Zeffirelli, the Master and the Diva
Zeffirelli, the Master and the Diva
The Master
In the 1940s, Zeffirelli made his first theatrical experiences
alongside Luchino Visconti:
“How many things, until then only intuited or dreamed of, I discovered during Luchino's rehearsals.”
Actor, set designer and Visconti's assistant director ("La terra trema", 1948; "Bellissima",1952; "Senso", 1954), Zeffirelli soon broke away from the maestro and took an independent path as a director, contending with Visconti for Lila De Nobili's set magic and Maria Callas' charismatic presence.
The Diva
Maria Callas and Franco Zeffirelli shared not only an artistic working relationship, but also a close friendship and complicity.
Both born in 1923, during the making of the
"Turkish in Italy" (1955) the soprano was at the height of her success, while the director was taking off.
Modeled after the example of Audrey Hepburn, Callas' new image turns her into a magnet for the audience's gaze, with her 1810s-style dresses, projected in a whirling rhythm of scene changes “with an exquisitely Rossinian rhythm” (Gianandrea Gavazzeni).
