Music school alumni bring Maria Callas back home

The Cultural Center of Kalamata in the northwestern Peloponnese unveiled a permanent exhibition on Maria Callas on December 2, the day that, had the great Greek opera diva been alive, she would have turned 101 years old. It was a good day for the capital of Messinia and for the region, a homecoming of sorts, of a world-celebrated artist whose humble roots lay in the village of Neochori.

The exhibition is the passion project of the Maria Callas Alumni Association of the Music School of Kalamata. Among other mementos, it brings together letters written by the great soprano, magazine covers and rare magazines, a pair of her gloves, photographs from her landmark performance in "Medea" from the collection of Richard Copeman that were salvaged from her last place place of residence, and a silver medal designed by engraver Nikos Perantinos.

"The journey to this moment began...