Hardly the loudest romance of the twentieth century could become a libretto for the opera The Betrayal of Love. Characters: Maria Callas and Aristotle Onassis - "The Golden Greek" and the singer, whose voice was classified as voci principali (main voices) ...
The Adventures of the Golden Greek
It is believed that Onassis was born in 1906 in Smyrna in the family of a trader of tobacco and opium. In 1920, when the city was captured by the Turks, the young Aristotle with only $ 100 in his pocket went to Argentina. Cousin helped him get a telephone station. Onassis was so good at listening to the conversations of stockbrokers that two years later he was able to open his own firm, which supplied the Argentine with cigarettes and drugs. And the purchased post of the Greek vice-consul helped him to get even more rich in currency speculation. Onassis took up the courts.
In 1937, he twisted an affair with Ingebor Adihen, the heiress of Norway's largest whaling flotilla. Her connections allowed Ari to build the most powerful tanker fleet. The outbreak of war forced the lovers to leave for the States, and here Onassis opened up new horizons. On his account was already about $ 30 million, which made him in the eyes of the public an enviable groom. In this connection, Ingebor was immediately forgotten. Finally, Ari settled down and got married. His chosen one was the daughter of the rich shipowner Tina Aivanos. The lawsuit with the US government forced the couple to return to Europe and settle on the Riviera.
Onassis was engaged in whaling. Superprofits allowed him to take over the airline "Olympic". Another of the acquisitions is the Canadian military frigate. Ari converted it into a luxurious fashionable yacht, the interiors of which were trimmed with gold of the highest standard, white marble and lapis lazuli.
A diamond that needs to be cut
Maria Callas, who was born in 1923 in New York, was the third child in the family of Greek immigrants. Over the years, Maria turned into an unattractive girl with a stunningly beautiful singing voice. Her ambitious mother, guessing about future incomes, left her husband and returned with two daughters to Greece, where Maria easily entered the Athenian Conservatory. Her ascent to Olympus began in Verona, where she brilliantly performed in the opera "La Gioconda" by A. Ponchielli. The magical sound of the voice and the dramatic talent of the artist made such an impression on the Italian industrialist Batista Meneghini that he immediately offered her his hand and heart.
Phantom of the Opera
Callas was not a beauty in the conventional sense of the word, but, no doubt, she possessed natural magnetism. For the first time Aristotle Onassis saw the singer in 1957 at a ball arranged in her honor. A new meeting took place in Paris at the gala concert of the singer. Ari presented her with a huge bouquet of crimson roses. With all his indifference to the opera, Ari found for himself a special piquancy in the fact that Callas was a Greek. "How romantic he is!" - said touched Kallas. In the voice of his wife, Meneghini immediately caught a new note.
After much persuasion, Maria and her husband agreed to stay on the yacht Onassis "Christina". Moreover, doctors advised Kallas to take care of the ligament and rest on the sea. Even the presence on board of the yacht of a wife and a guest like Churchill did not prevent Onassis from conquering Mary.
Further - worse. No sooner had Menegini and Callas returned home, as Onassis appeared. Almost in an ultimatum form, he demanded that Batista leave Mary. "How much do you want? Million? Two? Five? "Meneghini refused the" deal, "but Callas filed for divorce anyway. She divorced Ari and Tina, although Onassis begged her for reconciliation.
Callas dreamed of resting, and the Golden Greek gave her such a long-awaited freedom. Aristotle boasted that he would build an opera house in Monte Carlo for his girlfriend. However, the public has become increasingly less likely to attend performances with the participation of the singer. Fans condemned the novel of Mary Callas and Aristotle Onassis, believing that Onassis had ruined her career.
"Nothing else matters ..."
And then, on August 10, 1960, Maria made a statement to the press about their desire to marry. But when asked about Itassiss, he replied: "We are close, good friends and only." Callas felt deeply hurt. Her dreams of a family hearth were destroyed. To top it all off, when she became pregnant with Ari, he categorically insisted on an abortion.
Even at the peak of his relationship with Maria Onassis was ready for a new love adventure. He set himself the next task: to win the favor of the wife of US President Jacqueline Kennedy. The novel began to develop only after the death of John F. Kennedy. In June 1968 Robert Kennedy was killed. The tragedy accelerated the course of events. Jacqueline called Onassis and said yes. October 17, 1968 on the Greek island of Scorpios Aristotle Onassis married to Jacqueline Kennedy. Kallas wrote to her friend: "A triumph is inevitably followed by a disaster - the law of the Greek tragedy."
Maria Callas, after a break with Onassis, did not come out onto the stage any more, her magic voice was lost forever because of the shock. After learning about Ari's death in 1975, she wrote in her diary: "Nothing matters ... Without it ... I can only die." Maria Callas died two years later in Paris.