Maria Callas Museum

Museum in Athens, Greece

Maria Callas Museum
Μουσείο Μαρία Κάλλας
The museum's logo
The museum's facade, 2023

Established	2023
Location	44 Mitropoleos Street, Athens, Greece
Owner	Municipality of Athens
Website	https://mariacallasmuseum.gr/en/

The Maria Callas Museum is a biographical museum dedicated to the renowned Greek soprano Maria Callas. It opened on 26 October 2023, and is situated in Athens, Greece.

History

In 2000, the Municipality of Athens took part at an auction of Callas' personal objects, thus initiating a Callas-themed collection, with the initial prospect of creating an exhibition for the 2004 Summer Olympics.^[1] In 2010, the Municipality of Athens bought a three storey neoclassical building of the interwar period situated on 44 Mitropoleos Street, for 7 million euros.^[2] Three years later, a previous plan to house a theatrical museum at the building failed, and thus the idea for transferring the Callas collection there was born.^[2] The related museologic study by Erato Koutsoudaki, Andromache Gazi and Alexandros Charkiolakis was first presented in 2014.^[2] Eventually, the Maria Callas Museum was inaugurated a decade later, on Thursday, 26 October 2023.^[3]^[4] For the 2023 – 2028 period, its administration was assigned to the administerial board of the Technopolis cultural venue.^[5]

Collections

The museum includes numerous personal objects, operatic costumes^[6] and personal haute couture garments, some created by Biki. According to the museum's co-designer, architect and museologist Erato Koutsoudaki, the museum's collection is not its greatest asset;^[2]^[7] its exhibitions were designed on the basis of Callas' personality; they include her singing voice and interviews of hers.^[2]

Gallery

Maria Callas' opera costumes from the 1960 Norma (costumes to the left and right) and the 1961 Medea (wig at the center), both in the ancient theatre of Epidaurus, and from the 1954 Tosca in Genoa (thyrsus-like walking stick, right).
Maria Callas' sheet music books. They are of the "spartito" type, i.e. they constitute reduced editions of the operas written for piano and voice, and were used by Callas for practicing the works
Maria Callas' 1937 US school memory book. As written, her school was the Public School (P.S.) 189 in Manhattan.
Plaque commemorating the awarding to Maria Callas of a life membership to the Dallas Civic Opera (today known as Dallas Opera). Dated 12 September 1968.

References

^ Howard, Michael (1 December 2000). "Auction rouses Greek passions for 'our Maria'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Ρηγόπουλος, Δημήτρης (29 March 2014). "Ενα «σπίτι» για τη Μαρία Κάλλας στην Αθήνα". Η ΚΑΘΗΜΕΡΙΝΗ (in Greek). Retrieved 31 October 2023.
^ "Opera diva Maria Callas museum opens in Athens on centenary". France 24. 26 October 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
^ Maltezou, Renee (26 October 2023). "Greece opens Maria Callas museum for a glimpse into opera diva's life". Reuters. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
^ Βασιλειάδου, Μάρω (26 October 2023). "Το νέο «σπίτι» της Κάλλας". Η ΚΑΘΗΜΕΡΙΝΗ (in Greek). Retrieved 31 October 2023.
^ Gatopoulos, Derek (25 October 2023). "A century after her birth, opera great Maria Callas is honored with a new museum in Greece". AP News. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
^ Vasiliadou, Maro (3 November 2022). "A new house of worship for the divine Maria Callas | eKathimerini.com". www.ekathimerini.com. Retrieved 31 October 2023.