Seven Deaths of Maria Callas: Marina Abramović’s Operatic Exploration of Love, Loss, and Mortality Arrives in Copenhagen

The ethereal, yet profoundly human, echoes of opera legend Maria Callas have long resonated within the artistic psyche of Marina Abramović. This enduring fascination, sparked by a teenage encounter with Callas’s voice on the radio in her grandmother’s kitchen, has culminated in Abramović’s seminal work, "7 Deaths of Maria Callas." The acclaimed performance piece, which has captivated audiences worldwide, now finds a fittingly atmospheric home within the subterranean depths of Copenhagen’s Cisternerne Gallery. The exhibition, which opened its doors recently and is set to run until November 30, 2026, offers a poignant and visually arresting exploration of love, heartbreak, and the myriad ways in which we confront our own mortality, mirroring the dramatic arc of Callas’s own tumultuous life.

The genesis of "7 Deaths of Maria Callas" lies in a pivotal moment of artistic revelation for Abramović. "I remember that I froze," Abramović recounted in a conversation with Nikolaus Bachler, the director of the Bayerische Staatsoper, describing her first encounter with Callas’s voice. "Literally, time stopped, nothing was moving." The overwhelming power of Callas’s voice, described by Abramović as having an almost electric quality, filled the space and left an indelible mark. This profound connection underscores the deeply personal nature of the project, transforming an auditory experience into a comprehensive artistic endeavor.

Maria Callas, revered as "La Divina," remains one of history’s most celebrated and influential opera singers. Her voice, often described as capable of shattering chandeliers, possessed an unparalleled ability to imbue even the most melodramatic operatic roles with profound pathos and raw emotion. Beyond her legendary performances, Callas’s life was itself a drama of epic proportions, intricately woven with public adoration and private heartbreak. Her notorious affair with Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis led to the dissolution of her marriage and, despite Onassis’s eventual marriage to Jacqueline Kennedy, Callas remained devoted to him until her death. This enduring, unrequited love, coupled with years of relative isolation and the physical toll of extreme dieting, contributed to her untimely passing in her Paris apartment in 1977 at the age of 53. Her fading voice became a poignant metaphor for the fading of her own vibrant life, marked by profound emotional pain.

The Genesis of a Theatrical Opera

Abramović’s artistic response to the enduring power of Callas’s story and voice manifested in the creation of "7 Deaths of Maria Callas" in 2020. This ambitious production is not a biographical recounting but rather a conceptual opera, delving into seven iconic arias from classic operas such as Tosca, La traviata, and Norma. Each aria represents a different facet of death, often intertwined with themes of love and sacrifice. The opera is a multimedia spectacle, featuring striking costumes designed by Riccardo Tisci and evocative short films starring Abramović herself alongside acclaimed actor Willem Dafoe. The recent exhibition in Copenhagen brings these compelling short films to the forefront, showcasing them within the unique and atmospheric setting of the Cisternerne Gallery, a former underground reservoir characterized by its imposing vaulted ceilings and cavernous spaces.

The exhibition, officially titled Marina Abramović: Seven Deaths, presents a series of visually arresting scenarios depicting elaborate suicides, murders, and various forms of demise. These dramatic vignettes are powerfully underscored by Callas’s most heartrending arias. The staged deaths range from the spectacular – a dramatic leap from a skyscraper – to the subtly unsettling, such as the slow removal of a radiation suit or the symbolic suffocating embrace of a bouquet of strangulating snakes. Throughout these explorations of finality, Willem Dafoe plays a multifaceted role, acting as an arbiter of death, a harbinger of impending disaster, and an embodiment of profound heartbreak, adding a layer of dramatic gravitas to each scene.

A Shared Sensibility: Callas and Abramović

The resonance between Marina Abramović and Maria Callas extends beyond a mere appreciation of artistic talent. Both women have, in their respective fields, fearlessly confronted the most challenging and often torturous aspects of the human experience. Heartbreak, physical endurance, and profound risk have been central to their artistic expressions and, in many ways, to their lived realities. Their work is characterized by a deep sensuality and an intense emotional charge, reflecting a shared commitment to inhabiting the extremes of human emotion and translating them into compelling artistic narratives. Both have, in their own ways, publicly navigated and articulated private heartbreaks, creating a profound connection with their audiences through vulnerability and resilience.

Abramović’s own experiences with profound heartbreak, most notably the public and emotionally charged dissolution of her 12-year relationship with collaborator Ulay, inform her understanding of Callas’s plight. The iconic Great Wall Walk in 1988, where the couple met at opposite ends of the Great Wall of China to formally end their partnership, was a meticulously planned and deeply personal ritual. This monumental gesture, however, was tragically overshadowed by Ulay’s infidelity with his Chinese translator en route, adding another layer of complexity and pain to an already agonizing farewell. This personal experience undoubtedly deepened Abramović’s empathy for Callas’s enduring devotion and subsequent suffering.

The Healing Power of Art

In a 2020 interview with Dazed, Abramović articulated the profound connection she felt: "I was very much touched by Maria Callas. I had a very similar experience of a broken heart as she did. She died, but I didn’t die, and my work really saved me after that." This statement highlights a critical aspect of Abramović’s artistic philosophy: the transformative and redemptive power of creation. While Callas succumbed to the weight of her grief, Abramović found solace, catharsis, and ultimately, healing through her art.

The exhibition at Cisternerne is not merely a tribute to Callas but an invitation to the audience to engage with their own experiences of love, loss, and mortality. Abramović expresses a hope that viewers can find a similar path to healing: "It’s very romantic, but, at the same time, it needs to be cured. When you make something about your broken heart, and you go through these heavy emotions, you come out the other side healed. Healing is very important to me." She emphasizes that the power of the work lies in its ability to serve as a canvas for the audience’s own projections and emotional processing. "One of the effects of this work should be that humans can always project their own feelings into this project, and they can heal. The broken heart takes time, but you can come to heal on the other side."

Mortality and the Human Condition

The title, "7 Deaths of Maria Callas," is a deliberate and profound statement. It moves beyond the singular event of Callas’s physical death to encompass the metaphorical deaths experienced throughout a life defined by intense passion and profound sorrow. In a statement accompanying the exhibition’s opening, Abramović elaborated on this concept: "In opera as in life, death is stronger, love becomes absolute, pain becomes unbearable. It is not about dying once, it’s about dying many, many times. You die many times in life and yet you continue living. You give me your time, and I will die for you, seven times." This declaration underscores the cyclical nature of emotional death and rebirth, a universal human experience that Abramović masterfully encapsulates.

The exhibition’s run at Cisternerne, a venue known for its immersive and often challenging artistic presentations, provides an ideal environment for such a profound exploration. The subterranean setting, once a vital part of the city’s infrastructure, now serves as a space for introspection and artistic engagement, mirroring the journey through deep emotional landscapes that Abramović’s work invites. The juxtaposition of Callas’s operatic grandeur with Abramović’s visceral performance art creates a powerful dialogue between past and present, myth and reality, life and death.

The implications of "7 Deaths of Maria Callas" extend beyond the realm of art criticism. By confronting universal themes of love, loss, and mortality through such a potent artistic lens, Abramović offers a contemporary framework for understanding and processing these fundamental aspects of the human condition. The exhibition serves as a testament to the enduring power of art to connect us, to provoke introspection, and ultimately, to offer a path towards healing and resilience in the face of life’s inevitable heartbreaks. The enduring legacy of Maria Callas, as interpreted by Marina Abramović, continues to resonate, reminding us that even in death, there can be profound lessons and the possibility of enduring transformation.