‘Without a voice she had no self’: who was the real Maria Callas? | Biopics

“Madame is the biggest star of them all.”

The words are spoken by Max Von Mayerling, butler to fading star Norma Desmond, in the film Sunset Boulevard. They might as well have been uttered by Ferruccio Mezzadri, butler for 20 years to the diva Maria Callas, who, after retiring from the operatic stage, lived a largely reclusive life in Paris.

Mezzadri remained her devoted and trusted servant to the end – and beyond. Almost half a century after Callas’ death, he has never spoken ill of her or revealed her secrets. He lives a quiet life in Italy in a memory-filled home that is like a shrine to the late soprano. But now, at the age of 93, Mezzadri finds himself unexpectedly back in the limelight.

He shared memories of Callas with British screenwriter Steven Knight for Maria, a Netflix biopic that explores Callas’ final days in Paris in September 1977 as she reflects on her past and tries to regain her voice. The film depicts a unique bond between Callas and Mezzadri, depicted at one point when he assaults a journalist in an attempt to defend her.

In another scene, Angelina Jolie’s Callas says, “When I write my autobiography, I’m going to title it The Day Ferruccio Saved My Life.”

Mezzadri, played by Pierfrancesco Favino, asks, “And what day was it, ma’am?”

Callas replies: “Every day. Every single day. That’s why I hate you. I fall into a river and you always fish me out.”

Mezzadri says softly, “Yes, ma’am.”

Callas then instructs: “Book me a table at the cafe where the waiters know who I am. I’m in the mood for a funeral.”

Maria is directed by Pablo Larraín and the third in an unofficial trilogy following his previous works Jackie, about Jacqueline Kennedy in the wake of her husband John F Kennedy’s funeral, and Spencer, focused on Princess Diana during a visit to one of the Queen’s country estates. But where these women rose to prominence through marriage, Callas, the ultimate diva — the word means “goddess” in Italian — often seemed to fly solo.

She was born in New York to Greek immigrant parents in 1923. At 13, she moved to Athens with her mother and sister and enrolled in Athens Conservatorywhere she underwent rigorous vocal training in the Italian “bel canto” tradition. She began her professional career at the age of 17, appearing in the Royal Opera House in Athens.

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Callas’ career blossomed in Italy. Her breakthrough came in 1949 with a performance of La Gioconda at the Verona Arena, where she met her future husband, Giovanni Meneghini. Her international reputation was strengthened with performances at La Scala in Milan, Covent Garden in London and Metropolitan Opera in New York.

Known to her fans as La Divina (The Divine), Callas was well known for her vocal agility, ability to convey a wide range of emotions and commitment to dramatic realism. She was a trailblazer who broke down barriers for women in opera, demanded equal pay and challenged the status quo.

She was also a fiercely independent and often controversial figure, known for temperamental outbursts and exacting standards. “I will always be as difficult as necessary to achieve the best,” she was quoted as saying.

But in the mid-1950s, she began experiencing vocal difficulties that led to cancellations—in the film, Callas berates a fan for daring to question her faking illness to miss a performance. Theories about the cause of her decline ranged from overexertion to a drastic weight loss. Medical evidence suggests she may have suffered from dermatomyositis, an autoimmune disease that can affect muscle function, including the vocal cords.

In production notes provided by Netflix, Knight notes, “Maria had the most insanely complex relationship with her voice, as if she felt her voice was indistinguishable from her soul. In other words, without a voice she had no self, or perhaps became she invisible.

“She was always judged on her voice and most cruelly on her physical appearance. It was a true tragedy in the literal sense that when her appearance was acceptable to herself, her voice weakened. When she felt ugly, her voice was stronger. How does anyone deal with that if your voice is you?”

Callas’ marriage to Meneghini ended in 1959, and she began an affair with Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis. Their passionate, stormy relationship was tabloid fodder for years, and ended in heartbreak for Callas, then Onassis married Jacqueline Kennedy in 1968.

Larraín comments via Netflix: “I think Aristotle Onassis was the love of her life, and I think they had different moments throughout their relationship. They were very often close in the 70s, after he broke up with Jackie, but it was also a toxic relationship, I think.

“She could just disconnect from the world and let everything be under his control. I think there were moments in the relationship that weren’t very healthy. But I also think they came to a peaceful understanding of who they were as individuals and as couples at the end of their lives.”

Callas never found a man as faithful as Mezzadri, who grew up in poverty and, due to a heart defect, was unable to serve in the military. He was instead required to perform social service and ended up working for the wife of a leading composer. Soon after, his path crossed with Callas and he was hired. He began working for her in Milan and then followed her to Paris, where he learned to speak French.

Mezzadri has already been the subject of a stage monologue, Maria Callas, the black pearlwritten by Federica Nardacci and performed by Marco Gambino, who both met him in his home in 2018. Gambino, an Italian actor, remains in touch with Mezzadri and says he remains deeply loyal to Callas.

Speaking by phone from his London home, Gambino, 67, explains: “He has this kind of protection against her, and so whoever tried to change her divine state is kind of beaten, starting from Mr Onassis and ending with Jacqueline Kennedy. When you start talking about these people, he says, ‘No, no, no, no, they were bad, they were bad. My lady was so sensitive and they destroyed her.”

After retiring from opera, Callas gave master classes at the Juilliard School in New York and attempted brief comebacks with concerts and a film role. Her voice never fully recovered, however, and she lived in an exquisite apartment in Paris until her death of a heart attack in 1977 at the age of 53. Suddenly, Mezzadri had to start her life over.

Gambino continues, “The most interesting things he said were about himself and how spending 20 years with this lady made his life special but hard to start over when she died. She basically died in his arms, and after that, when you spend 20 years with someone like that, where do you go, what do you do?

“He was 40, so half his life. He tried to be a butler for an actor, but he just couldn’t. With the money she left him—I don’t think it was that much—he bought this new place at same plot where his parents lived in a small house close by Piacenza and that is where he has lived ever since.”

Larraín’s film is the latest addition to the Callas legend. Her dramatic interpretations, vocal versatility and striking stage presence changed the face of opera. Her recordings, including interpretations of Norma, La Traviata and Tosca, are still revered today.

Gambino reflects: “From her it all started: now opera singers must know how to act and not just how to sing.” It is important and it makes the opera much more attractive because you go to the opera because you see some acting on top of the singing. She wanted to be an actress in addition to being a singer.

“For the young generations, I always think that someone like Maria Callas could be a vessel to encounter opera in a different and more exciting way, because she is like a rock star. I saw clips of when she went back to the Metropolitan in the 50’s and people lined up for 24 hours. The average age of these people is 15, 16 years old because she was a diva, but not only that. She was a tremendous performer.”

He adds: “Her voice was not the beautiful voice of people who would guarantee you a great performance. Her voice was actually even more interesting than that because she could fail. What I like about Maria Callas is the unpredictability , the flaws that turn into supreme moments of being divine. When you are like that, your moments of excellence cannot be matched by any other achievement.”