(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Welcome to People in America in VOA Special English. I'm Faith Lapidus. Today, Shirley Griffith and Ray Freeman tell about one of the most famous opera singers of the twentieth century, Maria Callas. Opera is a play that tells a story in music. The people in the opera sing, instead of speak, the play's words. Opera is one of the most complex of all art forms. It combines acting, singing, music, costumes, scenery and, sometimes, dance. Often there are many colorful crowd scenes.
Opera uses the huge power of music to communicate feelings and to express emotions. Music can express emotions very forcefully. So most opera composers base their works on very tragic stories of love and death. An opera often shows anger, cruelty, violence, fear or insanity. Opera has been very popular in Europe since it spread through it during the seventeenth century. It also has become popular in the United States.
Maria Callas was one of the best-known opera singers in the world. During the nineteen fifties, she became famous internationally for her beautiful voice and intense personality. The recordings of her singing the well-known operas remain very popular today. Maria Callas was born in New York City in nineteen twenty-three. Her real name was Maria Kalogeropoulous. Her parents were Greek. When she was fourteen, she and her mother returned to Greece. Maria studied singing at the national conservatory in Athens. The well-known opera singer Elvira de Hidalgo chose Maria as her student.
In nineteen forty-one, when she was seventeen, Maria Callas was paid to sing in a major opera for the first time. She sang the leading roles in several operas in Athens during the next three years.
In nineteen forty-five, Callas was invited to perform in Italy. This was the real beginning of her profession as an opera singer. She performed major parts in several of the most famous operas. In nineteen forty-nine, she married an Italian industrialist, Giovanni Battista Meneghini. He was twenty years older. He became her adviser and manager. In nineteen fifty, Maria Callas performed for the first time at the famous La Scala opera house in Milan, Italy. She sang in the famous opera "Eida" by Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi. She sang the part of Aida, an Ethiopian slave in ancient Egypt. During the nineteen fifties and nineteen sixties, Maria Callas sang in about forty major operas in the most famous opera houses in the world.
In nineteen fifty-six, she appeared for the first time at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. She sang the lead in the opera "Norma" by Italian composer Vincenzo Bellini. She was a great success. Norma, a religious leader in the ancient city of Gaul, became one of her most famous parts. During the years, Maria Callas often had problems with her voice. Critics said some of her performances were not her best. Sometimes she had to cancel performances. Her relations with the officials of major opera companies often were tense. Many harmful stories were written about Callas. The stories suggested that people she worked with thought she was difficult. However, many people who worked most closely with her denied this.
When she was not singing in operas, Callas was making recordings. She made more recordings than any other singer of her time. In nineteen fifty-nine, her marriage to Mister Meneghini ended. Maria Callas became the lover of a rich Greek businessman, Aristotle Onassis. Callas suffered more problems with her voice. So she sang less. In nineteen sixty-five, she sang in the opera "Tosca" by Italian composer Giacomo Puccini. She was Floria, an Italian singer. It was a part she had sung many times. It was the last time she appeared in an opera. Now that she was no longer singing, Callas wanted to marry Aristotle Onassis and have a child. However, in nineteen sixty-eight, Onassis suddenly said that he was leaving her. He had decided to marry Jacqueline Kennedy, the widow of the murdered American president, John Kennedy.
Three years later, Callas decided to teach young opera singers. In the early nineteen seventies, she taught twelve classes at the Juilliard School in New York. Parts of these classes were released as records. Terrence McNally wrote a play about Maria Callas and her opera students called "Master Class." Maria Callas sang in many cities in Europe, the United States and East Asia in nineteen seventy-three and seventy-four. She performed with opera singer Giuseppe di Stefano. Critics said she was not able to sing as well as she had when she was younger. It is not known if Callas's troubles were caused by a physical problem or because she had not spent enough time training her voice.
Maria Callas died of a heart attack in her home in Paris in nineteen seventy-seven. She was fifty-three. Many experts say Maria Callas influenced opera more than any other singer of the twentieth century. They say she had the deepest understanding of the traditional Italian opera. Her beautiful voice and intense feeling increased the effect of an opera. One expert said: "Callas sees and hears in the great operas the poetry of music. Others sing notes. She sings meaning. " People who heard Maria Callas sing say they will not forget the experience. Her voice lives on in the many recordings she made. Some experts say Maria Callas is as popular now as she was when she was performing around the world.
重点解析
1.combine 使化合；使联合，使结合
It is possible to combine a career with being a mother.
兼顾职业女性和母亲这两个角色是可能的。
2.tense 紧张的；拉紧的
This gesture of goodwill did little to improve the tense atmosphere at the talks.
这一友好姿态对改善谈判的紧张气氛几乎没起什么作用。
3.suffer 遭受
He suffered terribly the last few days.
他过去的几天痛苦不堪。
4.appear 出现；登场
Still the horrible shrieking came out of his mouth.
他的嘴里还是发出了恐怖的尖叫声。
5.influence 影响
We became the best of friends and he influenced me deeply.
我们成了最好的朋友，而他深深地影响了我。
6.industrialist 实业家；工业家
The French Press reported that she was engaged to a wealthy industrialist.
法国新闻界报道说她同一位有钱的实业家订了婚。
参考译文
欢迎收听VOA慢速英语栏目《美国人物志》。我是菲丝·拉伯蒂斯。今天，雪莉·格里菲斯和雷·弗里曼将为大家讲述20世纪美国最著名歌剧演唱家之一玛丽亚·卡拉斯。歌剧是以音乐形式讲述故事。歌剧中的人通过演唱的方式说出台词。歌剧是所有艺术形式中最复杂的一种，其中涵盖表演、唱歌、音乐、服装、场景，有时还有舞蹈。通常是一群人站在色彩丰富的场景中。歌剧利用音乐的巨大能量交流情感，表达情绪。音乐可以强有力地表达情绪。因此多数歌剧作曲家的作品都是基于爱和死亡的悲剧。歌剧常常展示愤怒、残酷、暴力、恐惧或疯狂。歌剧在欧洲一直非常受欢迎，并在17世纪传播开来。歌剧在美国也流行起来。玛丽亚·卡拉斯是世界最知名的歌剧演唱家之一。上世纪50年代，她因优美的嗓音和热情的性格而享誉世界。她在知名歌剧中演唱的录音至今仍深受大家欢迎。
1923年玛丽亚·卡拉斯出生于纽约。她的真名叫做玛丽亚·卡洛杰罗普卢。她的父母是希腊人。14岁的时候，她和母亲回到希腊。玛利亚在雅典国立音乐院学习唱歌。知名歌剧演唱家埃尔维拉·德·伊达尔格将玛利亚收作学生。1941年，17岁的玛丽亚·卡拉斯首次有偿在一场大型歌剧中演唱。在接下来三年，她在雅典担任几部歌剧的主演。1945年，卡拉斯被邀请前往意大利演出。这是她作为一名歌剧演唱家职业生涯的真正开端。她在几部最著名歌剧中担任主要角色。1949年，她和意大利实业家乔瓦尼·巴蒂斯塔·麦乃基尼结婚。他比卡拉斯大20岁，并成为了她的顾问和经纪人。
1950年，玛丽亚·卡拉斯首次在意大利米兰著名的斯卡拉歌剧院演出。她在意大利作曲家朱塞佩·威尔第作曲的著名歌剧《Eida》中演出。她演唱古埃及埃塞俄比亚奴隶阿伊达的部分。上世纪50年代和60年代，玛丽亚·卡拉斯在世界最著名的歌剧院中演唱了约40部大型歌剧。
1956年，她首次现身纽约大都会歌剧院。她在歌剧《诺尔玛》中担任主演演唱，该剧由意大利作曲家温琴佐·贝里尼作曲。她取得了巨大成功。诺尔玛，古代城市高卢的宗教领袖，成为了她最知名的角色之一。
多年来，玛丽亚·卡拉斯的嗓子经常出问题。评论家表示她的一些表演并不是她最好的作品。有时她不得不取消演出。她和大型歌剧公司高官的关系常常很紧张。还有很多关于卡拉斯的恶性故事。这些故事暗示那些和她共事的人认为她很难搞。但是很多她身边的工作人员否认了这一点。当她不再演唱歌剧时，卡拉斯就录制唱片。她是那个时代录制唱片最多的。1959年，她和梅内吉尼离婚。玛利亚·卡拉斯成为了希腊富商亚里士多德·奥纳西斯的情人。卡拉斯的嗓子出了很多问题。她唱的更少了。
1965年，她演唱意大利作曲家贾科莫·普契尼的歌剧《Tosca》。她出演一名意大利演唱家弗洛里亚。这个部分她唱过很多次。这是她最后一次出演歌剧。她不再唱歌了，卡拉斯想和亚里士多德·奥纳西斯结婚生孩子。但1968年，奥纳西斯突然说他要离开她。他已经决定和杰奎琳·肯尼迪结婚，她是美国总统约翰·肯尼迪的遗孀。三年后，卡拉斯决定教年轻的歌剧演唱家。
上世纪70年代早期，她在纽约茱莉亚学院带了12个班。部分班级都取得不错的记录。特伦斯·麦克纳利写了一部关于玛利亚·卡拉斯和她的歌剧学生的戏剧—《Master Class》。1973年和1974年，玛利亚·卡拉斯在欧洲、美国以及东亚多个城市演出。她和歌剧演唱家朱塞佩·迪·斯苔芳诺共同表演。评论家说她不如年轻时唱的好了。这是由于身体疾病引起还是由于她没花时间训练而导致的，我们不得而知。
1977年，玛利亚·卡拉斯因心脏病发作在巴黎家中去世，年53岁。很多专家表示玛利亚·卡拉斯对歌剧的影响比20世纪其他演唱家都要大。他们说她对传统意大利歌剧有着最深层次的理解。她漂亮的嗓音和强烈的情感为歌剧的影响添彩。一名专家称：“她在音乐诗集的伟大歌剧中听清细看。其他人唱的是符号，而她演唱出了其中含义。”听过玛利亚·卡拉斯演唱的人说此次经历永生难忘。她的嗓音永留于唱片中。一些专家说玛利亚·卡拉斯现在和她全球演出时一样受人欢迎。
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