Renata Tebaldi was born in Pesaro, in 1922. The
daughter of musically gifted
parents, she dedicated herself as a
young child to musical studies, not only because she was herself musically
gifted, but because, having had an attack of polio at age 3, her physical
activities as a child were limited. By
age 13, she had begun to study piano and voice seriously. Her original hope was to be a concert pianist,
and she studied diligently, almost
obsessively. It eventually became
apparent that her future lay in singing, which she approached with the same
seriousness with which she had approached the piano.
After intensive study with Carmen Melis, herself a well known and highly respected singer,
Tebaldi made her debut in Rovigo as Elena in Boito's Mefistofele. She went on to Parma, where she sang
Bohème, Chenier, and L'amico Fritz. From
there it was on to Trieste, where she
debuted as Desdemona. It is interesting
to note the fairly heavy roles she sang in her youth, at least apparently without problems. I say "apparently." I tend to doubt it.
From this time on, her rise was
rapid. After auditioning for Toscanini, who was impressed, she debuted at La Scala
in 1946, in a concert celebrating the re-opening of the theater after WWII. She
learned new roles, and by 1950 Toscanini had convinced her to make her role
debut at La Scala as Aida, with Mario del Monaco. She was—not surprisingly—hesitant to make a
debut in such a huge role, and she took a lot of convincing (to her credit) from Toscanini. But it went
off well, and basically launched her international career.
Tebaldi made her American debut in
1950 as Aida at the San Francisco Opera, and her Met debut took place on January 31, 1955, as Desdemona
opposite Mario del Monaco's Otello. The Met was to be
her artistic home for the next 18 years, and she was a perennial favorite.
Tebaldi always considered herself a
lyric soprano, but others disagreed, and from her youth she was pressed into
big operas, with very dramatic and demanding soprano parts—Chenier, Aida, Lohengrin and Otello principle among
them. Her voice had an uncommonly rich,
chocolate-like quality that may possibly have given the impression of size and
depth when it was in fact only a characteristic of the voice's essential color.
Perhaps not surprisingly, she had some vocal
problems later in her career, and was obliged to withdraw from the Met for more
than an entire season at one point.
The famous and on-going feud
with Callas (whether real or calculated) might be interesting to some, but I find it meaningless and distasteful and
have chosen to ignore it. It is easily consulted in any biographical study,
which abound on the web.
To the voice and the art! This is the real Tebaldi story. Here is a woman who, unlike the fictitious
Tosca, did in fact live for art! :
Isn't that
something! Here is the essential
Tebaldi. The first thing that catches
one's attention is the extreme beauty of the vocal color; so rich in texture! The next thing that calls attention to itself
is the musicality. The sheer
musicianship here is in every way inspiring—the legato line, the absolute
control of dynamics and the textual sensitivity revealed in perfect style. This is perhaps the ultimate verismo
soprano. It is hard to imagine the aria
better done. I know the contenders would
be many, but one could not deny Tebaldi a position among the very best!
To all
these vocal and musical refinements, add acting: Here, in a remarkably beautiful video,
observe the careful study that has gone into the acting, including the gestures
from Japanese theater, which lend great veracity to the characterization:
Simply
beautiful! This is the kind of care with
which Tebaldi approached everything she did.
He life was completely dedicated to art.
She never married, and there were no children. What there was, from earliest youth, was
constant attention to study, and to aesthetic perfection. So admirable!
And the results always demonstrate the value of a life so dedicated; her
work is immaculate. This was one of the
great careers in opera. There is simply
no question about it.
We should
not think that verismo opera was all Tebaldi could do, however. Even with the big and richly colored voice,
she was capable of embracing classical style, with all the refinement and
nuance that this implies. Here is
Gluck's "O del mio dolce ardor" from Paride ed Elena. I don't usually encourage this, but take a
look at the first comment under the video.
It sums up perfectly what I have been saying about her musicality and
artistic refinement. It's not only my
opinion! :
This
speaks for itself. A life dedicated to
great music and great theater. This was
a woman and an artist who could serve any aspiring singer, anywhere, as a
perfect model. She lived for art!
