[Commlist] cfp: Maria Callas at 100: Opera, Celebrity, Myth International Conference

Turin, Italy

17-20 DECEMBER 2023 TEATRO REGIO DI TORINO 17-20 DICEMBRE 2023 TEATRO 
REGIO DI TORINO

Curators

Giulia Carluccio (Università di Torino), Massimo Fusillo (Università 
dell'Aquila), Stefania Rimini (Università di Catania), Emanuele Senici 
(Università di Roma La Sapienza)

Coordinators

Cristina Colet, Leonardo Mancini, Giulia Muggeo (Università di Torino)

Scientific Committee

Luca Aversano (Università Roma Tre), Alberto Bentoglio (Università di 
Milano), Giorgio Biancorosso (University of Hong Kong), Gabriella 
Giannachi (University of Exeter), Michal Grover-Friedlander (Tel Aviv 
University), Serena Guarracino (Università dell'Aquila), Gerardo Guccini 
(Università di Bologna), Andrea Malvano (Università di Torino), 
Antonella Mascio (Università di Bologna), Federica Mazzocchi (Università 
di Torino), Isabelle Moindrot (Université Paris 8), Federica Muzzarelli 
(Università di Bologna), Franco Perrelli (Università di Torino), 
Mariapaola Pierini (Università di Torino), Antonio Pizzo (Università di 
Torino), Maria Rizzarelli (Università di Catania), Emilio Sala 
(Università di Milano), Paola Valentini (Università di Torino)

Organization

UniVerso and CRAD (Centro Ricerche Attore e Divismo) - Università di Torino

"Da tutte le parti d’Europa, però, chi era riuscito a mettere insieme la 
somma e non si lasciava spaventare da un caldo capace d’abbattere le 
peggiori bestiacce, aveva giurato da mesi di non perdersela, 
quest’occasione di assistere a uno dei grossi sortilegi del mondo 
moderno: in un remoto angolo della Grecia di sassi, una notte di luna 
appare una maga, che è uno dei grandi personaggi del secolo, e in una 
cerimonia di stregoneria rotocalchesca Commuove i Popoli…"

With these words, Italian writer Alberto Arbasino poignantly evokes the 
compelling call that drove an international crowd to a torrid Epidaurus 
in July 1960 for Maria Callas’ performance in Norma. But, just as 
poignantly, Arbasino’s words also suggest the complexity of the Callas 
phenomenon as both performer and character, dominating the great stage 
of the twentieth century and beyond.

Call for papers

To mark the centenary of Maria Callas’ birth, the University of Turin 
promotes an international conference as the culmination of its 
“UniVerso/Maria Callas Icon” program. The conference is promoted 
together with UniVerso and CRAD, and in collaboration with Fondazione 
Teatro Regio di Torino.

• The conference Maria Callas at 100: Opera, Celebrity, Myth aims to 
address, from an interdisciplinary perspective, the study of an artistic 
personality who left a profound mark on the history of opera, but also 
more generally on the collective imaginary, becoming a true icon of the 
twentieth century. Her singing, which poet and critic Eugenio Montale 
defined as expressionistic, not only marked a turning point in the 
interpretation and reception of opera in contemporary culture, but also 
had a radical impact on all the other arts, from literature to cinema, 
and from the visual arts to all kinds of performance.

• Adopting a broadly multidisciplinary perspective, the conference will 
focus on a professional career that spanned several decades of the last 
century, leaving an indelibe mark on opera; at the same time, it will 
also explore the singer’s influence on broader social and cultural 
discourses, both in Italy and abroad, within which she performed – and 
continues to perform – a crucial role.

• In addition to reconsidering the fundamental part that Callas played 
in the historical and artistic context in which she lived, the 
conference also aims to emphasise her legacy and the ongoing relevance 
of her myth.

• From fashion to cinema, from pop music to TV series, from graphic 
novels to numerous biographies, Callas’ memory lives on in the present 
through countless tributes, reframes and remediations, as witnessed, for 
instance, by Marina Abramović’s operaproject 7 Deaths of Maria Callas, 
which will open the conference as a video installation.

The conference will comprise several sessions related to different 
disciplinary areas. The following keywords are intended to provide an 
initial conceptual framework:

ACTING • ARCHIVES • BODY • BODY POLITIC • CELEBRITY • CHARACTER • CINEMA 
• COLLECTING • DIRECTING • DIVA • EXHIBITION • FANDOM • FASHION • GENDER 
• GENRE • MEDIA • MYTH • MUSIC • OPERA • PERFORMANCE • PUBLIC/PRIVATE • 
QUEER • REPERTOIRE/INTERPRETATION • SINGING/VOICE • SOCIETY/TWENTIETH 
CENTURY • THEATER • WRITING/REWRITING

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The conference will be held in Italian and English. Those who would like 
to participate are invited to submit a proposal in the language of their 
choice to (callasconference /at/ unito.it) <mailto:(callasconference /at/ unito.it)>, 
including an abstract (max 2000 characters / 250 words) and a short bio 
(max 500 characters / 100 words).

Proposals from young scholars are particularly welcome.

Submission deadline: 30 June 2023

Notification of abstract acceptance: 20 July 2023

There is no registration fee for participation in the conference.

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