Renata Tebaldi in Puccini's Tosca - Vissi d'arte

This is, in my opinion, a perfect vissi d'arte. The chosen speed is slow yet the control of her vibrato and registers is exemplary, the phrasing heartbreaking without ever loosing sense of the musical line and the tone...well, Tebaldi's tone doesn't need introductions. Enjoy!

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Tebaldi
• Renata
• Puccini
• Tosca
• Vissi
• d'arte

[7thViking]

She's one of the great sopranos, but she has a tendency to go flat in hitting those high notes sometimes like in the latter "perche, perche signore" climax in this particular performance.

[Orfeus80]

@7thViking a very small price to pay for such legendary performances. No singer was perfect but Tebaldi at her best, came pretty close.

[chopinopus28]

@Orfeus80 first of all thank you very much for your post. is it possible to give us some information about the recording, when and where did it happen?? do you know if it does exist on cd format ?

[Orfeus80]

@chopinopus28 you're welcome, if you google Tebaldi, Tucker, Warren - Mitropoulos Tosca you should be able to find a release of this performance. I'm not a huge fan of the other singers but this is a must recording for Tebaldi and Mitropoulos.

[aristopus]

I hear her sing it at the Old Met and the experience changed my life. Robert Merill was Scarpia, Sondor Konya Mario and the great Fernando Corena the scaristan. It's over fifty years later and I still remember it clearly.

[Orfeus80]

I didn't know she sang it with Merrill so looked it up in the met archives - are you sure it was at the met because they only list one performance and that's not at the MET but in Ohio with the MET on tour I guess. Sandor Konya sings Mario so it looks like your cast. She and Merrill must have sounded magnificient together - two of the greatest voices.

[tenor220]

Paul potts is a joke, he's terrible.

[12Fegens]

Gone but not forgotten we her devoted fans

will always love her and recall the wonderful

performances she gave at the Metropolitan

Opera House in New York City where she

was dearly loved.

[Margaux3200]

I first saw Tibaldi as Tosca at LaScala when we lived in Italy. I've never forgotten her glamour, presence, and, of course, the voice. She's a great one, who'll live on in the hearts of those who were blessed to see her.

[dickshouse1]

I was very fortunate to be present at many of Renata's performances at many venues. Every performance was thrilling. Her voice never ceased to amaze me. I saw her first Butterfly at the Met and probably over 100 of her performances there. No one could ever replace her in a role I saw, the audiences were totally mesmerized at every performance. I was one of the lucky few who could count her as a dear friend. I miss her terribly but enjoy listening to every one of her recordings.

[7bbuwe]

Tolle Stimme!

[GeorgeM1949]

The photo attached to this performance is an iconic one not just for Tebaldi but for all opera. Does anyone know much about it?

[80Mrmirko]

per quanto riguarda Tosca ci sono fior di cantanti che hanno interpretato molto bene questo ruolo.....

e poi c'è Floria Tosca: cioè la Tebalbi..........

[Milahi1935]

Tebaldi is excellent, as good as callas, but not as good as caballe and Sutherland. Her range is slightly less.

[TheValdoro]

@7thViking i can assure you that in the theatre with this huge ovewhelming sound coming at you over the orchestra at full blast you wont notice that it is a tiny bit down in pitch at least the start of it, while you nit pick at the universe , your chin will still have to be scraped off the ground where you dropped it !!!!

[chopinopus28]

@Orfeus80 haha, the funny thing is that i already own this recording, but haven't heard it for years and so didn't recognize it! i agree with you about the rest of the cast, but mitropoulos is for sure one of my favorite conductors. so thank you very much again!

[heigei1]

Sorry, Pavarotti said upon her death"the voice of an angel has been silenced"

Happy Holidays to you.

[ibk1980]

@heigei1 actually was Toscanini, but who cares? She really DOES have a voice of an angel!!!! What a great artist!!! increadible...