From yesterday's Corriere della Sera we were treated to a brilliant and entertaining discussion between a Corriere journalista and the quintessentially talented and radiant Franco Zeffirelli.
Zeffirelli has been making big news in Milan the past month for two reasons: The revitalized La Prima of his newly directed and staged Aida (see my prior post here), which will premiere at Teatro alla Scala on December 7, 2006; and also for his anticipated autobiografia, which will be available (in Italian language only) on November 28, 2006, and weights-in at a modest five-hundred pages.
Written below is my loosely-translated version of the story, starting with the headline:
“Zeffirelli: When I was a little boy, I was molested by a Friar.”
Here we go: Five times already throughout his career, Franco Zeffirelli has revitalized Verdi’s Aida, and you would think that a man of eighty-three-years would be finished with such a task. But no. When Lissner (GM and Artistic Director of Teatro alla Scala) asked him to return [to La Scala] after a fourteen-year absence, his heart leaped with joy and acceptance of the task. At first, he was terrified that no new ideas would come, but the inspiration quickly returned. Therefore, on December 7th, we anticipate his new production at Teatro alla Scala (directed by Chailly, with Violeta Urmana and Roberto Alagna). Zeffirelli says that the new version will be the culmination of all the previous Aidas; basically, the "l'Aida delle Aide".
Zeffirelli was born illegitimately out of scandal, to a woman named Adelaide Garosi, who had no man to claim a last name. Garosi loved Mozart terribly, and therefore chose for her baby a last name from Idomeneo, "Zeffiretti". However, due to a transcription error, his name was written in official records as “Zeffirelli” ("un errore di trascrizione lo trasforma in Zeffirelli"), and it stuck. (And apparently there exists no other "Zeffirelli" in the entire world: “Un nome unico al mondo, da non barattare con nessun altro".)
Tragedy followed, and Zeffirelli’s mother passed away when he only was six-years-old, but he was then raised by a group of snappy women who gave him a love of Shakespeare. He went to school in Firenze, and it was there that a friar molested him. His first man-crush was in high school, and although he was discreet about his sexuality, all the other kids knew of his homosexual orientation. Zeffirelli calls himself a homosexual, but despises the word, "gay", finding it offensive and obscene.
Because of his light features and his gentile nature, many people find Zeffirelli lovely. One person that especially found him appealing was Luchino Visconti. Zeffirelli went to work with him, and became his lover, as well as his housemate. One event that Zeffirelli will never forget is when an item went missing from the Visconti villa, and Visconti ordered all of the servants banned from the house to be questioned by the authorities. Visconti included Zeffirelli in the list of suspects, and the distrust burned such deep scar into Zeffirelli, that he never forgot.
But staying with Visconti opened many doors for Zeffirelli. One time, Visconti sent him to Paris with three letters in his pocket: one for Cocteau, one for Marais, and one for Coco Chanel. Mademoiselle Chanel was so impressed with Visconti's colleague, that she gave him twelve original, signed Matisse drawings. Zeffirelli hinted that he sold quite a few of the drawings for profit during moments of financial duress.
Zeffirelli soon become friends of Liz Taylor, Laurence Olivier, Hillary Clinton, and Bob Kennedy. The most treasured of his friends was La Diva Maria Callas, who he declares was the only woman he ever fell in love with. He knew her when she was fat and bloated, but when she quickly lost more than 60 lbs, she suddenly became a woman of great beauty and fascination.
Zeffirelli then leaves us with the story that he will forever insist is real. He states that this one time (lol in band camp lol), when he was on Aristotle Onassis's boat to Skorpios, with Callas, "that horrible Onassis" made sexual advances at him. Zeffirelli was angered, but believes it was to stress the friendship between him and Callas. THE END.
I personally can’t wait to read Zeffirelli's autobiography. I don’t doubt for a minute that there will be a dull moment between the pages, as Zeffirelli has had a life full of pure awesomeness. He's all like, "I spent most of my life hanging-out with Visconti and Callas, so y'all can ----------> queue here to suck it!"
(btw, recently added to the Opera Chic flickr photostream are eight photos of Zeffirelli)