Review of Maria Callas at Covent Garden

This is, sadly, the only filmed performance of Maria Callas in any opera. Film technology was primitive and what's more cameras were never allowed in operas, unlike today. Director Franco Zefferelli designed the sets and costumes to this Tosca in London's Convent Garden. Maria Callas was not in her best voice as years of wear and tear had taken its toll on her voice, but this is still a fabulous performance of Tosca, though it is incomplete (we see only Act 2). Callas is not very subtle here- she rages, she loves, she murders the villain Scarpia. He is played by the excellent Tito Gobbi. For fans of Callas, this an absolute must have. It is a document, a great moment in musical history. Callas would never sing Tosca after this. Her voice would decline and in 1977 she died in Paris of a heart failure.