Tebaldi, Renata

born Feb. 1, 1922, Pesaro, Italy

died Dec. 19, 2004, San Marino

Italian soprano.

After her debut in Mefistofele in 1944, she established herself at La Scala, performing with the conductor Arturo Toscanini for the 1946 reopening concert and over the next decade. Her debuts at Covent Garden (1950) and the Metropolitan Opera (1955) were both in the role of Desdemona, and she sang at the Met for 17 years in roles such as Tosca, Manon Lescaut, Mimi, and Violetta. She retired in 1976.

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▪ 2005

      Italian soprano (b. Feb. 1, 1922, Pesaro, Italy—d. Dec. 19, 2004, San Marino), was one of the foremost opera singers of the post-World War II period. With a rich and powerful voice, over which she exercised great control, she was especially identified with works by Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini, and other Italian composers. Tebaldi studied at conservatories in Pesaro and Parma, and her stage debut took place in 1944 in Rovigo. In 1946 conductor Arturo Toscanini invited her to sing in the concert marking the reopening of Milan's La Scala, and from 1949 to 1954 she was a member of its company. She also had a long association with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, where between 1955 and 1973 she sang 270 performances. After her retirement from the opera stage in 1973, she gave recitals, the last at La Scala in 1976. Among her roles were Puccini's Tosca and Mimi in La Bohème, Verdi's Aida and Desdemona in Otello, and Madeleine in Umberto Giordano's Andrea Chénier. Her many esteemed recordings included one of a live performance (1958) of Verdi's La forza del destino, in which she sang the role of Leonora. A highly publicized rivalry with Maria Callas was fueled by partisan fans and the press.

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▪ Italian singer

born February 1, 1922, Pesaro, Italy

died December 19, 2004, San Marino

      Italian operatic soprano, a star at both Milan's La Scala and New York City's Metropolitan Opera.

      Tebaldi received her early musical training from her mother, a singer, and studied at the Parma Conservatory. At age 18 she sang for Carmen Melis, of the Arrigo Boito Conservatory in Pesaro, who accepted her as a student. She made her debut in Rovigo, Italy, in 1944 as Elena in Arrigo Boito's Mefistofele. In 1946 Tebaldi auditioned for Arturo Toscanini (Toscanini, Arturo), who hired her for the reopening concert of La Scala, which had been closed during World War II. She joined the La Scala company in 1949 and sang with them through 1954. She also appeared in Naples at the Teatro San Carlo, in London at Covent Garden, in San Francisco and Chicago, and in New York City at the Metropolitan Opera (Metropolitan Opera Association), of which she was a member after 1954. Tebaldi sang almost exclusively in Italian, and her great roles included Giacomo Puccini's Mimi (in La Bohème) and Tosca, Giuseppe Verdi's Desdemona (in Otello) and Aida, and Umberto Giordano's Madeleine (in Andrea Chénier). Noted for her expressive and alluring voice and commanding stage presence, she was one of the most celebrated opera singers of her era. Tebaldi retired from the stage in 1976.

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