Overwhelming performance! She really shocks with the madness of her laughter and cry in one. And she projects her voice fantastically in the theatre. Brava!

I've always found this one of the scariest and most daring feats of acting.

Am I the only one who finds this extremely interesting? Crying and laughing can be very similar to each other, and clearly her laughter derives from a deep and mournful pain. It's like she's going mad!

I HAVE LIVED WITH THIS VOICE FROM THE DAY I WAS BORN AND EVERY TIME I HEAR HER I CANNOT BELIEVE JUST HOW BEAUTIFUL IT IS......OR HOW DRAMATIC......OR HOW PASSIONATE........EACH TIME FOR ME IS AS IF ...IT'S THE 1ST TIME........AND SO IT IS WITH THIS GLIMPSE INTO THE THE PHSYQUE OF MARGARITA......THAT IN A FEW BARS WHILE CRYING OVER THE DEATH OF HER BROTHER......SHE HINTS AT THE MADNESS ENGULFING HER AND US.......THIS IS MORE REMARKABLE THAN ALL THE POSTURING AND SO CALLED ACTING BY MORE FAMOUS ACTOR SINGERS.........IT STILL RAISES THE HACKLES DOWN MY NECK........BRAVISSIMA RENATA..........IN THE THEATRE THIS ONLY HAPPENS WHEN THE EMOTION IS TRULY GENUINE.

This is brilliant! There is a deep history in Italian theater in which what is depicted is the seemingly contradictory duality of human experience. Brava!

I think this is wonderful. This is the moment when Margarita's mind snaps. She's been seduced, made pregnant, and abandoned by Faust and now Faust has killed her brother. What's she supposed to do - sing a few trills??

The voice of an angel for sure BUT the acting prowess of ............... too much respect for this diva to say more

It's so obvious Tebaldi masterfully conveyed with this very theatrical feat the exact moment when Marguerite loses her mind completely right after her brother dies cursing her. It's meant to sound like crying that turns into laughter that then becomes a desperate and uncontrolled laughter, a laughter without joy, but with a somber, even scary feel, as if she just can't control the hysterical laughter as a sudden dissociation from the harshest reality. Tebaldi did make her sound like she is clearly broken, her senses having been definitely shattered, and acting bizarrely and hysterically, as expected to explain how she is caged in a mental hospital in the next act and was able to kill her own baby. Say what you wish about Tebaldi's acting skills on the stage, but VOCALLY she had an extremely rich gamut of vocal expression through colors, phrasing, portamenti etc.

I think Tebaldi is Canio herself in this performance.

scary...i like it

Documenti del tempo che fu... la cosa che già fa pensare sono gli applausi dopo l'orrida morte del baritono. Se questi erano i costumi, non sorprende il pianto che si trasforma in risata isterica della povera Tebaldi che deve far vedere al pubblico che Margherita impazzisce (e infatti poi ammazza il figlio, no?). Per quanto illustri un gusto che a noi oggi pare orrido, e che non era certo quello suo, la trovo bravissima ed efficace.

oh, i love this !!!

Tremendamente efficace....brava