a thinking man's singer
The older I get the more I appreciate Scotto the singer. Her musicianship was always apparent, always admired. Yet she may have been underestimated as a singer. Her embodiment of the intense inner life of the characters she portrayed is rightfully legendary, but I've come to believe a great part of that perfect passion is the singing, as much as her gifts as an actor and interpreter. The voice itself is rarely perfect, but still beautiful; especially in the first half of her career, the top of her voice fashioned a world of its own, and left nothing wanting. So many fine singers today make a kind of perfect product, yet often fall short of leaving an enduring art of earthly grief and passion. They fly high but often forsake the humanist aesthetic central to operatic art. Scotto plumbs that passion in so much of her singing, and wonderful example of that is found than in these arias. She lets her instrument and her musicianship create the intimate space between singing and acting, never imposing an arbitrary idea around either. Her 'Sola, perduta, Abbandonata' is one of the best versions I've heard. She gifts 'Mio babbino caro' with unhurried beauty. She's a great verismo singer, as was Ileana Cotrubas, though few enough mention either artist nowadays. This disc is a perfect introduction to the art of Renata Scotto.