Earlier this month, the world marked the 100th birth anniversary of the Greek-American soprano Maria Callas, one of the most influential and controversial singers ever to take the opera stage. WRTI is celebrating this significant milestone with a new hour-long radio special, La Divina: Maria Callas at 100. The show aired on her birthday, Dec. 2, but you can still hear it by pressing "play" on the button at the top of this post, until Dec. 25.
Written and hosted by Mike Bolton and produced by WRTI’s senior producer, Alex Ariff, the show explores how Callas’ incomparable voice and dramatic life shaped her indelible legacy. Her story is told through some of her most iconic performances (including arias from Puccini’s Tosca, Bellini’s Norma, Bizet’s Carmen, and Rossini’s The Barber of Seville). We also spoke with some of the leading voices in opera today, including soprano Sondra Radvanovsky and tenor Lawrence Brownlee; Evans Mirageas, Artistic Director of Cincinnati Opera; Elizabeth Zharoff, singer, vocal coach and popular YouTuber; and Craig Rutenberg, former Head of Music of The Metropolitan Opera.
Listen to 'La Divina: Maria Callas at 100' here at wrti.org, or on our HD-2 classical stream on Saturday, Dec. 9.