Maria callas is one of the most extraordinary and influentialfigures in the history of opera. Anima viva. You must serve music because music is so enormous and can envelop you into such a state of. Of perpetual anxiety and torture. When music fails to agree to the ear in other words, to soothe the ear and the heart and the senses then it has missed its point. She enjoyed the Bright Lights of fame and endured its dark side. Her every word and move scrutinised by press and public. When a public loves you so much, you want to do so much more. They cant just applaud the legend if you dont give them something. And after all, what is the legend . The public made me. Maria callas was born in new york in December 1923 and christened Cecilia Sofia anna maria kalogeropoulos. Her parents, george and evangelia, left greece for america shortly before her birth, where they abbreviated the family name to callas. In 1937, after the marriage broke down, evangelia moved back to athens with her two daughters, jackie and maria, who was six years younger. To make ends meet, evangelia chose to exploit marias remarkable gift of singing. Vasilis louras from the Greek National opera has made a film about maria callas to mark her centenary. The early years of callas in greece, from 1937 until 1945, were really important for her. All the documentaries and biographies about callas have underestimated or ignored these eight years. These were the years of the Second World War. She managed to learn the way of surviving. These years formed her as an artist and as a person. Maria started singing lessons at the National Conservatory in athens. She was only 1a and too young to be admitted, but her mother lied and said she was 16. This early training before she had properly developed would later have disastrous consequences. Can you tell me a little bit about maria callas� s relationship with her mother . Her relationship with her mother was always very difficult from the years that she was in america, later the years in the war in greece and when she became famous. In my opinion, Maria Neverforgive her mother to make her lose her childhood years and to push her to start singing so early. Marias mother paid more attention to her beautiful sister, jackie, and used to send maria in the classes scruffy and really badly dressed. This led to her first bullying by her classmates and teachers. Maria then moved to the more prestigious Athens Conservatoire to continue her studies. Archivist Stella Kourmpana took me through her files. And you can see the grades were all perfect. 1,1,1. She, of course, had a great teacher, elvira hidalgo, the spanish soprano who was a mother figure because she didnt have a Good Relationship with her mother. The whole conservatoire actually was a family to callas. She would be the first one to arrive in the class and the last one to leave. But actually she never gained her diploma here, despite having been a student for four years. She didnt take her diploma because it was the difficult years of the Second World War and the german occupation. She was already an accomplished musician and she was singing onstage. She made herself maria callas. She made herself the greatest diva. She wasnt born a star. She became one. Soon after the Greek National opera was founded in 1939, maria callas was signed up to sing there, aged just 16. Maria callas is the most important artist for the Greek National opera. She used to say that she was influenced by the greek theatre, by the greek tragedy. So always her greek identity was really important for her performances. I want to find out what greeks today think about maria callas. This is her statue in a park in central athens. I adore maria callas. I think that shes a unique woman. I think maria callas is a big part of our Cultural Heritage here in greece, but shes a little bit underappreciated. I think maria callas is a symbol, as a greek and as a woman. I think she was underestimated for some time. And i think that youngerl generations should know more about her than what they actually do. The Magic Of Maria soon spread further than greece. After the war, she returned to new york, and within a few years, she was delighting audiences at the worlds top opera venues. She opened the season at la scala in italy for an outstanding six times. Sings casta diva from norma by bellini a film recording of callas� s iconic debut at the paris opera in 1958 has been restored in colour for her centenary. Frenchman Olivier Descotes is the Artistic Director at the Olympia Theatre in athens, where maria callas performed very early in her career. He says her impact on opera is profound. Shes the one who revived the opera, and she was the one who revived the bel canto style and it was very new. It was a very big voice in terms of volumes, an interesting voice in all the register from the bottom to the top register. So she single handedly, youre saying, really revived opera with the bel canto, Beautiful Singing Tradition Of Italian Opera . Yes. Callas is important not only for the voice, but the way she put drama inside her voice. She was an actress onstage, and she is the one who managed to combine the voice and the actress. But the exceptional voice that defined callas began to decline when she was only in her mid 30s. Tragically, she had overused it and had sung professionally at far too early an age. We have some theories about this that, you know, she deteriorated her voice afterwards because of this premature debut. But there is another explanation, which is a dramatic loss of weight that she had in 54. She lost actually 35 kilos in a quite short period. So i believe a body couldnt, you know, integrate with big diet. Its like if you go from, if you play a cello and then a violin, you need an adaptation. So from the age of a1, callas ceased to appear in operas and only performed in concerts. She didnt want to make any concessions from an artistic point of view. She was a perfectionist. Her troubled personal life was lived out in public, under the gaze of the media. The toxic relationship with her family. Married to an italian nearly 30 years her senior who was secretly ripping her off. And a love affair with the greek shipping tycoon aristotle onassis, who then married former us first lady jackie kennedy, Leaving Callas heartbroken and devastated. Greece is now celebrating its famous daughter, some say belatedly, with a new museum. Maria callas was of greek origin. So we celebrate her greek origins, of course, but we really treat her as a cosmopolitan persona with a glorious international career. Maria callas was a fashion icon. She was very much interested in fashion. We have a section in the exhibition with dresses of maria callas and a variety of personal items. Maria callas was very famous, of course, for her personal and social life. How much coverage does that get . This is, of course, an aspect that we deal with in the museum. She was very well known for her social life and her personal life, of course, and her love affair with onassis that ended in a very bad way. When she died in paris in 1977, at the age ofjust 53, maria callas was living virtually as a recluse. She was mourned by her fans all over the world. Sobbing. The greek audiences and the greek state always paid tribute to maria callas. I mean, herfamily and her friends never managed to build, to create an institution to protect her legacy. So from my opinion, maria was always and is always unprotected. The triumphs and tragedies of maria callas� s life still resonate with audiences today. These singers at this masterclass in the Athens Conservatoire are at the very start of their professional career. Sings aria they sing duet sings Si Mi Chiamano Mimi from la boheme in herfinal year, german greek soprano Katherina Sandemeier was awarded the maria callas prize. The lessons we can learn from maria callas� s life are sort of conflicting because there are very positive things and also some negative aspects. She, of course, was a victim of sexism back then, and even though times have changed now and things are much better, sexism and misogyny and all these social issues are, of course, still prevalent and still very problematic. Shes a great inspiration, not only for young singers, for young artists. Shes still very relevant today for us and for the art form of opera. The legacy of maria callas is inspiring new projects, including a biopic featuring Hollywood Star Angelina Jolie planned for release in 202a. Her story is also being told on the operatic stage. Dramatic musical flourish. Here in london, the english National Opera is staging a highly unusual and provocative operatic work called the seven deaths of maria callas. Its by the serbian performance artist marina abramovic, who indeed is herself an icon in the world of art. Dramatic music. The performance, which has been staged across europe, consists of arias from seven of callas� s greatest roles, with Marina Enacting the death of each operatic character, ending with callas� s own lonely death. The veteran American Actor willem dafoe is her co star. Why did you want to make this operatic work in tribute to maria callas . This idea started already when i was only 1a years old and listening the first callas voice in the kitchen of my grandmother and i start uncontrollably crying because it was like something moved me emotionally so much. And then, later on, i read all the biographies. I listen to callas over and over again. Theres an orchestra, there is a conductor. So we mix so many media in a kind of new way to present this. She really died from a broken heart, and i almost die from broken heart. How far do you see similarities, then, in other ways between your life and that of maria callas . There is a much more Connection Thanjust broken heart. She had this amazing charisma, presence when shes on the stage, how she engage audience and how you can feel her energy. And then she said something thats really resonated to me and i can use to my work. Maria callas said, when i perform, i always make sure that one side of the brain is in complete control and the other side of brain loose and free. And when you have the chance to actually balance these two sides of brain, you know the performance is there and you can have full connection with the audience. And this is exactly what i feel when i perform. Back in athens, Opera Singers line up to pay tribute to maria callas. The Greek National opera is holding a star studded gala concert to mark the centenary of the birth of maria callas here at this historic open air theatre just beneath the acropolis. Music The Barber Of Seville by rossini. The concert is an absolute sell out. All 5,000 seats have been taken. And looking around, im very struck by the age range of the audience and its a real reflection of the esteem in which maria callas is held here in greece. Even the greek president herself is present. Closing bars of music sings soprano. Four leading sopranos sing arias forever linked with callas. Concludes aria crowd brava applause. After the concert, i catch up with the conductor to talk about what made maria callas so special. She brought the full package on the stage, bringing everything the tempo, the rhythm, the spirit, the music, the intention, the drama. Thats the reason why when she was there the piece really happened. One Audience Member who was memorably moved when he saw maria callas perform at this same venue in 1957 is alexis kostalas. I was immediately struck by the burning intensity of her huge eyes, and then with a few movements of the hands, very few movements, with the turn of the head, a look, she managed to draw in all the people to what she was doing and create a whole world byjust listening and responding to the music. Before she had sung a single note, you are spellbound. This is magic. And this is stuff legends are made of. Sings vissi darte from tosca by giacomo puccini. Its been fascinating for me to find out more about one of the true legends of opera, maria callas. Few Opera Singers become Household Names like her. Her colourful and tragic life made her as compelling as the heroines she depicted onstage. She was the victim of sexism and exploitation by those closest to her. Yet her star will never dim forfans like me and millions all over the world, including here in her native greece. I believe that, in the theatre, one goes to see and feel Something Better than what you usually have in life. And life has taught me that the last act is the most important. Hello there. Lets take a look at the weather for the week ahead. Now, as we head towards the end of 2023 and into the start of the new year, low pressure is still very much in charge. Its going to be unsettled, wet and windy at times, plenty of blustery showers around and then its set to turn a lot colder as we head into early january and next weekend. Now, still some cold air across scotland. In fact, there was some snow across the central belt to low levels, of course, through saturday, courtesy of a deep area of low pressure, bringing heavy rain, strong, gusty winds, particularly towards western coast. It was named Storm Geraldine by the French Met Office and thats been working its way eastwards and will continue to do so as we head through the day on sunday with a centre of low pressure across Northern Ireland, just moving into scotland as we head through the day. Plenty of blustery showers swirling around this low but largely dry out towards eastern areas as we go through sunday morning. New years eve, of course, mostly dry for scotland. Lighter winds here, but well see some very strong, gusty winds again towards the south coast of england as we head through the day. Feeling a little cooler for most as we head through sunday afternoon, six degrees celsius in scotland, but ten degrees further south. So still mild towards the south coast in particular, but here staying very blustery as we head through new years eve night. So if youre out celebrating, then do watch out for some showers, some very windy conditions along the south coast. So do beware if youre watching a Fireworks Display that could cause some disruption. Further north, then i think a lot of the showers will tend to be across Northern England and Northern Ireland as we head towards midnight, whereas towards parts of scotland it should be largely dry and therell be some clear spells. Any showers across the east could turn wintry, especially over the higher ground. Now monday, well see that area of low pressure start to fill. So it is going to be a little more settled. But again, more rain edging in from the southwest by the time we get to the end of the day. But plenty of dry weather before that. So if youre out for a new years walk, for example, i think there will be quite a lot of sunshine. Still the legacy of cloud and a few showers stretching from South West Scotland into north east england, perhaps particularly through the morning. And once again, there will be a drop in temperature, five degrees celsius in the north, ten degrees further south. Still double figures out towards the far south and the west, but really quite wet here by the end of the day. And that rain wont really clear until we get to tuesday morning. Again, some more rain just pushing into parts of north east england. Perhaps there will be a lot of cloud around through the day on tuesday. And theres a lot of doubts still on the exact position of these weather fronts. But maybe some more Rainjust Edging into the South West Again by the time we get to the end of the afternoon. Temperatures starting to come up again with that milder air and the South Westerly Winds and well keep the South Westerly as we head through wednesday. Its going to feel quite brisk, i think, but starting to turn a little milder again. Temperatures creeping back up into double figures, really quite showery on wednesday. But there should be a bit more in the way of brightness and some drier weather i think into thursday. Further ahead, just keep an eye on this area of High Pressure out towards iceland thats going to start to extend its influence across the uk. So things are set to turn a bit drier, but well also draw in more of a north easterly wind and this will turn things a lot colder. Still a lot of doubt and one of the models in particular is suggesting that well see High Pressure build in from the south, which will turn the winds more north westerly. So there are some differences in the models and still a lot of uncertainty. But what we do think is that there could be a northerly component to the winds. It will turn drier and colder as we head into next weekend and beyond with some overnight frosts too. Keep an eye on the forecast. Bye bye for now. Live from washington, this is bbc news. Ukraine says more than 120 villages were struck by russia, with dozens killed. It comes as the kremlin claims ukraine killed 20 people in a border city and injured more than a hundred others. Israeli forces push deeper into parts of central and Southern Gaza as aid agencies say hospitals have been overwhelmed with casualties. And with womens reproductive issues likely to be a key factor in the us 2024 election, we ask whats being done to improve Health Outcomes for black mothers. Im helena humphrey. Good to have you with us. We start in south west russia, where one official there says ukraine has carried out the most severe shelling since the kremlin� s full scale invasion of ukraine began. These pictures show smoke rising above the city of belgorod where russias Emergency Ministry says 20 people, including three children, killed in air strikes. More than 100 others were injured. Kyiv says only Military Facilities were targeted. The city is located approximately a0 kilometres north of the border with ukraine, 80 kilometres away from the ukrainian city of kharkiv. It comes a day after fridays massive bombardment of ukraine, the biggest of the war so far. Ukraines president zelensky says at least 39 people were killed when 150 russian missiles and drones were launched at cities across ukraine. Heres our russia editor steve rosenberg. Caught on dash cam, a giant explosion in the centre of belgorod