Schwarzkopf And Callas

Based upon no evidence whatsoever, I assume this photograph of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Maria Callas was taken in July 1957, when both singers were recording Puccini’s “Turandot” in Milan for EMI.

Schwarzkopf was 42 and Callas was 34 at the time of the “Turandot” sessions, and the singers in the photograph look, respectively, 42 and 34 years of age. Further, the two singers crossed paths relatively infrequently, as their careers took them all over the world in the 1950s, the peak decade for both artists. Schwarzkopf and Callas were seldom in the same city at the same time.

Schwarzkopf was a glamorous figure in her own right, but in this photograph she looks like a hausfrau when standing next to Callas—although it must be acknowledged that Callas, after her weight loss, became an expert in “posing” for the camera. If Callas was not “posed” for this photograph, I cannot imagine what she was doing.