Monica Bellucci “meets” Maria Callas in Athens: “I love Greece very much”
The Italian actress Monica Bellucci, met with Greek journalists in a Press conference, discussing her unknown “letters and memories Maria Callas»(Maria Callas: Lettres & Mémoires) that you will recognize in French in your own sensual way at Herod, on September 21, 22 and 23.
“I am very happy to be in your country. I love her very much, you know very well since I keep coming. It will be three very intense nights. And for me it will be something completely new. As I said before, when Tom Wolf offered me the role, at the beginning of the Czech Republic but I could not refuse. The relationship with the audience in the theater is completely different compared to the cinema. It is immediate. And this is exactly what happened to me when I read the letters of Maria Callas. They are full of emotion. So I said yes. We have played the show in Italy and France and now we are here in Athens. “And other countries are waiting for us next,” Monica Bellucci told a news conference.
“Callas had two different personalities”
Speaking about her commonalities with Maria Callas, Monica Bellucci revealed: “What moved me the most when studying Maria Callas were the two different personalities. On the one hand the diva and on the other a woman with a simple heart. In the work we focus more on Maria than on Callas. Many say that Maria Callas lived a tragic life but I would say that she lived a brave life because she had the courage to follow what commanded her heart. Maybe that’s why Tom Wolf thought of me for the role. For the Mediterranean temperament and because Maria Callas made a career in different countries. She was born in New York, then came here to Greece, then her career spread to Italy and Paris. In a sense she was an immigrant to all the places she lived. I think in this we identify. I also believe that she is a modern figure who still inspires today because she fought for her freedom. He separated the time when divorces were forbidden in Italy and I really think he was a very dynamic personality. We have to thank Maria Callas for many things … “
“It simply came to our notice then. People who knew her well say that she did what she wanted, but she knew what she wanted. I think she sacrificed her youth for her career. Blessed career above all. When she met Aristotle Onassis she simply discovered her femininity. And he wanted to live it to the fullest. He knew the risk. For this very appreciation, she was a very strong woman, she did not have children, she often talked about an unhappy childhood life, about the difficult relationship with her mother. “Maria Callas remains a woman who inspires, a modern woman”, she stressed in another part of Monica Bellucci’s interview.
It is the first time that Monica Bellucci is involved in theater. “The theater is honest, there are no limits and I really like this process. Just follow my instinct. “I feel great respect for this woman and for the way she lived her life,” said Monica Bellucci about the first attempt on stage.
The play is based on the book of the same name by Tom Wolf, but also on his recent film “Maria by Callas”, in which he collected more than 350 unpublished letters of Calla, written by her during the 30 years (1946-1977).
“It is very important for us that this show will go up in Athens because it is like Maria Callas returning to Greece, to the historic Herodio where she started as a student and also gave a concert in 1957. Monica and I felt that in a great place like is the Herodion deserves a great work, with a different approach from the show we presented in Paris. And that is why we have a lot to collaborate with George Petrou and Kamerata. “Music will have a special place,” said the director of the show.
The show, which will be presented in French with Greek subtitles, premiered for the first time in November 2019 at the Marigny Theater in Paris.
The musicians who will accompany Monica Bellucci are the Camerata-Orchestra of the Friends of Music, under the direction of the leading Greek conductor, George Petrou, while for the three nights at the Herodion the appearances of Monica Bellucci will be accompanied by her original piano, a gift from Aristotle. Onassis to her. In this historic piano, George Petrou will play in the final the “Elegy” of Massenet.
The love of the Greek public for Italy stopped, which was exhausted in record time in the tickets of the first two performances, with the result that the organizers add one more day to meet the needs of the unprecedented demand.