"Tigress"... the newspapers called her. Maria Callas was the most glamorous, most talked about, most flamboyantly idolized and most spectacularly assailed operatic figure of our time. Loved or hated in person, praised or scorned in art, no singer inspired so much discussion, nor exercised comparable power at the box office. This intimate portrait by George Jellinek, one of America's foremost commentators of the music scene, chronicles the incredible career and life of the controversial diva - the "ugly duckling" who triumphed over a bitter childhood to become the Queen of Opera. Written in 1960, at the height of her fame, this is the extraordinary story of the struggles, storms and successes of a dazzlingly talented, fiercely determined woman. For this edition - the first paperback edition ever - Jellinek provides a new preface and epilogue covering the period 1960 to the star's death in 1977 and her posthumous glory. Opera enthusiasts and Callas fans will savor a gallery of sixty-four striking photographs showing the diva in personal life and famous roles: as an appealing one-year-old in her mother's arms; in her debuts at La Scala and the Met; with Aristotle Onassis and her husband, Giovanni Battista Meneghini (the famous triangle of the summer of 1959); in backstage feuds and celebrated walkouts; in roles as Norma, Medea, Lady Macbeth and other stunning specialities which made her prima donna assoluta of Italian opera and the most fascinating operatic personlity in history. -- from back cover.