The Great Renata Tebaldi

Renata Tebaldi passed away on December 19 2004 at the age of 82.

During what was perhaps a golden age of Italian Opera two great sopranos reigned supreme. Maria Callas was renowned mainly for her dramatic powers, while Renata Tebaldi's hallmark was the great beauty of her voice.

Tebaldi's career blossomed at just the right moment to take advantage of the youthful enthusiasm of the recording industry which made her a favourite Decca artist and now brings to this compilation the luxury of a wonderful selection of Italian opera arias.

Decca releases this new 2-CD (for the price of one) collection to commemorate Renata Tebaldi's 80th birthday which fell on 1 February 2002. The set is a representative survey of her recordings for Decca. Included are arias from; La Bohème (the famous Serafin recording with Carlo Bergonzi as Rodolfo), Madama Butterfly; Tosca; Manon Lescaut; La fanciulla del West; Gianni Schicchi; Suor Angelica; Il tabarro; Turandot; La Gioconda; La Wally; Adriana Lecouvreur; Andrea Chénier; Mefistofele; Aida; Il trovatore; La traviata; La forza del destino; Otello; Don Carlo; Un ballo in maschera as well as Vilja-Lied from the Merry Widow and Rossini's aria "La regata