“Callas Paris, 1958”: interview with the director Tom Volf

October 20, 2023 1

A night at the Paris Opera with the one and only Maria Callas.

"Callas Paris, 1958": interview with the director Tom Volf Federica Scarpa

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This year, the Rome Film Festival dedicates a tribute section to the great Maria Callas on the centenary of her birth. Among the films in program, “Callas Paris, 1958” by Tom Volf, is a unique opportunity to see and discover the great Diva of opera music on the occasion of her concert at the Paris Opera in 1958.

An unexpected discovery

In the interview for FRED Film Radio, director Tom Volf tells us about the emotion of discovering the reels of the 1958 Maria Callas concert, unique material that finally allowed us to show what had been one of the first events broadcast live on television at that time: “Until today, we only knew about that historic performance through snippets of second-grade quality video.”

Working on restoration

Volf says it took two years to restore the reels: “In the new footage, there were many new details, the lights, the colours. We had photos from that evening, so we decided to face the challenge of restoring in colour the performance of that evening.”
The sound has obviously also been restored and cared for to allow the voice of the great Diva to reach the public in all its nuances. “I actually hope that when watching the film, people forget about the restoration and just enjoy Maria Callas!” says the director.

The Diva

We couldn’t help but ask Tom Volf, also president of the Maria Callas Foundation, what makes Maria Callas, even today, a legendary icon and THE Diva par excellence. “You know, originally, the word Diva comes from Divine. Today, it is misused a bit. But I would say that she had that “something”. That mysterious something in her voice, which seems to come from out of nowhere, and we are so moved when we listen to her.”

Plot

In December 1958 Maria Callas made her debut at the Opéra of Paris in a concert that was expected to be legendary and it turned out to be one of the events of the century.

Written by: Federica Scarpa

Maria Callas Tom Volf

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Film

Callas Paris 1958

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Festa del Cinema di Roma

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“Callas Paris, 1958”: interview with the director Tom Volf