At the dress rehearsal for the Metropolitan Opera's opening performance, Marlene Dietrich appeared with a present for the diva: a thermos full of hot beef broth. Marlene had decided that her new friend, Soprano Maria Meneghini Callas (TIME, Oct. 29), needed strength. She did indeed. Her native city was not going to bow down to Callas without a struggle.
On opening night, the applause for Callas' first entrance was cool, while crowds of standees, giving every appearance of an organized claque, cheered other members of the cast to the rafters. At the end of...
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