Tito Gobbi, Maria Callas and Renato Cioni — Tosca, London 1964
Renato Cioni, who died today, left at interview just a few months ago, talking to Stephen Hastings, the editor of the Italian magazine Musica. Hastings asked him about the London Tosca with Maria Callas fifty years earlier.
Two years before singing with Callas, I’d written her a letter, saying that I’d be the happiest man in the world if I ever had the opportunity to sing with her. When we found ourselves together at Covent Garden in 1964, she remembered that letter. She was quite tense during the rehearsals because she hadn’t sung an opera for almost two years, but everything went smoothly and our relationship was wonderful.
One evening, during the rehearsals, we went to an Italian restaurant with Zeffirelli and Gobbi.… [continue reading]
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