MONICA BELLUCCI IS TO PRESENT A PERFORMANCE IN MOSCOW AND SAINT-PETERSBURG

16 February 2022

In May 2022, Moscow and Saint Petersburg will host for the first time in Russia the premieres of the international project Maria Callas. Memories in Letters. A solo performance by Monica Bellucci will take place on the 27th of May at the Alexandrinsky Theater in Saint-Petersburg and on the 31st of May at the Vakhtangov Theater in Moscow. The performance will be shown in English with Russian subtitles.

Premiere of the show Maria Callas. Memories in Letters took place in 2019 at the Marigny theater in Paris. It is based on a documentary biographical film and a book directed by Tom Wolf, Maria Callas. Letters and Memoirs.

The play consists of three parts arranged in chronological order. From the first part, viewers will learn how in the 1950s the singer conquered prestigious opera houses in Europe and the United States and about her relationship with her husband, industrialist and philanthropist Giovanni Battista Meneghini. The second part of the production is dedicated to the 1960s: Maria Callas's encounter with Aristotle Onassis and their whirlwind romance. The performance will end with a story about the last years of the singer's life, full of nostalgia and loneliness.

Scenic solutions and lighting effects complement Monica Bellucci's transformation into the legendary opera singer. In the center of the stage is an exact copy of the sofa that was in Maria Callas's Parisian apartment and throughout the performance, Monica Bellucci wears the famous black dress that belonged to the singer herself. The production also features melodies and arias performed by Maria Callas.

Two years after the successful premiere in Paris, Athens, Milan and Rome, the show will now finally be shown in Russia. Monica Bellucci says that she is looking forward to presenting the performance to the Russian public.