Renata Tebaldi

Renata Tebaldi (1 February 1922 – 19 December 2004) was an Italian lirico-spinto soprano who rose to fame in the years after World War II. She became a leading figure at La Scala, the San Carlo, and most notably the Metropolitan Opera. Many regard her as one of the finest opera singers of the 20th century, and her work centered on verismo roles within both the lyric and dramatic repertoires. Conductor Arturo Toscanini described her voice as “la voce d’angelo” (“the voice of an angel”), while Riccardo Muti, music director of La Scala, called her “one of the greatest performers with one of the most extraordinary voices in the field of opera.”

Tebaldi was born in Pesaro, in the northern part of Marche, to cellist Teobaldo Tebaldi and nurse Giuseppina Barbieri. Her parents separated before she was born, and she grew up with her mother at her maternal grandparents’ home in Langhirano, near Parma in Emilia-Romagna. At age three, she contracted polio, but her interest in music led her to sing in the Langhirano church choir. When she was 13, her mother arranged piano lessons with Giuseppina Passani in Parma, who then encouraged Tebaldi to study voice with Italo Brancucci at the Parma Conservatory. She entered the conservatory at 17, studying with Brancucci and Ettore Campogalliani. Later, she moved to the Liceo musicale Rossini in Pesaro, where she trained under Carmen Melis and, on Melis’s advice, with Giuseppe Pais. She also studied with Beverley Peck Johnson in New York City.

Her stage debut came in 1944 as Elena in Boito’s *Mefistofele* in Rovigo. Wartime conditions made the journey difficult—she traveled partway by horse cart and came under machine-gun fire on the return trip. Early performances in Parma included *La bohème*, *L’amico Fritz*, and *Andrea Chénier*. She caused a stir in 1946 when she debuted as Desdemona in Verdi’s *Otello* opposite Francesco Merli in Trieste. That same year, she auditioned for Arturo Toscanini, who declared she had “la voce d’angelo.” Her major breakthrough followed: she made her La Scala debut at the concert reopening the theater after the war, singing the “Prayer” from Rossini’s *Mosè in Egitto* and the soprano part in Verdi’s *Te Deum*. In 1946, she took on the roles of Margherita and Elena in *Mefistofele* and Elsa in *Lohengrin*. The next year, she appeared in *La bohème* and as Eva in *Die Meistersinger*. Toscanini urged her to take on the role of Aida, though she thought it belonged to a dramatic soprano; he convinced her otherwise, and she debuted as Aida at La Scala in 1950 with Mario del Monaco and Fedora Barbieri, conducted by Antonino Votto. This became the greatest success of her early career and opened international doors. During her first decade, her repertoire included works by Rossini, Spontini, Handel, Mozart, Wagner, Gounod, Mascagni, Tchaikovsky, and contemporary composers like Refice, Casavola, and Cilea. She also provided Sophia Loren’s singing voice for the 1953 film version of *Aida*.

In 1950, Tebaldi toured with the La Scala ensemble, first to the Edinburgh Festival and then to London, where she debuted as Desdemona in two *Otello* performances at the Royal Opera House and sang in the Verdi Requiem, both conducted by Victor de Sabata.

She made her American debut in 1950 as Aida at the San Francisco Opera. Her Metropolitan Opera debut followed on 31 January 1955, again as Desdemona opposite Mario Del Monaco’s Otello. For roughly 20 years, the Met became the center of her career. During the 1962–1963 season, she persuaded Met director Rudolf Bing to revive Cilea’s *Adriana Lecouvreur*, an opera Bing said he “detested.” Tebaldi was not in top form and canceled performances; Bing later remarked, “We had to do the wretched thing without her.” Still, according to Francis Robinson, then assistant manager of ticket sales, she was “the greatest box-office draw since Flagstad.” She returned triumphantly to the role of Adriana for the opening night of the 1968–1969 season, when the Met set a box office record of $126,000.

One of her most beloved roles was Minnie in Puccini’s *La fanciulla del West*, which she sang only five times in February and March 1970. For her Met debut in the role, she was told she would have to enter on horseback in the third act. Terrified of horses her whole life, she refused to go near the animal until she was sure it was safe. At her first rehearsal, she approached the horse, patted its mane, and said, “Well, Mr. Horse, I am Tebaldi. You and I are going to be friends, eh?” She overcame her fear, and the performances succeeded.

She sang far more at the Met than anywhere else, building a special bond with its audiences and earning the nickname “Miss Sold Out”—her name on the marquee all but guaranteed a packed house. She performed there about 270 times in roles from *La bohème*, *Madama Butterfly*, *Tosca*, *Manon Lescaut*, *La fanciulla del West*, *Otello*, *La forza del destino*, *Simon Boccanegra*, *Falstaff*, *Andrea Chénier*, *Adriana Lecouvreur*, *La Gioconda*, and as Violetta in a *La Traviata* production created especially for her. Puccini’s Tosca was her most frequent role, with 45 performances. She was the Leonora in *La forza del destino* on the night in 1960 when Leonard Warren died suddenly mid-performance, and she was Adriana Lecouvreur on the night Plácido Domingo made his Met debut in 1968. Her final Met appearance was on 8 January 1973 as Desdemona.