Aubrey holds a Ph.D. in English and has published many articles on twentieth-century literature. In this essay, Aubrey discusses some outstanding moments in Maria Callas's singing that have been captured on audio and videotape and how these reflect the themes of Master Class. He also discusses the changes Callas brought to opera singing.

Playwright McNally is a lifelong fan of Maria Callas. He first heard her when he was a fifteen-year-old high school student in Texas in 1953. The recording was of Callas singing in Donizetti's opera Lucia di Lammermoor, and McNally felt that she was singing just for him. He later wrote, "Listening to Callas is not a passive experience. It is a conversation with her and finally, ourselves.... She tells us her secrets—her pains, her joys—and we tell her ours right back" (quoted by John Ardoin, author of "Callas and the...