Customer Reviews

Renata Tebaldi: A Tebaldi Festival

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Tebaldi is my favortie singer and this is one of my favorite of her recordings. I had the original release when it came out and enjoyed if very much . . . particularly playing the "Liebestod" and challenging someone to identify the voice. However, when the CD came out, I was surprised and delighted to find other "goodies" on it that I had not recalled from the LP's. They are WONDERFUL -- particularly the "Casta Diva" and "O Don Fatale" -- wouldn't it be great to hear a mezzo sing that with such blazing high notes! The Nabucco aria is not a favorite and is not what I would judge the set by but the other "new" material is well worth having and enjoying . . . and of course the original material is likewise.

There is nothing on this collection of arias/songs that I dislike. All are sung beautifully, with utmost artistry and dramatic emotion.
Tebaldi never had the severe vocal crisis of Maria Callas, so even in these last years there isn't even a semblance of a wobble. That is not an attack on La Callas it is simply the truth. Throughout her life, Tebaldi had a good, solid technique and a lush velvety tone only exemplified by the acquisition of full, chest tones towards the end of her career.
There are, of course, some things that Tebaldi should not have sung. The scenes before and after Casta Diva (including the aria) are very good, with the exception of the little bits of coloratura between verses. She should not have ventured into "Ah! bello a me ritorna" because she could not handle the coloratura. Not because of poor training, but her voice was not one that could move as easily as others. It was a huge instrument. Her scena ed aria from "Puritani" while lacking, once again, in the coloratura passages, can still be appreciated for it's warmth and innocence. The scene from Nabucco, I believe, is immaculate. I cannot help but listen to it. It's full of the fiery passion of Abigaille, the deceit, the anguish, the angry, the loneliness. It's also there. We can certainly forgive the lacking florid passages. Her O don fatale is my favorite. Even the aria from La Sonnambula is amazing. I don't care if it's bel canto. This is something that Tebaldi could've sung at any time in her career. That is not to say that she could've handled Amina. Certainly not. "Ah! non giunge!" would've been suicide for Tebaldi.

Yes, there are better recordings of nearly everything on this disc, whether by Tebaldi, or by another artist. But the title of the album is correct...it's a Tebaldi Festival! It's comparable to a carnival. You can listen and just have fun with Mme. Tebaldi.

I won't ignore, of course, the first disc. Some stuck up opera whores will say that Tebaldi singing Wagner/Massenet/Saint-Saens in Italian is heinous. Have we forgotten that until recently most operas were sung in the language of the audience or in the language of the interpreter? I would rather here an emotionally present "liebestod" in Italian than a weak, distracted, stumbling one in German.

It's good stuff, people!

The other review here ONLY focuses on the unreleased material on this set, which was NOT included in it's original release in 1969. The reason Tebaldi had these "out of character" arias suppressed was that she wanted them released on her 75th birthday, and they were. I STILL think her "Casta Diva" surpasses Sutherland, who is an exquisite singer, but almost completely lacking emotion. The WHOLE of this CD set however is the ORIGINAL album, which was made for her fans. Her "swansong" of sorts, if you will. The Wagner arias could not be more beautifully sung in ANY language, Same for the Samson arias. Also the "encore" arias, including a tremendous "Grenada", how many times have you heard a woman sing this? "If I Loved You" is the most beautiful rendition I have EVER heard, and would make Rogers and Hammerstein even MORE proud of their composition. All of my friends who have bought this set agree, it's wonderful. The 5 other tracks are "bonus" ones, and should NOT be confused with the album as originally released. In the original album's context, her voice is incredible, doing such magical things, that even the orchestra applauded after a "take." Take my word, or ask a friend; this won't be off your player for a LONG time. Tebali-ites MUST have this in their collection, as it proves, to everyone, that her voice had risen to incredible heights, even this late in her career. Even Tebaldi said, "I want to be remembered for THIS singing." I could recommend lots of others, however this 2CD set is unique, and unlike any other Renata Tebaldi put out. Her CARMEN arias are superb, no matter WHAT the language.

It wasn't without some reservation that I purchased this recording, which I later came to cherish dearly. I was intrigued by the fact that Tebaldi wanted to give a try to a Fach that did not suit her otherwise manifolded talent. I am referring to the bel canto heroines such as Norma and Elvira, along with the veristic Carmen and sensous Dalila. While Carmen and Dalila fare much better, given Tebaldi's stunning arsenal of dark chest notes, the dramatic coloratura parts of Norma and Elvira are below par, as Tebaldi never was a coloratura soprano (she was a spinto soprano) and must therefore negotiate the difficult fioriture with evident great effort. Nevertheless, it is a pleasure to listen to her in these pieces. The first part of Norma's grande entrée showstopper, "Sediziose voci..", and the ensuing recitative are sung with rich detail and plenty of bravura.
This recording however is a well of surprises. I was totally swept off my feet by Tebaldi's rendition of Wagner's Liebestod. I remember saying to myself: "brava, Renata!", when I first listened to this piece. Later, I read in the liner notes that the members of the orchestra had stood up for an improvised ovation of the diva after the recording of Liebestod. I can now understand why. My surprise continued for the whole of the German repertoire on this recording (albeit in Italian) and for the velvety excerpts from Sonnambula and Manon, where Tebaldi brings a lovely touch of melancholic vulnerabiltiy.

A lot of peolpe I talk to about this album are skeptical about it, saying that she shouldn't have made it, but then my response usually is, "Well where else are you going to hear her sing some of these selctions, which I think are better than other singers' interpretations?!!" You will not be able to hear her do the mad scene from Puritani, Casta Diva, or anything from Nabucco on any other CD of hers-end of story!! True, she may have been past her prime, but so was the "rival"(Callas)which didn't seem to stop her for the next 20 years, and seeing as how Tebaldi lasted for 30 years+ by being careful not to damage her instrument, as opposed to Callas' 13 years of complete misuse...well, need I say more? Enjoy!

My reactions were a bit different than other reviewers. I though the Bellini and Wagner were the most
beautiful singing imaginable, but not enough fire for "O mio Fernando" and "O don fatale." Still, what
is beautiful here is so beautiful, and the price so low, that 5 stars are a must.

When a soprano as great as Tebaldi decides to suppress recorded material for over thirty years, there has to be a good reason. The release of the Verdi-Bellini items heard here blatantly illustrate that reason. Tebaldi, of course, was one of the great sopranos of the post-war period, and her lush and creamy soprano was probably the finest to be heard in the 1950's. She triumphed in all of the great Puccini roles as well as those of the Italian "verista" composers of the turn-of-the-century (Maddalena in Giordano's "Andrea Chenier", Margarita in Boito's "Mefistofele", Adriana Lecouvreur of Cilea, "La Wally" of Catalani), and her Desdemona in Verdi's "Otello" was the greatest to be heard anywhere. In her particular reperoire, Tebaldi had no peers, and her wonderful London recordings of these roles fully justify her reputation. But by allowing many of the items on this recording to be released, Tebaldi has established and demonstrated her limitations far more emphatically than would have been the case had she chosen to leave these items in the London vaults, which is where most of them should have remained, since in the final analysis, most of the music presented here would have been unsuitable to Tebaldi even in her prime. To have attempted them (even on a recording) in her declining years, was, to be charitable, somewhat ill-advised. The Amazonian vocal writing that Verdi exemplifies in the role of Abigaille in "Nabucco", or the liquid and frequent florid vocal lines that are so abundant in Bellini's "Norma', "Puritani" and "Sonnambula" ----- defeat and confound Tebaldi at every turn. Tebaldi tries valiantly and we can admire her, but we can hear the effort and the results are not pleasant to hear at all. The Wagnerian arias ("Lohengrin" and "Tannhauser") are better vocalized (nothing florid here or even all that high), but not at all idiomatic because they are sung in Italian, as are the French arias from "Manon", "Samson et Dalila", and "Carmen". Tebaldi was a great artist, and one that I always admire and respect. She does herself no service by permitting the belated release of recordings which contain so much music that was so unsuited to her special talents.

Tebaldi was a great soprano, and it is on her magnificent recordings of her complete operas made in the 1950's that one finds the prime Tebaldi. Like Callas (with whom she should never have been compared), she developed vocal problems fairly early (though Callas demonstrated vocal problems first), and by the time she had reached her 50th birthday in 1972, her career on the opera stage was over (a few years of recitals and concerts were still left for her). Callas, of course, by this time was completely silent, save for that sad comeback series with Giuseppe di Stefano.
By the time these recordings were made in the late 1960's,
Tebaldi's uppermost notes were pretty far gone. Also, the fact that she never sang in any language other than Italian definitely diminishes the idiomatic quality of the non-Italian items on this recording. Wagner in Italian is simply not Wagner, and to hear the music of Carmen and Dalila sung in Italian is to weigh the music down with an inappropriate heaviness - sort of a suffle being turned into a dumpling!
The Italian items on this recording may find Tebaldi singing in her native language, but they certainly do not find her vocally comfortable, and I would have liked to hear what she would have done with Norma ten or fifteen years earlier, though even then she had no real bel canto flexibility. Operas like "Nabucco", "Puritani", and "Sonnambula" would have never been for her because she lacked the florid technique to do them justice.
But Tebaldi, like a true veteran, valliantly attempts this music and manages to get through them with a modicum of respectibility.
But this is nowhere near the ultimate Tebaldi ---- for that one must go to her recordings made on London in the 1950's -- creamy and luscious versions of "Butterfly", "Boheme", "Forza", "Tosca",
"Fannicula del West", "Otello", "Andrea Chenier", etc.
This recording is OK for Tebaldi fans only, but not even they can deny the deterioration in her voice here as compared to her vocally impeccable work a decade earlier.

The other day, I was listening to one of Tebaldi's live Toscas, and then in the end scene where Tosca sings "O Scarpia, avanti a Dio!", Tebaldi utters out an unearthly scream that could, instead of freezing your blood, wake up the laughing dead!!! Not that it was horrible, but then that was simply one of the main reasons why my tastes have strayed farther and farther away from verismo.

Anyhow, regarding this disc, I think most of the selections from verismo are sung wonderfully. Tebaldi was a verismo singer, and a good dramatic one at that. Her Verdian voice was good, but quite lacking in some arias. The Wagner selections, sung in Italian, were quite good, although I still prefer Callas' "Dolce e calmo" to hers.

And then...bel canto. No! Never never never! Tebaldi should never have made any attempts to sing bel canto roles, even if they are in the studio! It only shows how limited her vocal flexibility is! Tebaldi can be enjoyed in Puccini just fine, but don't let her do Bellini or Donizetti! Goodness knows what she would have sounded like if she had tackled Rossini! Ack! The horror! Imagine Rosina screaming like that live Tosca!

This is a good recital for Tebaldi fans, but please don't even think about listening to the excerpts from Nabucco, Sonnambula, Norma, Puritani, and Don Carlo!!!! Those are simply nightmares I must tell you!!!! Nightmares!!!! She doesn't even attempt "Ah non giunge!" from Sonnambula! My goodness Amina was left asleep! But of course, Tebaldi would have died if she had sung Amina's final aria! And then there's the excerpt from I Puritani...how slow!! And her Ah bello a mi ritorna!!!! Horrible!!! She shouldn't try to be Callas! Nowhere in her great career will she ever approach the great Callas' repertoire or insight!