Left: Renata Scotto, as Elisabetta di Valois
in Verdi's grand opera, Don Carlo (photo supplied).
William Charlton-Perkins writes regular
features for the media titled Classical Notes. This one is titled Salute to
Renata Scotto
The opera world has been profoundly saddened at the passing this week of the Italian prima donna, Renata Scotto.
Since learning the news earlier today, I have looked back on the legendary recordings the star has bequeathed to posterity. Each of these bears testimony to the diva’s distinctive qualities, setting her apart from the vast majority of her peers.
Ms Scotto was one of the all-time greats of the lyric stage, and the recording studio. She studied her scores with her husband, Lorenzo Anselmi, principal violinist with the Orchestra of La Scala Milan. The couple married in 1960, and Anselmi became his wife’s manager in later life.
Listening to her recordings, one is struck by her patrician sense of phrasing. A quality she shared with Maria Callas. And like La Divina, Scotto’s innate elegance as a musician never abandoned her. Her technical arsenal included pinpoint vocal projection, finely etched coloratura, rock solid intonation, an ethereal pianissimo, and a granite chest register (developed in her mid to late career). Her command of style was applied in equal measure to her Bel Canto roles, as to her work in the more dramatic terrain of late Verdi, and the Italian Verismo.
As an interpretive artist, she could enchant in roles such as Adina in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore. And her tragic roles were devastating. Known as the definitive Madama Butterfly of her generation, her Violetta in Verdi’s La Traviata, and her Gilda in his Rigoletto were equally renowned. The grandeur that Scotto brought to her Abigaile in Nabucco more than compensated for moments of vocal fragility. Her split-second two-octave downward leap is staggering at the conclusion of the dramatic recitative leading into her aria and cabaletta. Likewise, her Norma is an interpretation that plumbs the depths of pathos in Bellini’s greatest creation.
Notwithstanding some vocal imperfections, again Callas comes to mind, cognoscenti bow their heads in reverence to the genius Scotto brought to bear in all she took on. The liturgy includes heart-rending assumptions of Puccini’s Mimi, Tosca, Manon Lescaut and Liu. So too was she an incomparable Adriana Lecouvreur, Maddalena, Santuzza, Nedda, Lady Macbeth, Desdemona. Once heard, her Libera me in Verdi’s Messa da Requiem under Muti, remains indelibly imprinted on the memory.
This treasure trove of recordings aside, Mme Scotto’s generosity in passing on her wealth of experience to young singers such as Nadine Sierra will carry her legacy forward.
The world mourns the passing of a golden age star. But Renata Scotto’s star will shine forever.
Rest in peace, great lady. - William Charlton-Perkins
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