Renata Scotto s long and successful operatic career was marked by a rare combination of dramatic intensity and vocal flexibility, which allowed her to traverse a wide variety of styles. She believed strongly in the theatrical elements of performing and always focused her energies on the meaning of a text. She also felt much of the standard verismo performing tradition to be exaggerated and vulgar, and strove to keep her performances as close to the composer s marked intentions as possible, especially with respect to subtleties of dynamics. Many speak of her as "the last of the divas."

debut at La Scala, in Milan, in 1953 and at the Metropolitan Opera, in New York City, in 1965. Noted for her versatility and dramatic intensity, she excels in the Italian repertory, e.g., Bellini s Norma and Puccini s Madame Butterfly.