Renata Scotto, long a reigning voice in roles such as Cio-Cio San in Puccini’s “Madame Butterfly” and Violetta in Verdi’s “La Traviata,” has died at 89.
Over a career of 50 years, Scotto sang in most of the world’s major houses, including more than 300 performances at New York’s Metropolitan Opera, one of her principal venues in the 1970s and ’80s. She usually was cast in Italian repertory, from the bel canto operas of Bellini and Donizetti to most of the major soprano roles of Verdi to verismo operas of Puccini and Catalani.
Born in the Italian fishing village of Savona, the daughter of a policeman and a seamstress, Scotto first attracted notice outside of Italy in 1957 at the Edinburgh Festival, when she took over the role of Amina from Maria Callas. A rivalry between the two singers followed, continuing after Callas’ retirement, Jonathan Kandell writes in an obituary for The New York Times. Scotto also had long-running feuds with the managers of the Met and La Scala in Milan, and sometimes contentious relationships with conductors and fellow singers.
After her retirement from performing in 2002, Scotto worked as a teacher and directed several productions.
Kandell’s obituary:
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