Lost between Callas and Tebaldi was Caterina Mancini who was steadier and more consistent than Maria and wider of range and flexibility than Renata.

Poor Verdi like Wagner has no real proper soprano for his heavier roles in his 200th birth year -2013. Today we have chippers aka clownettes trying to singing Isolde and Leonora in Trovatore and Forza.

Caterina Mancini sings Verdi’s “Surta è la notte… Ernani involami” from Ernani

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7Sim2FNltE

With the glorious Simionato.
The great immortal Giulietta Simionato and Caterina Mancini sing
“Fu la sorte dell`armi” from Aida by Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
Orchestra e Coro di Roma della RAI — Vittorio Gui — 12./06/1951

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb5Xkd17YgY

Caterina Mancini sings “Tacea la notte placida” from
Il Trovatore by Giuseppe Verdi (1813_1901) — Graziella Sciutti (Ines)
Orchestra Sinfonica della RAI, Roma — Fernando Previtali, conductor
recorded in 1951, Roma
It is almost criminal that Mancini recorded NO recital albums but only starred in complete recording but at least she is represented on YT.
Her voice is so on point for this role- a dramatic d’agilita not a spinto out of her comfort zone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUhpwf0_MLE

What a difficult and exciting aria.
Giuseppe Verdi ATTILA “Santo di patria… Da te questo m’è concesso” (aria e cabaletta)
Venezia Teatro La Fenice 12 settembre 1951 == LIVE == (in forma di oratorio)
Absolutely stunning – the range. size and flexibility of her voice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2ljpX-hFKc

OMG – Neri is WOW
C. Mancini & G. Neri “La Vergine degli angeli” La forza del destino

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_R-gUlJ_hUY

Bel Canto magic
Caterina Mancini canta Bellini – high notes in Il Pirata are lasers – the low notes like beautiful thunder.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGW7seWg3B4

With a tremendous baritone.
CARLO TAGLIABUE & CATERINA MANCINI “Udiste? Come albeggi” Il Trovatore – That High Db shattered several windows in my home.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPRSN4ldzw4

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Caterina Mancini (November 10, 1924 – January 21, 2011) was an Italian dramatic coloratura soprano, primarily active in Italy in the 1950s.

Mancini was born at Genzano di Roma. She made her debut in 1948, as Giselda in I Lombardi, in Florence. In 1950, she appeared in Bologna and Venice, in Norma, and made her debut at La Scala in Milan, in Lucrezia Borgia, in 1951.

The same year, she sang in many Verdi operas on radio broadcast (RAI) to commemorate 50th anniversary of Verdi’s death. Many of these broadcasts have been released by the record company Cetra, notably, Nabucco, Ernani, Attila, La battaglia di Legnano, Il trovatore, and Aïda.

She sang mostly in Italy, notably as Anaide in Mosè in Egitto in Florence (1955), and as Amelia in Il duca d’Alba, in Verona (1956). She made occasional appearances in France and Spain. Other notable roles included: Amelia, Elisabetta, Gioconda, Santuzza, Tosca.

Mancini was a dramatic coloratura soprano, possessing a large and powerful, yet surprisingly flexible voice, which made her an excellent exponent of early Verdi operas. Health problems in the early 1960s led her to withdraw little by little from the stage. In fact, on November 30, 1963, she sang the contralto part in a performance of the oratorio Messiah, for the Dallas Opera. The event was dedicated to the memory of John F. Kennedy, who had been slain in that city a few days earlier. The other soloists included Jon Vickers and Norman Treigle, and it was conducted by Nicola Rescigno. It was billed as her “first appearance as a contralto and in an English work.”

Her career was in many ways similar to the one of Anita Cerquetti; both had short but brilliant careers, and both were more of less eclipsed by Maria Callas, and nowadays almost forgotten.