Renata Tebaldi, born on Feb. 1, 1922, was renowned as the \u201cvoce d\u2019angelo.\u201d<\/p>\n
She was born to a cellist and nurse in Pesaro and became involved with music from a very young age. At 13, she was taking piano lessons and by 17 she was admitted into the conservatory.<\/p>\n
Her stage debut came as Elena in \u201cMefistofele\u201d in Rovigo in 1944; then she went off to Parma and caused a great commotion in Trieste in 1946 when she appeared as Desdemona. In 1946 she auditioned for Arturo Toscanini who gave her the compliment of having the \u201cvoce d\u2019angelo.\u201d Her Teatro alla Scala debut would come in a concert that year and she was given roles in 1946. It was Toscanini that convinced her to take on the role of \u201cAida\u201d and in 1950, she made her role debut at La Scala alongside Mario del Monaco and Fedora Barbieri.<\/p>\n
Success in New York would come thereafter and for years Tebaldi would be one of the leading ladies at the Metropolitan Opera. She would perform there from 1950 through 1973; her debut and final performance were in the same role \u2013 Desdemona in \u201cOtello.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tebaldi retired from the stage in 1973 and the concert hall in 1976. She died in 2004, leaving behind a legendary discography.<\/p>\n
Tebaldi sang a plethora of roles in the Italian repertory with a total of 1,048 complete opera performances to her name. There were two roles that she performed most often \u2013 Mim\u00ec in \u201cLa Boh\u00e8me\u201d and Tosca. She performed Puccini\u2019s doomed bohemian 111 times in her career but Tebaldi took on the tragic diva 162 times in her career. Combined, those two roles made up 26 percent of her performances in her lifetime.<\/p>\n
What is most stunning is that Tebaldi released seven commercial recordings of \u201cLa Boh\u00e8me\u201d and nine of \u201cTosca,\u201d many of them live.<\/p>\n