This epic love story will be set to music

A love story that caused a stir and caused a stir in the media – now it is being made into an opera.

The whirlwind love story between world-famous opera star Maria Callas and billionaire shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis is coming to New York City. The epic love story is being set to music. The legendary tragic story, which eventually became a love triangle with Jackie Kennedy Onassis, is a saga for the ages. Now, new opera writer Elizabeth Coppinger has turned it into an opera. After a career in technology and community activities, she decided that this story needed to be put into the grand, dramatic framework of an opera so that it could be immortalized in the perfect setting.

The story follows Maria Callas and her scandalous relationship with Aristotle Onassis, one of the richest men in the world at the time. Tragically, their ill-fated affair ended in betrayal and heartbreak when Onassis unexpectedly married Jacqueline Kennedy in 1968. Their romance took place at the height of the glamorous jet set and played out all over the world in places like Rome, Athens, London and New York. This was the era when big yachts, titled guests, private planes and more were something brand new and set the super-rich apart. The newspapers pounced on it, breaking Callas' heart. In a clever twist, Coppinger tells the timeless story about the Greek gods Zeus and Hera. The mythical couple also star in the new Netflix series Kaos, starring Jeff Goldblum and Janet McTeer.

This new English-language opera by award-winning composer Clint Borzoni and new librettist Coppinger is currently being developed in New York. Borzoni has created a lush, melodic score for La Callas that evokes the overwhelming passion and drama of Callas' legendary life and career. Her story is contemporary. The story highlights the diva's struggle with society's bias against strong women, and the press portrayed her as a selfish diva rather than a dedicated and brilliant artist like her male contemporaries. She was expected to choose between her career and her personal happiness, a dilemma that women still face today. The new film Maria, starring Angelina Jolie, and the recent worldwide celebrations of Callas' centenary show audiences' continued fascination with Callas' life and legacy.

The workshop performance of Act I of La Callas will take place on Thursday, October 10, 2024, at Merkin Hall at the Kaufman Music Center in New York City. Tickets are available at the Merkin Hall Ticket Office.