When I was young I moved to New York City and fell in love. Not with the usual suspects, but with what we called in those days "Grand Opera". And this lady was the queen of the whole show. She possessed the most beautiful voice and she was equally beautiful herself. Yes, I fell in love head over heels.
I first saw Renata Tebaldi at the "old house" - the original home of the Met - in it's last season. She was a revelation to me. That anything could be that miraculous was unknown to me at the time. She loved her audiences and they loved her right back (as the video here will show you.)
I was a regular visitor to her dressing room backstage when the opera company moved to Lincoln Center. I told her that I had first heard her at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta when the Met used to tour. And she said to me, "I love de Fox (her Italian accent). I can let de voice out there!" Meaning she never held anything back.
And she knew me by name. When I would walk into her dressing room she would say "Ah, Reechard" and put out her cheek to me indicating that she wanted a kiss. I always complied.
And then she would say to me, "Don't step on New!, Reechard!". "New" was her champagne-colored toy poodle, so-named because she had gotten him in New Jersey.
I first saw Renata Tebaldi at the "old house" - the original home of the Met - in it's last season. She was a revelation to me. That anything could be that miraculous was unknown to me at the time. She loved her audiences and they loved her right back (as the video here will show you.)
I was a regular visitor to her dressing room backstage when the opera company moved to Lincoln Center. I told her that I had first heard her at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta when the Met used to tour. And she said to me, "I love de Fox (her Italian accent). I can let de voice out there!" Meaning she never held anything back.
And she knew me by name. When I would walk into her dressing room she would say "Ah, Reechard" and put out her cheek to me indicating that she wanted a kiss. I always complied.
And then she would say to me, "Don't step on New!, Reechard!". "New" was her champagne-colored toy poodle, so-named because she had gotten him in New Jersey.
God! How I loved that woman! She was truly Regina dell'Opera.
(This video is taken from a Tokyo performance at the end of her career. Look how they love her! We all did.)
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