There are those who believe that to be successful in opera it is better to be fat; in fact, figures like Pavarotti or La Caballé are. Already in the Renaissance it was said that to sing well you needed large lungs, and therefore a large rib cage and body. In addition, in those times when only men sang, the high-pitched voices were made by the castratti , who tended to obesity (the decrease in testosterone favors inactivity), which is why excellence of voice was associated with extra kilos.
However, there is no scientific evidence that weight helps control breathing or better project the voice. Moreover, now that in opera not only the musical is valued but also the acting qualities, obesity can be a handicap, as happened in 2004 to the soprano Deborah Voigt, excluded from Ariadna and Naxos because with her 120 kilos she does not it was believable on paper.
It is true that Callas lost weight and was no longer the same, but according to the singer Teresa Berganza, who treated her closely, "she did not lose her voice because she lost weight but because she met Onassis and changed her life habits."
