She left her husband for the shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, largely giving up performing in the process. When Onassis eventually married Jackie Kennedy instead, Callas was alone and bereft, without either the vocation that had given her purpose or the man who had replaced it. There was always that sense of every phrase being considered, without feeling studied — of a voice with a purpose. But among the most pernicious stereotypes about Callas is that she was an actress who could barely sing, who got by on charisma alone. Listen to her tender “O mio babbino caro.” Listen to her delicate yet commanding “D’amor sull’ali rosee.” She was always a bel canto singer at heart.

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Persons: Aristotle Onassis, Onassis, Jackie Kennedy, Callas, direly, “, ”, Francesco Siciliani, —, caro, D’amor Organizations: “, Juilliard School