Renata Tebaldi: The Voice of an Angel Great Voices 2 [Hardcover]

Carlamaria Casanova (Author), Connie Mandracchia De Caro (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1995

Expanded Second Edition - The passing of the great soprano, Renata Tebaldi, has occasioned the release of an enhanced edition of her biography. Additional information about her life, letters, reminiscences by many of her colleagues, and honors she received are included. Also of interest to collectors are 16 pages of new photographs and a remastered audio CD.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Italian

Product Details

• Hardcover: 297 pages
• Publisher: Baskerville Publishers; First Edition edition (November 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1880909405
• ISBN-13: 978-1880909409
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,247,491 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars fun book for fans, not so hot as an account of a career, August 25, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Renata Tebaldi: The Voice of an Angel Great Voices 2 (Hardcover)

This is a book written by, and for, fans of Renata Tebaldi. As I enthusiatically count myself one of that number, I enjoyed Ms. Casanova's book. As with most "fan" operatic bios, however, this one is limited by the adoration of the author for the subject. There is literally not one negative word about Tebaldi in this book: all is sweetness and light. One would never know, for example, that Tebaldi ever gave anything other than a magnificent performance, ever received a negative review, or more importantly, that her voice started to deteriorate and shrink in range at a rather alarming rate starting in the mid-1960's. Tebaldi's vocal crisis in the early 1960s is glossed over with a positive spin. One would think, from this account, that Tebaldi emerged from her one-year withdrawal from the stage "better than ever." However, as can be heard on both pirate and studio recordings, when Tebaldi reappeared, her voice had changed notably. The high pianissimos were no longer reliably at her command, some of the velvet was off the voice, and the quality of her performances became more erratic. By way of compensation, the voice was now an even more powerful instrument, capable of producing (in Harold C. Schonberg's words) "ear-splitting fortissimos," and Tebaldi had a new-found dramatic intensity. This change in voice and technique deserves more consideration than it gets here. One of the most striking omissions in this book, in light of the important part the Met played in Tebaldi's career, is any reference to the circumstances of Tebaldi's break with the Met in the early 1970s, a painful episode recounted in detail in Schyler Chapin's recent book. According to Chapin, Ms. Tebaldi's vocal limitations were becoming increasingly apparent. When he suggested that she consider taking on mezzo roles, Tebaldi simply walked out - and never walked back in. In Ms. Casanova's book, the Met simply drops out of sight from the narrative! Moreover, no real explanation is given for Tebaldi's rather abrupt withdrawal from the operatic stage, certainly no suggestion that by 1972, most of her great roles were beyond her waning powers and that recitals of Italian art songs were the logical direction to go. Needless to say, The Other One (i.e., Callas) does not receive favorable consideration in these pages, although Tebaldi herself is not catty about her. The chapters are short and episodic and do not always follow a strict chronological time line, which sometimes makes for confusion. But, as I said, this is a book for the fans, and a loving tribute to a great singer who certainly deserves both love and tributes. It is filled with tidbits of information that we opera buffs never tire of munching on and will no doubt give much enjoyment to its readers. Nevertheless, we still await a full and comprehensive biography - warts and all - of this wonderful singer, unquestionably one of the great sopranos of the century.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars AN EXERCISE IN DIVA WORSHIP, March 6, 2002

By 

L. Mitnick (Chicago, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Renata Tebaldi: The Voice of an Angel Great Voices 2 (Hardcover)

There is absolutely no doubt that Renata Tebaldi had a magnificent voice, especially in the period spanning the decade of the 1950's. The voice was creamy, large, ripe, and its tone was all-encompassing. Her greatest roles were those in operas by the "verista" composers (Puccini, Giordano, Cilea, Catalani), as well Verdi's Desdemona, Donna Leonora in "Forza del Destino", and for a brief time, Aida. She had no real rivals in this repertoire --- not even Callas, whose real genius lay in the bel canto operas of Bellini, Donizetti, Rossini, early Verdi, etc.
Both divas were spectacular, but should have never been compared, since neither could really effectively sing the other's chosen repertoire (though Callas did record most of the roles Tebaldi did, sometimes to very convincing effect, but with less vocal plush than Tebaldi had at her command). Whatever the case, each had her own following, and, looking back, their respective followers and fans should have embraced both divas, since sopranos of their kind have yet to surface in our time.
This book would make you think that Tebaldi never sang a bad note, and left her operatic career at the height of her vocal powers. This is, of course, sheer nonsense. Although Callas showed vocal trouble earlier, Tebaldi's voice itself began to unravel in the early 1960's, and she continued her career with aplomb and style, albeit with diminished vocal means. Tebaldi had plenty of star-power, and she had enough power and beauty in her voice for roles like Tosca, Mimi, Desdemona, Adriana, and Maddelena, which she sang over and over in the later years of her career (Aida, Butterfly, Violetta, and Leonora in "Forza" were abandoned in the early 1960's as Tebaldi's uppermost notes began to flatten and fade).
This is a book for fans who love Tebaldi. It is a loving tribute, but a very poor documentation of a great career. Hopefully, Tebaldi will one day get the biography she so richly deserves. She was one of the greats!

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A competent "fan" biography with bonuses, May 14, 2004

By 

David A. Kemp (Plano, TX USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Renata Tebaldi: The Voice of an Angel Great Voices 2 (Hardcover)

The author of this biography is an Italian journalist who has been a music critic for Italian periodicals for many years; she is obviously a Tebaldi fan. The translator is "Tebaldi's close personal friend for more than 30 years." The result is a competent, professional, rather bland "fan" biography of one of the great sopranos of the post-World-War-Two era. That is to say, it falls into the trap of many gushing celebrity biographies by making no serious attempt to be objective or even-handed in its treatment of its subject: everything about Tebaldi here is rosy, positive, marvelous; the book is all bravas, applause, ovations, adulation. The Tebaldi portrayed here is unremittingly wonderful, and nothing of a questioning or critical nature is permitted to rear its ugly head. If you want to read this kind of book about Tebaldi, you probably won't be disappointed in this one. It's not as gushing as some, but its subject is permitted no faults, no flaws; only positive reviews are quoted; no criticism is allowed, nor any realistic discussion of vocal ups and downs, the strengths and weaknesses of Tebaldi's voice and performances, etc.

Although I've admired Tebaldi's singing ever since her first recordings of the 1950s, have many of her CDs, and am positively disposed toward her, the plain truth is that her life is not a particularly interesting one. She came from a conventional middle-class background, and her exceptional voice was recognized early on; she enjoyed early success as a singer and a rapid progress to the top (she was singing at La Scala within two years of her provincial debut), and marched from one success to another. A large, tall woman, she remained single and childless, had admirable self-discipline, and lived entirely for her career. Once past her childhood and youth, her story becomes a repetitive one of moving around the globe singing opera successfully all over the world, with concertizing figuring more prominently in her later career.

She made her debut in Rovigo in 1944 in Mefistofele, was brought to La Scala by Toscanini in 1946, and from there went on to triumph after triumph, first in Italy, then around the world. Most Tebaldi buffs consider that she did her best singing in the 1950s (although you won't read that here). She had a vocal crisis of sorts in early 1963 (again, you won't find it called that here), withdrew from singing for a year, and re-worked her vocal method with a voice coach (who happened to be the brother-in-law of the translator of this book). She then resumed her career in 1964, continuing singing opera until a final Falstaff at the Met in 1972 and a final Otello there in 1973. Thereafter she concertized until her final concert at La Scala in 1976. Although she certainly had a great international career and sang in major opera houses everywhere, it would probably be fair to say that her main bases of operation were La Scala from 1946 to 1955, and the Met from 1955 to 1973.

One unusual aspect of her career for a world-class soprano of the post-World-War-Two era is that she refused to learn to sing in any language but Italian (and one would think this would have been a significant handicap to her concert career). In her early career in Italy she sang in Faust and in three Wagner operas (all in Italian, of course). Later she sang in Eugene Onegin, again in Italian. She said that French was too nasal and German was too guttural and that she feared what singing in them would do to her voice. But one may suspect it had more to do with laziness and complacency, being satisfied with her core Italian repertory; unlike her great rival Callas, Tebaldi was not driven and ambitious, not a very adventurous singer (after 1958--that is, for the last 15 years of her operatic career--she learned only three new roles). And while she is certainly portrayed in this book as an admirable, likable, sympathetic person, she does not emerge as a particularly interesting or intelligent one.

The biography is of about the right length, I would say (208 pages). But there is considerably more: included are a CD of 13 well-chosen arias (and one song), all recorded fairly early in her career (1949-1956) with the exception of one aria from 1964; an excellent, copious section of 111 photographs, illustrating Tebaldi's life from childhood to old age and showing her in many of her roles; a list of her repertory, and of all her roles by year of first performance; and a comprehensive chronology of all her engagements from 1944 to 1976, detailing what, where, when, and with whom she sang. There is also a discography, but unfortunately it is a poor one: only three pages in length, it provides minimal information about only her commercial complete opera recordings (all Decca/London with two exceptions). After the commendable fullness of the photo section and the career chronology, it's disappointing that the discography is so skimpy and incomplete.

In sum, if you're a Tebaldi buff, this book is probably worth having. (This was the second in Baskerville's "Great Voices" series of singer biographies.)