Opera diva Renata Scotto, 1934–2023

Renata Scotto. Photo courtesy Piper Artists Management

The Metropolitan Opera mourns the death of one of our most illustrious divas of the last century, Renata Scotto. 

Her 1965 Met debut in the title role of Madama Butterfly revealed her to be an extraordinarily compelling and complete artist, with the ability to create a deeply moving character through magnetic stage presence, expressive musical phrasing, and unfailingly dramatic delivery of the Italian text. 

While Butterfly remained her most memorable portrayal and served as her final performance in 1987, Scotto sang a total of 26 roles with the company, giving more than 300 performances on the Met stage. 

She portrayed lead soprano roles in eight new production premieres, including the company’s first staging of Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito and two operas that had not been heard for generations, Meyerbeer’s Le Prophète and Zandonai’s Francesca da Rimini. 

As Lady Macbeth in Verdi’s Macbeth, 1982. Photo courtesy Metropolitan Opera

Her repertory encompassed a wide spectrum of Italian works from verismo melodramas such as Manon Lescaut and Adriana Lecouvreur to bel canto masterpieces such as Lucia di Lammermoor and Norma to lesser-known Verdi operas such as Luisa Miller and I Vespri Siciliani. 

In 1977, Scotto’s artistry was shared with a huge national audience when the Met first teamed up with PBS for a live telecast of La Bohème, her heart-rending performance as Mimì bringing her wider fame and making her a media personality. She would go on to star in eight more Met telecasts of complete operas and many more radio broadcasts.

As Mimì in Puccini’s La Bohème, opposite tenor Luciano Pavarotti as Rodolfo, in the inaugural Live from the Met telecast, 1977. Photo courtesy Metropolitan Opera

Scotto’s visceral, total immersion in the characters she portrayed made her a vital exemplar of the grand Italian operatic style that underlies much of the standard repertory. 

After her retirement from singing, she continued to pass on this legacy as a teacher, regularly coaching members of the Met’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program and offering invaluable advice to many of today’s leading artists. 

Coaching Lindemann Young Artist Luthando Qave, 2012.
Photo courtesy Metropolitan Opera

She is affectionately remembered by many at the Met, her former pupils, administrators, and staff, as well as by her legions of admirers. We offer our sincerest condolences to her daughter, Laura, her son, Filippo, and to all of her family and friends.

First published at Metropolitan Opera, August 16, 2023