Maria Callas

Bret (The Piaf Legend) retells the story of the overweight girl from Queens who became a glamorous diva, as famous for her temper tantrums and turbulent personal life as for her singing. Callas was born in New York, but at 13 she was transported by her dictatorial mother to Greece, the family's homeland, where she studied with the Spanish coloratura Elvira di Hidalgo. Her impressive operatic triumphs in the 1940s and '50s dwindled as her voice rapidly deteriorated, and her final years were marked by professional and personal disasters that culminated in her death, possibly by suicide, in 1977 at age 54. Bret, clearly a Callas aficionado, glosses over the controversial aspects of the voice and emphasizes her total commitment to her art, her brilliant resurrection of nearly forgotten bel canto roles and her extraordinary dramatic skills. He also recounts all the sensational details of Callas's life--the violent temper, the feuds with colleagues, the stormy marriage to a much older man and the many love affairs, including her liaison with Aristotle Onassis, who berated her singing and dumped her for Jackie Kennedy. The emphasis is on scandal rather than music in this racy biography, but it's always entertaining to read about the prima donna who, when presented with a writ in a lawsuit, exclaimed, ""I will not be sued! I have the voice of an angel!"" and who insulted everyone from the legendary conductor Herbert von Karajan to Winston Churchill, the queen of England and the pope. Appendixes list Callas's concert, radio, television and film appearances, her opera performances and her recordings. (Oct.)