Master Class, starring Stephanie Beacham as Maria Callas was an extremely enjoyable play. Maria was a famous opera singer in the 1930s, 40s and 50s who fell in love with Aristotle Onassis and was his girlfriend for many years before he married Jackie Kennedy. She was heartbroken when he left her and never forgave him. She died at a comparatively young age of 53 following an accidental overdose and heart attack.
Stephanie Beacham commands your attention on the stage and portrays Callas as a diva - arrogant, demanding and caustic to her students yet with long-standing vulnerabilities and insecurities. Callas was charming, yet manipulative and domineering in some aspects of her work. The play was certainly amusing in places, where Beacham derides her student’s singing abilities whilst recounting her own past glories.
The supporting actors were very talented singers and some of the classical arias were very beautiful-particularly the Lady Macbeth pieces of the second act.
The most poignant parts of the play were the introspective moments, where Beacham is alone on stage soliloquising about Callas’ past with Aristotle Onassis, whom she clearly adored. Their relationship seemed tempestuous and she gave up her singing for him; focusing on the relationship over her own professional career. The sadness of this decision was obviously that as her career was then in decline, he left her for a more powerful woman.
The background music of Maria Callas’ singing was amazing and she was obviously extremely talented. Callas seems to be focussed on past insecurities in these moments remembering those who wronged her at school or when she first started singing.
Overall, I came away with a picture of Maria Callas as a diva; a talented beautiful singer with significant professional success but her personal life left her alone and unhappy. I was impressed with Stephanie Beacham’s performance and enjoyed the pathos of Callas’ romantic life juxtaposed with her immense success on the stage.
Stephanie Beacham commands your attention on the stage and portrays Callas as a diva - arrogant, demanding and caustic to her students yet with long-standing vulnerabilities and insecurities. Callas was charming, yet manipulative and domineering in some aspects of her work. The play was certainly amusing in places, where Beacham derides her student’s singing abilities whilst recounting her own past glories.
The supporting actors were very talented singers and some of the classical arias were very beautiful-particularly the Lady Macbeth pieces of the second act.
The most poignant parts of the play were the introspective moments, where Beacham is alone on stage soliloquising about Callas’ past with Aristotle Onassis, whom she clearly adored. Their relationship seemed tempestuous and she gave up her singing for him; focusing on the relationship over her own professional career. The sadness of this decision was obviously that as her career was then in decline, he left her for a more powerful woman.
The background music of Maria Callas’ singing was amazing and she was obviously extremely talented. Callas seems to be focussed on past insecurities in these moments remembering those who wronged her at school or when she first started singing.
Overall, I came away with a picture of Maria Callas as a diva; a talented beautiful singer with significant professional success but her personal life left her alone and unhappy. I was impressed with Stephanie Beacham’s performance and enjoyed the pathos of Callas’ romantic life juxtaposed with her immense success on the stage.