Greek opera diva Maria Callas to be celebrated in a concert in Cairo

Celebrating the 100th birth anniversary of Maria Callas, the Embassy of Greece in Egypt and the Cairo Opera House are jointly organizing a tribute concert for the internationally renowned diva Maria Callas.

The Greek soprano Sonia Theodoridou and the Egyptian sopranos Mona Rafla, Tahia Shams Eldin, Dalia Farouk, and Dina Iskander will participate in the concert dubbed "Maria Callas: In Memoriam," scheduled on 4 December.

Its principal conductor, Nayer Nagui, will conduct the Cairo Opera Orchestra. 

The American-born Greek soprano Maria Callas (2 December 1923 - 16 September 1977) is considered one of the best opera singers of the 20th century. 

With 2 December marking the diva's birth centenary, Greece gears for large celebrations across its cities and internationally.

In October, Athens opened a new museum honouring the legendary soprano Callas.

Following a quarter of a century in the making, the Maria Callas museum is billed as the first of its kind in the world.
 

According to AFP, the museum is housed in "a listed four-story building from the 1920s that previously housed a hotel" and is located near central Syntagma Square.

AFP also wrote a brief biography of the diva revealing that Callas was born in New York to Greek emigre parents; her real name was Sophia Cecilia Anna Maria Kalogeropoulos; she lived in Athens from 1937 to 1945 after her parents separated.

After attending singing classes at the National Conservatory, she made her professional debut with the Royal Opera of Athens in 1941.

Callas retired after a final stage appearance in Sapporo, Japan, in 1974. She died at the age of 53 in 1977 in Paris due to a heart attack.

Her ashes were scattered in the Aegean Sea in 1979.

A biopic of Callas starring Angelina Jolie, titled Maria, is due to be released in 2024.