Renata Scotto Born 1934 Soprano
An artist with a magnificent stage presence, Scotto enjoyed a 50-year career which saw her go from an early-1950s small-town debut in her native Italy to commanding curtain calls on the world’s greatest stages. in one evening in 1976 and partaking in the Met’s first live television broadcast (with Luciano Pavarotti) in 1977’s Puccini . She was also the first woman at the Met to direct an opera she was also performing in (1987’s Puccini ); indeed, her work as a director took her equally far and wide. It is, though, her innate sense of drama and an ability to embody a role – often at the expense of vocal perfection – for which she will be most remembered.
