Renata Scotto (24 February 1934 – 16 August 2023) was an Italian
soprano
A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...
,
opera director
Crossbreed is an American industrial metal band from Clearwater, Florida, formed in 1996. They were signed with Artemis Records before being dropped from the label in 2003. The band released two EPs and three full-length albums before disbandi ...
, and voice teacher. Recognised for her sense of style, her musicality, and as a remarkable singer-actress, Scotto is considered to have been one of the preeminent opera singers of her generation.
For more than 40 years, she performed in some 45 roles, first in Italy, then as a leading soprano of the
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...
(Met). She is remembered especially for the title roles of Verdi's '' La traviata'', performed for her stage debut in Milan in 1952, and Puccini's ''
Madama Butterfly
''Madama Butterfly'' (; ''Madame Butterfly'') is an opera in three acts (originally two) by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa.
It is based on the short story " Madame Butterfly" (1898) by John Lu ...
'', which was her first role at the Met and her last there in 1987, but also for
belcanto
, )—with several similar constructions (, , , pronounced in English as )—is a term with several meanings that relate to Italian singing, and whose definitions have often been misunderstood. ''Bel canto'' was not only seen as a vocal technique ...
works such as Donizetti's ''
Lucia di Lammermoor
''Lucia di Lammermoor'' () is a (tragic opera) in three acts by Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian-language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's 1819 historical novel '' The Bride of Lammermoor''. ...
''. She appeared in the first telecast from the Met in 1977, as Mimi in Puccini's ''
La bohème
''La bohème'' ( , ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '':wikt:quadro, quadri'', ''wikt:tableau, tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto b ...
'', alongside
Luciano Pavarotti
Luciano Pavarotti (, , ; 12 October 19356 September 2007) was an Italian operatic tenor who during the late part of his career crossed over into popular music, eventually becoming one of the most acclaimed tenors of all time. He made numerou ...
and conducted by
James Levine
James Lawrence Levine ( ; June 23, 1943 – March 9, 2021) was an American conductor and pianist. He was music director of the Metropolitan Opera from 1976 to 2016. He was terminated from all his positions and affiliations with the Met on March ...
. She later expanded her repertoire by roles such as the Marschallin in ''
Der Rosenkavalier
(''The Knight of the Rose'' or ''The Rose-Bearer''), Op. 59, is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from Louvet de Couvrai's novel ''Les amours du cheva ...
'' by Richard Strauss, Elle in Poulenc's '' La voix humaine'', and Madame Flora in Menotti's ''
The Medium
''The Medium'' is a short (one-hour-long) two-act dramatic opera with words and music by Gian Carlo Menotti. Commissioned by the Alice M. Ditson Fund at Columbia University, its first performance was there on 8 May 1946, with Claramae Turner a ...
''. As opera director she worked for the Met, the
Arena di Verona
The Verona Arena is a Roman amphitheatre located in the historic center of Verona, an iconic symbol of the Venetian city alongside the figures of Romeo and Juliet. It stands as one of the grand structures that defined Roman architecture and i ...
, and other leading opera houses.
Life and career
Scotto was born in
Savona
Savona (; ) is a seaport and (municipality) in the west part of the northern Italian region of Liguria, and the capital of the Province of Savona. Facing the Ligurian Sea, Savona is the main center of the Riviera di Ponente (the western se ...
, an industrial town and port on the
Ligurian Sea
The Ligurian Sea is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea. It lies between the Italian Riviera ( Liguria) and the island of Corsica. The sea is thought to have been named after the ancient Ligures people.
Geography
The sea borders Italy as far as ...
, on 24 February 1934. Her father was a police officer and her mother a seamstress. During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, her mother took her and her sister to the nearby mountains, taking sewing jobs from the fascists, the Nazis, and the Americans. After the war, the girl experienced her first opera in her hometown, Verdi's ''
Rigoletto
''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play '' Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had c ...
'' with
Tito Gobbi
Tito Gobbi (24 October 19135 March 1984) was an Italian operatic baritone with an international reputation.
He made his operatic debut in Gubbio in 1935 as Count Rodolfo in Bellini's '' La sonnambula'' and quickly appeared in Italy's major oper ...
in the title role, and decided then, at age twelve, that she would become an opera singer.
She studied music at the
Milan Conservatory
The Milan Conservatory, also known as the Conservatorio di Milano and the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi, is a Music school, college of music in Milan, Italy.
History
The conservatory was established by a royal decree of 1807 in Milan, capital ...
, from age 16, living in a nuns' convent, and making a living by sewing and cleaning jobs. She studied first with Emilio Ghirardini as a
mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano (, ), or mezzo ( ), is a type of classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A bel ...
. She won a competition in 1952, with the prize of a debut at the Teatro Nuovo in Milan. She performed the title role of Verdi's '' La traviata'', first in her home town on
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas, the festival commemorating nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. Christmas Day is observance of Christmas by country, observed around the world, and Christma ...
in front of a sold-out house. The next day, she made her 'official' opera debut at the Teatro Nuovo.
Italy
In 1953, Scotto auditioned at
La Scala
La Scala (, , ; officially , ) is a historic opera house in Milan, Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as (, which previously was Santa Maria della Scala, Milan, a church). The premiere performa ...
for the role of Walter in Catalani's '' La Wally'', with
Renata Tebaldi
Renata Tebaldi ( , ; 1 February 1922 – 19 December 2004) was an Italian spinto soprano, lirico-spinto soprano popular in the post-World War II, war period, and especially prominent as one of the stars of La Scala, Teatro di San Carlo, San ...
and Mario del Monaco in lead roles. After her audition, one of the judges, the conductor Victor de Sabata, was heard saying, "Forget about the rest." ''La Wally'' opened on 7 December 1953, and Scotto was called back for fifteen curtain calls while Tebaldi and Del Monaco each received seven. She was offered more supporting roles at La Scala, but rejected them in favour of performing larger roles at regional houses in Italy. She appeared at the Rome Opera in 1955 as Sophie in Massenet's ''
Werther
''Werther'' is an opera (''drame lyrique'') in four acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Édouard Blau, Paul Milliet and Georges Hartmann (who used the pseudonym Henri Grémont). It is loosely based on Goethe's epistolary novel ''The S ...
'', and at
La Fenice
Teatro La Fenice (; "The Phoenix Theatre") is a historic opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of "the most famous and renowned landmarks in the history of Italian theatre" and in the history of opera as a whole. Especially in the 19th cen ...
in Venice in 1956 as Traviata, and as Micaela in Bizet's
Carmen
''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...
. On a recommendation by tenor
Alfredo Kraus
Alfredo Kraus Trujillo (; 24 November 192710 September 1999) was a distinguished Spanish tenor from the Canary Islands (known professionally as Alfredo Kraus), particularly known for the artistry he brought to opera's bel canto roles. He was ...
she took extra voice training with Mercedes Llopart. Kraus was to become a frequent partner on stage and for recordings. She was a member of the ensemble at La Scala from 1957, performing roles such as Donizetti Adina in ''
L'elisir d'amore
''L'elisir d'amore'' (; ''The Elixir of Love'') is a (comic melodrama, opera buffa) in two acts by the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto, after Eugène Scribe's libretto for Daniel Auber's (1831). ...
'' and Norina in ''
Don Pasquale
''Don Pasquale'' () is a Gaetano Donizetti opera buffa, or comic opera, in three acts, with an Italian libretto completed largely by Giovanni Ruffini as well as the composer. It was based on a libretto by Angelo Anelli for Stefano Pavesi's oper ...
'' but was not accepted as La Traviata by
Franco Zeffirelli
Gian Franco Corsi Zeffirelli (; 12 February 1923 – 15 June 2019) was an Italian stage and film director, producer, production designer and politician. He was one of the most significant opera and theatre directors of the post–World War II e ...
.
Scotto's major breakthrough came in 1957 when she performed at the
Edinburgh Festival
__NOTOC__
This is a list of Arts festival, arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the ...
in a La Scala production of Bellini's ''
La Sonnambula
''La sonnambula'' (; ''The Sleepwalker'') is an opera semiseria in two acts, with music in the ''bel canto'' tradition by Vincenzo Bellini set to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani, based on a scenario for a ''ballet-pantomime'' written by Eu ...
'';
Maria Callas
Maria Callas (born Maria Anna Cecilia Sophia Kalogeropoulos; December 2, 1923 – September 16, 1977) was an American-born Greek soprano and one of the most renowned and influential opera singers of the 20th century. Many critics praised ...
was cast as Amina, and it was so successful that the company added an unscheduled fifth performance. Callas, who was under contract for four performances, declined to perform in the added performance but allowed the La Scala management, who had announced her for the fifth performance without her consent, to explain her departure from the festival as being due to illness. Scotto, stepping in as Amina, performed on 3 September 1957, and became an international opera star at age 23.
During the 1960s she became one of the leading singers in the
belcanto
, )—with several similar constructions (, , , pronounced in English as )—is a term with several meanings that relate to Italian singing, and whose definitions have often been misunderstood. ''Bel canto'' was not only seen as a vocal technique ...
revival initiated by Callas during the 1950s. She sang Bellini's Zaira and La straniera, Donizetti's '' Maria di Rohan'', in Meyerbeer's ''
Robert le diable
''Robert le diable'' (''Robert the Devil'') is an opera in five acts composed by Giacomo Meyerbeer between 1827 and 1831, to a libretto written in French by Eugène Scribe and Germain Delavigne. ''Robert le diable'' is regarded as one of the first ...
'', and in other repertoire rarities. In 1964 she performed with La Scala at the
Bolshoi Theatre
The Bolshoi Theatre ( rus, Большо́й теа́тр, r=Bol'shoy teatr, p=bɐlʲˈʂoj tʲɪˈat(ə)r, t=Grand Theater) is a historic opera house in Moscow, Russia, originally designed by architect Joseph Bové. Before the October Revolutio ...
in Moscow, the first opera company tour to the Soviet Union during the
Cold War
The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
years. In 1967 she appeared at La Scala as Giulietta in Bellini's ''
I Capuleti e i Montecchi
''I Capuleti e i Montecchi'' (''The Capulets and the Montagues'') is an Italian opera (''tragedia lirica'') in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini. The libretto by Felice Romani was a reworking of the story of ''Romeo and Juliet'' for an opera by Nicol ...
'' and as Donizetti's
Lucia di Lammermoor
''Lucia di Lammermoor'' () is a (tragic opera) in three acts by Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian-language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's 1819 historical novel '' The Bride of Lammermoor''. ...
Scotto's American debut was as Mimì in Puccini's ''
La bohème
''La bohème'' ( , ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '':wikt:quadro, quadri'', ''wikt:tableau, tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto b ...
'' at the
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Lyric Opera of Chicago is an American opera company based in Chicago, Illinois. The company was founded in Chicago in 1954, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox (Chicago opera), Carol Fox, Nicola Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, w ...
in 1960. On 13 October 1965, Scotto made her
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...
debut as Madama Butterfly, with John Alexander as Pinkerton. Louis Snyder from the ''New York Herald Tribune'' wrote:
She went on to sing more than 300 performances in 26 roles there through 1987 and settled to live with her family in nearby
Westchester County
Westchester County is a county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of New York, bordering the Long Island Sound and the Byram River to its east and the Hudson River on its west. The county is the seventh most populous cou ...
. When
James Levine
James Lawrence Levine ( ; June 23, 1943 – March 9, 2021) was an American conductor and pianist. He was music director of the Metropolitan Opera from 1976 to 2016. He was terminated from all his positions and affiliations with the Met on March ...
became chief conductor in 1971, she was granted several new roles in new productions, including Vitellia in the company's first production of Mozart's ''
La Clemenza di Tito
(''The Clemency of Titus''), K. 621, is an ''opera seria'' in two acts composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Caterino Mazzolà, after Pietro Metastasio. Mozart completed the work in the midst of composing ''Die Zauberfl ...
'', in Meyerbeer's ''
Le prophète
''Le prophète'' (''The Prophet'') is a grand opera in five acts by Giacomo Meyerbeer, which was premiered in Paris on 16 April 1849. The French-language libretto was by Eugène Scribe and Émile Deschamps, after passages from the ''Essay on the ...
'', and Zandonai's
Francesca da Rimini
Francesca da Rimini or Francesca da Polenta (died between 1283 and 1286) was an Italian noblewoman of Ravenna, who was murdered by her husband, Giovanni Malatesta, upon his discovery of her affair with his brother, Paolo Malatesta. She was a ...
.
Scotto opened the series of Live from the Met telecasts in 1977 with ''La bohème'', alongside
Luciano Pavarotti
Luciano Pavarotti (, , ; 12 October 19356 September 2007) was an Italian operatic tenor who during the late part of his career crossed over into popular music, eventually becoming one of the most acclaimed tenors of all time. He made numerou ...
. She starred in the telecasts of Puccini's '' Manon Lescaut'' and ''
Il trittico
''Il trittico'' (''The Triptych'') is the title of a collection of three one-act operas, '' Il tabarro'', '' Suor Angelica'', and '' Gianni Schicchi'', by Giacomo Puccini. The work received its world premiere at the Metropolitan Opera on 14 Decem ...
'', Verdi's ''
Luisa Miller
''Luisa Miller'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play '' Kabale und Liebe'' (''Intrigue and Love'') by the German dramatist Friedrich von Schiller.
Verdi's initial idea f ...
Francesca da Rimini
Francesca da Rimini or Francesca da Polenta (died between 1283 and 1286) was an Italian noblewoman of Ravenna, who was murdered by her husband, Giovanni Malatesta, upon his discovery of her affair with his brother, Paolo Malatesta. She was a ...
, and as Desdemona in Verdi's ''
Otello
''Otello'' () is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on William Shakespeare, Shakespeare's play ''Othello''. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, first performed at the La Scala, Teatro alla Scala, M ...
'', alongside
Jon Vickers
Jonathan Stewart Vickers, (October 29, 1926 – July 10, 2015), known professionally as Jon Vickers, was a Canadian heldentenor.
Born in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, he was the sixth in a family of eight children. In 1950, he was awarded a s ...
, among others.
Scotto also had success at the Met as Ponchielli's La gioconda. Moving into the heavier Verdi repertoire in the 1970s, she appeared as Elisabetta in '' Don Carlo'',
Luisa Miller
''Luisa Miller'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play '' Kabale und Liebe'' (''Intrigue and Love'') by the German dramatist Friedrich von Schiller.
Verdi's initial idea f ...
,
Lady Macbeth
Lady Macbeth is a leading character in William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Macbeth'' (). As the wife of the play's tragic hero, Macbeth (a Scottish nobleman), Lady Macbeth goads her husband into committing regicide, after which she becomes quee ...
Requiem
A Requiem (Latin: ''rest'') or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead () or Mass of the dead (), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is ...
'', all conducted by
James Levine
James Lawrence Levine ( ; June 23, 1943 – March 9, 2021) was an American conductor and pianist. He was music director of the Metropolitan Opera from 1976 to 2016. He was terminated from all his positions and affiliations with the Met on March ...
. She is remembered as a singing actress;
Plácido Domingo
José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French, ...
said in a 1978 interview: "There is an emphasis, a feeling she puts behind every word she interprets."
At the performance of Bellini’s ''
Norma Norma may refer to:
* Norma (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name)
** Norma Lizbeth Ramos, a Mexican bullying victim
Astronomy
*Norma (constellation)
* 555 Norma, a minor asteroid
* Cygnus Arm or Norma Arm, a spiral ...
'' which opened the Met's 1981/1982 season, fans of Maria Callas yelled negative remarks and booed Scotto from the moment she set foot on the stage. Many were removed from the opera house by security personnel. Writing for
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
, critic Andrew Porter observed, "'Casta diva" was a disaster. Sustained notes were often unsteady. The repeated A's at the climax lurched over, both times, into a sharp and strident B-flat, a curdled scream. The descending scales of the cabaletta were slithers. At coloratura passages she grabbed - and missed." Critic Peter G. Davis noted in ''New York'' magazine: "Time and again, Scotto reminded us of her sovereign musicality, her instinctive feeling for the rhythmic life of the notes, her ability to mold finely sculpted phrases, and her sensitivity for coloring the words into emotions that instantly define a dramatic situation."
Later career
In the late part of her career, Scotto took on the roles of Giordano's
Fedora
A fedora () is a hat with a soft brim and indented crown.Kilgour, Ruth Edwards (1958). ''A Pageant of Hats Ancient and Modern''. R. M. McBride Company. It is typically creased lengthwise down the crown and "pinched" near the front on both sides ...
(Barcelona, 1988), Charlotte in Massenet's ''
Werther
''Werther'' is an opera (''drame lyrique'') in four acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Édouard Blau, Paul Milliet and Georges Hartmann (who used the pseudonym Henri Grémont). It is loosely based on Goethe's epistolary novel ''The S ...
'', the Marschallin in ''
Der Rosenkavalier
(''The Knight of the Rose'' or ''The Rose-Bearer''), Op. 59, is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from Louvet de Couvrai's novel ''Les amours du cheva ...
'' by Richard Strauss (Charleston Spoleto Festival, 1995 and Catania), Kundry in Wagner's ''
Parsifal
''Parsifal'' ( WWV 111) is a music drama in three acts by the German composer Richard Wagner and his last composition. Wagner's own libretto for the work is freely based on the 13th-century Middle High German chivalric romance ''Parzival'' of th ...
'' (Schwerin, 1995), Elle in Poulenc's '' La voix humaine'' (
Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
The Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (literal English translation: 'Florence Musical May') is an annual Italian arts festival in Florence, including a notable opera festival, under the auspices of the Opera di Firenze. The festival occurs between late A ...
1993,
Concertgebouw, Amsterdam
The Royal Concertgebouw (, ) is a concert hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch term "concertgebouw" translates into English as "concert building". Its superb Architectural acoustics, acoustics place it among the finest concert halls in the ...
, and
Liceu
The Gran Teatre del Liceu (; ; ), or simply Liceu, is a theater in Barcelona, Spain. Situated on La Rambla, it is the city's oldest theater building still in use for its original purpose.
Founded in 1837 at another location, the Liceu ope ...
, Barcelona, 1996), Madame Flora in Menotti's ''
The Medium
''The Medium'' is a short (one-hour-long) two-act dramatic opera with words and music by Gian Carlo Menotti. Commissioned by the Alice M. Ditson Fund at Columbia University, its first performance was there on 8 May 1946, with Claramae Turner a ...
'' (Torino, 1999), and Klytemnestra in '' Elektra'' by Richard Strauss (Baltimore, 2000 and Sevilla, 2002).
Scotto's later concert appearances included Berlioz's '' Les nuits d'été'',
lieder
In the Western classical music tradition, ( , ; , ; ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German and Dutch, but among English and French speakers, is often used interchangea ...
by
Mahler
Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...
and Richard Strauss, as well as Schoenberg's ''
Erwartung
' (''Expectation''), Op. 17, is a one-act monodrama in four scenes by Arnold Schoenberg to a libretto by . Composed in 1909, it was not premiered until 6 June 1924 in Prague conducted by Alexander Zemlinsky with Marie Gutheil-Schoder as the sop ...
'' with the Accademia di Santa Cecilia Orchestra and RAI Orchestra of Torino.
Stage director
When she was about to retire from the stage, Scotto turned successfully to directing opera as well; she directed her last production of the Met of ''Madama Butterfly'', becoming the first woman at the house to stage an opera and star in it. Her director credits also include productions of this opera in the
Arena di Verona
The Verona Arena is a Roman amphitheatre located in the historic center of Verona, an iconic symbol of the Venetian city alongside the figures of Romeo and Juliet. It stands as one of the grand structures that defined Roman architecture and i ...
,
Florida Grand Opera
Florida Grand Opera (FGO) is an American opera company based in Miami, Florida. It is the oldest performing arts organization in Florida and the seventh oldest opera company in the United States. FGO was created in 1994 from the consolidation of ...
, and Palm Beach Opera), Bellini's '' Il pirata'' (Festival Belliniano, Catania, 1993) and ''La sonnambula'' (Catania, 1994); an
Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...
-winning telecast of ''La traviata'' (
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through its 2013 bankruptcy, and again since 2016 when it was revived.
The opera company, dubbed "the peopl ...
, 1995); ''Norma'' (
Finnish National Opera
The Finnish National Opera and Ballet (; ) is a Finnish opera company and ballet company based in Helsinki. It is headquartered in the Opera House on the coast of the Töölönlahti bay in Töölö, which opened in 1993, and is state-owned throu ...
); ''Adriana Lecouvreur'' (Santiago, 2002); ''Lucia di Lammermoor'' (Music Hall of Thessaloniki, 2004); ''La Wally'' (
Dallas Opera
The Dallas Opera is an American opera company located in Dallas, Texas. The company performs at the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House, one venue of the AT&T Performing Arts Center.
History
The company was founded in 1957 as the Dallas Civic ...
, Theater Bern); ''La bohème'' (Lyric Opera of Chicago, 2007 and Palm Beach Opera, 2009); ''Turandot'' (Athens, 2009); ''La sonnambula'' (
Florida Grand Opera
Florida Grand Opera (FGO) is an American opera company based in Miami, Florida. It is the oldest performing arts organization in Florida and the seventh oldest opera company in the United States. FGO was created in 1994 from the consolidation of ...
and
Michigan Opera Theatre
Detroit Opera is the principal opera company in Michigan, USA. The company is based in Detroit, where it performs in the Detroit Opera House. Prior to February 28, 2022, the company was named Michigan Opera Theatre.
Annually, it produces four o ...
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...
in New York City. She coached singers including
Renée Fleming
Renée Lynn Fleming (born February 14, 1959) is an American soprano and actress, known for performances in opera, concerts, recordings, theater, film, and at major public occasions. A recipient of the National Medal of Arts, Fleming has been nom ...
,
Anna Netrebko
Anna Yuryevna Netrebko (; born 18 September 1971) is a Russian and Austrian operatic soprano who has performed at the Salzburg Festival, Metropolitan Opera, Vienna State Opera, the Royal Opera and La Scala.
Netrebko is one of the few Russian p ...
Scotto married Lorenzo Anselmi in 1960, who had been principal violinist at La Scala, and became her manager. The couple had a daughter and a son. Her husband died in 2021.
Scotto died in her home town of Savona on 16 August 2023, aged 89.
The Metropolitan Opera remembered after her death:
Awards
Scotto won two
Emmy
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...
s, for the telecast of ''La Gioconda'' and her direction of ''La traviata'' from NYCO.
* 1992 –
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
The (; ''FAZ''; "Frankfurt General Newspaper") is a German newspaper founded in 1949. It is published daily in Frankfurt and is considered a newspaper of record for Germany. Its Sunday edition is the ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung'' ( ...
award for her interpretation of the Marschallin in ''
Der Rosenkavalier
(''The Knight of the Rose'' or ''The Rose-Bearer''), Op. 59, is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from Louvet de Couvrai's novel ''Les amours du cheva ...
''.
* 2007 – Recipient of the
Opera News
''Opera News'' was an American classical music magazine. It was published from 1936 to 2023 by the Metropolitan Opera Guild—a non-profit organization, located at Lincoln Center, that was founded to promote opera and support the Metropolitan ...
Award by the Metropolitan Opera Guild.
* 2009 – Opera Tampa's Anton Coppola Award for Excellence in the Arts.
* Franco Albiatti della Critica Italiana award.
Recordings
* Bellini: ''
Norma Norma may refer to:
* Norma (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name)
** Norma Lizbeth Ramos, a Mexican bullying victim
Astronomy
*Norma (constellation)
* 555 Norma, a minor asteroid
* Cygnus Arm or Norma Arm, a spiral ...
Adriana Lecouvreur
''Adriana Lecouvreur'' () is an opera in four acts by Francesco Cilea to an Italian libretto by Arturo Colautti, based on the 1849 play '' Adrienne Lecouvreur'' by Eugène Scribe and Ernest Legouvé. It was first performed on 6 November 1902 ...
'' (1977) CBS
* Donizetti: ''
Lucia di Lammermoor
''Lucia di Lammermoor'' () is a (tragic opera) in three acts by Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian-language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's 1819 historical novel '' The Bride of Lammermoor''. ...
'' (di Stefano, Bastianini; Sanzogno, 1959)
Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...
* Giordano: ''
Andrea Chénier
''Andrea Chénier'' () is a verismo opera in four acts by Umberto Giordano, set to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica, and first performed on 28 March 1896 at La Scala, Milan. The story is based loosely on the life of the French poet An ...
'' (Domingo, Milnes; Levine, 1976)
RCA Red Seal
RCA Red Seal is a classical music label whose origin dates to 1902 and is currently owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment.
History
The first "Gramophone Record Red Seal" discs were issued in 1901.
* Leoncavallo: ''
Pagliacci
''Pagliacci'' (; literal translation, 'Clowns') is an Italian opera in a prologue and two acts, with music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo. The opera tells the tale of Canio, actor and leader of a commedia dell'arte theatrical company, who mu ...
'' (1978)
EMI
EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...
* Mascagni: ''
Cavalleria rusticana
''Cavalleria rusticana'' (; ) is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, adapted from an 1880 Cavalleria rusticana (short story), short story of the same name and subsequent ...
'' (Domingo, Elvira; Levine, 1978)
RCA Red Seal
RCA Red Seal is a classical music label whose origin dates to 1902 and is currently owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment.
History
The first "Gramophone Record Red Seal" discs were issued in 1901.
* Meyerbeer: ''
Le prophète
''Le prophète'' (''The Prophet'') is a grand opera in five acts by Giacomo Meyerbeer, which was premiered in Paris on 16 April 1849. The French-language libretto was by Eugène Scribe and Émile Deschamps, after passages from the ''Essay on the ...
'' (1976) CBS
* Puccini:
** ''
La bohème
''La bohème'' ( , ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '':wikt:quadro, quadri'', ''wikt:tableau, tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto b ...
'' (1961)
Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...
** ''
Edgar
Edgar is a commonly used masculine English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Edgar'' (composed of ''wikt:en:ead, ead'' "rich, prosperous" and ''Gar (spear), gar'' "spear").
Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the Late Midd ...
Tosca
''Tosca'' is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1 ...
'' (Domingo, Bruson; Levine, 1980) EMI
** Le Villi (Domingo; 1978) CBS
* Verdi:
** ''
Nabucco
''Nabucco'' (; short for ''Nabucodonosor'' , i.e. "Nebuchadnezzar II, Nebuchadnezzar") is an Italian-language opera in four acts composed in 1841 by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera. The libretto is based on the biblic ...
Otello
''Otello'' () is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on William Shakespeare, Shakespeare's play ''Othello''. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, first performed at the La Scala, Teatro alla Scala, M ...
'' (Domingo, Milnes; Levine, 1978)
RCA Red Seal
RCA Red Seal is a classical music label whose origin dates to 1902 and is currently owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment.
History
The first "Gramophone Record Red Seal" discs were issued in 1901.Rigoletto
''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play '' Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had c ...
'' (Kraus, Bastianini; Gavazzeni, 1960) Deutsche Grammophon
** ''Rigoletto'' (Cossotto, Bergonzi, Fischer-Dieskau; Kubelík, 1964) Deutsche Grammophon
** '' La traviata'' (G.Raimondi, Bastianini; Votto, 1962) Deutsche Grammophon
** ''La traviata'' (Kraus, Bruson; Muti, 1980) EMI
* Wolf-Ferrari: '' Il segreto di Susanna'' (Bruson; Pritchard, 1980) CBS
Publications
* ''Scotto: More Than a Diva'' (memoir) by Renata Scotto and Octavio Roca, Doubleday & Company, Inc, 1984.
* Konrad Dryden: ''Riccardo Zandonai, A Biography'', Foreword by Renata Scotto, Peter Lang Inc, 1999.
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...