tomvolf

tom volf

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Maria by Callas" exhibition

(La Seine Musicale - 2017 & Monaco Grimaldi Forum - 2018)

In 2017, Tom Volf, President of the Maria Callas Endowment Fund, orchestrated the Maria by Callas exhibition at La Seine Musicale, in partnership with the Conseil Départemental des Hauts-de-Seine, offering the public a rare and emotional immersion into the world of the famous soprano. Genuinely involved in every stage of this creation, he took it to heart to design an immersive and poignant scenography: giant projections, never-before-seen photographs, private super-8 films, concert recordings and personal correspondence, magnificently narrated by Fanny Ardant.

This sensory and visual experience, spread over 800 m², transported visitors to the heart of Maria Callas' art and intimate life, revealing her expressions and stage intensity. More than 30,000 visitors were able to discover or rediscover the artist and the woman through rare documents and objects. This project, combining passion and rigour, is a testament to the exceptional commitment of Tom Volf, who is bringing Callas' legacy to a wider audience, whether opera lovers or novices.

Video library

Maria by Callas: once upon a time there was a voice

Maria by Callas" exhibition: 40 years after the diva's death

Photo gallery

They're talking about it...

"The ambition of Tom Volf, curator of the exhibition, is clear: to give the illusion of a Callas close to us. The first panel immediately announces this intimacy: "You, alone with her". And the gamble paid off: the exhibition doesn't tell us about Callas, it lets us spend two hours in her company.

- The Elephant

"She is one of the rare opera artists to have acquired such an aura and such notoriety: Maria Callas, known simply as Callas, or the "Diva", is the subject of an exhibition-event at La Seine Musicale on the outskirts of Paris, to mark the 40th anniversary of her death. It's an immersive, intimate tour that gives pride of place to the human dimension of the character rather than a more pedagogical, musicological approach.

- France Info

"Gathered together by Tom Volf, curator of the exhibition and author of the largest eponymous book ever published on the Diva assoluta, photographs, private Super 8 films, private recordings of her concerts, intimate letters, rare images of interviews and backstage performances, as well as stage costumes and iconic objects, offer a new look at the life of the woman who reformed vocal interpretation and made the headlines of the world. A host of innovative devices are used to recreate the virtuosity, vocal technique and emotion of Maria Callas's voice. The exhibition is enhanced by a 360° auditorium, which allows visitors to hear Maria Callas as if she were actually there.

- Radio France

"Unless you're a passionate fan who has read and seen it all, there's a good chance you'll discover some images you've never seen before in the "Maria by Callas" exhibition, which opens this Saturday 16 September at La Seine Musicale. Its organiser, Tom Volf, has spent several years scouring archives and collections around the world to unearth previously unseen films and recordings".

- Opera Forum

"The exhibition retraces Callas' professional and artistic career as well as her romantic adventures and Maria's emotional fragility. In Room 360, with its optimal acoustics, you can hear a number of great arias performed by the diva on film, projected onto four screens with subtitles. We hear extracts from Tosca, Carmen, Lucia di Lamermor, Norma, Anne Boleyn... Maria Callas' stage presence is particularly visible. There are previously unseen video extracts, interesting and sometimes intimate interviews, such as the one in which she talks about her musical complicity with the French conductor Georges Prêtre (who died last January). All in all, this is a fine, long exhibition about a magnetic woman.

- The era of the stage