Antonietta Stella - web site about a great Italian soprano...

"I was never able to see Antonietta Stella on stage, because I was born in 1963 (in Finland). So I belong to a generation which has found her special value by listening to old records. Finding her was not difficult though. The beauty of voice, warmth, passion simply struck me when listening the first time TullioSerafin'sIl Trovatore about 5 years ago. Having listened to quite a lot of sopranos by that time I finally found what I had been looking for.

Being a great artist is not in my opinion what she does, but HOW she does it! I'm especially touched by her singing in Giuseppe Verdi's operas, because I love Verdi's music. And She brings to life all those romantic heroines.

I made this website as a tribute to her and I will keep on collecting information about her. I am glad that there is still some of her recordings that I haven't heard, because I know that I will have many wonderful musical moments in the future waiting for me..."

Marja-Leena Pelho
31 March 1999 in Espoo, Finland

"The long and the short of the matter is that I simply adore Antonietta Stella. What did she do well you ask? Well, I would reframe the question this way: what did she NOT do well? Although I never saw Stella in the theater, I can honestly say that few singers have thrilled me as much as she on the records and video.

At its best, the voice represents the highest standard of Italian lirico-spinto singing. There is morbidezza in the sound that is ravishing. In addition to producing focused high notes, Stella sang with unforced resonance in the lower register. The legato is melting and her pianissimo singing ranks with the best of anyone.

Stella was at home in the soaring lines of "Ernani, involami", but also knew how to project the gentle pathos of "O mio babbino caro". Her phrasing is alive with dramatic intention, of the words illuminated by a vivid theatrical imagination. In everything she undertook, there is a generosity of spirit and big-hearted sentiment that makes one grateful to be in her presence. She communicates through a sincere and obvious love of singing. To put it another way. I am excited because *she* seems to be excited about interpreting music.

Enzo Bordello,
Opera-L Mailing List, 9 Jan 1998"

   " I recall that Stella ran out onto the stage for her entrance (Zinka used to walk proudly out) and Stella wore this huge headress that looked like "sticks and weeds".

   She was a gorgeous woman and I recall her first words AS IF I WAS THERE NOW...which is rare for me... remember it was 40 years ago. "Ohime, di guerra fremere, l'atroce grido io sento...per l'infelice patria...per me...per noi PAVENTO" (Yes I know the role)...The "Pavento" was a truly luscious, big bigrich tone...of gorgeous brilliant quality...and I was sold forever... I recall she did a lot of crying in the Nile scene and remember also that only the "Patria Mia" was not as great as Zinka..but the rest surpassed anyone in that role I ever heard live.

   Two nights later was her Trovatore..also with that inferior cast of Bergonzi, Barbieri and Warren (MIO DIO!!!) and I recall that the D flat in the trio made us SCREAM!! However I recall the top C in the"D'amor" went back a bit...and we recall the D flat seemed better than the C...but remember that we adored her.

   I have no specific recollections of the Tosca, Traviata, Chenier and Butterfly except fron the tapes,but recall that the Ballo was gorgeous...This voice had a kind of smoky low...almost mezzoish...not huge chest...but very beautiful and full...the middle and top were creamy and even...maybe one of the most beautiful top voices I ever heard...no edge or strain in those days.

   I saw a Don Carlo with her and Merrill and Bjoerling...imagine those vocal tones pouring out at you...She then left the Met and came back in 1972 for the Carnegie Africaine and I recall the voice was sort of "a shell". The same sound but "empty" and I was not impressed. However, for what I saw her in the 50's it was up there with Zinka and Renata for purity and I think she was one of the greatest singers I ever heard..."

Charles Handelman
Opera-L Mailing List, 4 May 1997

"In her heyday, she was known ( and promoted herself) in Italy as the third soprano (after Tebaldi and Callas). She was more in the Tebaldi mode, because agility in the coloratura repertoire was not in her gift, hence the infelicities of the recorded Linda de Chamounix. For some years, after the decline of Callas and the virtual emigration of Tebaldi to America, Stella was the favoured diva of la Scala, where she led important primas (Battaglia de Legnano, Aida, Trovatore etc.)

At la Scala and in the provinces she was frequently partnered by Di Stefano, with whom she apparently enjoyed a warm relationship, an example on records being the Palermo Luisa Miller and the Scala Ballo in Maschera. A notorious incident of her career and a marker of her fall from grace was her late withdrawal in 1963 from an important production of Fanciulla del West at La Scala, supposedly because of lack of harmony with the tenor Franco Corelli, being replaced by Gigliola Franzoni.

I heard her many times in the theatre and always found her performances highly enjoyable, albeit without that frisson of excitement generated by the most major artists. Her traviata on EMI was controversial not as an interpretation of the role but because she was preferred in the casting to Callas, a fact attributed by Meneghini in his book to machnitions by Ghiringhelli and/or Di Stefano. I have always found her recorded Traviata very enjoyable, with her luscious tone compensating for some ungainliness in the first act coloratura. Were Stella to appear today, she would be welcomed with open arms."

Mervyn F.Lang
Opera-L Mailing List, 10 January 1998

"Stella was an interesting singer. I heard her sing a BALLO in Philadelphia with DiStefano. She was a beauty on stage and moved very well. Hers was a rich middle that worked very well for Ballo. The tops were all there and were thrilling. True, she may have been a bit more popular had she not sung
the same rep as Tebaldi. Her BUTTERFLY at the Met gave Tebaldi (I'm a huge fan) a run for her money."

James Lamb
Staten Island, NY
Opera-L Mailing List, 28 February 1999