BOGOTA, COLOMBIA – A lifelong devotee of opera, Dr. José Félix Patiño enjoys sharing his love of music, and opera in particular, with interested audiences. He has gained recognition over the years for his vast knowledge of the art, and for his ability to share this knowledge with others. Dr. Patiño is the author of María Callas: La Divina – the Absolute Prima Donna – the Golden Voice of the Century, published by Academia Nacional de Medicina. His lecture will take place at 3:30 p.m. on Monday, January 7 in the Chapel of the Charleston Cartagena Hotel.

“Dr. Patiño’s lecture on opera at last year’s Cartagena International Festival of Music was extremely popular,” says Julia Salvi, president of the Cartagena International Festival of Music and president of the Victor Salvi Foundation. “We are very pleased that he will be returning again this year to talk about María Callas, a legend in the opera world. His talk will be one of the highlights of the festival week.”

Throughout his long career as a dedicated physician, Dr. Patiño continued to pursue his love of music. As a student a Yale University he spent his free time attending concerts and theatre in New York City – and beginning his now noteworthy collection of recordings. His first purchase was María Callas singing Tosca, the opera that marked the beginning and later the end of her career.

He recalls with fondness, her performance of “Traviata” at La Scala in 1955 as probably the best ever recorded. He also recalls with sadness a Callas concert he attended at Carnegie Hall toward the end of her career, “the ovation when she went on stage was overwhelming, but her singing was already poor. It was dramatic. I left the Waldorf Hotel where I was staying sad because I walked out of a Callas concert. I preferred to remember her at the prime of her career.” According to Dr. Patiño, her golden years were between 1949 and 1959. “In Caro Nome, the beauty of her voice makes me tremble. It moves my heart, it makes your hair stand on end and that was captured in her recordings. The strength of her art and personality were the inspiration for my book.”

Dr. Patiño also admired the voice of Renata Tebaldi, who he described as having “a beautiful voice of the utmost purity.”

Today, medicine and music compose his life. He finds music the perfect balance for the humanistic challenges of his medical profession. According to Dr. Patiño, “art reduces stress and is the most sublime expression of the human being.”

An accomplished artist, a drawing by Dr. Patiño of his lwife Blanca appears on the cover of his book: MARÍA CALLAS – La Divina – The Absolute Prima Donna – The Golden Voice of the Century.

For more information about the 2008 Cartagena International Festival of Music including, the complete program please visit: www.cartagenamusicfestival.com

Editor’s Note: Digital images of the artists and festival venues are available upon request.

Click here to download a copy of the original press release in PDF format.