Renata Scotto as you've never seen her - unless you were there

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I recommend you get to this SOON. It is not from the 1982 performance
at the MET which was telecast so it must be from somewhere else. It's
not the first performance at the MET of her first turn of Musettas,
that I am sure, becuase I was there and the staging is slightly
different, but it is such a wonderful interpretation, with all the
spontaneity and devilty that Scotto could summon up, that it is quite
special.

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Post by ***@hotnail.com
http://youtu.be/iVR4g-60e5g
I recommend you get to this SOON. It is not from the 1982 performance
at the MET which was telecast so it must be from somewhere else. It's
not the first performance at the MET of her first turn of Musettas,
that I am sure, becuase I was there and the staging is slightly
different, but it is such a wonderful interpretation, with all the
spontaneity and devilty that Scotto could summon up, that it is quite
special.

It appears obvious that it is pre 1978, since Scotto is quite plump.
It also seems obvious from the first seconds of the clip that Cotrubus
and Carreras are the Mimi and Rodolfo. I believe it was from 1977,
which, I think, was the first time Scotto sang Musetta, and, of
course, it's from the Met. I don't believe she did Musetta elsewhere,
though I certainly could be mistaken.
I myself find almost no spontaneity, but I'm not a Scotto fan. Her
voice is less screechy here than it became.
I further think I recognize Italo Tajo as the Alcindoro, and the
Marcello sounds like Wixell, though he is not really shown when he
takes up the big melody near the end, as the person filming this wants
to remain fixed on Scotto.
Very interesting, though. Makes one wonder how much more of this
performance may have been video taped. Possibly none, if it was just
for Scotto's big scene as Musetta. Perhaps this was her first Musetta
ever.

Ed

Ed

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Yes, of course that's what it is. I was just trying to be subtle about
it.

I don't think, however, it's the prima. At the prima, Scott was so
overwhelming that the audience was as crazy as anything I have ever
seen, and the cheers and applause were so deafening that you really
couldn't hear the music - and the conductor didn't dare stop - until
just about the end of the act. It was one of the great coups in
theatre. I was standing next to Cotrubas' manager - she was making her
house debut - and in fact she was pallid and wavery of voice. He kept
saying, "This is unprofessional; this is completely unprofessional."
The audience didn't think so.

Post by ***@aol.com

Post by ***@hotnail.com
http://youtu.be/iVR4g-60e5g
I recommend you get to this SOON. It is not from the 1982 performance
at the MET which was telecast so it must be from somewhere else. It's
not the first performance at the MET of her first turn of Musettas,
that I am sure, becuase I was there and the staging is slightly
different, but it is such a wonderful interpretation, with all the
spontaneity and devilty that Scotto could summon up, that it is quite
special.

It appears obvious that it is pre 1978, since Scotto is quite plump.
It also seems obvious from the first seconds of the clip that Cotrubus
and Carreras are the Mimi and Rodolfo. I believe it was from 1977,
which, I think, was the first time Scotto sang Musetta, and, of
course, it's from the Met. I don't believe she did Musetta elsewhere,
though I certainly could be mistaken.
I myself find almost no spontaneity, but I'm not a Scotto fan. Her
voice is less screechy here than it became.
I further think I recognize Italo Tajo as the Alcindoro, and the
Marcello sounds like Wixell, though he is not really shown when he
takes up the big melody near the end, as the person filming this wants
to remain fixed on Scotto.
Very interesting, though. Makes one wonder how much more of this
performance may have been video taped. Possibly none, if it was just
for Scotto's big scene as Musetta. Perhaps this was her first Musetta
ever.
Ed
Ed

[[e-mail]]

Post by ***@aol.com

Post by ***@hotnail.com
http://youtu.be/iVR4g-60e5g
I recommend you get to this SOON. It is not from the 1982 performance
at the MET which was telecast so it must be from somewhere else. It's
not the first performance at the MET of her first turn of Musettas,
that I am sure, becuase I was there and the staging is slightly
different, but it is such a wonderful interpretation, with all the
spontaneity and devilty that Scotto could summon up, that it is quite
special.

It appears obvious that it is pre 1978, since Scotto is quite plump.
It also seems obvious from the first seconds of the clip that Cotrubus
and Carreras are the Mimi and Rodolfo. I believe it was from 1977,
which, I think, was the first time Scotto sang Musetta, and, of
course, it's from the Met. I don't believe she did Musetta elsewhere,
though I certainly could be mistaken.
I myself find almost no spontaneity, but I'm not a Scotto fan. Her
voice is less screechy here than it became.
I further think I recognize Italo Tajo as the Alcindoro, and the
Marcello sounds like Wixell, though he is not really shown when he
takes up the big melody near the end, as the person filming this wants
to remain fixed on Scotto.
Very interesting, though. Makes one wonder how much more of this
performance may have been video taped. Possibly none, if it was just
for Scotto's big scene as Musetta. Perhaps this was her first Musetta
ever.
Ed
Ed

I knew at least two sopranos who hated to sing Mimi when Scotto sang
Musetta! One was Cotrubus, and the other was Katia, though I am not
sure she ever sang this with Scotto. She did, however, comment to me
that she would hate to sing Mimi to Scotto's Musetta. Many thought
Scotto was "over the top" in this role, and, though probably in a
minority, I was one of them. I thought she did all she could to
detract attention from all the other singers any time she was on
stage. Just my opinion, of course. It was, though, a coup in casting
her as Musetta.

Ed

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The only Musetta I really can't forgive is the Niska one in the Park
on Dorothy Kirsten's retirement (although she (Kirsten) came back
unplanned a little later.) Niska really did upstage her, and knowing
that it was Kirsten's farewell, it seemed to me cheap and
uncolleagial. I know that some people didn't like Scotto in the role,
but it was such a breath of fresh air to a character that had gotten
so stale. Also, I felt that, for my two cents, Cotrubas was almost
dead on arrival anyway; if it had been a singer who was giving a
performance I was more sympathetic too, I might have felt differently.

Post by ***@aol.com

Post by ***@aol.com

Post by ***@hotnail.com
http://youtu.be/iVR4g-60e5g
I recommend you get to this SOON. It is not from the 1982 performance
at the MET which was telecast so it must be from somewhere else. It's
not the first performance at the MET of her first turn of Musettas,
that I am sure, becuase I was there and the staging is slightly
different, but it is such a wonderful interpretation, with all the
spontaneity and devilty that Scotto could summon up, that it is quite
special.

It appears obvious that it is pre 1978, since Scotto is quite plump.
It also seems obvious from the first seconds of the clip that Cotrubus
and Carreras are the Mimi and Rodolfo. I believe it was from 1977,
which, I think, was the first time Scotto sang Musetta, and, of
course, it's from the Met. I don't believe she did Musetta elsewhere,
though I certainly could be mistaken.
I myself find almost no spontaneity, but I'm not a Scotto fan. Her
voice is less screechy here than it became.
I further think I recognize Italo Tajo as the Alcindoro, and the
Marcello sounds like Wixell, though he is not really shown when he
takes up the big melody near the end, as the person filming this wants
to remain fixed on Scotto.
Very interesting, though. Makes one wonder how much more of this
performance may have been video taped. Possibly none, if it was just
for Scotto's big scene as Musetta. Perhaps this was her first Musetta
ever.
Ed
Ed

I knew at least two sopranos who hated to sing Mimi when Scotto sang
Musetta! One was Cotrubus, and the other was Katia, though I am not
sure she ever sang this with Scotto. She did, however, comment to me
that she would hate to sing Mimi to Scotto's Musetta. Many thought
Scotto was "over the top" in this role, and, though probably in a
minority, I was one of them. I thought she did all she could to
detract attention from all the other singers any time she was on
stage. Just my opinion, of course. It was, though, a coup in casting
her as Musetta.
Ed- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -

[Darren]

According to the Met archives, Scotto sang two Musettas in the old
production, on 3/23/77 and 3/26/77 as well as Musetta in Act 2 on one
of those Danny Kaye hosted "Look-In" programs for TV, on 4/5/77.
She returned to the role for 10 performances in the new Zeffirelli
production in the 1981-82 season.
I am not aware that she ever sang it elsewhere.


Darren

[gggg gggg]

Post by ***@hotnail.com
http://youtu.be/iVR4g-60e5g
I recommend you get to this SOON. It is not from the 1982 performance
at the MET which was telecast so it must be from somewhere else. It's
not the first performance at the MET of her first turn of Musettas,
that I am sure, becuase I was there and the staging is slightly
different, but it is such a wonderful interpretation, with all the
spontaneity and devilty that Scotto could summon up, that it is quite
special.

Renata Scotto: 1934 - 2023

https://news.google.com/search?q=scotto&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen