CENTENARY OF THE BIRTH OF MARIA CALLAS  

Few artists have had such an influence on their art that their name alone carries their legend. The one that the great conductor Leonard Bernstein described as the "Bible of opera" imposed on stage an extraordinary voice, a unique phrasing and valued more than anyone else the importance of acting in her discipline. A golden voice and a plethora of works, La Callas was also an extraordinary personality, a diva in every sense of the word, whose love and intimate life was punctuated by scandals and adventures worthy of the tragic characters she embodied on stage. She lived happy years in Monaco where she shared the great love with the Greek shipowner Aristotle Onassis. Disappeared at the age of fifty-three in 1977, Maria Callas remains one of the greatest singers of the 20^th century.

• Design and line-engraving: Pierre ALBUISSON
  
• Printing process: 4 colours steel-engraving
• Size of the stamp: 40,85 x 52 mm vertical
• Quantity of issue: 36 000 stamps
• Sheet of 6 stamps with illuminations