 1954although she was still loved by the public. As time passed, more and more people began to notice her vocal decline, which contributed to her decision to stop singing opera after her final performance on July 5, 1965.
The vocal loss of Maria Callas came at the top of the various controversies that are addressed in Mariawith these events damaging his public image. Although Callas still had a fantastic voice, the damage his voice suffered over the years damaged his reputation with the public, leading to his retirement.
Maria Callas's vocal decline was attributed to strained opera roles, menopause and rapid weight loss
It's probably a combination of many factors
Although there has been no definitive answer, there has been a lot of speculation surrounding what led to Maria Callas' vocal decline. John Ardoin's book Callas' legacy enters into some of these theoriesthe most popular being that vocal decline started with weight loss. Maria Callas lost 36 kilos between 1953 and 1954, and her vocal decline began to appear around that same time.
Maria Callas also played some incredibly challenging opera roles throughout her early years, with some believing these damaged her voice permanently. Callas' husband even speculated that her vocal decline came from early menopause. There are all sorts of things that could have affected Callas's voice in his later years, and Maria decides not to give a definitive answer.
Source: Callas' legacy