Having provided my thoughts on such singers as Birgit Nilsson, Shirley Verrett and Beverly Sills, I’m herewith turning my attention to the singer who is widely considered the prima donna assoluta del mondo, Maria Callas. While Sills was a phenomenon in her day, the Callas phenomenon has proven even bigger and far more durable. When I first came to opera in the mid-1970s, she was already a legend. I recall news of her death, and I recall being puzzled whenRead more