Althouse: "Nothing could be less representative of Maria Callas, as no opera singer, not even a second-grade student at music school, would ever adopt such a pose with crossed arms in front of their chest."

October 17, 2021

"Nothing could be less representative of Maria Callas, as no opera singer, not even a second-grade student at music school, would ever adopt such a pose with crossed arms in front of their chest."

"Opera is about singing and … freeing up the voice. If Callas were to try singing, in real life, in the stance conceived by the sculptor, the result would be like a violinist trying to play on a broken violin."

Said one former opera singer, quoted in "Gandhi in heels? Maria Callas statue hits the wrong note/Critics compare figure of famous soprano erected in Greek capital to an Oscar statuette" (The Guardian).

17 comments:

Carol said...: That reminds me of when I had a professional photo done, and the photographer suggested I cross my arms, because "it does a nice thing" for my face. A more experienced adviser saw the result and blew up. Why the hell did you do that? Never do that! She didn't say why exactly but I cropped the arms out of the photo myself.

Well, it turns out your garden variety photographer loves that bit of business, and after that incident I noticed all the pros getting their subject to use the arms-crossed "defiant" look and it is such a tired cliché. I mean like, everywhere you look. They think it is so cool.

And yeah, you'd never sing that way.; 10/17/21, 12:53 PM
Earnest Prole said...: Nothing could be less representative of Maria Callas, as no opera singer, not even a second-grade student at music school, would ever adopt such a pose with crossed arms in front of their chest.

Maria Callas begs to differ. The whole point of opera is acting while you sing.; 10/17/21, 1:07 PM
Yancey Ward said...: It doesn't look like the statue is trying to sing at all.

On the other hand....; 10/17/21, 1:11 PM
mikee said...: Far be it from me to criticize a critical Guardian article about a statue, but arms crossed is and has been a significant factor in the pose of sculted figures for a very long time, and especially for those prone to conspiracy theories.

Callas is apparently a former member of the Illuminati , I guess.

And definitely not to be compared or associated with the Virgin Mary, who almost never crosses her arms in iconographic artwork, except when lamenting her Son's death.

Comparing her to the famous Rodin nude study of Balzac, perhaps one of the most famous crossed arm statues of modern time, well, there is just no comparison.

So the singer wasn't posed as if she was singing. Maybe she is posed as a diva, demanding something imperiously, instead of as a mere singer. Callas was known for behaving as a diva as much as for being a singer, and representing her as a strong independent woman might just have been the sculptor's intent. Did anybody ask?

Oh, yeah, the did: “I was given the joy of studying a unique personality and [the ability] to speak of her through emotion,” said the academic who sculpted Callas. The artist's FEEEEELINGS led to this statue, and to hell with any historical or representational accuracy. The Rodin Portrait of Balzac wrapped in a cloak, with the crossed-arm man underneath, stands in contrast to this caryatid of a Callas, who is mostly severe gown and very little person. Rodin, criticized for his Balzac, knew he could take a sledge and remove the cloak, exposing the man sculpted beneath it. This shiny thing is just hollow.; 10/17/21, 1:19 PM
Joe Smith said...: I knew Gandhi. Gandhi was a friend of mine. Maria is no Mahatma...

But in the sculptor's defense, she is posed as if she just finished a performance and is taking a curtain call...she does not have her mouth open as if she is singing.; 10/17/21, 1:33 PM
tcrosse said...: Impossible Callas; 10/17/21, 1:46 PM
rhhardin said...: Women sing because they die.

Then somebody does an absurd statue to honor them.; 10/17/21, 2:01 PM
campy said...: Callas is white, so the statue's days are numbered anyway.; 10/17/21, 2:08 PM
Earnest Prole said...: Maria Callas lacks the competence of a second-grade music student? To reduce the chances of future insult the Guardian expert might consider installing that new AltaVista “webseach” software on his mainframe.; 10/17/21, 2:15 PM
William said...: I understand that Maria Callas lost weight to further her career. The lost weight caused her voice to lose some heft. She was thin shamed by some fans for sacrificing the quality of her voice to the quality of her appearance. She set a very bad example to Adele. On the plus side, however, it must be noted that a thin Callas had a very intense and tragic appearance which lent credibility to her roles. She really did look like a woman who would capable of a grand gesture and whose life would not end happily. It would have been so great if she had murdered Jackie Kennedy and then took her own life. That would have really cemented the legend and maybe inspired a great opera.....Anyway, the statue doesn't really seem to capture her spirit.; 10/17/21, 2:35 PM
meep said...: If you watch this performance of Callas singing Casta Diva from Norma, you'll notice she folds her arms in front of her.... during the instrumental intro, before she starts singing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGUNCJk6GSs&ab_channel=RalfvanDijk

At the 1-minute mark you can see her pose very clearly... and she still has her arms folded when she starts singing. But it's very restrained to begin with (and given the size of the gown, it's not like she's tightly hugging herself)... and she definitely opens up her arms when she starts getting into the coloratura parts.

Anyway, I just recommend listening to Casta Diva, and not worrying so much about the stance.; 10/17/21, 3:27 PM
Lucien said...: The statue also looks like Callas has her mouth and lips closed and no real opera singer would try to sing like that.; 10/17/21, 4:12 PM
chuck said...: Maria Callas lost weight to further her career

I read somewhere that she used a tapeworm to lose weight.; 10/17/21, 4:18 PM
XWL said...: Meanwhile, in Riverside CA you have Gandhi-zilla posed bestridden his foes crushing them underfoot with extreme non-violence.; 10/17/21, 4:26 PM
Sterling said...: Callas sings with Freddie Mercury https://youtu.be/Y1fiOJDXA-E; 10/17/21, 5:51 PM
DWS said...: This reminds me of the Lucille Ball statue. It doesn't look like her in any way.; 10/17/21, 8:04 PM
Spiros Pappas said...: How about Nana Mouskouri? She sold 350 million albums worldwide. That's almost twice Celine Dion's total.; 10/17/21, 9:03 PM