In the Still of the Night
Anna Netrebko (soprano); Daniel Barenboim (piano)
rec. live, 17 August 2009, Großes Festspielhaus, Salzburg, Austria. DDD
Full track details at end of review
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 477 8589 [68:54]
Deutsche Grammophon has released Anna Netrebko’s first recital disc for
the label. In a dream-ticket combination Netrebko is accompanied by Daniel
Barenboim. All the songs bar the final two - given as encores - are by composers
from Netrebko’s Russian homeland. It follows hard on the heels of her
2006 Grammy-nominated ‘Russian Album’ with the Orchestra
of the Mariinsky Theatre under Valery Gergiev.
In the tentative applause for the opening song Rimsky-Korsakov’s O čyom,
v tiši nocey (What it is, in the still of night) one senses
anticipation from the near spellbound audience. Early in the recital Netrebko
sounds somewhat nervous and why wouldn’t she be as there can be few more
exposed situations than performing in recital at the Salzburg Festival. In
fact, her vulnerability is rather appealing. Nevertheless as Netrebko’s
voice warms up she relaxes and demonstrates her creamy timbre with its attractive
dusky tinge.
I especially enjoyed Netrebko’s ardent and forceful interpretation of
Rimsky-Korsakov’s Zvonče žavoronka pen’ye (The
lark’s song rings more clearly). She is wonderfully expressive in
the setting V carstvo rozï i vina (To the realm of rose
and wine) and I loved her tender and emotional performance in Plenivšis’ rozoy,
solovey (Captivated by the rose, the nightingale). A highlight is
the way the resilient and expressive singer plumbs profound emotional depths
in the Tchaikovsky song Otčego? (Why?). I found several
of the Tchaikovsky settings splendid opportunities for Netrebko to convey her
own brand of heartbreak. Barenboim’s playing throughout is as sensitive
as one would expect. His artistic partnership with Netrebko is most satisfying.
I wasn’t sent what the label describe as their ‘prestige limited
edition’ of these performances. I understand that it includes a hardcover,
texts and translations with an extra essay; it’s on 477 8867.
My promotional copy must be the ‘downmarket edition’ as the accompanying
booklet does not include any texts at all. This is yet another example of a
major recorded company not allowing the listener to understand the meaning
of these carefully chosen words by some of the world’s greatest authors.
We are told that the texts with English translations can be downloaded as a
PDF file from the Deutsche Grammophon website. I am extremely disappointed
by this rather mean-spirited approach. Certainly not every potential purchaser
is on-line. If you can be bothered and actually do manage to print them off
where do you store them? This is just another marketing ploy to get the purchaser
to visit the Deutsche Grammophon website. I had hoped that the famous yellow
label was above all this.
The sound is clear and well balanced. I sensed Netrebko’s very personal
affection for these songs. You would have to have a heart of stone not to be
moved by this engaging and moving recital.
Michael Cookson
Complete Track Listing:
Nikolay RIMSKY-KORSAKOV (1844-1908)
1) O čyom, v tiši nocey (What it is, in the still of night),
Op. 40, No. 3 (1897) [2:28]
text by Apollon Maykov
2) Prosti! Ne pomni dney paden’ya (Forgive me! Remember not
the downcast days)
Op. 27, No. 4 (1883) [1:29]
Text by Nikolay Nekrasov
3) Ne veter, veya s vïsotï (It was not the wind, blowing
from the heights), Op. 43, No. 2 (1897) [2:14]
Text by Aleksey Tolstoy
4) Zvonče žavoronka pen’ye (The lark’s
song rings more clearly), Op. 43, No. 1 (1897) [1:16]
Text by Aleksey Tolstoy
5) Na kholmakh Gruzii On (On Georgia’s hills), Op. 3, No.
4 (1866) [2:31]
Text by Aleksandr Puškin
6) V carstvo rozï i vina (To the realm of rose and wine),
Op. 8, No. 5 (1870) [2:26]
Text by Afanasy Fet after a Hafiz adaptation by Georg Friedrich Daumer
7) Pesnya Zyuleyki (Zuleika’s Song), Op. 26, No. 4 (1882) [1:56]
Text by Ivan Kozlov
8) Plenivšis’ rozoy, solovey (Captivated by the rose, the
nightingale), Op. 2, No. 2 (1866) [3:09]
Text by Aleksey Koltsov
9) Redeyet oblakov letučaya gryada (The line of flying
clouds grows thin), Op. 42, No. 3 (1897) [3:36]
Text by Aleksandr Puškin
10) Nimfa (The Nymph), Op. 56, No. 1 (1898) [3:25]
Text by Apollon Maykov
11) Son v letnyuyu noč’ (Dream on a Summer’s Night),
Op. 56, No. 2 (1898) [5:25]
Text by Apollon Maykov
Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)
12) Skaži, o čyom v teni vetvey (Say, when under shady boughs),
Op. 57, No. 1 (1884) [3:44]
Text by Vladimir Sollogub
13) Zabït’ tak skoro (So soon forgotten) (1870)
[2:56]
Text after Aleksey Apukhtin
14) Noči bezumnïye (Reckless nights), Op.
60, No. 6 (1886) [3:09]
Text by Aleksey Apukhtin
15) Otčego? (Why?), Op. 6 no. 5 (1869) [2:52]
Text by Lev Mey after Heinrich Heine’s
‘Warum sind denn die Rosen so blass?’
16) Serenada, Op. 63, No. 6 (1887) [3:42]
Text by K. R. (Grand Duke Konstantin Romanov)
17) Kolïbel’naya pesnya (Lullaby), Op. 16, No.
1 (1872) [4:26]
Text by Apollon Maykov
18) Ya li v pole da ne travuška bïla (Was I not a blade of
grass in the field?), Op. 47, No. 7 (1880) [6:05]
Text by Ivan Surikov
19) Sred’ mračnïkh dney (Amidst gloomy
days), Op. 73, No. 5 (1893) [1:51]
Text by Daniil Ratgauz
20) Den’ li carit (Amidst the day), Op. 47, No. 6 (1880)
[1:51]
Text by Aleksey Apukhtin
Encores:
Antonín DVOŘÁK (1841-1904)
Když mne stará matka (Songs My Mother Taught Me), Op.
55, No. 4 ‘Gypsy Songs’
[3:46]
Text by Adolf Heyduk
Richard STRAUSS (1864-1949)
Cäcilie, Op. 27, No. 2 [2:31]
Text by Heinrich Hart