Maria, livid, shoves him aside and says she will julienne the vegetables herself. For this CD release, the warmup exercises, of great interest to the aficionado, have been remastered and left out. As for poor Maria, at this time she is undergoing tremendous stress in her personal life. Her voice makes something of a comeback after she accidentally swallows acupuncture needles, mistaking them for toothpicks. He expects her to go on as her own understudy in the long but vocally undemanding scene in which the Valkyries core apples.
Callas simply refuses to attend rehearsal.
She stays in her hotel suite bleaching yellowed press clippings in the bathroom sink, playing her old recordings on the mechanical pianaforte and in general bemoaning life. Onassis is planning fresh heartbreak. In the years since he has grown from mere magnet shipper to shipping magnate, his ego also has grown out of control. Not satisfied with a great yet aging diva who is only too happy to lend him her chignon, Onassis now is determined to woo away and win the hand of some world leader's wife. The voice is now frail, but Callas courageously manages to sing a few of the strings, the Vienna Boys Choir and the conducting.