“Maria Callas is described as ‘divine’ and ‘absolute treble’: an extraordinary soprano with incredible charisma, charm, explosive character and a private life that was constantly in the headlines. December 2 marks the 100th anniversary of her birth in 1923,” writes the German News Network RND under the headline: “I’m not an idol, I’m human.” The famous diva died in Paris in 1977 at the age of 53, alone and “broken”, as many of her fans say even today.
Can the story of Maria Callas be told without her fatal love affair with the shipowner Aristotle Onassis? The curators of the new Maria Callas Museum, which opened its doors in October in Athens, think it can. No photo, video or other document naming the full-blooded playboy. Only an elegant invitation to Maria Callas to a dinner in Venice in September 1957 is displayed in a glass case. “At this dinner he met Onassis,” reveals a museum employee.

Callas suffered not only from the breakup, which hurt her deeply, but also from the headlines. When asked why he didn’t want to be an idol, he stated: “I’m afraid. A lot of people need idols, but they’re very easy to destroy. (…) I’m not an idol, I’m human. I’m not always perfect.”