Evening With Renata Tebaldi 1 [Import]

 

 

Create your own review

This CD is an absolute bargain for Tebaldi fans! It contains two treasurable performances from the great diva -- the 1953 La Forza del destino under Dimitri Mitropoulos in the Florence May Festival, and a 1951 Italian Radio broadcast performance of Giovanna d'Arco (Joan of Arc) conducted by Alfredo Simonetto.

The excerpts from the 1951 performance shows Tebaldi at her youthful best. Her voice was never more gleaming and fresher than here. Furthermore, she presents an ardent and at the same time lovely heroine. The excerpts are also precious for letting us hear the young Carlo Bergonzi at a time when he just took on the tenor voice after a brief period as a baritone. Though he was not yet the suave and elegant artist he was to become later, the short exercept of he and Tebaldi singing together does foreshadow their memorable partnerships on records in Madama Butterfly and La Boheme for Decca. The sound shows its age.

Yet, the real gem of the CD is excerpts from the 1953 Florence May Festival Forza, for Tebaldi is magnificent here!Mitropoulos's spacious tempi allowed her to exploit her dramatic and vocal endowments to the fullest. The first act scene with Mario Del Monaco's Don Alvaro displays a vulnerable young Leonora, torn between duty towards her father and her love. Then, the horror at her father's death really shocks and shatters. From the act two convent scene, we hear a desparate, distraught 'Son Giunta...madre pietosa vergine', in which Tebaldi rises thrillingly to the climaxes, even though her top Bs are rather off-centred. However, 'La Vergine degli angeli' is sheer magic! It shows Tebaldi at her absoutely loveliest, with pure, unbelievably beautiful legato, ethereal high notes and gentle, exquisitely floated pianissimos. The famous warhorse aria 'Pace pace mio dio' begins with lovingly mastered crescendo and diminuendo, the B flat at 'Invar la pace' floated poignantly, and the powerful, full-throated climatic B flat at the end of the aria drove the Florence audience into estatic frenzy! One could only hope that Opera d'oro can release the entire run of the performance on CD to experience Tebaldi's Leonora in its full glory! The sound is acceptable, though a bit 'boxy'.

The traviata exercpt under Serafin was perhaps rather less desirable, for Tebaldi was a par below her best form. As for the aria taken from the 1960 broadcast performance of La Wally, Tebaldi's voice is a degree fresher than her older self in the 1969 Decca recording.

No. The very reason for getting this disc is Tebaldi's unforgettable 1953 Florence Leonora. Fans of Tebaldi, and opera in general should hurry and get it while it's available.

In Renata's era of tremendous fame, when Italy's opera houses were still in their glory, and such divas drew loyal crowds to each of their performances, there was only one other diva who could compete on this gifted singer's level -- Maria Callas. When I was in the girls' residence at the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto, my roommate and I had a friendly, ongoing debate over who was the greatedst of the two divas. My favorite was Maria Callas, and my roommate's was Renata Tebaldi. (Although I admired Renata for her vocal technique, I loved the fire and drama in Maria's voice.)

In their competitive hey-day, each of these divas would perform in Italian opera houses, with their adoring followings cheering loudly for them at the end of their arias, and some of ther competitor's fans would throw tomatoes at them for sheer passionate spite. Such was the Italian opera experience!

But when I listeneed once more to the glorious voice of Renata, these many years later, in this fantastic LIVE recording of Renata, her voice's enduring beauty made a breathtakingly new impression on me, and I, in my "mature" years, can appreciate her phenomenal talent and versatility so much more, now!

Although both divas have passed away, their incredible talents live on in a mysteriously enduring way, and opera lovers can thank the miracle of the recording industry for this operatic archival treasure!

You young opera fans out there -- why not see for yourself which opera diva you would have loved best in their time? Renata Tebaldi or Maria Callas? There's no right answer! But there is lots of fun in the debate! And plenty of rich enjoyment of some of the greatest talent the operatic stage has ever seen.

So many operatic recordings have been made in "studio" setting, where re-takes and electronic patching are easy ways to make a performance sound perfect. But this marvelous recording was taken from live opera recordings, and there was only "one take!" What you hear is what the actual live performance sounded like. Such historical "sound snapshots" of operatic history are rare jewels worthy of special honor! See if you don't agree, dear fellow opera lovers!

The performances featured took place from 1951-1960, and include VERDI's Giovanni D'arco, VERDI's La Traviata, VERDI's La Forza Del Destino, and CATALANI's La Wally. The arias selected present a wonderful range of Renata's vocal abilities, and showcase some of her best roles.

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See both customer reviews...

 

Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

Search Listmania!