The 30th anniversary of Maria Callas' death will not go unnoticed at Milan's La Scala Theatre, the scene of many of the soprano's greatest triumphs.
The opera house has organized a series of events this autumn in honour of the Greek diva, who died on September 16 1977.
The first is a show of the sumptuous costumes Callas wore while gracing La Scala's stage in the 1950s.
The singer was in her prime in those years, when the Milan opera house was her artistic home.
She made her La Scala debut in December 1951 in I Vespri Siciliani.
The theatre went on to stage a number of productions specially for her by acclaimed directors like Herbert Von Karajan, Margherita Wallmann, Luchino Visconti and Franco Zeffirelli.
The exhibit at the theatre museum opens on September 14 and runs until January 31.
A second show features a fascinating selection of behind-the-scenes shots.
They capture Callas relaxing between rehearsals, laughing with fellow singers, having her make-up applied and waiting nervously in full costume for the curtain to come up, among other things.
The photos will be on display in the theatre's 'Arturo Toscanini' gallery September 14-November 30.
On September 16 - the 30th anniversary of Callas' death - La Scala will host the world premier of a new film about the soprano, 'Callas', by French director Philippe Kohly.
There will be the presentation of a new book of photos documenting the time she spent in Milan too.
Promoters say the aim of the events is to keep the memory of the great opera singer fresh in people's minds.
"Maria Callas, God bless her soul, was the most extraordinary woman Greek culture ever gave the world," said Zeffirelli, who made a 2002 biopic about her called Callas Forever.
"Along with Mother Teresa of Calcutta she was the most important woman of the 20th century.
"I never met anyone so incapable of compromise. Things were either perfect and beautiful for her or they did not exist.
"And this was the great problem of her career, because it is impossible to be perfect all the time. She did not accept decadence and that is why she died at the age of 54".
Callas was born to Greek parents in December 1923 in New York, where she grew up.
At the age of 13 she moved with her mother to Athens, where her musical talents were given proper training.
She make a name for herself in the Greek opera world with war-time performances that won rave reviews.
She established her international career in Italy after the war with the help of her first husband, Giovanni Battista Meneghini, a wealthy Italian industrialist and opera lover.
Meneghini remained her manager until 1959, when she left him for shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis.
After this Callas practically gave up the stage to lead the international high life with her new man.
In 1960 she bore Onassis a son who, however, died hours after birth.
Hoping Onassis would marry her, Callas relinquished her American citizenship in 1966, taking Greek nationality, in order to annul her marriage to Meneghini.
But Onassis did not pop the question and instead married President John F Kennedy's widow Jackie in 1968.
Callas became a recluse and passed away two years after Onassis, who died in 1975. The cause of her death remains unclear.
