This
recital has to be counted as fairly late Tebaldi. She was
just a couple of years past forty but she had been singing
professionally for more than twenty years. Her voice had
acquired more steel and heft at the sacrifice of some of
the creamy tone that was her hallmark in the early part of
her career. This is also mirrored in her choice of repertoire,
moving towards heavier roles. Of course she had been singing
Aida and Tosca for many years but here she sings several
parts not associated with her. She recorded Santuzza in Cavalleria
rusticana in the late 1950s with Jussi Björling and she
was to take part in complete recordings during the mid- and
late- 1960s of Don Carlo, Un ballo in maschera and La
Gioconda. Turandot was really not her part and
as far as I am aware she never essayed it on stage although
she twice recorded Liù.
Spaciously
recorded in the Kingsway Hall her voice rings out magnificently
over the orchestra. Oliviero de Fabritiis is rather heavy-footed
and in some places one gets the feeling that Tebaldi is hampered
by his unwillingness to move forward. The introduction to
the Don Carlo aria is uncommonly slow and somnambulistic;
one almost gives up the hope that he will ever reach the
point where the singing starts. But eventually he does and
one is at once enthralled by Tebaldi’s clarion-like top notes
and sheer power. It is an almost overwhelming experience
through which the voice remains absolutely steady. We do
not hear singing of this calibre any more. She also demonstrates
her ability to produce that creamy piano singing,
although it seems that she feels more at home when singing
at full tilt. Ecco l’orrido is also formidable but
in Morrò, ma prima in grazia she lightens the voice
admirably. She sounds more like her young self from the 1950s:
beautifully inward, growing towards the climax with that
trumpet tone followed by a lyrical scaling down. This is
Tebaldi at her best.
There
are two comparative rarities, the first being from Giovanna
d’Arco. It’s impressive again although more animated
conducting wouldn’t have come amiss. Both Turandots In
questa reggia and Suicidio! from La Gioconda are
given uncommonly inward readings with girlish timbre and
a warmth that makes Turandot very human. Then again she also
has the required power to make the climaxes really tell.
There
is a tendency towards shrillness in the aria from La rondine but
in Voi lo sapete she is back on form again. Tebaldi
rounds off the recital with the other rarity, the aria from
Cilea’s L’Arlesiana, an opera best known by the tenor
aria È la solita storia, sung by most of the greats.
The soprano aria was recorded by Claudia Muzio in the mid-1930s,
a wonderful recording, but Tebaldi also sings it impressively.
With its subtle impressionistic orchestral garb it is an
atmospheric piece and gives the soprano good opportunities
to expose both the lyrical cantilena and some impassioned
outbreaks.
Selling
at a very affordable price, packaged in a slimline cardboard
box using the original LP cover – front and back –this reissue
has to be cordially recommended.
Göran Forsling
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Renata Tebaldi
(soprano) 
