Tonight, September 2nd, Marina Abramović present for the first time 7 Deaths of Maria Callas, at the Bavarian State Monaco’s Opera. The film is a homage to the soprano’s singer that died in 1977. The project was developed in collaboration with the composer Marko Nikodijević and using some of the most famous scenes played by Callas from plays such as Carmen, Tosca, Otello, Lucia di Lammermoor, Norma, Madama Butterfly and La Traviata.
The film, inspired by heartbreak, in particular, the dramatic life and love affair of Maria Callas with the shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, played by Oscar Nominee Willem Dafoe. “I see a lot of myself in Callas,” Abramović said. “We’re both Sagittarius, we’re both intensely emotional, but fragile at the same time. I almost encountered a similar fate. The difference [is that] my work saved me.”
Another fundamental part of this project was the Creative Director of Burberry Riccardo Tisci, that designed the costumes for the film. “I am a romantic dreamer at my core, so this was a very easy project to get involved with. The subject is one of love in all its forms, from the light to the dark,” Tisci commented on his latest work, as Abramović added: “I have wanted to make 7 Deaths for 30 years. To die from a broken heart is the thread which draws together each opera in a project which is centred around love and its forms, as much as my relationship with Riccardo,” she explained. “When the opportunity for this project started to become real, there was no other team I wanted to work with: Riccardo had to make all the costumes because we are love, he is fashion and I am art, two worlds that cross over in a creative dialogue of love, respect and freedom.”
