Carlo de Vito

After Il Fortunato inganno and La Zingara, the Martina Franca Festival has revived another neglected masterpiece by Donizetti, Pietro il Grande o sia il Falegname di Livonia. First staged in Venice in 1819, this work met with good success and was performed until 1827. The silence that followed is justifiable only on account of the enormous success reaped by works such as Elisir d'amore, Don Pasquale and Lucia di Lammermoor, for in Pietro il Grande there is no lack of inspiration and Donizetti's creativity is, quite the opposite, generous and surprising.

Renata Scotto (born 24 February 1934) is an Italian soprano and opera director.
Recognized for her sense of style, musicality and as a remarkable singer-actress, Scotto is considered one of the preeminent singers of her generation, specializing in the bel canto repertoire with excursions into the verismo and Verdi repertoires.
Since retiring from the stage as a singer in 2002, she has turned successfully to directing opera as well as teaching in Italy and America, along with academic posts at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome and the Juilliard School in New York.

This CD has two of the best arias every Callas fan should have….the bell song and la mamma morta these arias alone make this cd worth it….she shows her true power and agility in both of these arias that display what is called perfect technique….making her a true Dramatic Colortura singer…and maybe the only real one…but this cd has more it contains an aria from her famous role of Nedda from Pagliacci which she never did on stage so this is a real treat… and her Carmen is always perfectly done…this cd runs through so many beautiful arias and Callas did great in all of them…this is why we call her La Divina