Excerpt from an interview of Maria Callas by Bernard Gavoty where she explains what being an idol is.
May 14th 1964 "Le Monde de la Musique": Une heure avec Maria Callas: Paris
Bernard Gavoty: You say you're simply a woman, a real woman.
Maria Callas: Yes
BG: So why don't you agree quite simply to be an idol? Because, contrary to what you think, we need idols.
MC: You need them but you destroy them, very easily. So, when you set up an idol, the moment the idol happens to be a bit fragile, or is going through a difficult patch and needs help, that's when she's ruined.
BG: But people do have this particular way, not expressed with words, but with gestures and acts, of paying homage to their idols.
MC: Paying homage to their idols, yes. But I'm not an idol, I'm a human. I'm not perfect, that's why I sometimes sing well and sometimes not so well. Athletes, too, can be on form or not on form. With me, you'll think, "Oh, she's lost her voice!" You see. But we are not idols, we make music. We need the public to say, "She was very good, it's an splendid opera, go and see it." But that's something else entirely.
5 июн 2015
