7 DEATHS OF MARIA CALLAS

‘7 Deaths of Maria Callas’ is an opera project by Marina Abramović, centered on seven arias once performed by the American-born Greek soprano, Maria Callas. In traditional opera, an intermezzo acts as a musical interlude between arias consisting of light instrumental pieces. In ‘7 Deaths,’ the intermezzos, created by Marco Brambilla, are audiovisual – the orchestra ringing to sinister clouds, swirling hypnotically across the theatre’s large projection screen.

Created using particle simulation, a sophisticated computer graphics language which defines the parameters of an object, Brambilla created seven skies made of a billion particles — all moving as one collides and interacts with another. Each sky, with its own colour palette, sets the emotional tone for each act, reflecting Maria Callas’ state of mind as she reached the end of her life. This computer-generated method resulted in something painterly and impressionistic, akin to the dramatic and hyperreal skies of Turner and Monet.