...temperament, intelligence, and an aristocratic musicality."
CONSIDERING Renata Scotto's stature as a reigning prima donna in the opera world, it is curious that she has not been very well represented in the American record catalog.
She has an exquisite Madama Butterfly on Angel, a very good Rigoletto on Deutsche Grammophon, a few Everest sets (hers is the Lucia I play most often), a charming recital of Rossini songs on Musical Heritage Society, and that's about it. Or that was about it until DG rereleased her Traviata (cassette only) and Columbia Records, in its current program of expanding its vocal catalog, issued two aria recitals, her first new recordings on a major American label for some time. They are "Renata Scotto" (an album of verismo arias) and "Renata Scotto Sings Verdi." And how gratifying it is to be the bearer of good news, to tell you that both are simply wonderful.
I tend to think of Scotto as a specialist in bel canto and early and middle-period Verdi because I have been so dazzled by her performances in such works as Bellini's I Capu leti ed i Montecchi and Verdi's I Vespri Sici liani. But she is also a renowned interpreter of Puccini. Last year she was a sensation in San Francisco and at the Met in Madama Butter fly, and this summer at Wolf Trap she sang Mimi in La Boheme, one of her best roles. At the Met next season she will sing all three soprano roles in Puccini's Trittico.
She brings complete authority, therefore, to Columbia's new verismo album, on which seven of the twelve arias are by Puccini. All twelve are more or less familiar-such Pucci ni chestnuts as "0 mio babbino taro" and Musetta's Waltz are included-and even the rarer items, the arias from Catalani's La Wal ly and Mascagni's Iris and Lodoletta are known from recordings by Callas, Tebaldi, Price, or Caballe. But you will hear new things in each of them in Scotto's performances here, for her interpretations are quite individual and most beguiling.
Don't think because this is a dozen excerpts from turn-of-the-century melodramas that the disc is a collection of verismo gasps, sobs, and shrieks. Far from it. There is plenty of drama, as in the Iris aria, but pathos rather than passion is the dominant tone. Scotto communicates whatever emotion is called for with temperament, intelligence, and an aristocratic musicality. There is a well placed glottal attack here, a tasteful application of vibrato there, an occasional expressive drop into chest voice, and always a superb control of dynamics. She can fine her voice down to the merest thread of sound to produce ravishing pianissimos, especially and wonderfully impressive here in "Ch'il be! sogno di Doretta." Like Callas, Scotto has always known the value of a small gesture, which often can be more telling than a broad one. She does not yield to the temptation to belt out the Manon Lescaut arias, for example, but sings them intimately. Both are soliloquies, and she sings them with an affecting inwardness, presenting a more fragile Manon than is usual on the stage today. Most sopranos who sing Musetta in La Boheme make her a ridiculous exhibitionist. In "Quando m'en vo"' here Scotto's Musetta is feminine and charming; her interpretation of the famous waltz is flirtatious but a bit pensive. In "Flammen, perdonami" from Mascagni's Lodoletta, she seems to reach out and clutch weakly at your wrist as she expires in the snow.
The air of sensuousness and intimacy that pervades the album is heightened by the fact that Scotto is rather close-miked-just the way I like it-close enough that you can hear her breathe (you only think you can hear her heart beat). The pleasure this album affords is so great that you will need to share it with someone you really care for.
The sound, too, is splendid. I don't think Scotto's voice has ever been so well recorded before, and although the singer is placed well forward, the balances are good. There is a beautiful picture of the artist on the cover, and the only thing I can think of to complain about is the absence of complete texts and translations in my review copy. (How are fans going to keep up their Italian if they don't have the words in hand?) But only a few copies escaped to market without the text leaflet, and Columbia will send you one if there happens to be none in your album. (The address is on the album cover.) AND now to the Verdi, which is the Big Stuff. If it seems the more impressive of the two albums, perhaps it is because Verdi was a greater composer than his verismo succes sors, and the arias chosen for this recital give Mme. Scotto an opportunity for greater display of virtuosity and vocal agility. Puccini's heroines tend to be soft, sentimental creatures; Verdi's are larger than life and must cope with grander passions. These arias are longer and give the soprano variety of mood and more time to project the personalities of the characters, ranging from the placid Desdemona (Otello) to the wicked Abigaille (Nabucco).
The slower, quieter arias, such as the long scene from Otello, the Letter Scene from Traviata, and the first of the Vespri arias, show off Scotto's legato, her interesting way of phrasing, and the superb way she can swell or diminish a tone. She sings both verses of "Addio del passato," and through her skill in shaping the aria she maintains your interest even through the second verse, which is usually omitted.
The scene from the rarely performed Bat taglia di Legnano is impressive, but my favorites on the album are the long scenas from I Lombardi and Nabucco. Scotto is a very ex citing Giselda in Lombardi (I wish the Met would stage it for her), and the excerpt here indicates the scope of the role with a lyrical recitative and prayer followed by a dramatic outburst on the horrors of war. Similar in structure, the Nabucco selection shows the fierce side of Scotto's temperament and elicits from her the quality of abandon suggestive of her willingness in live performance to take vocal risks. It is, in a word, thrilling.
Much as I like the verismo album, this Verdi is even greater testimony to the fact that Ren ata Scotto is a major soprano at her absolute prime. Her voice may not be a voice for everyone, but which soprano's is? Scotto's tone is a bit tart, and not everybody likes the taste of strawberry-rhubarb. On forte high notes you hear a little steel in the voice, and it has a slightly veiled quality, which is not like Callas' covered middle notes, but is present throughout her range, lending a little mystery to whatever she sings. If you compare her recording of the Otello arias with Caballe's, you will see that she does not have the Spanish singer's diamantine clarity; Scotto's vocal color is more that of a smoky topaz. All these characteristics give her voice a unique, instantly recognizable timbre, and she exploits them for the utmost in expressivity.
Her intonation is accurate, and her rhythmic sense is strong-she never pulls an aria out of shape by hanging on to a particularly good note. (Of how many Italian sopranos can that be said?) And then there is the rightness of her diction, the clearly articulated double "m's" "I's," and "t's" (not heard since Licia Albanese and "Dolce notte quante stellel Non le vidi mai si belle . . ."). Many singers from many countries learn Italian and sing it well, but few if any non-Italians ever acquire the ability to color words in that precisely Italian way that Scotto grew up with. When she sings words like paura (fear), vendetta (revenge), or bacio (kiss), you feel that she not only has those words in her mind and her throat but has lived them as well.
I think both these albums show what acting with the voice is all about and therefore what operatic singing is all about. Under Gianan drea Gavazzeni the orchestras on both discs play well. Maestro Gavazzeni has conducted Mme. Scotto many times in the theater, and they seem to agree totally on how each aria here should be performed.
The name Renata means "reborn." Perhaps these new records indicate a rebirth of Scot to's recording career. I understand the Metropolitan has some interesting plans for her in the next few seasons. I hope Columbia Records does too.
- William Livingstone
RENATA SCOTTO. Puccini: Le Villi: Non ti scordar di me. Manon Lescaut: In quelk trine morbide; Sola, perduta, abbandonata. La Boheme: Quando m'en vo' soletta. Suor Angelica: Senza mamma, o bimbo. Gianni Schicchi: O mio babbino caro. La Rondine: Ch' it bel sogno di Doretta. Catalani: La Wal ly: Ebben? Ne andro lontana. Cilea: Adriana Lecouvreur: lo son l'umile ancella; Poveri fiori. Mascagni: Lodoletta: Flammen, perdo nami. Iris: Un di (ero piccina) al tempio. Renata Scotto (soprano); London Symphony Orchestra, Gianandrea Gavazzeni cond. COLUMBIA M 33435 $6.98.
RENATA SCOTTO: Renata Scotto Sings Ver di. La Battaglia di Legnano: Voilo deceste ... Quante volte come un dono. Nabucco: Ben io t'invenni . . . Anch'io dischiuso. I Vespri Siciliani: Arrigo! Ah.f- Parli a un core; Merce dilette amiche. Otello: Willow Song; Ave Maria. La Traviata: Addio del passato. I Lombardi: Sevano e it pregare. Renata Scot to (soprano); Elizabeth Bainbridge (mezzo soprano, in Battaglia di Legnano and Otello); William Elvin (baritone, in Battaglia di Legnano); London Philharmonic Orchestra. Gianandrea Gavazzeni cond. COLUMBIA M 33516 $6.98.
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