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Athens museum to honor opera star Maria Callas

A museum dedicated to opera soprano Maria Callas will open in Athens, Greece, in 2015.

By Ed Adamczyk

ATHENS , Greece, April 9 (UPI) -- Plans for a museum dedicated to Greek opera star Maria Callas in Athens were unveiled Wednesday, with the museum expected to open in 2015.

Architect Erato Koutsoudaki, musicology professor Andromachi Gazi and conductor Alerxandros Charkiolakis presented the project’s study, which notes the progress Greece has made in dealing with the value and celebrity of Callas, an American-born soprano who died in 1977.

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It was suggested at the presentation Greece will benefit from a new tourist attraction, and memorabilia and other personal items of Callas -- acquired by the city several years ago at an auction -- will finally be available to the public.

The city of Athens is the owner of the building -- built in 1930 as a hotel and later refurbished as office space -- in which the collection will be housed. It was purchased in 2010. Plans to turn it into a theater never materialized.

“The museum will be structured around Callas’ personality. The core will be her own voice through recordings, concerts and interviews,” Koutsoudaki said.

[ekathimerini]

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