Actress Monica Bellucci plays soprano singer Maria Callas in Festival de Peralada concert

Italian actress Monica Bellucci has taken one of her most "scaring" roles as she is used to the screen. On Friday night, Bellucci played American-born Greek soprano singer Maria Callas in a theatre play, as part of the Festival Castell de Peralada music festival in the northern-east town of Peralada. 

The musician was one of the most important opera singers after the World War, and is also known as ‘La Divina’ or ‘Diva Assolutta’. Bellucci played her in the ‘Maria Callas, lettres et mémoires’ performance while reading around 20 letters the artist had written.

Seated in the center of a stage inspired by Callas’ Paris flat, where she spent 15 years of her life, Bellucci read original letters that the soprano singer wrote between the 1950s and 1970s. 

The scenography was designed by Tom Volf, who has spent over a decade studying Callas’ life, while Gio Symphonia Orchestra conducted by Francesc Prat, set the soundtrack between readings. 

Bellucci has said that she decided to take on the role as she connects with the "duality" of the artist. After reading her letters, the actress discovered that Callas was famous and popular but felt fragile and alone when by herself. 

"The public has an idea of me that diverges from reality," Bellucci said to the media on Thursday, one day before the show. 

"When I read those letters and the mémoires, I really had the feeling that I could touch Maria Callas’ soul," she added. 

This is what pushed the actress to take on the stage despite the "fear" as she is used to the screen and not performing in front of an audience. 

During the night, Bellucci wore Maria Callas’ dress that no one has ever worn before. 

"For the first time with the dress on, I could not believe it, it was perfect, it was just perfect," she said, before adding this was "a sign" to push her to take on the role of the American-born Greek soprano singer. 

It is a way of bringing "Maria Callas back to Spain," Volf said. The artist had performed in the country twice and her Maestra (teacher) "was of Spanish origins, so there is a very close link between Spain and Maria Callas," the scenographer added. 

Despite being one of the greatest opera musicians, playing her has not been as difficult as it could seem for Bellucci. She performed as an opera singer in her TV series ‘Mozart in the jungle’, however, she had never expected Tom Volf to offer her the role.