In this episode of Biographers in Conversation, acclaimed classical music critic and novelist, Sophia Lambton, chats with Dr Gabriella Kelly-Davies about her choices while crafting The Callas Imprint: A Centennial Biography, her biography of Maria Callas, the legendary operatic soprano and lyrical enigma. Maria Callas would have turned 100 on 2 December 2023, and in honour of her centennial, Sophia Lambton published The Callas Imprint.
Seductress, villainess, victor and queen, Maria Callas was a gallery of guises that instrumentalists would long to engineer and it was produced by a single voice. But while her craftsmanship has stood the test of time, Maria Callas’s image and legacy have been defamed at the hands of ‘saboteurs of beauty’.
Photo credits: © Erio Piccagliani/Teatro alla Scala
WINNER: BEST HISTORICAL RESEARCH IN RECORDED CLASSICAL MUSIC
The Callas Imprint
Twelve years in the making, The Callas Imprint: A Centennial Biography is a voluminous labour of love that explores the soprano with the reverence Maria Callas dealt her heroines. Sophia Lambton reaps never-before-seen correspondence and archival documents to illustrate the complexity of Maria Callas, closing in on her self-contradictions, self-descriptions, attitudes and habits with empathic scrutiny.
Maria Callas reacting to applause after a concert in July 1959 in Amsterdam.
Photo credit: Joop van Bilsen / Anefo,
via Wikimedia Commons.
An insightful and deeply nuanced portrayal of Maria Callas’s life, The Callas Imprint explores her from every vantage point: daughter, sister, wife, lover, friend, businesswoman, singer and teacher, to name a few. Sophia Lambton’s choices are pivotal in enabling her to craft a kaleidoscopic portrait of Maria Callas, capturing her artistry, contradictions, struggles, triumphs and her lifelong pursuit of serving opera at any cost. Despite the magical aura she cast on opera lovers, she was immensely fragile, mercurial, self-critical and prone to self-sabotage.
Sophia Lambton’s research tracks the 19,616 days of Maria Callas’s life.
In The Callas Imprint, Sophia Lambton challenges prevailing portrayals of Maria Callas. She explores Maria’s life with reverence, casting a new light on one of the most renowned and influential opera singers of the 20th century. Sophia vividly brings to life Maria’s experiences, musings, performances, the memories of friends and colleagues, and commentary from critics and audiences. Her dedication to capturing the truth of Maria Callas is evident in every page. Vitally, Sophia humanised Maria Callas in a way that prevailing portrayals have not fully captured.
Praise for The Callas Imprint: A Centennial Biography
The Callas Imprint is a revelation: a book worthy of anyone who is interested in learning more about how to live, and live as freely as they will their life to be.
OperaWire
Of all the biographies of La Divina, this one is for sure the most complete… A masterpiece of scientific rigour.
OperaLife Italy
This deeply researched book… surveys what feels like every twist and turn in the great operatic soprano's life and career.
American Record Guide
A dense, well-organized narrative… Tells you everything you’ll ever need to know about Callas in impressive detail.
BBC Music Magazine
Is it fair to measure a biography against its subject? In this case, yes. This book resembles Callas’s masterful ease on stage, the artistic precision-passion balance she manifests, a reward of the many overtime rehearsal hours for which Callas was often criticized by co-stars…
Mari Carlson, Midwest Book Review
A triple decryption—biographical, artistic and psychological... This work is not just one more book about this overexposed subject; quite the opposite—it finally completes our understanding.
Christophe Rizoud, Forum Opéra
Sophia Lambton’s meticulously researched, intense, lyrical magnum opus challenges the myths surrounding Maria fabricated by the press. This erudite biography doesn’t just explore her life. Lambton shines a spotlight on Callas’s craft critically evaluating the opera star’s singing with consummate care and precision down to the minutest detail and vocal technique behind each
aria and dramatic role.
Good Night to Read Blog
After being initially daunted by the size of the book, I can now say, hand on heart, that I enjoyed learning about this incredible woman. I must also praise the author for her painstaking dedication in bringing this story into print.
Milly Reynolds, Author
A Snapshot of Sophia Lambton’s Interviews
Sophia Lambton on THE CALLAS IMPRINT: A CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHY and Netflix’s MARIA.
Kare Reviews Podcast.
Author/Music Critic Sophia Lambton discusses Maria Callas.
‘Behind the Notes’.
Sophia Lambton, interviewed by Kelly Schuknecht.
About Sophia Lambton
Sophia Lambton became a professional classical music critic at the age of seventeen when she began writing for Musical Opinion, Britain’s oldest music magazine. Since then, she has contributed to The Guardian, Bachtrack, musicOMH, BroadwayWorld, BBC Music Magazine and OperaWire. Elsewhere she is a novelist. The four volumes of her literary saga The Crooked Little Pieces were released by The Crepuscular Press in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
To learn more about Sophia Lambton, here’s where you’ll find her:
https://thecrepuscularpress.com/