You'd think that institutions such as the US government (Callas was a NYC-born US citizen), the Greek Government (Callas took Greek citizenship in order to dissolve her first marriage and be able to remarry), the Italian government (Callas lived here for 20 years, married an Italian, became a star here), la Scala, the Met and other opera houses around the world would actually have 42,000 euros (US $60,000) to spare to buy at Sotheby's auction last night in Milan Maria Callas's annotated scores.
Instead a private citizen, and unabashed Callas lover, il signor Bruno Tosi, saved the scores from ending up in the hands of somebody who'd stash them away somewhere forever or, even worse, an investment fund that'd bury them in some safe somewhere, waiting to be resold page by page at a future date to maximize the investment.
So, a big thank you to signor Tosi and big, fat "booo" to all the abovementioned, myopic institutions.
Tosi, a devoted Callas scholar and collector, is planning to create a Callas museum in Venice: let us hope the project comes to life soon.