RECORDING OF THE MONTH
Anna Netrebko Live at the Metropolitan Opera
Vincenzo BELLINI (1801-1835)
Qui la voce sua soave from I Puritani (1835) [3:59]
Patrick Summers (conductor)
rec. January 6, 2007
Sergei PROKOFIEV (1891-1953)
Ya ne budu – Kak solnce za goroj from War and Peace (1942) [5:38]
with Dmitry Hvorostovsky, Ekaterina Semenchuk
Valery Gergiev (conductor)
rec. March 2, 2002
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791)
Vedrai, carino from Don Giovanni (1787) [3:57]
Sylvain Cambreling (conductor)
rec. February 15, 2003
Gaetano DONIZETTI (1797-1848)
Senz’andar lunghi – La moral di tutto questo from Don Pasquale
(1843) [4:04]
With Mariusz Kwiecien, Simone Alaimo, Juan Diego Flórez
Maurizio Benini (conductor)
rec. April 15, 2006
Giuseppe VERDI (1813-1901)
Ah, più non ragiono! from Rigoletto (1851) [6:17]
with Nancy Fabiola Herrera, Eric Halfvarson
Asher Fisch (conductor)
rec. December 17, 2005
Charles GOUNOD (1818-1893)
Va! je t’ai pardonné – Nuit d’hyménée! from Roméo et Juliette
(1867) [11:04]
Dieu! quel frisson – Amour, ranime mon courage from Roméo et Juliette
[6:00]
with Roberto Alagna
Plácido Domingo (conductor)
rec. December 15, 2007
Gaetano DONIZETTI
Eccola! – Il dolce suono – Ardon gl’incensi from Lucia di Lammermoor
(1835) [12:59]
Marco Armiliato (conductor)
Jacques OFFENBACH (1819-1880)
Pourtant, ô ma fiancée – C’est une chanson d’amour from Les
Contes d’Hoffmann (1879) [3:59]
with Joseph Calleja
James Levine (conductor)
rec. December 19. 2009
Giacomo PUCCINI (1858-1924)
D’onde lieta usci from La Bohème (1895) [3:29]
O soave fanciulla from La Bohème [4:32]
with Piotr Beczala
Marco Armiliato (conductor)
rec. February 27, 2010
Anna Netrebko (soprano)
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus
rec. 2002-2010
live broadcast recordings
With texts and English translations
German and French translations can be obtained for free on the DG site.
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 477 9903 [66:01]
Since 2002, Anna Netrebko has sung many roles at the Metropolitan Opera. An
opera theatre of such rank can boast a constellation of outstanding prima
donnas. Still, it is Anna who was named by Met’s general manager Peter Gelb
“our reigning superstar diva”. What is so special about her?
Personally for me – and kill me for blasphemy, if you want – these are the
same qualities that distinguished Maria Callas. First, a beautiful voice,
leaning towards the mezzo, with a distinct and recognizable timbre. Rich and
pliant, it has a silky shine, yet is strong: a boxer’s fist in a velvet glove.
Second, it’s her ability to control this gift: the talent to show a rainbow
of emotions in a scope of a single note; to express the feelings very naturally
and credibly. Last but not least, and especially not least for the theatre,
it is her beauty and magnetic personality.
Anna Netrebko already blessed Deutsche Grammophon with several collections
of opera arias. This album is different: Anna devised it like a family photo
album, where she is pictured surrounded by her friends, in the most memorable
scenes, where she may even not be in the centre of the frame, where she is
just one of many. These scenes are dear to her and she would like to preserve
them and share them with us. The contents of the album also differ from the
typical “hooked on opera” compilations. With the possible exception of O
soave fanciulla, these are not the standard pop-list arias. Instead, we
hear entire large-scale scenes from Lucia, Romeo et Juliette,
War and Peace, Rigoletto, all excellently recorded and mixed by
Jay David Saks.
The programme opens with the aria from I Puritani which should serve
to enroll anyone into the camp of Netrebko’s fans. This performance is deeply
emotional, yet restrained, its tragedy is noble. She seems to be singing not
the words, but pure feelings; one does not need to know Italian, or the plot
of the opera, to be deeply moved by these divine long notes.
A good example of her gift of presenting a heroine’s character is the portrayal
of Natasha in the Window scene from War and Peace. Together with Hvorostovsky
and Semenchuk, Netrebko weaves a shimmering, sensual tapestry. This is Prokofiev
at his best: modern yet profoundly lyrical. The opera may not be easy to digest,
but this scene is just beautiful. In the first part of it, Netrebko pictures
the adolescent girl, flooded with delight, a bit childish, impetuous and spontaneous.
The second part is a romance that Natasha sings with her cousin Sonya, a nod
to Tchaikovsky’s soprano-alto duets from Onegin and Pique Dame.
It sways voluptuously.
Netrebko’s Vedrai, carino is unusual. The singer once said that she
does not feel affinity with the role, and one can see why. Her Zerlina is
very feminine, and sounds more like the Countess from Figaro than a
simple peasant girl. Such a Zerlina would definitely change the balance of
the female roles in Don Giovanni. Each one of her Senti lo battere
is like an iridescent pearl.
The finale of Don Pasquale is layered, with tiers provided by the three
male voices, and Norina decorating the cake with an exquisite, weightless,
shiny topping. Netrebko here combines real comic acting with beautiful bel
canto technique. In the joyous coda, she easily covers the entire orchestra
and chorus, which proves that she is not one of those studio-only singers
who may have a lovely voice but regrettably do not project it well in the
opera house.
I am very grateful to Netrebko for including Gilda’s self-sacrifice scene
from Rigoletto. Asher Fisch conducts a spellbinding performance, gripping
in its every measure, dramatic and spectacular. Maddalena’s voice is earthy
and a little unstable, but Eric Halfvarson’s bass is dark and potent. Anyway,
this is first and foremost the conductor’s feast, and Fisch is terrific in
inflating this scary, searing storm.
This is followed by the grand ecstatic scene from Romeo and Juliet,
when the heroes say their morning good-byes – that one with the Lark vs. Nightingale
balloting. It is fascinating how differently the two singers sing the same
notes, same motifs: Alagna’s Romeo is ardent and impatient, sometimes aggressive,
while Netrebko’s Juliet is feminine and insecure, her voice perfectly round
and pearly. In this music, it is easy to cross the line between singing and
shouting, but she shows admirable control and is loud without strain in the
voice; loud and tender, loud and soft; another thing that brings Callas to
mind.
But what she is doing in the solo scene - when Juliet drinks the sleeping
potion - is even better. This heroic aria is definitely inspired but has a
lot of square moments. She transcends this “Grand Opéra” style and presents
us the fireworks of the human voice, the emotional explosion, the truly Shakespearean
grandeur. Her top notes are powerful; they are not detached and blend organically
with the rest. Such control at the end of a long and tiring opera is admirable,
and I join the applause at the end.
An important quality of an opera singer is the ability to transform, and the
contrast between Gounod’s Juliette and Donizetti’s Lucia is striking. In this
performance Netrebko pictures the most fragile soul. This fragility is reflected
in the accompaniment by a glass harmonica, which is done very expressively
and sensitively by Cecilia Brauer. This scene was already included in the
“Sempre libera” album, and was sung beautifully there. However, I much prefer
the new performance – for this palpable fragility that Netrebko projects,
and for the celestial performance on the glass harmonica. Also, I like it
that the life performance has more discomforting “weirdness” in the voice;
it is more nervous, more unbalanced, and sounds less like a standard aria.
You’ll feel the scary aura of madness. Also, the noises of the scene, the
rustle of the dress, the sound of steps – all this does not detract, but adds
credibility. If there are minor imperfections, they are like the imperfections
of a natural gem: they only make it more precious.
Netrebko is probably too full-blooded for the roles of Antonia and Mimi. But
her shy and somewhat girlish Antonia is a good pair to the honey-voiced Hoffmann
of Joseph Calleja. The four heroines of Les Contes d’Hoffmann can so
easily become schematic and lifeless. Netrebko’s Antonia is alive and vulnerable.
Mimi’s farewell monologue from Act III also seems to me very “healthy”. There
is no customary sense of “fading away”; I feel that Mimi’s spirit is really
strong, and her love is still all there, such is the warmth of her words to
Rodolfo. Apparently, Anna is more of a Musetta type. In O soave fanciulla
she is good, but the best thing is the tenor of Piotr Beczala, so young and
firm, so effortless, with a touch of Pavarotti’s golden shining. Without strain,
without edge, he radiates passion. We hear an excellent partnership here.
Marco Armiliato conducts without hurry, steadily coaxing the slow fires of
Puccini, gathering steam. This makes a great close.
Anna Netrebko has already issued some very special recordings; I am particularly
fond of her “Russian Album”: this repertoire had rarely been presented with
such brilliance. Not all her records are at the same level – for example,
her recital with Barenboim was not a success, her voice there is strained
and dry. But on this live opera disc everything is perfect, and her creamy,
opulent voice glows and shimmers. The booklet has more pictures than words,
but it has the texts of all the numbers, with English translations, and tells
how one can download the French and German translations. It has photographs
from the productions and excerpts from newspaper reviews in different languages.
I praise the excellent recording quality. The sound is very clean, deep, and
with the full feeling of presence. Audience participation is minimal. This
disc is a great souvenir of a most wonderful voice – and I am sure it is only
the beginning.
Oleg Ledeniov
A great souvenir of a most wonderful voice.