Renata Scotto
Known for her dramatic singing style, Renata Scotto excelled in the Italian repertoire, including Bellini's Norma and Puccini's Madame Butterfly. She performed in more than 45 operas all over the world and worked with such singers as Renata Tebaldi and Mario Del Monaco.
Born on February 24, 1934, Scotto made her operatic debut in her hometown of Savona on Christmas Eve, 1952, in Verdi's La Traviata. She made her professional opera debut at the Teatro Nuovo as Violetta, a role she earned by winning the Milan Lyric Association competition. With a blooming musical career, she auditioned for the part of Walter in Alfredo Catalani's La Wally at La Scala in Milan. She instantly received the part and made 15 curtain calls on opening night, December 7, 1953. Her co-stars -- Renata Tebaldi and Mario Del Monaco -- only received seven curtain calls. Scotto's popularity continued to grow as she performed for La Scala.
In 1957, the company of La Scala had been in Edinburgh performing Bellini's La Sonnambula, with Maria Callas as Amina. Due to the enormous interest in the show, La Scala decided to add more performances. When Callas refused to do another performance, Scotto was called to replace her. With the success of her performance in this role, she became an international star.
With her operatic success came personal success as well. In June 1960, Scotto married Lorenzo Anselmi; the couple had two children, Laura and Filippo. Also in 1960, Scotto performed at the Royal Opera House as Mimi in La Bohème. She made her first appearance in the U.S. with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in 1965 as Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly. A quote from the New York Herald Tribune called the performance "an occasion for rejoicing, and there was plenty of it in the form of applause and welcoming shouts to the new artist who, above all, is distinctly an individual."
While playing Elena in Verdi's I Vespri Siciliani in 1970, Scotto performed for her first hostile audience. During her performance, a small group began shouting Maria Callas' name. Callas was present at the performance but would not acknowledge the demonstrators. Instead, she gave Scotto a standing ovation.
For more than four decades, Scotto performed various opera roles, including Violetta in La Traviata, Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly, Mimi in La Bohème, Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor, Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, and Francesca in Francesca da Rimini. She won an Emmy for her role in La Gioconda in San Francisco. She appeared with Ileana Cotrubas and Elena Obraztsova as the "Three Sopranos" in 1990. Following her retirement from the stage, Scotto transitioned to producer and director roles, continued to be active as a teacher at the Juilliard School and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, and regularly gave master classes. Scotto died in Savona on August 16, 2023.
© Kim Summers /TiVo
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Luigi Cherubini : Medea (1957) - Callas Remastered
Maria Callas, Renata Scotto, Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano, Tullio Serafin
Opera - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: Madama Butterfly
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Opera - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1967
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
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Verdi: Rigoletto (Mono Version)
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Classical - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Scotto, Renata: The French Album, Vol. 1
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Classical - Released by Hungaroton on 1 Jan 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: La Traviata
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Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1963
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rigoletto
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Opera - Released by Urania on 1 Jan 1960
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pergolesi: La serva padrona
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Opera - Released by >ReNovo< on 14 Jun 1960
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor
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Opera - Released by G.O.P. on 1 Jan 1962
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rossini: Il cambiale di matrimonio (Mono Version)
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Classical - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mascagni: Cavalleria rusticana - Leoncavallo: Pagliacci
Montserrat Caballé, José Carreras, Renata Scotto, Riccardo Muti, Philharmonia Orchestra
Opera - Released by Warner Classics on 22 Oct 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: Rigoletto
Renata Scotto, Carlo Bergonzi, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano, Rafael Kubelik
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1960
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
La Traviata
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Opera - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1982
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: Turandot
Birgit Nilsson, Franco Corelli, Renata Scotto, Bonaldo Giaiotti, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli, Orchestra del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma
Opera - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1966
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Renata Scotto Sings Verdi
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 1 Jan 1975
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pergolesi: La serva padrona (Les indispensables de Diapason)
Renata Scotto, Sesto Bruscantini, I Virtuosi Di Roma, Renato Fasano
Classical - Released by Les Indispensables de Diapason on 2 Nov 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mirella Freni - Renata Scotto: In Duet
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Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1980
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: Tosca
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Opera - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1981
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Madame Butterfly
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Classical - Released by Warner Music Group - X5 Music Group on 17 Feb 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Art of Renata Scotto
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 17 Aug 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi - La traviata
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Opera - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1982
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo