In the real world, of course, these adjustments did not happen, so the voice as constituted was subject to the consequences of all the artistic and life decisions its owner made in the early 1950s, and all the effects of her very eventful, highly pressured life and career. No part of that change of direction can be separated from the others, or held solely responsible for the rapid decline that followed it. Of the extrinsic factors I explored in Part One, I do assign some probability to the weight loss as a contributing element, though just how I cannot say, and I think that further understanding of the drop in vibrato rates, for which she is Advanced Warning Case Number One, is urgent.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY. I have by no means vetted the entire Callas literature (and on they come!). Of what I have read, I have included here only the books and articles I have made direct use of in the preparation of this article. Among them, the Ardoin and Scott books have been of greatest value for their chronological tracking of the Callas recordings and their commentary by professional listeners deeply invested in the singer’s art. Scott’s is the more recent and inclusive, and its analysis more interwoven with a well-written biography. The Stassinopoulos volume is treated dismissively by some, and is concededly short on vocal expertise, but I find it useful on the early years, and it seems to me well enough sourced.
Ardoin, John: The Callas Legacy, Charles Scribner’s Sons, N. Y., 1982
Jahn, Anthony F.: Weight Loss and the Voice, in Classical Singer, Sept. 1, 2006
Jahn, Anthony F: Medical Management of the Professional Singer, in Medical Problems of Performing
Artists, March, 2009
Mayer, Martin: Callas: Scala’s New Queen, High Fidelity, Sept., 1954
Opera Magazine, Dec., 2023: La Divina at 100 (seven articles devoted to Maria Callas)
Osborne, Conrad L.: Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor (review of Angel 3601), in Records in Review, The
Wyeth Press, Great Barrington, MA, 1960
Osborne, Conrad L.:The Musical Underground: Verdi: Macbeth, in The Musical Newsletter, Vol. 3, No. 1, Jan. 1973
Osborne, Lauren M.: Private interview with author, Feb., 2024
Pugliese, Giuseppe: Un Ballo in maschera, The Recordings (in Bollettino Quadrimestale dell’Istituto di
Studi Verdiani, Vol.1, No. 1, Parma, 1960
Scott, Michael: Maria Meneghini Callas, Northeastern Univ. Press, Boston, 1992
Stassinopoulos, Arianna: Maria Callas/The Woman Behind the Legend, Simon & Schuster, N. Y., 1981
Weaver, William: Everything About Her is a Matter of Opinion (review of Scott’s Maria Meneghini Callas, New York Times, Dec. 27, 1992