During a short return to America to visit her father in 1945, she auditioned at the Metropolitan Opera without success. Her first major break came with her Italian debut in Verona in 1947, as "La Gioconda". There, she met conductor Tullio Serafin who became her mentor and guided her towards the bel canto repertoire. She sang her first "Norma" in Florence in 1948, and the following year, as a last minute replacement, she appeared as Elvira in Bellini's "I puritani" in Venice, which was to be her first great success.
In 1949, she married industrialist Giovanni Battista Meneghini who became her manager. She was sometimes known as Maria Meneghini Callas after her marriage.
Shortly after, she made her debut at La Scala in Milan, where the major part of her career and greatest triumphs were to take place. In collaboration with conductors like Carlo Maria Giulini, Leonard Bernstein, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, and directors like Franco Zeffirelli and Luchino Visconti, lavish productions of works such as Cherubini's "Medea", Spontini's "La Vestale", Bellini's "La sonnambula" and "Norma", Donizetti's "Anna Bolena" and "Poliuto", Verdi's "La traviata" and "Un ballo in maschera", were made especially for her to great acclaim.
She also made guest appearances at the Royal Opera House in London, the Berlin State Opera, the Paris Opéra, the Lyric Chicago Opera, the Dallas Opera and the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.
In 1958, she met Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis which led to her divorce from Meneghini, and slowly began to withdraw from the stage. Her final appearance was in "Tosca" in London in 1965. She made a last world concert tour in 1973–74 with her often partner tenor Giuseppe Di Stefano, but by then her voice was almost gone.
Callas died of a heart attack in Paris, France, at the age of 53.
Ultramarine
Ultramarine is a blue pigment, and the name of a blue colour. The pigment is found naturally. It is ground down from a mineral called Lazurite, the main component of lapis lazuli. The colour is due to the presence of S−3 anions (trisulfur).
Synthetic ultramarine is a more vivid blue than natural ultramarine, since the particles in synthetic ultramarine are smaller and more uniform than natural ultramarine and therefore diffuse light more evenly.
Artificial, like natural, ultramarine has a magnificent blue colour. Since it is not affected by light or contact with oil or lime, it is used in painting.
A small addition of zinc-white (zinc oxide) causes the colour to become less vivid (~bright). Synthetic ultramarine, invented in the 1820s, is very cheap. It is largely used for wall painting, the printing of paperhangings and calico. It is also used to correct the yellowish tinge found in things meant to be white, such as linen, paper, etc. Bluing or "laundry blue" is a solution of synthetic ultramarine (sometimes, prussian blue) that is used for this purpose when washing white clothes. Large amounts are used in making paper, especially the kind of pale blue writing paper popular in Britain. During World War I, the RAF painted the outer roundels with a colour based on ultramarine blue. This became BS 108(381C) Aircraft Blue. It was replaced in the 1960s by a new color based on phthalocyanine blue, BS110(381C) Roundel Blue.
The Last Airbender (video game)
The Last Airbender is a video game for Wii and Nintendo DS. It is based on the movie of the same name. It was released on 29 June 2010 in USA. It was released in Europe on 6 August 2010. It will be released in Australia on September 2010. Like the previous games, it was developed by THQ Studio Australia and published by THQ.
Nicktoons Nitro
Nicktoons Nitro is a video game which is a sequel to "Nicktoons Racing" and "Nicktoons Winners Cup Racing". It features characters from the TV shows: "SpongeBob SquarePants", "Danny Phantom", "", "The Fairly OddParents", "Invader Zim", "", "Back at the Barnyard", "The Mighty B!", "Ricky Sprocket: Showbiz Boy", "Kappa Mikey", "Dora the Explorer", "Go, Diego, Go!", "Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!", "Ni Hao, Kai-Lan", "Maggie and the Ferocious Beast", and "My Life as a Teenage Robot", The game features "Mario Kart" like gameplay. The game was released in 2009 as an arcade game by developer Raw Thrills.
Lead carbonate
Lead carbonate is a compound composed of lead and carbonate ions. It contains lead in the +2 oxidation state. It is made by mixing lead(II) acetate and carbon dioxide. It does not dissolve in water. It is poisonous because it has lead in it. It produces lead(II) oxide when heated.
Lead nitrate
Lead nitrate is a chemical compound. It has lead and nitrate ions in it. It was known long ago as plumb dulcis. The lead is in the +2 oxidation state.
Lead nitrate is a white solid. It is one of the few lead compounds that can dissolve in water. Lead(II) acetate is the other lead compound that can dissolve. It is an oxidizing agent. It crackles when it is heated. It is toxic because it has lead in it.
It is made by dissolving lead, lead(II) oxide, or lead(II) carbonate in nitric acid.
It is used to make other lead compounds.
Lead(II) acetate
Lead(II) acetate is a chemical compound composed of lead and acetate ions. It contains lead in the +2 oxidation state. It is also known as sugar of lead, salt of Saturn, and Goulard's powder. It is used to make other lead compounds. It dissolves in water, although most lead compounds do not. Lead nitrate does though. It is used in cosmetics and testing for hydrogen sulfide. It is toxic because it contains lead.
Acetate
Acetate, also known as ethanoate, is the salt of acetic acid (vinegar). It is formed when acetic acid is deprotonated. Its chemical formula is CHCOOH when it exists as an ion. Acetate salts turn brown when heated, and smell like acetic acid.
Acetate is usually found as part of a compound formed as a salt, for example sodium acetate, often as the product of a neutralisation reaction of acetic acid and a base.
Beverly Sills
Beverly Sills (May 25, 1929 – July 2, 2007) is an American operatic soprano particularly associated with Italian bel canto and French operas.
Born Belle Silverman, in Brooklyn, New York, as a child prodigy, she began singing on radio shows at the age of three and began formal vocal studies at the age of seven with Estelle Liebling.
She began her professional career in 1947 with touring companies and later joined the New York City Opera in 1955. After singing a wide variety of roles, she obtained her first great success with Douglas Moore's "The Ballad of Baby Doe" in 1959, and finally achieved international recognition in 1966, with the role of Cleopatra in Handel's "Giulio Cesare".
This was followed by the much acclaimed Donizetti's Tudor trilogy "Anna Bolena", "Maria Stuarda" and "Roberto Devereux".
This led to her being invited to sing at the Vienna State Opera (1968), La Scala in Milan (1969), the Royal Opera House in London (1970), and finally at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1975.
Other notable roles have included; "I Capuleti e Montecchi", "I puritani", "Lucia di Lammermoor", "La traviata", "Les contes d'Hoffmann", "Manon" and "Thais".
She retired from the stage in 1980, and took on the direction of the New York City Opera until 1989.
Sills died in New York City, of lung cancer.
Car battery
A car battery or automotive battery is a rechargeable battery which is used to start a car. The battery is used to start the motor. After that the motor operates a generator to charge the battery. Most are lead acid batteries, although some electric cars can have other batteries. Car batteries can be replaced and recycled when they cannot be recharged anymore.
Barium sulfate
Barium sulfate is a chemical compound composed of barium and sulfate ions. It contains barium in the +2 oxidation state, as in all barium compounds. It does not dissolve in water. If it did, it would be very toxic. It is used in X-rays of the stomach and intestines to see whether there is a problem with them. Its chemical formula is BaSO.