Renata Tebaldi & Giulietta Simionato - Fu la sorte - Aida - Verdi

Renata Tebaldi (Pesaro, Italy, February 1, 1922 San Marino, December 19, 2004) & Giulietta Simionato (born May 12, 1910). Huge, chiaroscuro voices. Not afraid to sing with full voice. There is a popular saying in voice studios today which is 'sing on the interest and not on the principal'. That is not what these singers did. And if you don't 'sing on the principal the audience will lose interest,' as my teacher used to say. Can you believe that Simionato is still going strong and will be 99 years old in May??!!!

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Renata
• Tebaldi
• Giulietta
• Simionato
• Fu
• la
• sorte
• Aida
• Verdi
• duet
• opera
• amneris
• dramatic
• soprano
• mezzo
• bel
• canto

[sedahedonja]

Dear MrCafiero, it's all about technique ;-)And yes, they sang from a quite young age soooo much shows and concerts and recordings(much heavyer to do), and still sing until they late days (have u seen the Magda Olivero- vid from last year??)My italian coach told me once: at their golden age, singers studied singing for 2 years, then they had "spartito" for the next 8 years, singing already tiny roles near famous experienced singers... now they study 8 years singing and do..2 months of coaching)

[MrCafiero]

It is technique, you are right. And they studied very often daily for 2 years which is different than once a week like they do now. And conductors and impresarios would groom them in small houses. Conductors rarely recruit young talents any more. It is very sad.

[VivaTebaldi]

Two great voices - singing with power.

The greatest Mezzo and Soprano in the

world. Thanks for posting this.

[meltzerboy]

Although Leontyne Price is regarded by many as the greatest Aida, and previous generations have accorded that title to Destinn, Ponselle, or Rethberg, while Callas brought great drama to the role by means of her novel reading of the text, I have always thought Tebaldi the gold standard. This is no way detracts from the magnificent singing of the other sopranos mentioned, all of whom I admire greatly.

The old admonition to sing on the interest, not the principal, goes back to Patti's advice.

[MrCafiero]

@Turridu25 I don't care what he said about himself he was not able to sing the dramatic rep. with enough volume in the top to do anything justice.

[seektheforce]

@MrCafiero Do you teach daily, like the old style?

[profgv]

@billyguns2 I always thought of Bergonzi as being like a lyric spinto...Light for the Nemorino's and darker for the Chenier's....He was the ultimate artist....I remember one special Gioconda every note, every vowel was shaped like a sculpture...Sorry to rant..

[meltzerboy]

@maipisimo67 Perhaps Tebaldi has more of everything you mention. But there were other great Aidas, including all of those I had mentioned in my previous comment, and some very beautiful voices among them such as Destinn, Ponselle, Rethberg, and Price. I would also add Milanov to the list. However, as I had stated, I do think Tebaldi remains the gold standard for the role. Thanks for your interesting comment.

[sonozoltan]

Brava, Renata! Brava, Giulietta! Two of the greatest singers ever!

[tebaldicallas]

They sing with such power - They made quite a few recordings together.

Their voice a rich. They five studio recordings together.

Ie: Aida - Suor Angelica - La Forza del destino - Il trovatore and Adriana Lecouvreur.

Giulietta RIP together with Tebaldi.

[MrCafiero]

Bergonzi was a bigger voice than Björling though.

[MrCafiero]

Bergonzi wasn't a dramatic tenor.

I have to say that I am not sure I can agree with your following statement. That is not what opera is about and it has contributed to ruining the art. Now we have extremely small and woofy voices singing roles on the stage that are enhanced. And it started with this stuff. Hvorostovsky, Alvarez etc. And the big voices that should be singing are pushed to the side.