Lyndsy Spence

As Maria was taking her first steps toward studying at the Athens Conservatory, Europe was descending into a world war. It remains doubtful whether she paid attention to the news, for her time was spent listening to opera records and reading libretti, loaned to her by Elvira de Hidalgo.

Later, when the Italians were imminent, Maria used it as motivation to hurry her studies. As Jackie recalled, ‘This panic to get on before we were engulfed by some nameless horror made her increasingly impatient.’1