Tosca's Greatest Moments: Renata Scotto Sizzles
For a time in the late 1970's, Italian soprano Renata Scotto was the reigning diva at the Met. She was known to be quite temperamental and every bit the diva of stereotypical myth. When she appeared on the first televised broadcast of a Met opera, cameras followed her back to her dressing room and she was seen shouting obscenities and criticizing everyone from her co-stars to the producers. She was a small woman in stature but her voice was gargantuan and even quite similar to Maria Callas. This comparison would haunt her for the rest of her career. She took on all the lead roles of the Italian repertoire, her strongest suit- Mimi in La Boheme, Violetta in La Traviata, and of course Puccini's Tosca on this studio recording. This is actually a set of highlights from the EMI full-length recording. It's conducted by James Levine who championed Scotto and knew her strengths and weaknesses. Mario Cavaradossi is sung superbly by Placido Domingo who was not singing the role for the firt time and by this time had sung it numerous times through the 70's - the RCA 1973 studio recording with Leontyne Price and Sherill Milnes, and the 1975 film with Raina Kabaivanska. Here, he is blessed with the experience of the role and is in outstanding vocal shape, able to sing beautifully in "Ricondita Armonia" and dramatically in his denouncement of Scarpia "Vittoria!". The villainous Vitellio Scarpia is sung by the light-weight baritone Renato Bruson. True, his bel canto/Verdi voice is not suited for the more verisimo-like, dramatic and heavyweight voice for Puccini. His Scarpia is by far the weakest I've ever heard. Even Dietrich Fischer Dieskau's sounds a lot more dramatic and focused. Here he sings every line as if it were a concert aria instead of an opera aria. Pity they couldn't have cast any of the outstanding baritones capable of a fine Scarpia who were singing at this time- Justino Diaz, Ruggero Raimondi, Juan Pons, Ingvar Wixell and Samuel Ramey. But it is Renat Scotto's portrayal of the passionate titular diva that is worth the purchase. Scotto may lack the tonal beauty of Renata Tebaldi, Leontyne Price and Montserrat Caballe but her dramatically compelling voice is perfect for the emotional scope of the role. She is singing with electrifying bravura! Just listen to the entire Act 2 and 3! Without a doubt, this is one of the better Toscas out there. But if you insist on searching or collecting other Toscas go for the following (and I'm omitting Callas because everyone knows how great she is and it's time to hear other voices) - Leontyne Price, Birgit Nilsson, Montserrat Caballe, Raina Kabaivanska, Galina Vishnevskaya, Katia Ricciarelli, Eva Marton, Carol Vanness and Angela Gheorghiu.

Except for the lightweight Scarpia, a great Tosca
Buying this highlights disc, which contains all the famous moments from the opera, will tell you if you want to acquie the complete set. This is a riveting performance, superbly conducted by the young James Levine in 1980. Domingo is in thrilling voice as Cavaradossi, as is Scotto in the title role, though you will have to accept her pronounced wobble when she holds a high note at forte or above. That mattered little to me, given hre gripping portrayal, arugably the most exciting since Callas, although neither can remotely boast the vocal beauty of Leontyne Price.

This would be a top-choice Tosca if it weren't for Renato Bruson, a lightweight baritone Scarpia. Why he was cast instead of a bass-baritone is mystifying; personally I dislike his dry tone, which has neither meance, power, nor lyric seductiveness. But he is an admired artist, and other listeners may disagree with me. In any eent, this is an imaginative and highly musical reading of a warhorse that badly needs both qualities.