BBC Click visits a simulator lab that allows musicians to practice performance in real-world conditions. Sir Paul McCartney’s childhood home in Liverpool offers a rare glimpse into the early life of a global icon. We tackle the tough topics, like racism in the LGBTQIA community, mental health and the challenges facing queer youth, and also profile inspirational women who are making a difference to the lives of lesbian, bi and trans women.
The musical mountaineers serenading the wilderness
- The role leading the renovated Jersey Opera House is advertised with a salary of up to £90,000.
- The «virtuosic» One Battle After Another is «horrifying yet ridiculously funny».
- We tackle the tough topics, like racism in the LGBTQIA community, mental health and the challenges facing queer youth, and also profile inspirational women who are making a difference to the lives of lesbian, bi and trans women.
- While Garbo’s reclusiveness might have been perceived by many as snobbish, and her arguments with MGM executives deemed unprofessional, we cannot truly know the reasons behind her actions.
- Considering that much of what we know about celebrities has been constructed through the media, we can never be sure of what a person is really like unless we know them personally.
- Callas united so-called high culture and pop culture, without compromising her repertoire.
- «If you look at the nature of the diva as an artist and how often they are looked at and scrutinised in a way which carries a lot of negativity, when actually, these solo artists are hard-working, ambitious, visionary, trail-blazing… and should be celebrated for that,» she says.
DIVA magazine is the world’s leading magazine for LGBTQIA women and non binary people. Get a comprehensive understanding of the gut microbiome, the many species, and the vital roles they play. Dame Kiri Te Kanawa has enjoyed one of the longest careers in operatic history. «Perhaps Maria Callas, beyond her genius as a musicienne assoluta, so timeless and perpetually modern in the sensory impact it has on the listener, continues to fascinate because she actually has no true descendants.»
The journey to become an opera singer
- In 1936, dissatisfied with the unambitious roles offered within her contract to Warner Bros, and earning a salary inferior to her contemporaries, she sued the studio.
- BBC Click visits a simulator lab that allows musicians to practice performance in real-world conditions.
- Callas maintained her poise in the face of astounding cruelty, and long before mainstream notions of artist wellbeing or body positivity; it’s hard to imagine people camping out for Beyoncé or Gaga shows solely to jeer or pelt the stars with vegetables.
- Known for her short temper, love of gossip, and drive for perfection, many people have labelled her a diva.
- Faced with motor neurone disease (MND), Paul Jameson is reclaiming his voice through opera.
And even worse, many of these men committed acts far worse than arguing with directors or looking down on others – like sexual harassment or abuse. While this is certainly the case for many stars (of all genders) who let fame get to their heads and then lash out at those they consider beneath them, it can’t be denied that many women are called divas when, really, they just know what they want, won’t be bossed around by others, and have the courage to go after their goals. In other cases, anxiety and insecurity can be misconstrued as diva behaviour, such as turning down signing autographs or being reluctant to do interviews. Davis wrote in her memoir, The Lonely Life, “I have always been driven by some distant music — a battle hymn no doubt — for I have been at war from the beginning. I was going to conquer the world.” Her determination for cinematic excellence is outlined here, loud and clear. For many people, especially during this golden age, seeing a woman act determinedly to achieve success was startling and, quite frankly, enough to earn them the diva label.
Beyoncé
Derided in her youth for being fat, Callas was later slated for being too thin; her weight loss was said to contribute to her vocal decline, although the intensity and range of her work was surely a factor. A new documentary explores the highs and lows of Callas’s life, as well as what her legacy is today. «She worked so hard, she made herself Maria Callas – she made herself the greatest diva,» Stella Kourmapana, archivist at the Athens Conservatoire, explains in Maria Callas, part of the BBC series Take Me to The Opera.
Can you solve 4 words at once?
By using a term that reduces a person to a flimsy stereotype, you strip a person of their identity and complexity. Considering that much of what we know about celebrities has been constructed through the media, we can never be sure of what a person is really like unless we know them personally. In Beyoncé’s song ‘Diva’, she tells us that a “diva is a female version of a hustler”.
The musician explains a heavy moment thinking about the lyrics of a song from his forthcoming album. And if you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called The Essential List. A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Culture, Worklife and Travel, delivered to your inbox every Friday.
Divas, says Fairclough, are «symbols of empowerment, self-acceptance and celebration of individuality, and challenging societal norms» and, as such, play an important role in LGBTQ+ culture. On her podcast last year, Meghan Markle appeared to take umbrage at Mariah Carey calling her a diva, while Carey, the daughter of an opera singer, has come to embrace the term. «And yes, part of that is real.» Hip-hop star Lizzo, queen of feathers, fake furs and sexy stage wear, is another artist who leans into it, while, as a plus-size woman, subverting the archetype. Callas united so-called high culture and pop culture, without compromising her repertoire. Her performances caused a clamour at world-class institutions including Milan’s La Scala and New York’s Metropolitan Opera, and she collaborated with the likes of Luchino Visconti, Franco Zeffirelli and Leonard Bernstein, as well as Pier Paolo Pasolini (who cast her in the non-singing title role of his 1969 movie Medea, some years after her final concerts).
How can music enhance our creativity?
Two mountaineering musicians are combining classical music with the stunning scenery of the Cascade Mountains. Faced with motor neurone disease (MND), Paul Jameson is reclaiming his voice through opera. We explore where Diva our musical creativity comes from, and what happens to our brains when we improvise.
In the 21st Century, Callas has taken the form of a hologram on tour (though it’s unlikely that the real-life perfectionist star would have approved of the glitchy tech), and been portrayed by actresses including Fanny Ardant (in Zeffirelli’s 2002 biopic Callas Forever) and Angelina Jolie (set to star in Pablo Larraín’s upcoming film Maria). In 1936, dissatisfied with the unambitious roles offered within her contract to Warner Bros, and earning a salary inferior to her contemporaries, she sued the studio. Not only did her pay go up, but subsequent roles such as the stubborn and spoiled Julie Marsden in Jezebel (1938), which earned her a second Oscar, and the histrionic, ageing actress Margo Channing in All About Eve (1950) made cinema history, and cemented the trope of the drama-loving diva. If you’re not running to call a man a diva, then why are you calling a woman one for similar behaviours?