How many songs did Angelina Jolie sing in Maria? A peek behind the legendary operas in the new Netflix movie 

Maria, a recently released biographical psychological drama on Netflix by director Pablo Larraín—known for Jackie, and Spencer—follows the life of the legendary opera singer Maria Callas. The titular character is portrayed by Academy Award-winning actress Angelina Jolie, famed for Salt, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and Maleficent, amongst others.

Jolie undertook extensive music lessons to sing for her part. As per a November 2024 report by The Hollywood Reporter, Angelina Jolie lent her voice to a total of six songs in the film.

The official synopsis by Netflix states that the film offers a re-imagination of the final days of the iconic opera singer. The film explores the life of the famous Greek-American singer through various operas, each subtly highlighting the different events of her life and outlining her spectacular rise and tragic fall from fame.

The film starts in Paris, at the end of Maria's career and life, several years after she reached the pinnacle of success.

Read on to learn more about the operas featured in the movie.

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Angelina Jolie sings Maria's operas in the movie

The biographical drama features excerpts from several operas. Maria Callas reimagines the events of her life through a musical lens while sitting in Paris, mourning the loss of her voice at the end of her days.

According to a December 2024 Tudum by Netflix copy, director Larraín stated that the tracks in the film have several layers, and all of them are a seamless mixture of both Callas' and Jolie's voices, in varying proportions.

“There’s some sort of a hidden map in the film, where the piece of music that we use — whether it’s only orchestration or with vocals in it — is related to the moment in the film,” Larraín stated.

The film features several tracks sung by Maria Callas from different operas. These include:

• Norma: Act I: Casta Diva by Vincenzo Bellini
• Medea: Act III: E Che? Io Son Medea by Luigi Cherubini
• La Traviata: Act III: Intermezzo by Giuseppe Verdi
• Carmen: Act I: L’Amour Est un Oiseau Rebelle (Habanera) by Georges Bizet
• Madama Butterfly: Act II: Coro a Bocca Chiusa by Giacomo Puccini
• I Puritani: Act II: Qui la Voce Sua Soave by Vincenzo Bellini
• La Traviata: Act I: Sempre Libera by Giuseppe Verdi
• La Traviata: Act III: Addio del Passato by Giuseppe Verdi
• Anna Bolena: Act II: Piangete Voi? by Gaetano Donizetti
• Tosca: Act II: Vissi d’Arte by Giacomo Puccini

The film opens with the titular character singing the iconic song "Ave Maria" (Otello: Act IV by Giuseppe Verdi) into the camera lens, while she reminisces about the glory days of her past.

Learning to sing opera however was a daunting task for Jolie, who trained for almost seven months for this role with real opera singers and coaches. Reportedly, she even had to learn how to breathe properly in the initial days of rehearsal. Jolie said the following to Netflix about this role:

“You have to give every single part of yourself...When opera singers express pain, it’s not like a little bit, it’s the biggest depth. [It requires] everything that you’ve got. It requires your full body, and it requires you to be full emotionally, as open and as loud, in as big a voice as you can possibly do.”

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Other operas featured in Maria

The film also features several other stellar pieces of music by other artists. These provide a backdrop while the opera singer contemplates her life, associating each track with a landmark event from her past. These tracks include:

• Nabucco: Act III: Va, Pensiero, Sull’ali Dorate by Giuseppe Verdi
• Tosca: Act III: E Lucevan le Stelle by Giacomo Puccini
• Parsifal: Act I: Prelude by Richard Wagner
• La Wally: Act I: Ebben? Ne Andrò Lontana by Alfredo Catalani
• Gianni Schicchi: O Mio Babbino Caro by Giacomo Puccini
• Il Trovatore: Act II: Vedi! Le Fosche Notturne Spoglie by Giuseppe Verdi

The soundtrack of the film is available on Spotify and Apple Music.

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Maria was released on December 11 and is now streaming on Netflix.