A small 700th century canvas of great historical value and even greater symbolic value is the one depicting the Holy Family it will be exhibited for one evening at gate 1, entrance to the stalls and foyer of the Verona Arena. Even the date is highly symbolic, since the August 1st is the exact anniversary of the date on which it was given to Maria Callas in 1947 by the entrepreneur Giambattista Meneghini, then husband of the greatest singer ever.
On August 2, 1947, the still almost unknown Greek soprano would make her real international debut as the protagonist of Ponchielli's La Gioconda alongside the already established Richard Tucker, Elena Nicolai, Carlo Tagliabue and Nicola Rossi Lemeni. On the podium was the great Italian maestro Tullio Serafin, who, in addition to having been the Arena conductor for the historic first Aida in 1913, would have been the absolute point of reference for Callas's entire career both in the theater and in the numerous record recordings. The outcome of that performance was triumphal and in fact the consecration of a star that is still unforgotten and unforgettable.
Giambattista Meneghini (1896-1981) was the first true mentor of Callas (born Maria Anna Cecilia Sofia Kalogeropoulos, 1923-1977) who had just arrived in Verona from the United States where she was born: her loving care was the beginning of a relationship that in 1949 joined them in marriage, intertwining affections and careers. The evening before the legendary Mona Lisa, Meneghini gave Maria a small painting painted by the Veronese artist Giambettino Cignaroli (1706-1770) which depicts the Holy Family: an object from which the soprano would never be separated again, taking it with her to dressing rooms all over the world. The work, owned by Ilario Tamassia and Marco Galletti, was loaned to the Casa Museo of the Paolo and Carolina Zani Foundation for art and culture which exhibited it, between February and May, alongside the masterpieces of its own collection which boasts paintings by Canaletto, Guardi, Tiepolo, Boucher and extraordinary Venetian, Roman and French Baroque furnishings.
After 74 years, thanks to the Paolo and Carolina Zani Foundation, the work is returned to the original place of this magical gift for one evening, on the occasion of the second performance of Turandot at the Arena di Verona with an international cast of absolute prestige, including the most requested and appreciated soprano in the world for the last twenty years, Anna Netrebko, engaged in the title role.
The Holy Family of Maria Callas then will be exhibited inside gate 1 extraordinarily from 17 to 19 pm for all visitors with free admission immediately after the inauguration, therefore for spectators of Turandot on August 1st, until the end of the performance, who are in possession of a ticket for the stalls or for the Verdi, Puccini and Rossini sectors. The background of the exhibition will be a collage of precious photographs, many of which are unpublished, portraying Maria Callas in moments of private life and in the dressing rooms of various theaters around the world with Cignaroli's work.
states Cecilia Gasdia, Superintendent and Artistic Director of the Arena di Verona Foundation: «Maria Callas has never forgotten the Arena and Verona, the theater where she also returned as an established star and the city where she lived and left her mark, but above all the Arena di Verona has never forgotten Maria Callas. This small work of art has a profound and immeasurable intimate value: the Arena Foundation is honored to welcome it among its velvets for one evening, with the reverence and respect for the privacy of a unique woman and artist, as if we were entering her dressing room and we went out without disturbing her, because she is still here, still alive».
«The exhibition in the Arena of the Holy Family of Giambettino Cignaroli – declares Massimiliano Capella, Director of the Zani House Museum – it is not a nostalgic operation, but it is to be considered a real artistic restitution. Albeit for a few hours, the small panel returns to the place where Maria Callas received it from the hands of Giovanni Battista Meneghini. A gift of love that Callas herself transformed into her personal talisman and which from Verona accompanied her to theaters around the world. A small work of only 19 cm that contains the emotions of the greatest legend of the XNUMXth century opera house».
