One Fan's Two Cents
I think it was Igor Stravinsky who said that �anyone who puts two words together about music is wrong� . . . and I must say that I agree. Music is like humor; if you have to explain it, there�s just no point. Either you get it or you don�t. But I suppose that if I am going to devote a sizable section of my web site to Renata Tebaldi, I suppose I should offer at least some justification.
Who�s to say why Tebaldi�s voice affects me so? It just does. The first time I heard her was at a difficult time in my life, one when I�d made a decision that while undoubtedly the right one, was going to be difficult. And when I first heard Tebaldi, I began to cry�though I had no idea why. Turns out she was singing the aria �Ebben . . . Ne andr� lontana� from Catalani�s La Wally. Wally, the daughter of a wealthy Swiss landowner, is forced to choose between an arranged marriage and death in exile. She chooses the latter in order to be true to herself. I guess that particular message appealed to me at that time, but there was something more appealing still . . .
They say that Tebaldi has the voice of an angel; but I think she has the voice of a human. Her voice and phrasing have a frailty, a vulnerability that makes her characters infinitely human.
And in that way, her greatest roles proved to be those of �good� women who find themselves in bad situations: Mim�, Angelica, Lauretta, Li�, A�da, Wally, Adriana�and above all, Desdemona.
In fact, Tebaldi�s rendition of Desdemona�s Willow Song and Ave Maria (from the Karajan recording) is quite possibly the greatest moment in the history of recorded music.
So that�s my two cents�and it was far more than two words.
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