The Singers - Renata Tebaldi [Enhanced, Original recording remastered]

Tebaldi (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 9, 2001)
• SPARS Code: ADD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced, Original recording remastered
• Label: Decca
• ASIN: B00005ND3W
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #41,226 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #74 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Historical Periods > Modern & 20th Century

Track Listings

1. Faust: Come Vorrei Saper... C'era Un Re, Un Re Di Thule... Ah! E' Strano Poter Il Viso Suo Veder

2. Manon Lescaut: In Quelle Trine Morbide

3. La Boheme: Si. Mi Chiamano Mimi - Renata Tebaldi/Giacinto Prandelli

4. Gianni Schicchi: O Mio Babbiono Caro

5. Madama Butterfly: Un Bei Di

6. Paride Ed Elena: O Del Mio Dolce Ardor

7. La Wally: Ebben?... Ne Andro Lontana

8. Aida: L'Aborrita Rivale... Gia I Sacerdoti Adunansi - Renata Tebaldi/Franco Corelli

9. Adriana Lecouvreur: Ma, Dunque E Vero - Renata Tebaldi/Franco Corelli

10. Serse: Frondi Tenere E Belle... Ombra Mai Fu

11. La Molinara: Nel Cor Piu Non Mis Sento

12. La Serva Padrona: Stizzoso, Mio Stizzoso

13. Piacer D'amor

14. O Holy Night

15. O Divine Redeemer

16. Carousel: If I Loved You

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tribute to a living legend!, December 16, 2001

By 

Armindo (Greece) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Singers - Renata Tebaldi (Audio CD)

The singers enhanced CD series is a wonderful effort to bring legendary opera singers closer to the new generation of opera fans. Not only vocally but also visually by providing pictures from performances and rehearsals.

Among these singers Renata Tebaldi, of course, could not be excluded. Her singers CD is a journey from the early to the late stages of her distinguished career. I was pleased to discover that most tracks are rarities and not extracts from her commercial complete opera recordings. This means that her signature roles like Tosca, Desdemona, Leonora (Forza)and many others are not included here. The sound is excellent, even in tracks recorded in 1949. In these early recordings one will experience the most beautiful sound ever to come out of a human throat! But don't let this comment fool you, there is more than enough drama there too. Tebaldi, in my opinion, was one of the few artists that "injected feelings in her singing". The singing and acting were there simultaneously. This is why Maestro Gardelli named her "the Caruso of sopranos".

After the early recordings we listen to the second-period Tebaldi, more mature, with stronger lower register that provided her with great successes in the verisimo repertoire. You also get to hear the heroic Franco Corelli in extracts from Aida (Renata sings Amneris) and Adriana Lecouvreur. Despite my first hesitations about tracks recorded late in her career ('71, '73) , she is amazingly sublime! The Handel and Gluck extracts, for example, never sounded so beautiful, so relaxing! 2 lovely Christmas songs and her trademark "If I loved you" complete this wonderful set that has gained a special place in my heart!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars wow, April 30, 2002

By 

Andrew Mayzak "audiophile" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Singers - Renata Tebaldi (Audio CD)

Amazing repertoire from one of the most gifted spinto sopranos I've ever heard. This CD is a great value and I was surprised to find it enhanced with pictures of Tebaldi, a discography, song lyrics, and links to websites. For the die-hard Tebaldi fan (and that's me), it was a great investment. Her early recordings are gems of opera, showcasing some of the most beautiful singing I've ever heard. The tracks done after her "vocal crisis" show what a powerful mezzo (and I mean POWERFUL) she became while still retaining some of her soprano roles. The tracks sung in English are a little awkward to listen to, but I'm sure that we must sound the same way to Italians when singing their music. Emotionally, "If I Loved You" is really great.
Truly, an impassioned compilation of songs.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An Uneven Tebaldi Collection, December 18, 2002

By 

Amazon Jon "AJ" (Connecticut, United Staates) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Singers - Renata Tebaldi (Audio CD)

This relatively new singers series from Decca is interesting. They have opened up their vaults and released recordings of legendary singers going outside their standard repetoire. In some cases, it works quite well(hear Corelli or Di Stefano singing from OTELLO on their discs). In the case of this collection of the great Renata Tebaldi, they don't quite succeed.
Yes, it's great to hear her in the LA WALLY aria, or the MANON LESCAUT aria- particularly the latter becuase it was recorded very early on in her career. But we've heard all this before on other, better compilations.
There is too much late career Tebaldi here that plagues this collection. Here voice sounds tired and lackluster in the breif ADRIANA LECOUVREUR duet with Corelli, especially when compared to the recording of it she did Del Monaco ten years earlier. The AIDA duet, also with Corelli, in which she sings the mezzo role of Amneris is mediocre, at best. THough she sounds comfortable down in the depths of the mezzo notes, she is never truly convincing. Corelli doesn't fare much better here, either.
Gounod's "O Divine Redeemer" is a standout here, but an odd version of Rodgers & Hammersteins "If I Loved You" is best avoided.
All in all, there are some moments of Tebaldi's greatness here, but they are few and far between. To hear her at her best, pick up the Opera D'Oro live TOSCA from '59 with Di Stefano and Gobbi, or the '67 GIOCONDA with Bergonzi (if you can find it), or one of the many other Decca compilations that find a youthful Tebaldi sounding comfortable in her standard repetoire.