More than 40 years after her death, the legend of Maria Callas, "La
Divina Assoluta," remains unsurpassed. Much has been written about
her sensational opera career and fraught private life, from her
definitive mastery of iconic opera roles to her love affairs and
tantrums. The prototype for the 20th century celebrity diva, Callas
emblematizes the cliche of tormented talent - genius in the ring
with catastrophe. Her extraordinary voice, in particular, has
become an object of cult-like adoration and cultural significance
almost with a life of its own: as fetish object, as sophisticated
sonic signifier, and most recently, as the lifeblood for a Callas
hologram. Such adoration is not without consequences. When Callas
is transformed into a vessel for such transcendent magic, it
overshadows what is perhaps her most superhuman ability - the
masterful technique she deployed to shape and craft her astounding
instrument. Singing bodies are working bodies, enacting an intimate
and complex form of artistic labor and cultural signification.
Using one of Callas's first recital recordings from 1954, this book
envisions each aria as a lens to examine various aspects of
vocalization and cultural reception of the feminized voice in both
classical and pop culture, from Homer's Sirens to Star Trek. With
references to works by Marina Abramovic, Charles Baudelaire, Michel
Chion, Wayne Koestenbaum, Greil Marcus, and Farah Jasmine Griffin,
as well as films by Pier Paolo Pasolini, Jonathan Demme, and Rainer
Werner Fassbinder, each chapter explores phenomena unique to the
singing voice, including the operatic screaming point, the politics
of listening, and the singing simulacrum.
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