The Unknown Callas

The melodramatic story of the 20th century's greatest soprano, from her birth to Greek-immigrant parents in New York to her international triumphs, has often been chronicled. In all these accounts, however, a key period in her life has gone undocumented: at the age of 13, Maria Callas went to Greece with her mother and sister, and this is where she spent her teenage and early professional years. The heart of this award-winning biography is Callas's life in Athens from 1937 to 1945, years that were critical for her artistic and personal development. In his meticulous research of Athenian archives and through interviews with hundreds of Callas's Greek colleagues and friends, Nicholas Petsalis-Diomidis examines her daily life, her early romances and conflicts and the growing rift with her mother. A detailed historical biography, this book reads like a novel.