In November 1952, Maria Callas was invited by Sir David Webster of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, to give five performances of Norma. She held a high D for 12 beats, inspiring critics to call her “the most exciting singer on the stage today”. Opera magazine wrote, “Callas held her audience in abject slavery.” Until then, she had immersed herself in the vocal techniques of opera. Now she wanted to physically embody its heroines. She said, “You can’t portray a beautiful young woman if you’re enormous.”
A forthcoming production of Medea at La Scala was her incentive: she wanted a sharp chin “for expression in certain very hard phrases, cruel phrases or tense phrases”.
In early 1954, Maria visited a Swiss clinic run by Dr Paul Niehans, a pioneer…
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The Australian Women's Weekly (Digital) - 1 Issue, August 2021