Renata Tebaldi

Renata Tebaldi (right) with a friend

Renata Tebaldi (1 February 1922 – 19 December 2004)[1] was an immensely acclaimed Italian lirico-spinto soprano popular in the post-war period. Among the most beloved opera singers of all time,[2] she has been said to have possessed one of the most uniquely beautiful voices of the 20th century,[3] and focused primarily on the verismo roles of the lyric and dramatic repertoires.

Early years

Tebaldi was born Renata Ersilia Clotilde Tebaldi in Pesaro on 1 February 1922.[4] She was the daughter of a cellist, Teobaldo Tebaldi,[5] and Giuseppina Barbieri, a nurse.[6] Her parents split up before her birth and Tebaldi grew up with her mother in the home of her maternal grandparents in Langhirano.[7][8]

Stricken with polio at the age of three,[9] Tebaldi became interested in music and was a member of the church choir in Langhirano.[6] At the age of thirteen her mother sent her to piano lessons with Giuseppina Passani in Parma,[10] who took the initiative that Tebaldi study voice with Italo Brancucci, a singing teacher at the conservatory of Parma. She was admitted to the conservatory at the age of 17, taking lessons with Brancucci and Ettore Campogalliani,[11] and would later transfer to Liceo musicale Rossini in Pesaro taking lessons with Carmen Melis,[12] and on her suggestion with Giuseppe Pais.[13][14][15]

Italian career

Tebaldi made her stage debut as Elena in Boito's Mefistofele in Rovigo in 1944,[1] and performed in Parma in La Bohème, L'amico Fritz and Andrea Chénier. She caused a stir when in 1946 she made her debut as Desdemona alongside Francesco Merli as Otello in Trieste.[16]

Her major breakthrough came in 1946, when she auditioned for Arturo Toscanini. Toscanini was favorably impressed, calling her "voce d'angelo" (angel voice).[17] Tebaldi made her La Scala debut that year at the concert which marked the reopening of the theatre after World War II. She sang the "Prayer" ("Dal tuo stellato soglio") from Rossini's biblical opera, Mosè in Egitto, as well as the soprano part in Verdi's Te Deum. She was given the operatic roles of Margherita and Elena in Mefistofele and Elsa in Lohengrin in 1946. The following year, she appeared in La Bohème and as Eva in Die Meistersinger. Toscanini encouraged her to sing the role of Aida and invited her to rehearse the role in his studio. She was of the opinion that the role of Aida was reserved for a dramatic soprano, but Toscanini convinced her and she made her role debut at La Scala in 1950 alongside Mario del Monaco and Fedora Barbieri in a performance conducted by Antonino Votto. This was the greatest success in her still young career and was to launch her international career.

Her voice was used for Sophia Loren's singing in the film version of Aida (1953).[18]

International career

She went on a concert tour with the La Scala ensemble in 1950, first to the Edinburgh Festival and then on to London, where she made her debut as Desdemona in two performances of Otello at Covent Garden and in the Verdi Requiem, both conducted by Victor de Sabata.

Tebaldi and Callas

By the early 1950s, Tebaldi was firmly entrenched at La Scala. But a new star had appeared on the scene – Maria Callas. In 1950 Callas was taken on at La Scala as substitute Aida for an indisposed Tebaldi. Matters came to a head in 1951 when both were with an Italian company touring South America. Perhaps unwisely, the two of them were engaged to appear in the same concert. Afterwards Callas accused Tebaldi of breaking a no-encore agreement, when she delivered not one but two extra arias. The culmination of this rivalry came in an article in Time magazine where Callas was quoted as saying that comparing herself to Tebaldi was like comparing champagne with Coca-Cola.[19] However, witnesses to the interview stated that Callas only said "champagne with cognac" after which a bystander quipped, "No, with Coca-Cola", but the Time reporter attributed the comment to Callas.[20]

Although she had a very powerful voice, Tebaldi always considered herself a lyric soprano. Even though the young Tebaldi successfully performed roles in operas and works by (among others) Rossini, Spontini, Mozart, Handel and Wagner she eventually centered her career on verismo and late Verdi roles, roles not as well suited to Callas' voice. Callas, in contrast, considered herself a dramatic coloratura soprano and started her career in the heaviest roles, but soon after, concentrated on the bel canto repertoire, which were not a good fit for Tebaldi's vocal range and technique. How much of the rivalry was real, and how much whipped up by fans and the press, is open to question. Some also believe that the entire rivalry was instigated by their respective recording companies in order to boost sales, and that they were instructed to play along. According to Time magazine, when Callas quit La Scala, "Tebaldi made a surprising maneuver: she announced that she would not sing at La Scala without Callas. 'I sing only for artistic reasons; it is not my custom to sing against anybody', she said."[21] Nevertheless, Tebaldi apparently felt that the public perception of a rivalry was ultimately good for both their careers, since it aroused so much interest in the two of them.

In the end, however, there was a reconciliation. After Tebaldi had inaugurated the 1968 Met season with Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur, Callas, who by that time had given her last opera performance, went backstage to congratulate Tebaldi. It was the last time the two sopranos were to meet.

The Met

Tebaldi made her American debut in 1950 as Aïda at the San Francisco Opera; her Metropolitan Opera debut took place on 31 January 1955, as Desdemona opposite Mario del Monaco's Otello.[22] For some twenty years, she made the Met the focus of her activities. For the 1962/1963 season, Tebaldi convinced the director of the Met, Rudolf Bing, to stage a revival of Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur. The opera had not been staged since the turn of the century, but Bing was convinced that it would be a great success for Tebaldi, and for Franco Corelli, who sang the role of Maurizio. Unfortunately, Tebaldi was not in top vocal form. Alarmed, she took a thirteen-month hiatus from the stage. She later returned as Mimi to great acclaim.

She sang more at the Met and far less elsewhere. She had developed a special rapport with the Met audiences and became known as "Miss Sold Out". She sang there some 270 times in La Bohème, Madama Butterfly, Tosca, Manon Lescaut, La Fanciulla del West, Otello, La Forza del Destino, Simon Boccanegra, Falstaff, Andrea Chénier, La Gioconda and Violetta in a production of La Traviata created specially for her. She made her last appearance there as Desdemona in Otello on January 8, 1973, the same role in which she had made her Met debut eighteen years earlier.

Later years

By the end of her career, Tebaldi had sung in 1,262 performances, 1,048 complete operas, and 214 concerts.

Tebaldi never married. In a 1995 interview with The Times, she said she had no regrets about her single life. "I was in love many times," she said. "This is very good for a woman." But she added, "How could I have been a wife, a mother and a singer? Who takes care of the piccolini when you go around the world? Your children would not call you Mama, but Renata."[2] She had a short relationship with Nicola Rossi-Lemeni and a longer one with Arturo Basile.

Tebaldi retired from the stage in 1973 and from the concert hall in 1976. She spent the majority of her last days in Milan. She died at age 82 at her home, in San Marino. She is buried in the family chapel at Mattaleto cemetery (Langhirano). (I hope someone will write this next part more completely.) Renata Tebaldi is referred to in two "Frasier" episodes during the 1990s: both times as a fine vocalist worthy of admiration.

Museum

Since February 2010 till 2013, the 15th century Castle of Torrechiara – Langhirano – has hosted within its rooms a permanent exhibition dedicated to Renata Tebaldi. This “Castle for a Queen” unveils the many sides of this great “diva”, whose artistic and personal life remain on display. The items showcased followed her over the arc of time as she spread the world-class tradition of Italian lyrical art…all the way from the beginning of her career and throughout her artistic achievements. The exhibition is presented by the Renata Tebaldi Committee in collaboration with Superintendence of Environmental Heritage and Landscape of the province of Parma and Piacenza, the Regio Theatre Foundation of Parma and the Municipality of Langhirano and with the patronage of the province of Parma. On June 7, 2014, the museum dedicated to Renata Tebaldi was inaugurated in the stables of Villa Pallavicino in Busseto.[23]

Selected recordings

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Alfred W. Cramer (15 May 2009). Musicians and composers of the 20th century. Salem Press. p. 1483. ISBN 978-1-58765-517-3.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 NYTimes, (December 20, 2004) Anthony Tommasini, "Renata Tebaldi, 82, Soprano With 'Voice of an Angel,' Dies"
  3. ↑ Libbey, Ted (2006). The NPR Listener's Encyclopedia of Classical Music. New York: Workman Publishing Company. p. 860. ISBN 9780761136422.
  4. ↑ Carlamaria Casanova (1981). Renata Tebaldi: la voce d'angelo. Electa. p. 13.
  5. ↑ Current Biography Yearbook. H. W. Wilson Company. 1956. p. 599. Her father was a cellist; he still plays in orchestras in Pesaro and Parma opera houses.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Victor Ilyitch Seroff (1970). Renata Tebaldi: the woman and the diva. Books for Libraries Press. p. 13. ISBN 978-0-8369-8048-6. Her father, Teobaldi Tebaldi, a native of Pesaro, was about seven years younger than her mother, and was then twenty-six ... hospital in Langhirano, near Parma, that he met Giuseppina Barbieri, Renata's mother, who worked there as a nurse.
  7. ↑ Anne Commire (13 December 2001). Women in World History. Gale. p. 253. ISBN 978-0-7876-4074-3. Even before her birth, her parents had separated, and it would be a long time before Renata learned that her cellist father Teobaldo Tebaldi was not dead but had abandoned her mother Giuseppina Barbieri Tebaldi for another woman.
  8. ↑ Kenn Harris (1974). Renata Tebaldi. Drake Publishers. p. 2. ISBN 978-0-87749-597-0. Tebaldi grew up with her mother, Giuseppina Tebaldi, in the home of her maternal grandparents. The soprano's father, Teobaldo Tebaldi, was a cellist who had separated from her mother before Renata's ...
  9. ↑ Schuyler Chapin (10 October 1995). Sopranos, mezzos, tenors, bassos, and other friends. Crown. p. 38. ISBN 978-0-517-58864-2. Shortly before Tebaldi was born in the Italian city of Pesaro — coincidentally also the hometown of Rossini — her parents separated. As a result little ... What many people don't know is that at the age of three she was stricken with polio.
  10. ↑ Eddy Lovaglio (2008). Renata Tebaldi: estatico abbandono (in Italian). Azzali. p. 15. ISBN 978-88-88252-38-4. ... studiare a Parma tutto il giorno da una nostra cugina professoressa di pianoforte, Giuseppina Passani, e tornare la sera al paese ...
  11. ↑ Friedrich Blume (1979). Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart: allgemeine Enzyklopädie der Musik (in German). Bärenreiter-Verlag. p. 1818. ISBN 978-3-7618-0411-7. Renata Tebaldi stud, in Parma Kl. bei Giuseppina Passani mit der Absicht, Konzertpianistin zu werden, erhielt jedoch auf Grund ihrer ... So wurde sie im Alter von 17 Jahren Schülerin von Italo Brancucci und Ettore Campogalliani am ...
  12. ↑ Renato Chiesa (1984). Riccardo Zandonai: Atti Del Convegno Di Studi Sulla Figura E L'Opera Di Riccardo Zandonai Presieduto Da Fedele D'Amico E Organizzato Con La Collaborazione Dell'istituto Trentino-Alto Adige Per Assicurazioni: Rovereto, 29-30 Aprile 1983 (in Italian). Edizioni Unicopli. p. 51. ISBN 978-88-7061-884-6. il canto e l'arte scenica viene nominata Carmen Melis — alla cui scuola, al Conservatorio di Pesaro, si formerà Renata Tebaldi
  13. ↑ David Ewen (1 January 1978). Musicians since nineteen hundred: performers in concert and opera. Hw Wilson Company. p. 862. ISBN 978-0-8242-0565-2. Meanwhile she continued her vocal studies with Melis and, on Melis's suggestion, with Giuseppe Pais
  14. ↑ David Ewen (1957). Living musicians: Supplement. Supplement. H.W. Wilson Co. p. 156. ... vocal study followed at the Parma Conservatory, and afterwards she became a pupil of Carmen Melis ; later study of operatic roles took place with Giuseppe Pais.
  15. ↑ Saturday Review. Saturday Review Associates. January 1955. p. 42. Giuseppe Pais is her only other singing coach, who even now from time to time "checks" on her voice Her dramatic coaching, Tebaldi says, she owes mainly to Melis.
  16. ↑ Harold D. Rosenthal (1966). Great singers of today. Calder & Boyars. p. 194.
  17. ↑ Maurizio Eliseo (2006). Andrea Doria: cento uno viaggi (in Italian). HOEPLI EDITORE. pp. 107–. ISBN 978-88-203-3502-1.
  18. ↑ Tony Crawley (1 June 1976). Films of Sophia Loren. Citadel Press. p. 55. ISBN 978-0-8065-0512-1.
  19. ↑ "Diva Serena" (November 3, 1958) Time
  20. ↑ Stassinopoulos, Ariana (1981). Maria Callas: The Woman Behind the Legend. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-671-25583-5.
  21. ↑ "Exit La Callas" (Monday, Jun. 09, 1958) Time
  22. ↑ Dr. James Myron Holland Ph.D.; James Myron Holland (27 August 2012). Singing Excellence and How to Achieve It: The Consummate Art of Glorious Singing. Xlibris Corporation. pp. 144–. ISBN 978-1-4797-0464-4.
  23. ↑ http://www.renatatebaldi.eu/

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