I translate my faith into song
So says the great soprano and amazing actress Magda Olivero. In this clip about her life and interpretation of Tosca so many moments of real life and passion escape. Madame Olivero speaks candidly about her absence from the stage for ten years. How fantastical the stories were around this decision and that it was to simply make time to have a child, which sadly became a reality interrupted with the loss of the baby. The other reason was the war. The sadness however remains vivid in her heart as Robert Merrill questions her about the decision and the recent loss of her husband. Her dignity in the face of such sorrow and her pain is heartbreaking. This lady is so wonderfully elegant and eloquent. How Tosca was the last of the Puccini characters she assumed, how Tosca seemed someone she could not understand for a long while and her Tosca was one that came slowly. She felt that Tosca, the “bigot” was a woman far from her spirit. Then all of sudden she understood her. Felt that every time she sang a role it was like it was for the first time, and that their story was her’s and their suffering was hers. That Tosca was truly realized by her was a gift as she was to become one of the greatest interpreters of this multifaceted character. “When I am onstage, every sound that is made is a miracle of God.”
