View source for Renata Tebaldi

{{Short description|Italian opera singer (1922–2004)}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Renata Tebaldi
| birth_name         = Renata Ersilia Clotilde Tebaldi
| honorific_suffix   = [[Order of Merit of the Italian Republic|OMRI]]
| image              = Renata Tebaldi 1974.jpg
| caption            = Tebaldi in 1974
| birth_date         = {{birth date|df=yes|1922|2|1}}
| birth_place        = [[Pesaro]], Marche, [[Kingdom of Italy]]
| death_date         = {{death date and age|df=yes|2004|12|19|1922|2|1}}
| death_place        = [[City of San Marino|San Marino]], San Marino
| other_names        = {{lang|it|la Voce d'Angelo}}<ref name=npr>{{cite book|author=Maurizio Eliseo|title=Andrea Doria: cento uno viaggi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gkgAdi_x36wC&pg=PA107|year=2006|publisher=Hoepli Editore|language=it|isbn=978-88-203-3502-1|pages=107–}}</ref><ref name="onsinging">{{cite web|url=https://hampsongfoundation.org/resource/singers-on-singing-renata-tebaldi/|title=Singers on Singing : Renata Tebaldi|website=Hampsong Foundations}}</ref>
| education          = [[Conservatorio Statale di Musica "Gioachino Rossini"]]
| occupation         = Operatic soprano
| years_active       = 1944–1976
| awards             = {{plainlist|
* [[Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Solo]], 1959<ref name="renatagrammy">{{cite web|url=https://www.grammy.com/grammys/artists/renata-tebaldi|title=Renata Tebaldi|website=Grammy Awards}}</ref>
* [[Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording]] (joint), 1961<ref name="erichgrammy">{{cite web|url=https://www.grammy.com/grammys/awards/3rd-annual-grammy-awards-1960|title=Erich Leinsdorf|website=Grammy Awards}}</ref>
* [[Order of Merit of the Italian Republic|Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI]]<ref name="bbc">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4108895.stm|title=Opera singer Renata Tebaldi dies|website=BBC News|date=19 December 2004 }}</ref><ref name="omri1992">{{cite web|url=https://www.quirinale.it/onorificenze/insigniti/10539|title=Tebaldi Renata, Cavaliere di Gran Croce Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana|publisher=Palazzo del Quirinale|language=it|access-date=5 July 2020}}</ref>
* [[Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres]], France<ref name="bbc"/>
}}
}}

'''Renata Tebaldi''' {{post-nominals|post-noms=[[Order of Merit of the Italian Republic|OMRI]]}} ({{IPAc-en|US|t|ə|ˈ|b|ɑː|l|d|i}} {{respell|tə|BAHL|dee}},<ref>{{cite American Heritage Dictionary|Tebaldi|access-date=6 September 2019}}</ref> {{IPA|it|reˈnaːta teˈbaldi|lang}}; 1 February 1922&nbsp;– 19 December 2004) was an Italian [[spinto soprano|lirico-spinto soprano]] popular in the post-[[World War II|war]] period, and especially prominent as one of the stars of [[La Scala]], [[Teatro di San Carlo|San Carlo]] and, especially, the [[Metropolitan Opera]].<ref name="washingtonpost">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2004/12/20/italian-opera-soprano-renata-tebaldi-dies/bf25e59f-8cec-4cc4-af07-663d397387b8/|title=Italian Opera Soprano Renata Tebaldi Dies|newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> Often considered among the great opera singers of the 20th century, she focused primarily on the ''[[verismo]]'' roles of the lyric and dramatic repertoires.<ref name="Cramer2009">{{cite book|author=Alfred W. Cramer|title=Musicians and composers of the 20th century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WZ87AQAAIAAJ|date=15 May 2009|publisher=Salem Press|isbn=978-1-58765-517-3|page=1483}}</ref><ref name="nytimes.com">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/20/arts/music/20teba.html|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=December 20, 2004|author=Anthony Tommasini|title=Renata Tebaldi, 82, Soprano With 'Voice of an Angel,' Dies}}</ref><ref name=Libbey>{{cite book|last=Libbey|first=Ted|title=The NPR Listener's Encyclopedia of Classical Music|date=2006|publisher=Workman Publishing Company|location=New York|isbn=9780761136422|page=[https://archive.org/details/nprlistenersency00libb/page/860 860]|url=https://archive.org/details/nprlistenersency00libb|url-access=registration|quote=editions:qyI8OX5Atr0C.}}</ref> Italian conductor [[Arturo Toscanini]] called her voice {{lang|it|la voce d'angelo}} ("the voice of an angel"),<ref name=npr>{{cite book|author=Maurizio Eliseo|title=Andrea Doria: cento uno viaggi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gkgAdi_x36wC&pg=PA107|year=2006|publisher=Hoepli Editore|language=it|isbn=978-88-203-3502-1|pages=107–}}</ref><ref name="onsinging"/> and La Scala music director [[Riccardo Muti]] called her "one of the greatest performers with one of the most extraordinary voices in the field of opera."<ref name="bbc"/>

==Early years and education==

Born in [[Pesaro]], in the north of [[Marche]],<ref>{{cite book|author=Carlamaria Casanova|title=Renata Tebaldi: la voce d'angelo|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8RgrAAAAIAAJ|year=1981|publisher=Electa|page=13}}</ref> Tebaldi was the daughter of cellist Teobaldo Tebaldi<ref>{{cite book|title=Current Biography Yearbook|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gCUaAAAAYAAJ|year=1956|publisher=H. W. Wilson Company|page=599|quote=Her father was a cellist; he still plays in orchestras in Pesaro and Parma opera houses.}}</ref> and Giuseppina Barbieri, a nurse.<ref name=Seroff1970>{{cite book|author=Victor Ilyitch Seroff|title=Renata Tebaldi: the woman and the diva|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yYQZAQAAIAAJ|year=1970|publisher=Books for Libraries Press|isbn=978-0-8369-8048-6}}</ref>{{rp|13|quote=Her father, Teobaldi Tebaldi, a native of Pesaro, was about seven years younger than her mother, and was then twenty-six ... hospital in Langhirano, near Parma, that he met Giuseppina Barbieri, Renata's mother, who worked there as a nurse.}} Her parents separated before her birth and Tebaldi grew up with her mother in her maternal grandparents' home in [[Langhirano]], near [[Parma]] in [[Emilia-Romagna]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Anne Commire|title=Women in World History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EkEOAQAAMAAJ|date=13 December 2001|publisher=Gale|isbn=978-0-7876-4074-3|page=253|quote=Even before her birth, her parents had separated, and it would be a long time before Renata learned that her cellist father was not dead but had abandoned her mother for another woman.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Kenn Harris|title=Renata Tebaldi|url=https://archive.org/details/renatatebaldi00harr|url-access=registration|year=1974|publisher=Drake Publishers|isbn=978-0-87749-597-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/renatatebaldi00harr/page/2 2]|quote=Tebaldi grew up with her mother, Giuseppina Tebaldi, in the home of her maternal grandparents. The soprano's father, Teobaldo Tebaldi, was a cellist who had separated from her mother before Renata's ...}}</ref>

Stricken with [[polio]] at the age of three,<ref>{{cite book|author=Schuyler Chapin|title=Sopranos, mezzos, tenors, bassos, and other friends|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OfsXAQAAIAAJ|date=10 October 1995|publisher=Crown|isbn=978-0-517-58864-2|page=38|quote=Shortly before Tebaldi was born in the Italian city of Pesaro – coincidentally also the hometown of Rossini – her parents separated. As a result little ... What many people don't know is that at the age of three she was stricken with polio.}}</ref> Tebaldi became interested in music and sang with the church choir in Langhirano.<ref name=Seroff1970/>{{rp|32|Like the other Langhirano children she sang in the church choir, occasionally was given solo parts...}} Her mother sent her, at age 13, for piano lessons with Giuseppina Passani in Parma,<ref>{{cite book|author=Eddy Lovaglio|title=Renata Tebaldi: estatico abbandono|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TYA3AQAAIAAJ|year=2008|publisher=Azzali|language=it|isbn=978-88-88252-38-4|page=15|quote=... studiare a Parma tutto il giorno da una nostra cugina professoressa di pianoforte, Giuseppina Passani, e tornare la sera al paese ...}}</ref> who took the initiative that Tebaldi study voice with [[Italo Brancucci]] at the [[Parma Conservatory]]. She was admitted to the conservatory at 17, where she studied with Brancucci and [[Ettore Campogalliani]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Friedrich Blume|title=Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart: allgemeine Enzyklopädie der Musik|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=twowAQAAIAAJ|year=1979|publisher=Bärenreiter-Verlag|language=de|isbn=978-3-7618-0411-7|page=1818|quote=Renata Tebaldi stud, in Parma Kl. bei Giuseppina Passani mit der Absicht, Konzertpianistin zu werden, erhielt jedoch auf Grund ihrer ... So wurde sie im Alter von 17 Jahren Schülerin von Italo Brancucci und Ettore Campogalliani am ...}}</ref> She later transferred to [[Conservatorio Statale di Musica "Gioachino Rossini"|Liceo musicale Rossini]] in Pesaro, taking lessons with [[Carmen Melis]],<ref>{{cite book|author=Renato Chiesa|title=Riccardo Zandonai: Atti Del Convegno Di Studi Sulla Figura E L'Opera Di Riccardo Zandonai Presieduto Da Fedele D'Amico E Organizzato Con La Collaborazione Dell'istituto Trentino-Alto Adige Per Assicurazioni: Rovereto, 29-30 Aprile 1983|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TWVEAAAAMAAJ|year=1984|publisher=Edizioni Unicopli|language=it|isbn=978-88-7061-884-6|page=51|quote= il canto e l'arte scenica viene nominata Carmen Melis – alla cui scuola, al Conservatorio di Pesaro, si formerà Renata Tebaldi}}</ref> and on her suggestion with Giuseppe Pais.<ref>{{cite book|author=David Ewen|title=Musicians since nineteen hundred: performers in concert and opera|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VV0YAAAAIAAJ|date=1 January 1978|publisher=Hw Wilson Company|isbn=978-0-8242-0565-2|page=862|quote=Meanwhile she continued her vocal studies with Melis and, on Melis's suggestion, with Giuseppe Pais}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=David Ewen|title=Living musicians: Supplement. Supplement|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RHk6AAAAIAAJ|year=1957|publisher=[[H.W. Wilson Company]]|page=156|quote=... vocal study followed at the [[Parma Conservatory]], and afterwards she became a pupil of Carmen Melis; later study of operatic roles took place with Giuseppe Pais.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Saturday Review|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UhJVAAAAYAAJ|date=January 1955|publisher=Saturday Review Associates|page=42|quote=Giuseppe Pais is her only other singing coach, who even now from time to time "checks" on her voice Her dramatic coaching, Tebaldi says, she owes mainly to Melis. }}</ref> She then studied with [[Beverley Peck Johnson]] in New York City.<ref name="nyt">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/22/arts/beverley-peck-johnson-96-voice-teacher.html|title=Beverley Peck Johnson, 96, Voice Teacher|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=January 22, 2001|author=Anthony Tommasini|author-link=Anthony Tommasini}}</ref>

==Italian career==

Tebaldi made her stage debut as Elena in [[Arrigo Boito|Boito]]'s ''[[Mefistofele]]'' in [[Rovigo]] in 1944. Wartime conditions made for a difficult trip, with Tebaldi partly travelling by horse cart to Rovigo, and her return trip coming under machine-gun fire. Her early career was also marked by a performance in Parma in ''[[La bohème]]'', ''[[L'amico Fritz]]'' and ''[[Andrea Chénier]]''. She caused a stir when in 1946 she made her debut as Desdemona in Verdi's ''[[Otello]]'' alongside [[Francesco Merli]] as the title role in [[Trieste]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Harold D. Rosenthal|title=Great singers of today|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vOQgH3FEAE8C|year=1966|publisher=Calder & Boyars|page=194}}</ref>

Her major breakthrough came in 1946 when she auditioned for [[Arturo Toscanini]], who says she had {{lang|it|la voce d'angelo}} ("voice of an angel").<ref name="npr"/> Tebaldi made her [[La Scala]] debut that year at the concert marking the reopening of the theatre after World War II. She sang the "Prayer" ("Dal tuo stellato soglio") from [[Gioacchino Rossini|Rossini]]'s biblical opera, ''[[Mosè in Egitto]]'', and the soprano part in [[Giuseppe Verdi|Verdi]]'s ''Te Deum''.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}}

She was given the roles of Margherita and Elena in ''Mefistofele'' and Elsa in ''[[Lohengrin (opera)|Lohengrin]]'' in 1946. The next year she appeared in ''La bohème'' and as Eva in ''[[Die Meistersinger]]''. Toscanini encouraged her to sing the role of [[Aida]] and invited her to rehearse it in his studio. She believed the role was reserved for a dramatic soprano, but Toscanini convinced her otherwise, and she debuted in the role at La Scala in 1950 with [[Mario del Monaco]] and [[Fedora Barbieri]], conducted by [[Antonino Votto]]. It was the greatest success in her budding career and led to international opportunities.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}} During the first decade of her career, Tebaldi's repertoire included roles by Rossini, Spontini, Handel, Mozart, Wagner, Gounod, Mascagni, Tchaikovsky and contemporary composers such as Refice, Casavola and Cilea.

Tebaldi provided [[Sophia Loren]]'s singing in the film version of ''[[Aida]]'' (1953).<ref>{{cite book|author=Tony Crawley|title=Films of Sophia Loren|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_0806507004|url-access=registration|date=1 June 1976|publisher=Citadel Press|isbn=978-0-8065-0512-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_0806507004/page/55 55]}}</ref>

==International career==

[[File:Distefanotebaldi.jpg|thumb|left|160 px|Tebaldi with [[Giuseppe Di Stefano]] in Rome, 1960]]

Tebaldi went on a concert tour with the La Scala ensemble in 1950, first to the [[Edinburgh Festival]] and then to London, where she made her debut as Desdemona in two performances of ''Otello'' at the [[Royal Opera House]] and in the Verdi Requiem, both conducted by [[Victor de Sabata]].{{citation needed|date=November 2021}}

===The Met===

Tebaldi made her American debut in 1950 as [[Aida]] at the [[San Francisco Opera]]; her [[Metropolitan Opera]] debut took place on 31 January 1955, as [[Desdemona]] opposite [[Mario Del Monaco]]'s [[Otello]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=Dr. James Myron Holland Ph.D.|author2=James Myron Holland|title=Singing Excellence and How to Achieve It: The Consummate Art of Glorious Singing|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UYiJFhch4_EC&pg=PT144|date=27 August 2012|publisher=Xlibris Corporation|isbn=978-1-4797-0464-4|pages=144–}}{{self-published source|date=December 2017}}</ref>{{Self-published inline|certain=yes|date=December 2017}} For some 20 years she made the Met the focus of her activities. For the 1962-1963 season, she convinced Met director [[Rudolf Bing]] to stage a revival of Cilea's ''[[Adriana Lecouvreur]]'', an opera Bing said he "detested". Tebaldi was not in top form and cancelled performances; and, as Bing was quoted in ''1000 Nights at the Opera'', "We had to do the wretched thing without her." However, her ''Lecouvreur'' was a practical move for the Met, as she was "the greatest box-office draw since [[Kirsten Flagstad|Flagstad]]", according to Francis Robinson, then assistant manager of ticket sales.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-12-18-ca-770-story.html|title=OLD. ACQUAINTANCE: Renata Tebaldi: A Diva Ages Gracefully: A stubborn streak has carried the soprano of the 'steel dimple' into a retirement free of regrets|website=Los Angeles Times|date=18 December 1988}}</ref> Tebaldi however returned triumphantly to the role of Adriana for the opening night of the 1968-69 season. The MET scored a box office record of $126,000.

One of the public's favourite Tebaldi roles was Minnie in [[Giacomo Puccini|Puccini]]'s ''[[La fanciulla del West]]'' of which she sang only five performances in February and March 1970. When she made her debut in the role at the Met, she was told that, as all Minnies do, she would have to enter in the 3rd act on horseback. Tebaldi, who had a lifelong fear of horses, refused to go near the animal until she was sure he was safe. At her first rehearsal, she approached him, patted his mane, and said, "Well, Mr. Horse, I am Tebaldi. You and I are going to be friends, eh?" She conquered her fear and the performances were successful.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sopranos.freeservers.com/tebaldi.htm | title=Renata Tebaldi | website=Soprano Central|accessdate=16 November 2021}}</ref>

She sang more at the Met and far less elsewhere. She developed a special rapport with the Met audiences and became known as "Miss Sold Out", as her name on the marquee was considered a performance that could hardly be matched. She sang there some 270 times in ''[[La bohème]]'', ''[[Madama Butterfly]]'', ''[[Tosca]]'', ''[[Manon Lescaut (Puccini)|Manon Lescaut]]'', ''[[La fanciulla del West]]'', ''[[Otello]]'', ''[[La forza del destino]]'', ''[[Simon Boccanegra]]'', ''[[Falstaff (opera)|Falstaff]]'', ''[[Andrea Chénier]]'', ''[[Adriana Lecouvreur]]'', ''[[La Gioconda (opera)|La Gioconda]]'', and as Violetta in a production of ''[[La traviata|La Traviata]]'' created specially for her. [[Giacomo Puccini|Puccini]]'s [[Tosca]] was her most regular role there, with 45 performances. She was the Leonora in ''La forza del destino'' on the night in 1960 when [[Leonard Warren]] suddenly died mid-performance; and she was Adriana Lecouvreur on the night [[Placido Domingo]] made his Met debut in 1968. She made her last appearance there on 8 January 1973 as Desdemona in ''[[Otello]]''; it was the role in which she made her Met debut 18 years earlier, and which had become one of her signature roles.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}}

Tebaldi was widely admired by the American operatic public. She did not become a classically temperamental diva, but trusted her artistic instincts. [[Rudolf Bing]], referring to her more assertive side, famously said of her, "She has dimples of iron".<ref name="baltimoresun">{{cite web|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-2004-12-20-0412200050-story.html|title=Soprano Tebaldi was one of the century's great voices|website=The Baltimore Sun|date=20 December 2004}}</ref>

===Tebaldi and Callas===

[[File:Renata Tebaldi-head&shoulders-1961.jpg|thumb|200px|Renata Tebaldi, 1961]]

During the early 1950s, controversy arose regarding a supposed rivalry between Tebaldi and the Greek-American soprano [[Maria Callas]].<ref name="artandlife">{{cite book|last=Ardoin|first=John|author2=Gerald Fitzgerald|title=Callas: The Art and the Life|publisher=Holt, Rinehart and Winston|location=New York|year=1974|isbn=0-03-011486-1}}</ref>

The contrast between Callas's often unconventional vocal qualities and Tebaldi's classically beautiful sound resurrected an argument as old as opera itself, namely, the beauty of sound versus the expressive use of sound.<ref name="artandlife" /><ref name="debate">{{cite journal|title=The Callas Debate|journal=Opera|date=September–October 1970}}</ref>

In 1951, Tebaldi and Callas were jointly booked for a vocal recital in [[Rio de Janeiro]], [[Brazil]]. Although the singers supposedly agreed that neither would perform encores, Tebaldi took two, and Callas was reportedly incensed.<ref>[http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Renata_Tebaldi.aspx "Renata Tebaldi"]. ''Encyclopedia of World Biography''. The Gale Group Inc, 2006. Reprinted on Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 29 July 2016.</ref>

This incident began the rivalry, which reached a fever pitch in the mid-1950s, at times even engulfing the two women themselves, who were said by their more fanatical followers to have engaged in verbal barbs in each other's direction. Tebaldi was quoted as saying, "I have one thing that Callas doesn't have: a heart"<ref name="stassinopoulos" /> while Callas was quoted in ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine as saying that comparing her with Tebaldi was like "comparing [[Champagne]] with [[Cognac]]. No, with Coca Cola".<ref>"Diva Serena, ''Time'', 3 November 1958.</ref> However, witnesses to the interview stated that Callas only said "champagne with cognac", and it was a bystander who quipped, "No, with Coca-Cola", but the ''Time'' reporter attributed the latter comment to Callas.<ref name="stassinopoulos">{{cite book | last=Stassinopoulos | first=Ariana | title=Maria Callas: The Woman Behind the Legend | publisher=Simon and Schuster | location=New York | year=1981 | isbn=0-671-25583-5 | url=https://archive.org/details/mariacallaswoman00stas }}</ref>

According to [[John Ardoin]], however, these two singers should never have been compared.<ref name="artandlife" /> Tebaldi was trained by [[Carmen Melis]], a [[verismo]] specialist, and she was rooted in the early 20th-century Italian school of singing just as firmly as Callas was rooted in 19th-century [[bel canto]].<ref name="artandlife" />

Callas was a dramatic soprano, whereas Tebaldi considered herself essentially a lyric soprano. Callas and Tebaldi generally sang a different repertoire: in the early years of her career, Callas concentrated on the heavy dramatic soprano roles and later in her career on the bel canto repertoire, whereas Tebaldi concentrated on late [[Giuseppe Verdi|Verdi]] and verismo roles. They shared a few roles, including [[Tosca]] in Puccini's opera and ''[[La Gioconda (opera)|La Gioconda]]'', which Tebaldi performed only late in her career.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}}

The alleged rivalry aside, Callas made remarks appreciative of Tebaldi, and vice versa. During an interview with [[Norman Ross]] in Chicago, Callas said, "I admire Tebaldi's tone; it's beautiful – also some beautiful phrasing. Sometimes, I actually wish I had her voice." Francis Robinson of the Met wrote of an incident in which Tebaldi asked him to recommend a recording of ''La Gioconda'' to help her learn the role. Being fully aware of the alleged rivalry, he recommended [[Zinka Milanov]]'s version. A few days later, he went to visit Tebaldi, only to find her sitting by the speakers, listening intently to Callas's recording. She then looked up at him and asked, "Why didn't you tell me Maria's was the best?"<ref name=robinson>{{cite book | last=Robinson | first=Francis | title=Celebration: The Metropolitan Opera | publisher=Doubleday | location=Garden City, New Jersey | year=1979 | isbn=0-385-12975-0 | url=https://archive.org/details/celebrationmetro00robi }}</ref> According to ''Time'' magazine, when Callas quit La Scala, "Tebaldi made a surprising maneuver: she announced that she would not sing at La Scala without Callas. 'I sing only for artistic reasons; it is not my custom to sing against anybody', she said."<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110131185021/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,868524,00.html  "Exit La Callas"],  ''Time Magazine'', 9 June 1958.</ref>

Callas visited Tebaldi after a performance of ''[[Adriana Lecouvreur]]'' at the Met in 1968, and the two were reunited. In 1978, Tebaldi spoke warmly of her late colleague and summarized this rivalry:
<blockquote>This rivality ''[sic]'' was really building from the people of the newspapers and the fans. But I think it was very good for both of us, because the publicity was so big and it created a very big interest about me and Maria and was very good in the end. But I don't know why they put this kind of rivality ''[sic]'', because the voice was very different. She was really something unusual. And I remember that I was very young artist too, and I stayed near the radio every time that I know that there was something on radio by Maria.<ref name="documentary">{{cite video | title=Callas: A Documentary (Plus Bonus) | medium=TV documentary, DVD | people=[[John Ardoin]] (writer), [[Franco Zeffirelli]] (narrator) |date=1978 | publisher=The Bel Canto Society}}</ref></blockquote>

==Voice==

Tebaldi's voice was reputed to be one of the most beautiful of the day,<ref name="Cramer2009"/><ref name="nytimes.com"/><ref name=Libbey/> with rich, perfectly produced tones. At the start of her career, her audition in bomb-ravaged [[La Scala]]'s reopening was marked by [[Arturo Toscanini]] praising Tebaldi, calling her {{lang|it|la Voce d'Angelo}} with enthusiastic "{{lang|it|Brava!}}"s and applauds.<ref name="washingtonpost"/>

British musicologist [[Alan Blyth]] posited that in posterity, Tebaldi holds a position of being one of the last and best [[spinto soprano]]s of the last 50 years, due to Tebaldi's successors in the [[fach]] not having the right vocal equipment for her parts. Blyth attributed this in part to Tebaldi's recordings and her live performances onstage. Tebaldi's voice added a frisson of urgency when she sang in an opera house. This was noted in two of her performances as Leonora in [[Giuseppe Verdi|Verdi]]'s ''[[La forza del destino]]'', evident in a recording done at the [[Maggio Musicale Fiorentino]] in 1953, where conductor [[Dimitri Mitropoulos]] urged her to great heights of vocal and dramatic achievement, and a live video recording in Naples.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2004/dec/20/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries1|title=Renata Tebaldi|website=The Guardian|date=20 December 2004 |last1=Scott |first1=Michael }}</ref>

[[Montserrat Caballe]] remarked on an interview that Tebaldi, "She was our [[Aida]], our [[La Traviata|Traviata]], our [[Manon Lescaut (Puccini)|Manon Lescaut]]. She was all the roles, and she was the most perfect human voice we ever heard", likewise, [[Robert Merrill]] and [[Licia Albanese]] commented on the sumptuous and beautiful quality of Tebaldi's voice.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d44ydP4wWo |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/5d44ydP4wWo |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=Copy of GREAT OPERA SINGERS discuss Tosca|website=YouTube|date=13 February 2017 }}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Tebaldi withdrew from performances in 1963 to restudy, made in part due to the emotional stress after eighteen years of singing. After thirteen months of reworking her voice, Tebaldi possessed an unmistakable metallic edge in her voice which only strengthened over the years. In her mid-to-later career, Tebaldi shifted from being a spinto to one with a near-dramatic sound. Adding ''[[La Gioconda (opera)|La Gioconda]]'' in her repertoire, Tebaldi had chest notes carried high, bearing ample size and strength but little of the known beauty of Tebaldi's tone. Similarly, in her recorded Puccini roles at that time, one can't always count on the "floats" being easily produced or accurately pitched.<ref name="operanews">{{cite web|url=https://www.operanews.com/Opera_News_Magazine/2014/11/Features/Voice_of_an_Angel.html|title=Voice of an Angel|website=Opera News}}</ref>

Some critics{{who?|date=July 2024}} of Tebaldi have commented adversely on her seemingly incomplete technique; sometimes she took on strident, full-voiced top notes when tackling material above the high B-flat, and had occasional lapses in her pitch. For most audiences however, there was the sheer and deep richness of Tebaldi's voice, her melting legato phrases, the deeply expressive but never maudlin quality of singing, the beauty of her floated pianissimo high notes, and her temperament when dwelling in moments of dramatic intensity.<ref name="baltimoresun"/> Tebaldi's often mentioned alleged rival, [[Maria Callas]], said in an interview, "I admire Tebaldi's tone; it's beautiful – also some beautiful phrasing. Sometimes, I actually wish I had her voice."

Tebaldi herself mentioned that recording presented challenges for her, as she missed the stimulation of an audience, and her powerful voice would often cause sound engineers to insist that she turn away from the microphone at moments of climactic intensity.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/the-great-renata-tebaldi|title=(The) Great Renata Tebaldi|website=Gramophone}}</ref>

==Personal life==

Tebaldi enjoyed a beloved relationship with her mother, who helped nurture her and was devoted to her career and well-being from an early age. Her mother's death in 1957 was a huge blow to Tebaldi, whose grief was unbearable and it took effort to go back to the stage.<ref name="operanews"/>

Tebaldi never married. In a 1995 interview with ''The Times'', she said she had no regrets about her single life. "I was in love many times," she said. "This is very good for a woman." But she added, "How could I have been a wife, a mother and a singer? Who takes care of the piccolini when you go around the world? Your children would not call you Mama, but Renata."<ref name="nytimes.com"/>  She also wrote, "I started my career at 22 and finished it at 54. Thirty-two years of success, satisfaction and sacrifices. Singing was my life's scope to the point that I could never have a family."<ref name="bbc"/> Tebaldi had a short relationship with bass [[Nicola Rossi-Lemeni]]. A longer one with conductor [[Arturo Basile]] was formed in 1958, Basile reportedly saying their plans to marry were ended by Tebaldi in 1962 due to Basile's behaviour.<ref name="operanews"/>

==Later years==

By the end of her career, Tebaldi had sung in 1,262 performances: 1,048 complete operas and 214 concerts.{{cn|date=July 2024}}

Tebaldi retired from the opera stage in 1973 as Desdemona in [[Giuseppe Verdi|Verdi]]'s ''[[Otello]]'' at the [[Metropolitan Opera]], the same role she debuted there nearly 20 years previously.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/obituaries/renata-tebaldi-soprano-1-571667|title=Renata Tebaldi, Soprano|website=The Scotsman}}</ref> She gave recitals around the globe. In one recital held in [[Manila]] with frequent partner [[Franco Corelli]], Tebaldi's voice cracked in a [[Manon Lescaut]] aria; she then massaged her throat and genuflected to great applause from the audience. In January 1976, she gave her last recital in New York's [[Carnegie Hall]]. She received six curtain calls and standing ovations from the audience. She then moved out of her New York apartment, her home for many years during her stint at the Met, and returned to Italy, where she gave her final public appearance in a vocal recital in [[La Scala]] in May 1976. <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pressreader.com/philippines/philippine-daily-inquirer-1109/20110328/284455685277617|title=A grand Verdi Requiem by PPO|website=PressReader}}</ref> Regarding her decision to retire, Tebaldi said that she stopped singing while she still had a powerful voice to avoid "the mortifying season of decline".<ref name="washingtonpost"/>

She spent the majority of her last days in Milan. She died on 19 December 2004 at age 82 at her home in [[San Marino]]. She is buried in the Tebaldi family chapel at Mattaleto cemetery in [[Langhirano]]. At her death, audiences at [[Venice]]'s [[La Fenice]] observed a moment of silence in her memory. [[Luciano Pavarotti]] said, "Farewell, Renata, your memory and your voice will be etched on my heart forever".<ref name="bbc"/>

==Honours==

Tebaldi won the first [[Grammy Award]] [[Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Solo|Best Classical Performance - Vocal Soloist]] in [[1st Annual Grammy Awards|1959]] for her album Operatic Recital.<ref name="renatagrammy"/> Their joint recording of [[Giacomo Puccini|Puccini]]'s [[Turandot]], conducted by [[Erich Leinsdorf]] and starring [[Birgit Nilsson]] as Turandot, [[Jussi Björling]] as Calaf, Tebaldi as Liù and [[Giorgio Tozzi]] as Timur with the [[Teatro dell'Opera di Roma|Rome Opera Orchestra]] won the [[Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording]] in [[3rd Annual Grammy Awards|1961]].<ref name="erichgrammy"/>

She became a member of the [[Order of Merit of the Italian Republic]] as a Grand Officer in 1968 and a Knight Grand Cross in 1992.<ref name="omri1992"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.quirinale.it/onorificenze/insigniti/257929|title=Tebaldi Renata, Grande Ufficiale Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana|publisher=Palazzo del Quirinale|language=it|access-date=5 July 2020}}</ref> She was also made a Commander of the [[Ordre des Arts et des Lettres]] from France.<ref name="bbc"/>

Proclamation of "Tebaldi day" was made in her honour on 11 December 1995 by [[Rudy Giuliani]], then Mayor of [[New York City]].<ref>
[https://www.museorenatatebaldi.it/il-museo/sala-dei-documenti/ Italian language]</ref>

==Legacy==

[[File:Giardino Renata Tebaldi - MI 03.jpg|thumb|left|220px|Garden in Milan dedicated to Renata Tebaldi]]

From February 2010 until 2013, the 15th-century Castle of Torrechiara – Langhirano – hosted within its rooms an exhibition dedicated to Renata Tebaldi. This “Castle for a Queen” unveils the many sides of this great diva, whose artistic and personal life remains on display. The items showcased followed her over the arc of time as she spread the world-class tradition of Italian lyrical art, all the way from the beginning of her career and throughout her artistic achievements. The exhibition is presented by the Renata Tebaldi Committee in collaboration with the Superintendence of Environmental Heritage and Landscape of the province of Parma and Piacenza, the Regio Theatre Foundation of Parma and the Municipality of Langhirano and with the patronage of the province of Parma. On 7 June 2014, the museum dedicated to Renata Tebaldi was inaugurated in the stables of Villa Pallavicino in Busseto. Tebaldi was awarded a star for recording in 1960 on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]] in 6628 Hollywood Boulevard, [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]], [[California]].<ref>[https://www.walkoffame.com/renata-tebaldi Renata Tebaldi- Hollywood Walk of Fame]</ref>

==Discography==

* [[Lohengrin (opera)|Lohengrin]] ([[Richard Wagner]]): conducted by [[Franco Capuana]], with [[Giacinto Prandelli]] and [[Elena Nicolai]]. (1947). Performed in Italian.
* [[Andrea Chénier]] ([[Umberto Giordano]]): [[Victor de Sabata]] conducting the [[La Scala|Teatro alla Scala]], with [[Mario Del Monaco]] and [[Paolo Silveri]]. (1949)
* [[Giulio Cesare]] ([[George Frideric Handel]]): [[Herbert Albert]] conducting the [[Teatro di San Carlo|Orchestra del Teatro San Carlo]], with [[Cesare Siepi]] and [[Elena Nicolai]]. (1950)
* [[Tannhäuser]] ([[Richard Wagner]]): [[Karl Boehm]] conducting the [[Teatro di San Carlo|Orchestra del Teatro San Carlo]], with [[Hans Beirer]] and [[Carlo Tagliabue]]. (1950). Performed in Italian.
* [[La traviata]] ([[Giuseppe Verdi]]): [[Antonino Votto]] conducting the [[Theatro Municipal (Rio de Janeiro)|Orchestra-Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro]], with [[Giuseppe Campora]] and [[Paolo Silveri]]. (1950) ([[Gramophone Company]])
* [[Andrea Chénier]] ([[Umberto Giordano]]): [[Gabriele Santini]] conducting the [[Teatro di San Carlo|Orchestra del Teatro San Carlo]], with [[Mario Filippeschi]] and [[Carlo Tagliabue]]. (1951)
* [[La bohème]] ([[Giacomo Puccini]]): [[Gabriele Santini]] conducting the [[Teatro di San Carlo|Orchestra del Teatro San Carlo]], with [[Giacomo Lauri-Volpi]] and [[Tito Gobbi]]. (1951) 
* [[Falstaff (opera)]] ([[Giuseppe Verdi]]): [[Victor de Sabata]] conducting the [[La Scala|Teatro alla Scala]], with [[Mariano Stabile]] and [[Cesare Valletti]]. (1951) ([[Urania Records]])
* [[Fernand Cortez]] ([[Gaspare Spontini]]): [[Gabriele Santini]] conducting the [[Teatro di San Carlo|Orchestra del Teatro San Carlo]], with [[Gino Penno]] and [[Italo Tajo]]. (1951). Performed in Italian. 
* [[Giovanna d'Arco]] ([[Giuseppe Verdi]]): [[Gabriele Santini]] conducting the [[Teatro di San Carlo|Orchestra del Teatro San Carlo]], with [[Gino Penno]] and [[Ugo Savarese]]. (1951) 
* [[Giovanna d'Arco]] ([[Giuseppe Verdi]]): [[Alfredo Simonetto]] conducting the [[RAI|RAI Milano Orchestra]], with [[Carlo Bergonzi (tenor)|Carlo Bergonzi]] and [[Rolando Panerai]]. (1951) 
* [[La bohème]] ([[Giacomo Puccini]]): [[Alberto Erede]] conducting the [[Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia]], with [[Giacinto Prandelli]] and [[Fernando Corena]]. (1951) ([[Decca Records]])
* [[Madama Butterfly]] ([[Giacomo Puccini]]): [[Alberto Erede]] conducting the [[Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia]], with [[Giuseppe Campora]], [[Giovanni Inghilleri]] and [[Nell Rankin]]. (1951) ([[London Records]])
* [[Adriana Lecouvreur]] ([[Francesco Cilea]]): [[Gabriele Santini]] conducting the [[Teatro di San Carlo|Orchestra del Teatro San Carlo]], with [[Gianni Poggi]] and [[Augosto Romani]]. (1952) 
* [[Falstaff (opera)]] ([[Giuseppe Verdi]]): [[Victor de Sabata]] conducting the [[La Scala|Teatro alla Scala]], with [[Mariano Stabile]] and [[Cesare Valletti]]. (1952) 
* [[Otello]] ([[Giuseppe Verdi]]): [[Gabriele Santini]] conducting the [[Teatro di San Carlo|Orchestra del Teatro San Carlo]], with [[Ramón Vinay]] and [[Gino Bechi]]. (1952) 
* [[Le siège de Corinthe]] ([[Gioachino Rossini]]): [[Gabriele Santini]] conducting the [[Teatro di San Carlo|Orchestra del Teatro San Carlo]], with [[Miriam Pirazzini]] and [[Mario Petri]]. (1952). Performed in Italian.
* [[La traviata]] ([[Giuseppe Verdi]]): [[Gabriele Santini]] conducting the [[Teatro di San Carlo|Orchestra del Teatro San Carlo]], with [[Giuseppe Campora]] and [[Pina Angelici]]. (1952) 
* [[La traviata]] ([[Giuseppe Verdi]]): [[Carlo Maria Giulini]] conducting the [[RAI|RAI Milano Orchestra]], with [[Giacinto Prandelli]] and [[Liliana Pellegrino]]. (1952)
* [[Aida]] ([[Giuseppe Verdi]]): [[Alberto Erede]] conducting the [[Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia]], with [[Mario del Monaco]] and [[Ebe Stignani]]. (1952) ([[Decca Records]])
* [[Tosca]] ([[Giacomo Puccini]]): [[Alberto Erede]] conducting the [[Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia]], with [[Giuseppe Campora]] and [[Enzo Mascherini]]. (1952) ([[Decca Records]])
* [[Aida]] ([[Giuseppe Verdi]]): [[Giuseppe Morelli]] conducting the [[RAI|RAI Milano Orchestra]], with [[Giuseppe Campora]] and [[Ebe Stignani]]. (1953) 
* [[Aida]] ([[Giuseppe Verdi]]): [[Tullio Serafin]] conducting the [[Teatro di San Carlo|Orchestra del Teatro San Carlo]], with [[Gino Penno]] and [[Ebe Stignani]]. (1953)
* Cecilia ([[Licinio Refice]]): [[Licinio Refice]] conducting the [[Teatro di San Carlo|Orchestra del Teatro San Carlo]], with [[Pina Ulisse]] and [[Alvino Misciano]]. (1953)
* [[La forza del destino]] ([[Giuseppe Verdi]]): [[Dimitri Mitropoulos]] conducting the [[Teatro Comunale, Florence|Teatro Comunale Orchestra]], with [[Mario Del Monaco]], [[Silvio Maionica]] and [[Giorgio Tozzi]]. (1953)
* [[La Wally]] ([[Alfredo Catalani]]): [[Carlo Maria Giulini]] conducting the [[La Scala|Teatro alla Scala]], with [[Mario Del Monaco]] and [[Giangiacomo Guelfi]]. (1953)
* [[Andrea Chénier]] ([[Umberto Giordano]]): [[Arturo Basile]] conducting the [[RAI|RAI Torino Orchestra]], with [[José Soler]] and [[Ugo Savarese]]. (1953) ([[Cetra Records]])
* [[Tosca]] ([[Giacomo Puccini]]): [[Oliviero De Fabritiis]] conducting the [[Theatro Municipal (Rio de Janeiro)|Orchestra-Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro]], with [[Giuseppe Di Stefano]] and [[Tito Gobbi]]. (1953) ([[Decca Records]])
* [[Le nozze di Figaro]] ([[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]): [[Ionel Perlea]] conducting the [[Teatro di San Carlo|Orchestra del Teatro San Carlo]], with [[Giulietta Simionato]], [[Italo Tajo]] and [[Alda Noni]]. (1954). Performed in Italian.
* [[Manon Lescaut]] (Giacomo Puccini): [[Francesco Molinari-Pradelli]] conducting the [[Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia]], with [[Mario Del Monaco]], Mario Boriello, [[Fernando Corena]]. Coro dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. (1954) (Decca Records).
* [[La traviata]] ([[Giuseppe Verdi]]): [[Francesco Molinari-Pradelli]] conducting the [[Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia]], with [[Gianni Poggi]] and [[Angela Vercelli]]. (1954) ([[Decca Records|Decca]])
* [[Turandot]] ([[Giacomo Puccini]]): [[Alberto Erede]] conducting the [[Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia]], with [[Inge Borkh]], [[Mario del Monaco]] and [[Nicola Zaccaria]]. (1955) ([[Decca Records]])
* [[Tosca]] ([[Giacomo Puccini]]): [[Dimitri Mitropoulos]] conducting, with [[Leonard Warren]], [[Fernando Corena]], [[Richard Tucker (tenor)|Richard Tucker]]. 7 January 1956 [[Metropolitan Opera]] Historic Broadcast Recording.
* [[Il trovatore]] ([[Giuseppe Verdi]]): [[Alberto Erede]] conducting the [[Grand Théâtre de Genève|Grand Théâtre de Genève Orchestra]], with [[Mario Del Monaco]] and [[Giulietta Simionato]]. (1956) ([[Decca Records|Decca]])
* [[La traviata]] ([[Giuseppe Verdi]]): [[Fausto Cleva]] conducting the [[Metropolitan Opera|Metropolitan Opera Orchestra]] in 1957, with [[Giuseppe Campora]] and [[Leonard Warren]]. 
* [[Cavalleria rusticana]] ([[Pietro Mascagni]]): [[Alberto Erede]] conducting the Orchestra and Chorus of the [[Maggio Musicale Fiorentino]] in 1957, with [[Jussi Björling]] and [[Ettore Bastianini]]. ([[RCA Corporation|RCA]]/[[London Records]])
* [[Andrea Chénier]] ([[Umberto Giordano]]): [[Gianandrea Gavazzeni]] conducting the [[Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia]], with [[Mario Del Monaco]], [[Fiorenza Cossotto]], [[Ettore Bastianini]]. Coro dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. (1957) ([[Decca Label Group|Decca]]).
* [[Madama Butterfly]] ([[Giacomo Puccini]]): [[Angelo Questa]] conducting the [[Teatro di San Carlo|Orchestra del Teatro San Carlo]], with [[Gianni Raimondi]], [[Giuseppe Valdengo]], [[Anna Di Stasio]]. (1958)
* [[La fanciulla del West]] ([[Giacomo Puccini]]): [[Franco Capuana]] conducting the [[Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia]], with [[Mario Del Monaco]], [[Cornell MacNeil]], [[Giorgio Tozzi]]. Coro dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. (1958) ([[Decca Import]]).
* [[Madama Butterfly]] ([[Giacomo Puccini]]): [[Tullio Serafin]] conducting the [[Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia]], with [[Carlo Bergonzi (tenor)|Carlo Bergonzi]], [[Fiorenza Cossotto]], [[Enzo Sordello]]. Coro dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. (1958) ([[Decca Records]]).
* [[Mefistofele]] ([[Arrigo Boito]]): [[Tullio Serafin]] conducting the Coro e [[Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia]], with [[Mario Del Monaco]], [[Cesare Siepi]]. (1958) ([[Decca Label Group|Decca]]).
* [[La bohème]] (Giacomo Puccini): [[Tullio Serafin]] conducting the [[Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia]], with [[Carlo Bergonzi (tenor)|Carlo Bergonzi]], [[Gianna D'Angelo]], [[Ettore Bastianini]]. Coro dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. (1959) (Decca Records).
* [[Tosca]] (Giacomo Puccini): [[Francesco Molinari-Pradelli]] conducting the Coro e [[Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia]], with [[Mario Del Monaco]] and [[George London (bass-baritone)|George London]]. (1959) (Decca Records).
* [[Tosca]] (Giacomo Puccini): [[Gianandrea Gavazzeni]] conducting the [[La Scala]] Theatre Orchestra, with [[Giuseppe di Stefano]] and [[Tito Gobbi]]. La Scala Theatre Chorus. Recorded live at La Scala in 1959. Opera d'Oro.
* [[Aida]] ([[Giuseppe Verdi]]): [[Herbert von Karajan]] conducting the [[Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra]], with [[Carlo Bergonzi (tenor)|Carlo Bergonzi]], [[Giulietta Simionato]], [[Cornell MacNeil]]. Singverein der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde. (1959) ([[Decca Legends]]).
* [[Turandot]] ([[Giacomo Puccini]]): [[Erich Leinsdorf]] conducting the [[Rome]] Opera Orchestra, with [[Birgit Nilsson]], [[Jussi Bjoerling]] and [[Giorgio Tozzi]]. Rome Opera Chorus. (1960) ([[RCA Corporation|RCA]]).
* [[Otello]] ([[Giuseppe Verdi]]): [[Herbert von Karajan]] conducting the [[Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra]], with [[Mario Del Monaco]], [[Aldo Protti]], [[Nello Romanato]]. Singverein der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde. (1961) ([[Decca Legends]]).
* [[Adriana Lecouvreur]] ([[Francesco Cilea]]): [[Franco Capuana]] conducting the [[Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia]], with [[Mario Del Monaco]], [[Giulietta Simionato]], [[Giulio Fioravanti]]. Coro dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. (1961) ([[Decca Label Group|Decca]]).
* [[Il trittico]] ([[Giacomo Puccini]]): [[Lamberto Gardelli]] conducting Chorus and Orchestra of the [[Maggio Musicale Fiorentino]], with [[Giulietta Simionato]], [[Mario del Monaco]], [[Robert Merrill]], [[Fernando Corena]] (1962) ([[London Records]])
* [[Adriana Lecouvreur]] ([[Francesco Cilea]]): [[Silvio Varviso]] conducting the [[Metropolitan Opera|Metropolitan Opera Orchestra]], with [[Franco Corelli]] and [[William Wilderman]]. (1963) 
* [[Tosca]] ([[Giacomo Puccini]]): [[Fausto Cleva]] conducting the [[Metropolitan Opera|Metropolitan Opera Orchestra]], with [[Franco Corelli]] and [[Tito Gobbi]]. (1964) 
* [[Don Carlos (opera)]] ([[Giuseppe Verdi]]): [[Georg Solti]] conducting Orchestra of the [[Royal Opera House]], with [[Carlo Bergonzi (tenor)|Carlo Bergonzi]], [[Nicolai Ghiaurov]], [[Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau]], [[Grace Bumbry]] (1965) ([[Decca Records|Decca]])
* [[La Gioconda (opera)]] ([[Amilcare Ponchielli]]): [[Fausto Cleva]] conducting the [[Metropolitan Opera|Metropolitan Opera Orchestra]], with [[Franco Corelli]], [[Cornell MacNeil]], [[Biserka Cvejić]] and [[Cesare Siepi]]. (1966). ([[Stradivarius Records]])
* [[Otello]] ([[Giuseppe Verdi]]): [[Alberto Erede]] conducting the [[Teatro Regio (Parma)|Teatro Regio Orchestra]], with [[Mario Del Monaco]] and [[Tito Gobbi]]. (1966)
* [[Otello]] ([[Giuseppe Verdi]]): [[Anton Guadagno]] conducting the [[Philadelphia Lyric Opera|Philadelphia Lyric Opera Orchestra]], with [[Jon Vickers]] and [[Louis Quilico]]. (1967)
* [[La Gioconda (opera)]] ([[Amilcare Ponchielli]]): [[Lamberto Gardelli]] conducting the [[Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia]], with [[Carlo Bergonzi (tenor)|Carlo Bergonzi]], [[Robert Merrill]], [[Marilyn Horne]] and [[Oralia Domínguez]]. (1968). ([[Decca Records]])
* [[La Gioconda (opera)]] ([[Amilcare Ponchielli]]): [[Fausto Cleva]] conducting [[Metropolitan Opera|Metropolitan Opera Orchestra]], with [[Carlo Bergonzi (tenor)|Carlo Bergonzi]], [[Cornell MacNeil]] and [[Fiorenza Cossotto]]. (1968).
* [[La Wally]] ([[Alfredo Catalani]]): [[Fausto Cleva]] conducting [[American Opera Society|Orchestra of the American Opera Society]], with [[Carlo Bergonzi (tenor)|Carlo Bergonzi]], [[Peter Glossop]]. (1968).
* [[La Wally]] ([[Alfredo Catalani]]): [[Fausto Cleva]] conducting [[L'Orchestre National de l'Opéra de Monte-Carlo]], with [[Mario Del Monaco]], [[Piero Cappuccilli]], [[Justino Diaz]]. Coro Lirico di Torino. (1968) ([[Decca Records]]).
* [[Adriana Lecouvreur]] ([[Francesco Cilea]]): [[Fausto Cleva]] conducting the [[Metropolitan Opera|Metropolitan Opera Orchestra]], with [[Franco Corelli]] and [[Morley Meredith]]. (1969)
* [[La bohème]] ([[Giacomo Puccini]]): [[Anton Guadagno]] conducting the [[Philadelphia Lyric Opera|Philadelphia Lyric Opera Orchestra]], with [[Franco Corelli]] and [[Seymour Schwartzman]]. (1969)
* [[La bohème]] ([[Giacomo Puccini]]): [[Anton Guadagno]] conducting the [[Philadelphia Lyric Opera|Philadelphia Lyric Opera Orchestra]], with [[Franco Corelli]] and [[Alan Wagner]]. (1969)
* [[La bohème]] ([[Giacomo Puccini]]): [[Fausto Cleva]] conducting the [[Metropolitan Opera|Metropolitan Opera Orchestra]], with [[Richard Tucker (tenor)|Richard Tucker]] and [[Gene Boucher]]. (1970)
* [[La fanciulla del west]] ([[Giacomo Puccini]]): [[Jan Behr]] conducting the [[Metropolitan Opera|Metropolitan Opera Orchestra]], with [[Sándor Kónya]] and [[Anselmo Colzani]]. (1970)
* [[Simon Boccanegra]] ([[Giuseppe Verdi]]): [[James Levine]] conducting the [[Cleveland Orchestra]], with [[Cornell MacNeil]] and [[Ezio Flagello]]. (1970) (Legato Classics)
* [[Un ballo in maschera]] ([[Giuseppe Verdi]]): [[Bruno Bartoletti]] conducting the [[Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia]], with [[Luciano Pavarotti]] and [[Sherrill Milnes]]. (1970) ([[Decca Records]])
* [[Otello]] ([[Giuseppe Verdi]]): [[Anton Guadagno]] conducting the [[Philadelphia Lyric Opera|Philadelphia Lyric Opera Orchestra]], with [[Jon Vickers]] and [[Peter Glossop]]. (1972)
* [[Falstaff (opera)]] ([[Giuseppe Verdi]]): [[Christoph von Dohnányi]] conducting the [[Metropolitan Opera|Metropolitan Opera Orchestra]]. with [[Tito Gobbi]] and [[Luigi Alva]]. (1972)
* [[Otello]] ([[Giuseppe Verdi]]): [[James Levine]] conducting the [[Metropolitan Opera|Metropolitan Opera Orchestra]]. with [[James McCracken]] and [[Sherrill Milnes]]. (1973)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==

* {{cite news |last=Dyer |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Dyer (music critic) |date=29 April 1973 |title=We Love You Renata But... |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/04/29/archives/we-love-you-renata-but.html }}

==External links==

{{commons category}}
* [http://www.renatatebaldi.eu/ Official Website of the Committee Renata Tebaldi]
* [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9071520/Renata-Tebaldi Tebaldi, Renata] – Encyclopædia Britannica
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130122222014/http://www.latebaldi-app.com/ 'La Tebaldi' app Site]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080625033147/http://www.operaaurea.eu/RenataTebaldi/index.html Renata Tebaldi a New Tribute]
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20071230041033/http://www.fundacionjoseguillermocarrillo.com/sitio/musclarenata.php International Jose Guillermo Carrillo Foundation]}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20020419003954/http://www.geocities.com/renatatebaldi/index.html A Tribute to Renata Tebaldi] (including discography) Retrieved May 17, 2013
* {{find a Grave|10153228}}
* {{YouTube|X_0eOqZPMmw|Renata Tebaldi is Madama Butterfly}} Tebaldi sings "Un Bel Di Vedremo" from [[Giacomo Puccini|Puccini's]] ''[[Madama Butterfly]]'' in this 1959 video.
* {{YouTube|1woH96ROG-c|"Un bel dì vedremo"}} Renata Tebaldi sings [[Un bel dì vedremo]] in a live performance
* {{YouTube|A0d6hh3DCFM|"Si, mi chiamano Mimì}} Renata Tebaldi sings Si, mi chiamano Mimì in [[Giacomo Puccini|Puccini]]'s [[La bohème]]
* {{YouTube|6ivSimOuD_g|"Tu che di gel sei cinta"}}, by Renata Tebaldi in a studio recording of [[Giacomo Puccini|Puccini]]'s [[Turandot]] with [[Mario del Monaco]] and [[Alberto Erede]] conducting, 1955
* {{YouTube|n-mhkACf22E|"La vergine degli angeli"}} Tebaldi in a live performance of [[La forza del destino]], [[Firenze]], 1956
* {{YouTube|nXGl8hSmujU&t|"Pace, pace mio Dio"}} Tebaldi performing Pace, pace mio Dio, [[Napoli]], 1958
* {{YouTube|YTsRHEx3p8c|"Vissi d'arte"}}, televised performance by Renata Tebaldi, 1959 
* {{YouTube|F7u77WFkcKQ|"Vissi d'arte"}} by Renata Tebaldi 
* [http://www.operadis-opera-discography.org.uk/CLSITEBA.HTM Discography] (Capon's Lists of Opera Recordings)

{{Gramophone Hall of Fame}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tebaldi, Renata}}
[[Category:1922 births]]
[[Category:2004 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Pesaro]]
[[Category:Italian operatic sopranos]]
[[Category:Grammy Award winners]]
[[Category:Musicians from the Province of Parma]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic]]
[[Category:20th-century Italian women opera singers]]
[[Category:Decca Records artists]]
[[Category:Parma Conservatory alumni]]
[[Category:Langhirano]]