Callas in Concert – The Hologram Tour
London Coliseum, 25th November 2018
Maria Callas performed 33 times on the stage of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden: Norma, Aida, Leonora (Trovatore), Violetta, Medea and, most famously, her legendary Tosca with Tito Gobbi, which had fans queueing overnight for tickets in 1964. Who’d have thought – 41 years after her death – we’d be watching her sing “Vissi d’arte” down the road at the Coliseum? Courtesy of some digital and laser wizardry, it happened. There she was, La Divina, looking a million dollars in a satin gown, wrapping her tonsils around her greatest hits.
© Evan Agostini for BASE Hologram
Callas is not the first singer to undergo resurrection by hologram. Frank Sinatra, who had more comebacks than Lazarus, was given the laser treatment back in 2003. BASE Hologram took up the challenge with Roy Orbison and now, Maria Callas. Amy Winehouse, it reports, is in preparation. Is there something ghoulish about bringing an artist back from the dead? Well, Callas’ recordings are still revered by thousands and reissues offer a steady stream of revenue to her record company, Warner Classics, so the demand is there, evidenced by the Stalls and Dress Circle of the Coliseum being completely sold out (at hefty prices too).
Most importantly though: how well does it work? The technology is truly remarkable. Centre-stage, it’s unmistakably Maria Callas, flesh-and-blood before your eyes. Her gestures, the movement of her gown, her coquettish way with a silk scarf… just occasionally, you had to pinch yourself that it wasn’t real. But it’s the real world that’s the problem. Callas the Hologram is here performing with a live orchestra and conductor – to a live audience. And when that live audience stops clapping but pre-programmed Maria continues to receive applause, it just feels awkward. There’s something odd about applauding something that isn’t really there too… like the nervous applause an opera audience offers in the cinema, watching a live relay from The Met. As she leaves the stage, the illusion becomes more transparent, the orchestra clearly visible through her gown.
© Evan Agostini for BASE Hologram
Aurally it takes a little while to adjust, especially as the orchestra (amplified, yuck) conducted by Eímear Noone occupies a different acoustic to the singer. And as the Callas soundtrack is taken from a number of recordings, even her acoustic varies during the course of the evening. But the voice is its distinctive self – vividly coloured, instantly recognisable, prone to intrusive vibrato and hollowness – but the artistry in her dramatic interpretations is enhanced by being able to watch her singing.
The effect is hypnotic, from Carmen’s Habanera to Norma’s “Casta diva” via Juliette, Ophélie, Gioconda and La Wally. It works best when the producers use technology to go beyond what is humanly possible. At the end of Carmen’s “Carreau, pique…la mort !” monologue, Callas takes the pack of cards she’s been dealing and throws them into the air… and freezes her position as the cards cascade around her in slow motion. We then segue into a compelling Sleepwalking scene from Macbeth, Callas’ Lady M furiously rubbing her palm in an intense reading. However, the ultimate goosebump moment has to be “Vissi d’arte”, searingly honest, emotionally intense. Better than any tribute act.