Maria Callas' tragic life and death as superstar singer and diva to be played by Angelina Jolie

She is among the top opera singers of each clip and her bonzer dependable continues to enchant audiences today, 50 years since her last nationalist concert.

Maria Callas was 1 of the archetypal genuinely planetary singing superstars, who rubbed shoulders with the likes of Marilyn Monroe and performed astatine the Queen’s coronation successful 1953.

She was besides known arsenic the world’s top diva, conscionable arsenic celebrated for her tempestuous outbursts, mid-opera walkouts, nationalist scandals and turbulent emotion affairs, including 1 with shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis, who jilted her for Jackie Kennedy.

But contempt the dazzling whirlwind that characterised her beingness and career, it is her tragic death, aged 53, arsenic told successful the forthcoming Netflix biopic, Maria, starring Angelina Jolie, which provokes the astir fascination.

The movie, to beryllium streamed adjacent month, reimagines the Greek-American soprano’s last days surviving arsenic a recluse successful Paris, earlier dying of a bosom onslaught connected September 16, 1977.

Angelina, 49, believes determination is overmuch successful Maria’s beingness she identifies with. She said: “I’m definite there’s a batch that volition beryllium work into it of our overlaps arsenic women. But the 1 that’s possibly not the astir evident is I’m not definite however comfy we some are with being public. People were rather assertive erstwhile Maria wasn’t capable to beryllium what they wanted her to be. They were precise unkind, and she carried a batch of trauma and she worked very, precise hard. I conscionable began to truly attraction astir her.”

Despite being adored by millions, Maria ne'er knew real, lasting emotion off-stage, not adjacent from her ain household and surely not from men. Plagued by heartbreak and idiosyncratic torment, she died depressed and unfulfilled aft the 1 happening that had ne'er fto her down, her voice, began to fail.

Born successful New York to impoverished Greek immigrants successful 1923, Maria was a replacement child, expected to alleviate her parent Litsa’s grief aft the decease of her two-year-old son, Vasily. Litsa had consulted a instrumentality akin to a ouija board, and believed the unborn kid would beryllium Vasily reincarnated. When the babe was calved a girl, Litsa turned her caput to a model and refused to look astatine her for 4 days.

Maria aboriginal recounted a loveless and harrowing puerility successful which her conniving parent treated her and her older sister, Jackie, with cruelty, utilizing some to marque money. When she realised Maria had a beauteous voice, she was hopeless to crook her into a kid prima and pressured her to perform. “I was made to sing erstwhile I was lone 5 and I hated it,” she aboriginal remembered.

The anguish continued aft Litsa separated from hubby George and returned to Greece with her daughters successful 1937, erstwhile Maria was 13. Lyndsy Spence, the bestselling writer of Cast a Diva: The Hidden Life of Maria Callas, says the sisters suffered “every maltreatment imaginable”.

She adds: “When Litsa discovered Maria could sing, she tried to marque her a kid star. She pimped Maria’s older sister retired to a affluent man, which paid for their rent and bought Maria a piano. Her parent was ever trying to marque wealth disconnected her daughters. When the Second World War came, Litsa prostituted herself to Nazi officers and tried to marque Maria bash the same.”

“Only Maria’s dependable saved her and she sang with the Greek National Opera during the Nazi Occupation. When a teacher astatine the Athens Conservatory attempted to rape Maria, her parent told her, ‘A pity helium didn’t negociate it due to the fact that we would person made him wed you and that would person been that.’ Maria ne'er felt protected oregon loved by her mother.”

The vocalist aboriginal recalled: “I’ll ne'er forgive her for taking my puerility away. Everything I did for them was mostly bully and everything they did to maine was mostly bad.”

Soon, Maria’s stunning dependable was getting her known. Her archetypal teacher astatine the Greek National Conservatoire, Maria Trivella, waived each tuition fees aft proceeding her audition, saying her vocals “swirled and flared similar a occurrence and filled the aerial with melodious reverberations similar a carillon”. Trivella aboriginal remembered Maria arsenic a “model student, fanatical and uncompromising”, studying 5 oregon six hours daily.

Maria’s nonrecreational debut came successful February 1941, arsenic Beatriz successful Suppe’s Boccaccio astatine the Greek National Opera, earlier returning to New York aft the war, hoping to reconnect with her beloved father, lone to observe helium wanted her to go his maid.

Dismayed astatine his rejection, Maria travelled to Verona successful Italy, ­establishing herself arsenic the ­pre-eminent opera vocalist of her day, and arsenic an planetary ­celebrity known arsenic “La Divina”.

There she met Giovanni Battista Meneghini, who became her cause and past her husband, lone for her to realise helium was utilizing her to marque money, secretly embezzling her luck by putting everything successful his name.

“He viewed her not arsenic his woman but a invaluable merchandise and was prepared to merchantability her to the highest bidder,” says Lyndsy. “It was Meneghini’s greed which explained his determination to not privation a family. He feared Maria would discontinue to rise children alternatively of being a apical earner.”

Meanwhile, Maria was taking the satellite by tempest and made triumphant appearances astatine the apical opera houses. Critics gushed implicit her bel canto technique, wide-ranging dependable and melodramatic interpretations. Audiences would go hysterical and fans would mob her successful the street.

Her performances of Tosca astatine Covent Garden, London, person been described arsenic among the top operatic displays of each time. Lyndsy says: “She truly was the astir celebrated pistillate successful the world. She had the X origin and it fuelled her celebrity, adjacent much truthful than her talent. She was beautiful, she reinvented herself, she was outspoken and exciting, and erstwhile you spot aged photos oregon footage of her, she’s magnetic. You can’t instrumentality your eyes disconnected her, and erstwhile you perceive to her you can’t ore connected thing but her voice.”

Maria’s exacting precocious standards meant she was prone to storming disconnected signifier mid-performance if she wasn’t happy. She would alternatively cancel a amusement minutes earlier the curtain went up than sing beneath par and disappoint her public, cementing her diva reputation. Maria said: “I americium lone arsenic hard arsenic I request to beryllium to execute perfection.”

On 1 occasion, successful January 1958, Maria walked retired halfway done a show successful Rome wherever Italian President Giovanni Gronchi was successful the audience, saying she felt unwell. The “insult” prompted riots successful Italy, portion the Italian authorities tried to prohibition her from singing astatine state-owned theatres. And successful 1958, she demanded a immense interest to execute astatine The Met successful New York, saying: “I americium not truly funny successful wealth but it indispensable beryllium much than anyone other gets.”

Newspapers reported her temperamental behaviour, diva demands and bitter rivalry with different soprano, Renata Tebaldi. But her emotion matter with Onassis received the astir publicity. It led to her divorcing Meneghini. But when, successful 1963, aft they had been lovers for 4 years, John F Kennedy was assassinated and Onassis was escaped to prosecute Jackie, Maria was near lonely and distraught.

Worse still, her dependable began to fail. And, aft her last recital successful Sapporo, Japan, connected November 11, 1974, she withdrew from nationalist life.

Lyndsy says: “She was depressed and fed up with everything, including the radical who lone ever wanted to beryllium astir Callas, the star, and not Maria, the mean pistillate who wanted to beryllium understood. In the end, I deliberation she conscionable gave up. A batch of radical person a phobia astir the tragic elements of her beingness and I deliberation it’s a disservice to her story, due to the fact that erstwhile she was live she longed to beryllium understood. She gave truthful overmuch to others and she died alone.”

Even aft her death, Maria’s ashes were stolen. They were recovered and scattered successful the Aegean Sea, arsenic she had wished, 2 years later. Her beingness became a tragic operatic masterpiece successful its ain right, 1 which unfurled its last curtain acold excessively soon.

• Cast a Diva: The Hidden Life of Maria Callas by Lyndsy Spence, published by The History Press.