彭蒙惠英语：Newsworthy Clips（在线收听）

Newsworthy Clips

3

Renata Tebaldi Dies at 82

By David Patrick Stearns / © 2004, as originally appeared in

The Philadelphia Inquirer. KRT. Distributed by TMSI.

Opera star Renata Tebaldi, who died on December 19, 2004, represented more than Italian singing at its greatest. In the opera world and beyond, she was the diva of divas.

Even in her later years, when the long-retired Tebaldi made courtesy calls in cities of past successes, she created a stir tantamount to that of heads of state. From her 1944 debut to her 1976 retirement, Tebaldi had more than 30 years in the sun.

Tebaldi had a musicianship and integrity that firmly places her, artistically speaking, in the post-World War II generation. The downside of her approach was its emotional limitation. In popular arias such as the tragic La Mamma Morta from Andrea Chénier, Tebaldi’s sun-drenched tone didn’t accommodate the despairing bleakness projected by other singers.

Performing artists tend to be remembered by the final third of their careers, which, in Tebaldi’s case, is unfortunate. A 1958 filming of the opera La Forza del Destino shows Tebaldi’s acting to be physically stylized with deliberate, old-school gestures.

A 1961 film of Tosca catches her breaking character to rearrange her dress. She’s often stationary, and, upon singing a spot-on climactic note, she smiles with the knowledge that she has nailed it. All this is evidence of two life-changing factors: a vocal crisis, from which she recovered, but that seemed to leave her preoccupied with the mechanics of singing—and the aftereffects of her childhood affliction with polio.

Like many things in her life, such personal matters were not for the public to know. Though her voice seemed to be a doorway into her soul, it delivered few, if any, elements of autobiography.

Vocabulary Focus

tantamount (adj) [5tAntEmaunt] being almost the same or having the same effect as

in the sun (idiom) often in the public eye; well known by the public

stylized (adj) [5stailaizd] represented in a way that simplifies details rather than trying to show naturalness or reality

old-school (adj) [5Euld5sku:l] old-fashioned; relating to traditional ideas or practices

climactic (adj) [klai5mAktik] being the most important or exciting point in a story or situation

Specialized Terms

diva (n) 名伶 a very successful and famous female singer

courtesy call (n phr) 礼节性拜访 an appearance or visit done out of politeness or consideration to someone else

aria (n) 咏叹调 a song sung by one person in an opera