Renata Tebaldi Movies

This documentary is part one of a series featuring some of the greatest stars of opera, whose performances were captured on the Bell Telephone Hour Telecasts. These programs actually began on radio in the 1940s and then came to television in 1959; the last broadcast was in 1967. The telecasts represent one of the few programs on which commercial television gave a forum for classical music. Some of the operatic artists introduced to the television public and presented here are Anna Moffo, Joan Sutherland, Birgit Nilsson, Rise Stevens, and Richard Tucker, all of whom give unforgettable performances. ~ Rose of Sharon Winter, Rovi

This series includes six programs that feature the adventures of two kids who discover a puppet opera house. Features include highlights from some major operas, like Carmen and The Barber of Seville. ~ Rovi

Conductor Donald Vorhees introduces four prima donnas of the opera world in Bell Telephone Hour: First Ladies of the Opera: Joan Sutherland, Leontyne Price, Renata Tebaldi, and Birgit Nilsson. This show originally appeared on network television, there being no public TV at the time. Filmed performances from this era marked the beginning of programs telecast in color. Each diva sings an aria, talks briefly with Vorhees regarding careers and favorite pieces, then offers another song from her repertoire. Nilsson performs a selection from Turandot and Tebaldi sings Suicidio from La Giocondo. ~ Alice Day, Rovi

Giacomo Puccini's three act opera comes to life on stage in this 1961 performance featuring conductor Franco Patanè leading the Orchestra and Chorus of the Staatsoper, Stuttgart, and headlined by the talents of stars Renata Tebaldi, Eugene Tobin, and George London. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Set just before and during the French Revolution, Umberto Giordano's Andrea Chenier focuses on the love triangle formed by the title character, an up-and-coming poet; Maddalena, the daughter of an important Countess; and Gerard, a poor servant to the Countess who bitterly resents the manner in which the rich treat the poor. Gerard's feelings for Maddalena are initially unexpressed and unnoticed, who becomes infatuated with Chenier soon after they meet. She begins writing anonymous love letters to the poet; he becomes obsessed with finding out who wrote them, causing him to stay in France rather than flee after the Reign of Terror begins. In the chaos, Gerard has lost track of Maddalena, of whose feelings for Chenier he is unaware. Now a top figure in the Revolution, he wishes to save and marry her. Meanwhile, Chenier has discovered Maddalena is the one who has been writing the letters. A spy, Incredibile, convinces Gerard that he must make a false accusation against Chenier to obtain Maddalena, and he does so. Maddalena offers to give herself to Gerard if he will save her beloved, and though he tries to do so, he is unsuccessful. Chenier is sentenced to death and Maddalena bribes a guard to let her take the place of another who is sentenced to die, so that she and her love may be together forever in death. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi

Told in pageantlike fashion, Casa Ricordi is the story of the Ricordi family, the most prestigious music publishers in all Italy. It was the Ricordis who, for better or worse, came up with the "royalty" concept, paying artists (and their families) for their work in perpetuity. As the family's fortune grows, the Ricordis rub shoulders with the musical glitterati of the 19th and 20th centuries, including Verdi, Donizetti, Puccini, Bellini and Rossini. Naturally, this allows the film to showcase some of these composers' most famous works--and in true Hollywood-by-the-Mediterranean fashion, the principal influence for these compositions are the various members of the Ricordi family. The soundtrack of Casa Ricordi reverberates with the voices of such musical immortals as Tito Gobbi, Renata Tibaldi, Mario Del Monaco and Gianni Poggi, among many others. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi