kiri te kanawa

María Callas, and why I dislike Netflix movies.

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I might be slightly obsessed with Callas…

While I do not consider myself an opera connoisseur, I do love opera.

My love of opera started in high school when I listened to Kiri Te Kanawa sing the famous Madame Butterfly aria Un bel di vedremo, on one of my father’s cassette tapes!

Since then, I have listened to a lot of operas on records and on the stage.

Maria Callas stands out as THE diva, the voice. Yes, other voices are gorgeous, but the Callas is recognizable a mile away, and yes, you could probably hear it a mile away.

I recently saw Netflix’s biopic with Angelina Jolie about Callas’ final days, which prompted me to write this blog post.

The Netflix formula is, in my opinion, boring. Notice how they use all the resources. With all the money they have, they perfectly curate every film, produce the perfect color saturation, or switch to Black and White for certain scenes, all of which makes for boring films. So no, I am not a fan of Netflix films, and while Angelina Jolie and the rest of the cast do an outstanding job, everything else about the film is predictable, thus boring.

But go out and enjoy The Callas’ amazing voice and music. You are welcome.

The best opera? The most famous opera? La Traviata at Palm Beach Opera

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Photocall at the opera
Take a bow
Amazing Kravis center
Delicious Violetta
Palm Beach Opera
I love hearing the orchestra warm up

There are some tunes that you would recognize instantly, even if you have never been to the opera. One of them is the party song at the beginning of La Traviata; it is the subject of viral popup chorales, flash mobs, and opera recitals everywhere.

As children, we did not listen to La Traviata at home. My dad preferred the “epic” operas: Wagner, Aida, Nabucco… He had the vinyl box sets by the big conductors of the time, Karajan, Abbado, and the like.

I had the classical music radio show at the university radio station and would, once in a while, play opera songs. But I became enamored with La Traviata through an 80s film: The Music Teacher, which led me down a wonderful rabbit hole to discover Maria Callas, Renée Fleming, and possibly my favorite Violetta: Kiri Te Kanawa.

At any rate, I again had the chance to see La Traviata at the Palm Beach Opera last week in the Kravis Center with Caitlin, a work colleague and fellow opera fan.

The production was amazing! Gabriella Reyes, in her pro debut, hit it out of the ballpark, despite taking the current liberty of pushing the Sempre libera finale to E flat above high C notwithstanding that Verdi wrote it in high C, she is forgiven for following the trend. Mario Chang from Guatemala did a perfect job as Alfredo, and unexpectedly Michael Chioldi surprised as Alfredo’s dad, Giorgio Germont, totally channeling his best Gattopardo.

Palm Beach Opera was impressive in their attention to detail: the décor, the photocall, even crafting an apropos cocktail, the Violetta, which I must say, was delicious.

So if you get a chance to see La Traviata, do not hesitate to go. You are welcome.