The great soprano Renata Tebaldi was born on February 1, 1922 and died in 2004, rich, retired, still lovely and still very much loved by fans, all over the word. I came along just in time to hear her Metropolitan Opera broadcasts in the early 70s, including Giacomo Puccini's Tosca, La boheme and La fanciulla del West (The Girl of the West). Crowds thronged to her performances and yelled and stamped and banged and cried and yelled some more â always in rapture. That's what "the rapture" should really mean, a great Tebaldi night. Here she is as Mimi in La boheme, in 1956. The tenor sitting next to her is Jussi Bjorling. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oG4cLyigq8 Rest well, Renata. Grazie mille.
Christopher Purdy is Classical 101's early morning host, 7-10 a.m. weekdays. He is host and producer of Front Row Center – Classical 101’s weekly celebration of Opera and more – as well as Music in Mid-Ohio, Concerts at Ohio State, and the Columbus Symphony broadcast series. He is the regular pre-concert speaker for Columbus Symphony performances in the Ohio Theater.